The document discusses political assassinations and violence in American history from the colonial era to the 1960s-1980s. It provides details on numerous assassination attempts and successes against US presidents and other political figures. Some key events summarized include the first presidential assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and the murders of civil rights leaders Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s. Political violence was especially heightened during these turbulent decades.