There were two attempts to Assassinate President Ford. The first was on September 5, 1975 and the second a few weeks later on September 22, 1975. Both happend in California. September 5, 1975: On the northern grounds of the California State Capitol, by a follower of Charles Manson named Lynette Fromme drew a Colt M1911. 45 caliber pistol on Ford when he reached to shake her hand in a crowd. She had four cartridges in the pistols. She had four cartridges in the pistol's magazine but none in the firing chamber. Before she could fire a shot she was quickly restrained by Secret Service agent Larry Buendof. Fromme was sentenced to life in prison, but was released from custody on August 14, 2009 (2 years and 8 months after Ford's death) She claimed she wasn't trying to shoot the president. She wanted to be caught and have a trial that Charles Manson could testify and he could convince people to give him a new trial.
President Ford was in San Francisco. He was staying at the St. Frances Hotel. He was leaving the hotel after giving a speak where were over 3,000 people across the street wanting to see the president. As he headed for the car to go to the airport, Sara Jane Moore pulled out a .44 caliber pistol from her purse.
Seventeen days later, another woman, Sarah Jane Moore, a mentally unstable accountant, tried to assassinate Ford while he was in San Francisco. Her attempt was thwarted by a bystander who instinctively grabbed Moore's arm when she raised the gun. Although she fired one shot, it did not find its target. The bystander, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran named Oliver Sipple, was publicly thanked by Ford three days later.
Fromme was convicted of attempted murder and was sentenced to life in prison in West Virginia. She escaped in 1979, but was caught within 25 miles of the prison. Strangely, Ford's second would-be assassin, Moore, was imprisoned in the same facility and escaped in 1989. She turned herself in two days later and, like Fromme, was transferred to a higher-security penitentiary.
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