List of United States Congress members killed or wounded in office

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John L. Magee's lithography demonstrates Northern outrage over Brooks's attack on Sumner

Since the United States Congress was established with the 1st Congress in 1789, fifteen of its members have been killed while in office by people seeking to do them harm, and thirteen members have suffered serious injuries as a result of such attacks. The members of Congress included in these lists were either injured or killed by someone intending to do them serious harm, or there is a serious claim that there was a lethal intent from an unknown assailant (such as the two congressmen who died of the National Hotel disease). The earliest a member of Congress was killed or wounded while in office was 1827 when Henry Wharton Conway was killed in a duel and the most recent death occurred in 1983 when Korean Air Lines Flight 007, carrying Larry McDonald, was shot down over the Pacific Ocean. The most recent Congress member to be wounded was Rand Paul who was tackled from behind by his neighbor in 2017.

Out of the 15 Congress members killed in office, all of them were male and 10 were Democrats, four were Republicans, and one was a Democratic-Republican. Four members died in duels, and a total of ten (three senators, six members of the House of Representatives, and one territory delegate to the House) died from gunshot wounds.

Thirteen Congress members have been wounded while in office. Six of the wounded were Republicans, five were Democrats, and one member each from the Anti-Jacksonian and Whig parties. Only one was a woman, and only four were senators. Five of those injured were wounded during the 1954 United States Capitol shooting incident.

Lists

Killed

Party colors:   Democratic-Republican   Democratic   Republican

Member State
(district) 		Date of incident Perpetrator(s) Incident
Henry Wharton Conway style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Henry Wharton Conway Arkansas Territory
(At-large delegate) 		October 29, 1827 Robert Crittenden Conway died eleven days after being shot in the chest during a duel with Crittenden near the confluence of the White and Mississippi rivers.[1]
Spencer Darwin Pettis style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   – Missouri
(1st at-large seat) 		August 28, 1831 Thomas Biddle Both Pettis and Biddle sustained fatal gunshot wounds during a duel on Bloody Island in Illinois.[2]
Jonathan Cilley style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Jonathan Cilley Maine
(3rd district) 		February 24, 1838 William Graves Cilley was shot by Graves, the Whig Congressman from Kentucky's 8th district, during a duel on the Marlboro Pike in Maryland.[2]
John Gallagher Montgomery style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   – Pennsylvania
(12th district) 		April 24, 1857 Unknown (disputed) Several people staying at the National Hotel in Washington, D.C., died of National Hotel Disease during this time period. It is disputed whether the "disease" was due to deliberate poisoning or accidental food poisoning.[2]
John A. Quitman style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   John Quitman Mississippi
(5th district) 		July 17, 1858
David Colbreth Broderick style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   David Broderick California
(Senator) 		September 13, 1859 David Terry Broderick and Terry, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, took part in a duel in San Francisco. Broderick was shot and died three days later.[2]
Edward Dickinson Baker style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Edward Baker Oregon
(Senator) 		October 21, 1861 7th Brigade, 4th Division of the Confederate Army of the Potomac (under the command of Nathan Evans) Baker died during the Battle of Ball's Bluff, while assigned command of a brigade in Brigadier General Charles Pomeroy Stone's division, guarding fords along the Potomac River in Virginia. The Confederate soldiers were commanded by Brigadier General Nathan George Evans.[3][4]
Cornelius S. Hamilton style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Ohio
(8th district) 		December 22, 1867 Thomas Hamilton Hamilton was killed by his insane 18-year-old son, Thomas, in Marysville, Ohio.[2][5]
James M. Hinds style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Arkansas
(2nd district) 		October 22, 1868 George Clark Hinds was killed in Indian Bays in Monroe County, Arkansas, after being shot in the back by George A. Clark, a member of the Ku Klux Klan and the secretary of the Democratic committee of the county.[2][6][7]
Thomas Haughey style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Thomas Haughey Alabama
(6th district) 		July 31, 1869 Collins (first name not known) At a speech by Haughey in Courtland, Alabama, he and Collins got into an argument. This escalated into a fist fight and ended with Collins shooting Haughey in the stomach. Haughey died five days later.[8]
John M. Pinckney style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   John Pinckney Texas
(8th district) 		April 24, 1905 Unknown (riot started by J. N. Brown) A political event in Hempstead, Texas, turned violent when one of the participants, J. N. Brown, began shooting. Other attendees began to shoot as well and a riot broke out. Pinckney, his brother Tom, and Brown were all killed at the scene.[2][9]
Huey Long style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Huey Long Louisiana
(Senator) 		September 8, 1935 Carl Weiss Long died two days after Weiss fired a handgun at him at close range inside the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.[10]
Robert F. Kennedy style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Robert F. Kennedy New York
(Senator) 		June 5, 1968 Sirhan Sirhan Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after giving his victory speech in the California primary; he died about 25 hours later.[11]
Leo Ryan style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Leo Ryan California
(11th district) 		November 18, 1978 Peoples Temple (under the direction of Jim Jones) While on an official visit to Guyana to investigate the activities of the Peoples Temple group led by Jim Jones, Ryan was shot multiple times while boarding an airplane leaving Jonestown.[12]
Larry McDonald style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Larry McDonald Georgia
(7th district) 		September 1, 1983 Soviet Far East District Air Defense Forces McDonald was a passenger on board Korean Air Lines Flight 007 which was shot down over the Sea of Japan near Sakhalin island by Soviet interceptors on the orders of General Kornukov, Commander of Sokol Air Base.[13]

