American politics has a history of violence

When there are acts of violence on a campaign trail, we often hear about how this is a commentary on our uniquely toxic, hyper-partisan times. You won’t have to go far to find people now seeking to blame Donald Trump for stirring up the forces that almost killed him last night. But running for president in the United States is – and always has been – a very risky business. Every major candidate is an assassination target, and is given security detail to reflect this obvious fact. 

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Let’s look at the history. In 1835, Richard Lawrence tried to shoot President Andrew Jackson. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.