Lynette Fromme, The Only Woman To Have Ever Attempted To Assassinate A US President

  Lynette Fromme is an American born in August 1948. She is best known for attempting the assassination of US President Gerald R. Ford in 1975. She belongs to Manson family which otherwise was also charged several times for criminal activities. Imprisoned for 34 years, Fromme was released on parole in 2009. On September 5, 1975, President Gerald Ford came out in park to greet and meet people, shaking hands with supporters and followers. As he approached Lynette, he found himself staring down the barrel of a .45 Colt automatic pistol.
 

That moment made Fromme the first woman to ever attempt an assassination on a US President. Secret agents immediately took hold of her, though her lawyers argued she simply wanted to call attention to environmental issues and Charles Manson’s case. Her lawyer, John Virga later said, “If she wanted to kill him, she would have shot him.” Yet she was sentenced to life in prison.
 
Born in California to a homemaker mother and aeronautical engineer father, Lynette was the oldest of three siblings and always a star performer in a dance troop named Westchester Lariats. As a part of it she travelled the country and even performed at White House in Lawrence Welk Show.   As she entered high school, she became a rebellious child being mostly involved in alcohol and drugs. Her father especially gave her several ultimatums but they were of no use.

 

Soon after she left home and ended up at Venice Beach, where she met Charles. She loved him for his intellect and ideas about life. They held a strong connection and Manson invited her for the country tour along with Mary Brunner. With time Lynette became an inseperable member of Manson family and held an elite spot in the Manson hierarchy. She was sexually abused during a job at a ranch and was called “Squeaky” because of the sound she made during her harassment. Yet she remained at the service of the Mansons.   Her first arrest came in October 1969, when the entire Manson family was nabbed for auto theft.
 

It was revealed during investigation that members of family were involved in the infamous murders at the home of actress Sharon Tate and the murders of the LaBianca couple. She became the head of the family upon her release. In 1971, Manson was handed the death sentence, which was later commuted to life in prison. Later Lynette started a fictitious organization called International People’s Court of Retribution which threatened corporate executives by telling them that they were on terror hit lists.   In her quest to make Manson proud of her environmental work, she pointed the gun at US President. Her only intention was to catch his attention to her environmental work and Manson’s case. It was later revealed that the gun she carried did not have bullets to fire. During her trial, instead of defending her case or presenting testimony she used the court platform to talk about environmental issues. In prison, she remained violent attacking many inmates. In 1987, she escaped from prison to see Manson as he was dying of cancer. Authorities immediately caught her. Watch her interview