It was a close call for President Trump. It reminded me of another close call or when President Ford had his two moments back in 1975. This is the story:

Ford faced two assassination attempts within weeks in 1975 and was not hurt in either incident.

In the first attempt, Ford was on his way to a meeting with California’s governor in Sacramento when Charles Manson disciple Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme pushed through a crowd on the street, drew a semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at Ford. The gun wasn’t fired.

Fromme was sentenced to prison and released in 2009.

It was 17 days later when another woman, Sara Jane Moore, confronted Ford outside a hotel in San Francisco. Moore fired one shot and missed. A bystander grabbed her arm as a second shot was attempted.

Moore was sent to prison and released in 2007.

In both instances, I was in college and heard the news on my car radio. The scary part was not knowing whether it was serious or not. As a journalist reporting over the radio said that we had that sick feeling again. The country was recovering from Watergate, Vietnam, the other political assassinations, etc.

President Ford survived and we didn’t have to endure the tragedy again. I had that sick feeling yesterday.

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Image: Gerald R. Ford White House