Presidential sniper-assassins after Lee Harvey Oswald

Fenestella

Banned
I wonder why the assassin(s) of JFK is the only American presidential assassin capable of firing distant shots without being spotted and wrestled immediately.
What if the subsequent presidential assassins imitate or emulate the modus operandi (i.e. distant / long range sniping)?
Why haven't there been such attempts?
What have been the secret service's countermeasures?
 
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I wonder why the assassin(s) of JFK is the only American presidential assassin capable of firing distant shots without being spotted and wrestled immediately.
What if the subsequent presidential assassins imitate or emulate the modus operandi (i.e. distant / long range sniping)?
Why haven't there been such attempts?
What have been the secret service's countermeasures?

They deploy anti sniper teams to all the elevated long range lines of sight when a president visits a previously unsecured location.

In fairness, Oswalds shots against the Kennedy Motorcade were no where near as long a range as most people think
 
With range snipers can hit nowadays isnt it much harder to monitor all the perimeter?

If you're attacking in an urban area, than the high range will be mitigated by the numerous obstructions, such as buildings, billboards, etc.

While a more open-air environment will either lack or have a scarce amount of elevated vantage points, which can be easily secured.

Additionally, one can use a sniper from large distances if one is versed in their application, and I cannot honestly claim that the majority of would-be presidential assassins possess such a skill set.
 
How many times has a President travelled in a open top car since (in a public area ?), this by itself will cut the number of places to secure by a huge amount.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
It looks like Oswald only worked because nobody had considered a sniper as a possibility, why hadn't they?

Because Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley were all shot at close range, and a lot of previous attempts against other Presidents were also close range shootings or at the very least would have put the would-be assassin within short distance of the President; no one considered Snipers a possibility because no one expected it, because there was no precedent. It was expected that people who kill Presidents did it up close, not from far away.

Additionally, a sniper is someone who is highly skilled at using a long range rifle, which would indicate previous training with one, be it in the Military or Hunting. Whilst any yahoo can buy a handgun and shoot someone- such as Giuseppe Zangara and Sirhan Sirhan- it takes training to kill someone with a rifle, hence their rarity and, until JFK, them being relatively unheard of.

Lee Harvey Oswald was a former Marine, and thus had training, who had previously attempted another assassination. James Earl Ray was a former Soldier who served in Germany at the end of the Second World War. Both men had sufficient training to be able to attempt an assassination with a rifle, whilst people such as Charles J. Guiteau, a Lawyer/Preacher/Writer, and Leon Czolgosz, a steel worker, simply bought a pistol with little experience before hand regarding firearms.

Additionally, we haven't seen any since JFK due to the heightened security to ward off potential assassins. The fact the White House has Secret Service Snipers on its roof should be obvious enough already.
 
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IIRC, when a major event takes place such as a celebration after a president wins reelection, (such as Clinton's celebration in Little Rock Arkansas in 1996) great pains are taken to set up the event in order that the president is NOT in many long range site lines and those he does appear in have agents on scene where it is impossible for a sniper to set up in one.
 
Because Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley were all shot at close range, and a lot of previous attempts against other Presidents were also close range shootings or at the very least would have put the would-be assassin within short distance of the President; no one considered Snipers a possibility because no one expected it, because there was no precedent. It was expected that people who kill Presidents did it up close, not from far away.

Additionally, a sniper is someone who is highly skilled at using a long range rifle, which would indicate previous training with one, be it in the Military or Hunting. Whilst any yahoo can buy a handgun and shoot someone- such as Giuseppe Zangara and Sirhan Sirhan- it takes training to kill someone with a rifle, hence their rarity and, until JFK, them being relatively unheard of.

Lee Harvey Oswald was a former Marine Sniper who had previously attempted another assassination. James Earl Ray was a former Soldier who served in Germany at the end of the Second World War. Both men had sufficient training to be able to attempt an assassination with a rifle, whilst people such as Charles J. Guiteau, a Lawyer/Preacher/Writer, and Leon Czolgosz, a steel worker, simply bought a pistol with little experience before hand regarding firearms.

Additionally, we haven't seen any since JFK due to the heightened security to ward off potential assassins. The fact the White House has Secret Service Snipers on its roof should be obvious enough already.

Lee Harvey Oswald was not a former Marine sniper. That MOS didn't even exist in Oswald's time. There wasn't even a formal school dedicated to teaching snipers at a divisional level in Oswald's time (the first was established in Vietnam in 1966). And while Oswald was a barely qualified marksman by Marine standards, that did not make him a sniper. He spent most of his time in the Corps manning a radar screen.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
Lee Harvey Oswald was not a former Marine sniper. That MOS didn't even exist in Oswald's time. There wasn't even a formal school dedicated to teaching snipers at a divisional level in Oswald's time (the first was established in Vietnam in 1966). And while Oswald was a barely qualified marksman by Marine standards, that did not make him a sniper. He spent most of his time in the Corps manning a radar screen.

You're focusing on the semantics and not the point. My point is that Oswald, even as a Radar operator who was only really able to get a Marksman designation, had sufficient training to be able to shoot the President in the manner he did- also why I refer to him as a sniper, as this was how he tried to kill Edwin Walker and succeed in killing Kennedy. Even as a subpar shooter, which is evident given the mess he made of both shootings, Oswald possessed the minimum of training to use a rifle, whilst most other Presidential Assassins simply pick up a pistol, which is why Sniper-Assassins are a rarity.
 
Something that is not well known in the United States is that the Secret Service practices a fair amount of "preemptive detention" in order to assure presidential security.

I know that when a president visits a previously unsecured area, the Secret Service is known for "rounding up" people who they consider possible threats to the president without charges or trial.
 
Under the right conditions with a modern sniper rifle can get the job done at at least 1500 yards - remember you'll probably need to get a first shot hit. I have no clue as to the details of security but I'm sure that any line of site potential sniper sites especially where the president would be standing still or moving slow would be covered one way or another. It is worth noting that this sort of targeting requires an expert sniper, preferably with a spotter and most likely a .50 rifle. Shorter distances, more flexibility.
 
You're focusing on the semantics and not the point. My point is that Oswald, even as a Radar operator who was only really able to get a Marksman designation, had sufficient training to be able to shoot the President in the manner he did- also why I refer to him as a sniper, as this was how he tried to kill Edwin Walker and succeed in killing Kennedy. Even as a subpar shooter, which is evident given the mess he made of both shootings, Oswald possessed the minimum of training to use a rifle, whilst most other Presidential Assassins simply pick up a pistol, which is why Sniper-Assassins are a rarity.

I agree with your sentiments, hitting a moving target, at range with a rifle takes a reasonable degree of skill and training and most previous assassination attempts against presidents had been handgun attacks, so they weren't prepared for it. It's not impossible for another person trained at long range shooting to take a crack, but the Secret Service has learned from it's mistakes and is very thorough when it comes to monitoring public spaces for Presidential visits.
 
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