Assassinations are attempted for several reasons, from personal dislikeness to political motives and from deep conspiracies to insanity. History has witnessed countless such attempts and their aftermath in which people from different walks of life were attacked. However when it comes to famous and important personalities it takes much more for the attempt to be successful. Failed assassination attempts have a very different perspective as they let the person who survived the attempt face the consequences. Following is the list of 10 important failed assassination attempts of the history:
Alpha Condé is the President of Guinea since December 2010 and a former professor of Political science at the University of Paris. For decades he opposed the succession of regimes in Guinea. Being unsuccessful in the first two elections he was elected President in 2010 elections. On 19 July 2010 the presidential residence was ambushed at 3:10am. The presidential guard had to fight for at-least two hours before the reinforcements arrived. The attack resulted in the death of a presidential guard and two others were injured. Condé remained unharmed during the attack. At least 38 soldiers were arrested in connection with the assassination attempt. Many of them had connections with previous military rulers.
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was the Shah (Emperor) of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He was the last monarch of the House of Pahlavi. His reign was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution. Pahlavi came to power after World War II when his father Reza Shah was forced to abdicate in favor of his son. During his reign Iran marked the anniversary of 2500 years of continuous monarchy since the founding of the Persian empire. In his life Pahlavi survived at least two assassination attempts. On February 4 1949, while he was attending a ceremony to commemorate the founding of Tehran University, Fakhr-Arai fired five shots at Pahlavi from a distance of ten feet. Only one shot hit Pahlavi grazing his cheek. Fakhr-Arai was readily shot to death. Investigations suggested that Fakhr-Arai was a member of Tudeh Party which was subsequently banned.
Khalid Mashal is the leader of Palestinian group Hamas since 2004. Mashal Studied at Kuwait university and started his political career as a Student Leader. On September 25 1997, while Mashal was head of Hamas’ Jordanian Branch, he was target of an assassination attempt by Israeli Mosad. Two Mosad agents were waiting outside his office in Amman. While Mashal walked into his office, one of the agents came up from behind and held a device to Mashal’s left ear. The device transmitted a lethal nerve toxin “levofentanyl”. Because of timely intervention of his personal chauffeur and security guard the agents were arrested. Later the matter grew in political significance, US President Bill Clinton and Jordan’s King Hussein intervened. Israel had to provide the antidote for the nerve toxin, thus Mashal was treated and his life was saved.
Pervez Musharraf was a Dictator who ruled Pakistan for 10 years 1999-2008, Musharraf was an Army General and came into power through a military coup. During his time Pakistan became a front-line ally of United States in war against terrorism and Afghan war was fought. Because of his policies Musharraf was unpopular among a large section of the masses from the very beginning of his rule. His popularity declined heavily towards the end of his rule. Musharraf survived many assassination attempts but on December 25 2003, it was a narrow escape. Two suicide bombers with their cars fully loaded with explosives tried to kill him but failed to hit the target. Musharraf escaped with only a cracked windshield on his car and 16 others died instead. The alleged mastermind Amjad Farooqi was killed by Pakistani forces in 2004.
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States, In 1950 while White House was undergoing major repairs, Truman lived at Blair House, across the street. On November 1st 1950 while he was napping on the second floor, Two Puerto Rican nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, tried to assassinate him by killing the guards at the front door and in a guard booth on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue. Collazo shot a police officer in the knee and was taken down with shots to the head and arm. Torresola put four bullets into the Officer at the guard booth, mortally wounding him. Going to defend Collazo, Torresola fired shots and ran out of ammunition. Officer at the guard booth dying of his wounds, managed to stagger out of the booth and kill Torresola. Later Collazo recovered from his wounds and was sentenced to death, which Truman commuted to life in prison. Collazo was pardoned by Jimmy Carter in 1979.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Revolutionary and Founder of USSR. He is considered as the greatest revolutionary leader and most significant political leader of 20th century. On August 30 1918, when Lenin was returning from a speech a Socialist Revolutionary Fanya Kaplan approached him; Lenin spoke with a woman when Kaplan called to him, and when he turned to face her she shot at him thrice. The first bullet struck his arm, the second bullet his jaw and neck, and the third missed him and wounded the woman with whom he was speaking. Lenin went unconscious. Fearing in-hospital assassins, he was brought to his Kremlin apartment; physicians decided not to remove his bullets. It was reported that the assassination attempt made Lenin much more popular than he was.
Theodore Roosvelt was the 26th President of the United States. He was famous for his exuberant personality, range of interests, achievements and robust masculinity. He is equally famous for his achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author and soldier. On October 13, 1912, three and a half year after he left office, While he was delivering a speech Roosevelt was shot once with a .38 caliber revolver by a saloon-keeper from New York, John F. Schrank. A 50-page speech folded twice and a metal glasses case in his breast pocket slowed the bullet. Roosevelt yelled “Quiet! I have been shot”. He continued his speech with the bullet still lodged inside him. He was later taken to the hospital but the bullet was never removed.
John Paul II has been one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. He reigned for 26 years and 168 days-The second longest reign. He was instrumental in ending communism in Poland and eventually all of Europe. John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church’s relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. On May 13 1981, when John Paul II entered St. Peter’s Square to address an audience, he was shot by a Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca. Ağca used a Browning 9 mm semi-automatic pistol, Colon and small intestine of John Paul II was perforated multiple times. He was rushed into the Vatican complex and then to a hospital where he underwent five hours of surgery. The pope stated that Our Lady of Fátima helped keep him alive throughout his ordeal. Two years later he visited Ağca in the prison, the two spoke privately for 20 minutes and Ağca was pardoned. Later investigations found that Soviet Union was behind the incident.
Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani Politician and was first and to date the only female Prime Minister of Pakistan. Having twice been the the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Bhutto was daughter of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. She went into self-imposed exile in Dubai in 1998. After eight years in exile Bhutto returned to Karachi on October 18 2007. Shortly after the she had landed and left the Airport two suicide bombers attacked the rally escorting her. She was not injured because of the steel protected vehicle carrying her. However the attacks killed 136 people including 50 security guards from her party who have formed a human chain around her vehicle and injured 450 others.
One of the most famous figures of the history, Adolf Hitler was a dictator who ruled Germany from 1933-1945. He led the country in World War II and was a decorated Veteran of World War I. Hitler is known to be among the most strict and cruel dictators. He survived several assassinations attempts in his life. The most notable and famous was the one carried out as a part of Operation Valkyrie. On July 20 1944 Col. Claus von Stauffenberg planted a bomb in Hitler’s office at his Headquarters in Rastenburg popularly known as Wolfsschanze or Wolf’s Liar. Hitler narrowly escaped death as someone unknowingly moved the briefcase case containing the bomb. As a result Stauffenberg was immediately executed along with other personnel involved in the conspiracy.
10. Alpha Condé
9. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
8. Khalid Mashal
7. Pervez Musharraf
6. Harry S. Truman
5. Vladimir Lenin
4. Theodore Roosevelt
3. Pope John Paul II
2. Benazir Bhutto
1. Adolf Hitler