Reagan was the first to break that rule.... Lincoln, elected 1860, was assassinated in 1865. Arthur Garfield, elected 1880, was assassinated in 1881. William McKinley, elected in 1900, was assassinated in 1901. Warren G. Harding, elected in 1920, died in office in 1923. FDR, elected in 1940, died in office in 1945. John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, assassinated in 1963. Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980, narrowly escaped assassination in 1981. George Bush is the second President elected in a year ending in “0” not to die in office.
Yeah, I think the fact that Reagan broke that rule is pretty obvious, both from my post — which says it — and the history we all lived through.