What President was the next to be assassinated after Lincoln?

Answer 1

James Garfield was, in 1881. He was shot in the back by a mentally unstable man who wrote one speech in support of Garfield, and believed that this speech singlehandedly won Garfield the election. He demanded to be made ambassador to France, and when it did not happen, he was furious and believed God wanted him to murder the president. One day, Garfield went to the train station to go give a speech, and the assassin shot him twice in the back (although one bullet grazed him).

Garfield had a chance to survive, but the doctors who treated his wound badly mishandled it, and the wound became infected (this was during the time before antibiotics and sterilization). He became very ill and eventually died of a heart attack caused by his illness. His assassin was arrested and convicted, and was executed.

Interestingly, Lincoln's son Robert was there when the shooting happened, and saw the whole thing- he was Garfield's Secretary of War. In addition, he had seen his father die (although he wasn't a witness to the actual shooting), and he was nearby when McKinley was killed in 1901 (he wasn't a witness to that either). After McKinley's assassination, he stopped attending presidential functions.

Answer 2

James A. Garfield was the next to die of gun shot wounds after Lincoln.