Sara Jane Moore, who attempted to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford in 1975 and later expressed regret for her actions, has died at the age of 95. Her death was confirmed by family members, who said she passed away peacefully earlier this week.
Moore, a mother of four and a former accountant, was little known to the public until September 22, 1975, when she stood outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco and aimed a revolver at the president as he emerged from a speaking engagement. Her shot narrowly missed Ford, thanks in part to a bystander who intervened and grabbed her arm at the crucial moment.
The assassination attempt came just 17 days after another woman, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, had also tried to kill Ford in Sacramento. The back-to-back attempts shocked the nation and raised concerns about presidential security during a turbulent period in American politics.
Moore had been under FBI surveillance at the time due to her associations with radical leftist circles. She later admitted that she had been influenced by revolutionary rhetoric and believed that killing the president might ignite a broader movement. “I was blinded by the ideology of the moment,” she said in later interviews.
In court, Moore pleaded guilty to attempted assassination and was sentenced to life in prison. She served more than three decades behind bars before being paroled in 2007 at the age of 77. At her parole hearing, she acknowledged the gravity of her crime, saying, “I was misguided. I regret everything I did.”
During her imprisonment, Moore gained a reputation as a model inmate. She worked in prison education programs and spoke openly about the dangers of extremism and political violence. Friends and fellow inmates described her as intelligent and reflective, a far cry from the radicalized woman who once tried to kill a sitting president.
Her release drew both criticism and sympathy. Some questioned whether a woman who once attempted such a brazen act should ever have been freed, while others pointed to her decades of good behavior and genuine remorse as evidence she had changed. After her parole, Moore lived quietly in an undisclosed location, largely avoiding public attention.
The story of her attempt on Ford’s life has been recounted in books, documentaries, and even stage productions exploring America’s troubled history with political violence. Historians often cite her case as emblematic of the turbulent 1970s, when disillusionment with government, the aftermath of Watergate, and the fallout of the Vietnam War created fertile ground for radical movements.
President Ford, who went on to survive both assassination attempts during his short presidency, later reflected on the incidents with characteristic calm. “It’s something you don’t expect, but you have to accept it,” he said in an interview years later. Ford died in 2006 at the age of 93.
Moore herself, in rare public remarks after her release, said she was haunted by her past but wanted to be remembered as more than just the woman who tried to kill a president. “I made a terrible mistake,” she once told a reporter. “But I tried to make my life afterward one of value.”
Her passing closes the chapter on one of the more extraordinary footnotes in American political history. Moore’s life reflected both the dangers of radicalization and the possibility of redemption, though her name will forever be linked to one of the darkest days in Gerald Ford’s presidency.
Funeral arrangements have not been made public. Family members have asked for privacy, while noting that they hope her story continues to serve as a cautionary tale about the consequences of political extremism.