Wounded

Party colors:   Anti-Jacksonian   Democratic   Republican   Whig

Member State
(district) 		Date of incident Perpetrator(s) Incident
William Stanbery style="background-color:Template:National Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   William Stanberry Ohio
(8th district) 		April 13, 1832 Sam Houston After accusing Houston of profiteering off Andrew Jackson's forced relocation of Native Americans, Houston confronted Stanberry in Washington, D.C. and beat him repeatedly with a hickory walking stick. During the fight Stanberry pulled a gun and, while placed on Houston's chest, pulled the trigger but the gun misfired.[14]
Alexander H. Stephens style="background-color:Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Alexander H. Stephens Georgia
(8th district) 		September 4, 1848 Francis H. Cone Francis Cone, an Associate Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, called Stephens a "traitor to the South" due to Stephens' move to table the Clayton Compromise. When confronted about this in front of Atlanta's Thompson Hotel, Stephens struck Cone with his walking stick and Cone responded by stabbing Stephens 6 times in the hand and chest.[15]
Charles Sumner style="background: Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/color" |   Charles Sumner Massachusetts
(Senator) 		May 22, 1856 Preston Brooks Representative Preston Brooks, a Democrat from South Carolina's 4th district, assaulted Sumner with a cane on the floor of the Senate in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The attack followed Sumner's verbal attacks on pro-slavery politicians.[16]
Josiah Bushnell Grinnell style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Josiah Grinnell Iowa
(4th district) 		June 14, 1866 Lovell Rousseau Grinnell was assaulted with an iron-tipped cane by Rousseau, an Unconditional Unionist Congressman from Kentucky's 7th district, on the east portico of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., in retaliation for derogatory statements he made earlier. Grinnell was pummeled on the "head and face until the cane broke," and was heavily bruised.[17]
Alvin Morell Bentley style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Alvin Bentley Michigan
(8th district) 		March 1, 1954 Rafael Cancel Miranda,
Andres Figueroa Cordero,
Irvin Flores,
Lolita Lebrón 		1954 Capitol shooting: Armed Puerto Rican nationalists shot the representatives from the Ladies Gallery of the House of Representatives in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.[18]
Clifford Davis style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Clifford Davis Tennessee
(10th district)
George Hyde Fallon style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   George Fallon Maryland
(4th district)
Ben F. Jensen style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Ben Jensen Iowa
(7th district)
Kenneth A. Roberts style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Kenneth Roberts Alabama
(4th district)
John C. Stennis style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   John Stennis Mississippi
(Senator) 		January 29, 1973 Tyrone Marshall, John Marshall, Derrick Holloway[19] Stennis was shot twice outside his home in Washington, D.C. during a mugging.[20]
Gabrielle Giffords style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Gabrielle Giffords Arizona
(8th district) 		January 8, 2011 Jared Lee Loughner Giffords was shot in the head during the 2011 Tucson shooting, which occurred at a constituency meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona.[21]
Steve Scalise style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Steve Scalise Louisiana
(1st district) 		June 14, 2017 James T. Hodgkinson III Scalise was shot in the hip by a gunman using a rifle during a practice session for the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia.[22]
Rand Paul style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |   Rand Paul Kentucky
