President Gerald R. Ford had arrived in Sacramento at 9:30 PM on September 4, 1975. The next day, the president would be speaking at the 49th annual Sacramento Host Breakfast, an event filled with wealthy political donors and influential businessmen. Ford was chosen as the keynote speaker after Governor Jerry Brown declined to attend the event. President Ford cynically believed accepting the invitation would be ultimately advantageous in the 1976 Presidential Election.
The morning after his arrival, Ford gave a two hour speech at the Host Breakfast. At 9:30 A.M., the president briefly returned to the Senator Hotel where he was staying. Afterwards, he began walking towards the Capitol Building to meet with the governor. Along the way, he shook hands with several enthralled pedestrians. A woman in a red dress reached out to shake hands with President Ford, but out of nowhere she pulled out a Colt .45 and shot the president once in the waist and once in the chest. The president was killed instantly.
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