Shocking Ways American Presidents Have Died

7 Shocking Ways U.S. Presidents Have Died

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most bizarre ways that these leaders met their respective ends.

#7: James A. Garfield: Assassination Complications

Sometimes, ambitious delusion goes several steps too far. This is akin to what happened in the case of Charles J. Guiteau, a disgruntled, would-be politician, who felt that his contributions to Garfield’s successful 1880 Republican campaign amounted to far more than they had in reality. On July 2nd, 1881, Guiteau shot the recently-elected President Garfield twice at the Sixth Street railroad station in Washington, DC. Contemporary medicine unfortunately hadn’t caught up to embracing antisepsis techniques, and Garfield’s gunshot wounds were examined with unwashed, bacteria-ridden hands. Unsurprisingly, Garfield died on September 19th, 1881, with the general historical consensus being that his wounds weren’t necessarily fatal and that his death might have been avoidable.

#6: William McKinley: A Lack of X-Rays

U.S. presidents clearly used to be a lot more confident about going out in public without any kind of security at all. A sociable politician who was known for taking time out of his schedule to speak with his constituents, McKinley was shot at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo by anarchist Leon Czolgosz, with whom he was about to shake hands. The ironic bit of McKinley’s untimely death? Matthew D. Mann, McKinley’s surgeon, had access to an early X-ray machine but declined to use it. Had he tried it, he might have found the second bullet trapped somewhere in the President’s abdomen that led to his passing.

#5: Zachary Taylor: Binge Eating, Kinda

Take it from the relatively obscure 12th President of the United States: milk and cherries make for a lethal summertime snack. Taylor chowed down on large amounts of both while at an event overseeing the construction of the Washington Monument in July 1850. Debate still rages about what exactly happened to Taylor — even until relatively recently, some believed that Taylor’s food had been poisoned, possibly even by Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States. However, historians and medical professionals have speculated, based on Taylor’s exhumed and analyzed remains, that sabotage was unlikely, and that the milk and cherries may have spoiled, in addition to primitive medical treatments at the time.

#4: William Henry Harrison: Self-Inflicted Pneumonia

9th President Harrison, grandfather of 23rd President Benjamin Harrison and former Ohio senator, holds a special place in the annals of American history. Unfortunately, it’s not because of a great achievement, like advancements in civil rights. It’s because he’s notorious for being the shortest-tenured president ever, sitting at just 31 days. What went so wrong so quickly? Some historians attribute it to Harrison’s baffling decision to forego adequately warm clothing on March 4th, 1841 and deliver the longest ever presidential inauguration speech, clocking in at nearly 9000 words and two hours, although it’s also been posited that Harrison was suffering from septic shock at the time. Hey, at least Harrison managed to eke out one record?

#3: George Washington: Bloodletting

At the tail end of 1799, the first President, the man who couldn’t tell a lie, started to come down with a seemingly mild respiratory illness, exhibiting a sore throat and breathing problems. The only possible solution, according to Washington himself, who was not even remotely a medical professional? Bloodletting! Used frequently at the time, the practice entailed literally draining the patient’s blood — sometimes with leeches — to hopefully expel the ailment troubling them. It may not come as a huge shock to your modern-day ears, then, that this only served to make matters worse, and Washington died on December 14, 1799, only two days after his symptoms had first appeared.

#2: Abraham Lincoln: Death by Theater

Maybe we should clarify that President Lincoln didn’t actually die because of the play he was watching… but you probably knew that already. Although speculation persists as to perpetrator John Wilkes Booth’s exact motives for assassinating the beloved president, it is generally agreed upon that Booth’s animosity stemmed from Lincoln’s support for abolishing slavery and providing equal rights to all Americans. While Lincoln was obviously not the only president to have been killed in office, Booth was a seasoned actor, and was well-served by Lincoln’s choice to take in a show at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Having performed there, he was familiar with the building’s architecture and layout, providing him with home-field advantage in his diabolical plot.

#1: John F. Kennedy: A National Tragedy

The most recent subject on our list to have died in office, President Kennedy was seen as a symbol of hope and promise, and his passing caused a national outpouring of grief and mourning. While there are many conspiracy theories about the incident, the simple facts of Kennedy’s assassination are shocking enough: while greeting the people of Dallas, the former senator from Massachusetts was shot by a sniper and killed instantly. What made Kennedy’s death even more shocking was the fact that it was the first to occur in our highly media-saturated era, allowing the public unprecedented levels of insight into all of the harrowing details of the case.


What do you think the weirdest way to die is? Let us know in the comments below!