(Senator) 		November 3, 2017 Rene Boucher Paul was tackled from behind by his neighbor, Rene Boucher, during an altercation. Paul sustained 5 fractured ribs, including 3 displaced fractures, as well as "cuts around his mouth".[23][24]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bowks de la Rosa, M.V. (2013-03-05). "Conway-Crittenden Duel". Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Amer, Mildred (2002-03-14). "Members of the U.S. Congress Who Have Died of Other Than Natural Causes While in Office" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  3. ^ "BAKER, Edward Dickinson, (1811 - 1861)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  4. ^ "Brig. Gen. Nathan George "Shanks" Evans". Marion County, SC in the War Between the States. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  5. ^ "The Murder of Mr. Hamilton". The New York Times. 1867-12-26. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  6. ^ Foner, Eric (March 1989). Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877. New York City: Harper & Row. p. 342. ISBN 978-0-06-093716-4. OCLC 48074168.
  7. ^ Stanton, Amanda. "James Hinds (1833–1868)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. The Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  8. ^ Nancy Marion; Willard Oliver (22 July 2014). Killing Congress: Assassinations, Attempted Assassinations and Other Violence against Members of Congress. Lexington Books. pp. 17–27. ISBN 978-0-7391-8360-1.
  9. ^ "Congressman Pickney Shot in a Texas Riot". The New York Times. 1905-04-25. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  10. ^ "Huey Long's Assassination". Huey Long: The Man, His Mission, and Legacy. Long Legacy Project. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  11. ^ "KENNEDY, Robert Francis, (1925 - 1968)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  12. ^ United States House of Representatives; Foreign Affairs Committee (1979-05-15). "Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee report on Ryan's assassination". Report of a Staff Investigative Group to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. United States Congress. Archived from the original on 2013-09-10. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Wilkes, Jr., Donald E. (2003-09-03). "The Death Flight of Larry McDonald". Flagpole Magazine. pp. 7, 9. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  14. ^ Bennett, Kevin (2016-09-14). "Newark Congressman once tried to shoot Sam Houston". Newark Advocate. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  15. ^ Mitchell, Jennifer V. (2014) Civil War Treasures: Most Unfortunate Difficulty: Political Conflict in the Pre-Civil War Era. Civil War Book Review: Vol. 16 : Iss. 2. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  16. ^ "SUMNER, Charles, (1811 - 1874)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  17. ^ "Historical Highlights: Representative Lovell H. Rousseau assaults Representative Josiah B. Grinnell". Office of History and Preservation of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  18. ^ Barone, Michael; Ujifusa, Grant (1993). The Almanac of American Politics 1994. Washington, D.C.: National Journal Group. p. 749. ISBN 0-89234-057-6. OCLC 32984467. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "One of 3 Suspects Pleads Guilty In Stennis Robbery and Shooting". The New York Times. 1972-04-20. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  20. ^ "Senator From Mississippi Reported As Very Serious". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Associated Press. 1973-02-01. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  21. ^ Halloran, Liz (2011-01-08). "'Vitriol' Cited As Possible Factor In Arizona Tragedy". NPR. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  22. ^ Hermann, Peter; Kane, Paul; Sullivan, Patricia (June 14, 2017). "Lawmaker Steve Scalise is critically injured in GOP baseball shooting; gunman James T. Hodgkinson is killed by police". Washington Post. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  23. ^ Chappell, Bill (November 6, 2017). "Sen. Rand Paul Recovering From 5 Broken Ribs After Assault". NPR. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  24. ^ Griffiths, Brent D. (November 4, 2017). "Neighbor charged with assault after altercation with Rand Paul". Politico. Retrieved November 5, 2017.

Further reading

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