Crime History: President Ford survivessecond assassination attempt

Published September 21, 2010 4:00am ET



On this day, Sept. 22, in 1975, President Ford survived a second assassination attempt in 17 days.

 

Sarah Jane Moore — a native of Charleston, W.Va. — aimed a .38-caliber pistol at Ford in San Francisco, but a bystander grabbed her arm and pulled her to the ground. Moore’s one shot ricocheted off a building.

Three weeks earlier, Charles Manson disciple Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was arrested for pointing a gun at Ford.

Moore was sentenced to life behind bars. She escaped from the federal prison in Alderson, W.Va., in 1979, but was recaptured hours later.

Moore was released from prison on parole in 2007.

Now 80, she has said she is glad she did not succeed in killing Ford, but she does not regret trying.

– Scott McCabe