List of United States Congress members killed or wounded in office on:
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Since the
''Violence Against Members of Congress and Their Staff: Selected Examples and Congressional Responses.''
Since the United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
was established with the 1st Congress in 1789, fifteen of its members have been killed while in office, and thirteen have suffered serious injuries from attacks. The members of Congress were either injured or killed by someone intending serious harm, or there is evidence of lethal intent by an unknown assailant (such as the two congressmen who died of the National Hotel disease). The first member of Congress to be killed or wounded in office was Henry Wharton Conway
Henry Wharton Conway (March 18, 1793 – November 9, 1827) was a United States naval officer during the War of 1812 and a politician in Arkansas Territory, who was elected as a territorial delegate (1823–1827) to the United States House of Rep ...
who was killed in a duel in 1827. The most recent death occurred in 1983 when Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KE007/KAL007)The flight number KAL 007 was used by air traffic control, while the public flight booking system used KE 007 was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alas ...
, carrying Larry McDonald
Lawrence Patton McDonald (April 1, 1935 – September 1, 1983) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Democrat from 1975 until he was killed ...
, was shot down over the Pacific Ocean. The most recent Congress member to be injured was Rand Paul who was tackled from behind by his neighbor in 2017.
All of the 15 Congressmen killed in office 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. One was a woman, and four were senators. Five of those injured were wounded during the 1954 United States Capitol shooting incident
The 1954 United States Capitol shooting was an attack on March 1, 1954, by four Puerto Rican nationalists who sought to promote the cause of Puerto Rico's independence from US rule. They fired 30 rounds from semi-automatic pistols onto the legisl ...
.
Lists
Killed
Party colors:Wounded
Party colors:See also
*Threatening government officials of the United States
Threatening the government officials of the United States is a felony under federal law. Threatening the president of the United States is a felony under , punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment, that is investigated by the United States Sec ...
* United States Congress members who died in office
* List of assassinated American politicians
This is a list of assassinated American politicians sorted alphabetically. They were elected or appointed to office, or were candidates for public office.
There are 53 assassinated American politicians listed. The most common method of homicide w ...
* List of United States federal judges killed in office
The following is a list of United States federal judges who were killed in office.
John P. Slough
John P. Slough was appointed by President Andrew Johnson to serve as chief justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court. In 1867 William Log ...
* List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots
References
Further reading
* * R. Eric Petersen; Jennifer E. Manning (17 August 2017)''Violence Against Members of Congress and Their Staff: Selected Examples and Congressional Responses.''
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...
.
{{USCongress, membersandleaders
Killed or wounded
Political violence in the United States
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US Congress members