An assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, echoes the chilling history of George Washington, the nation's first president.
The location of the assassination attempt on Trump was just six miles away from the site of a similar attempt on Washington's life.
An American historical figure survived an assassination attempt in western Pennsylvania, but it was not former President Donald J. Trump.
At the age of 21, George Washington was a significant member of the British military, holding the rank of major.
The year was 1753.
At the time, the United States did not exist, and young Washington was traveling from Virginia to western Pennsylvania.
His goal? Preventing war.
Jack Cohen, president of Butler County Tourism and board member of the 1753 George Washington Trail, stated in a phone interview with Planet Chronicle Digital that Washington was heading towards Fort Le Boeuf, which is near Erie.
Cohen stated that he would meet with French troops "to determine if he could halt the French and Indian War."
The mission of Washington was to convey a message from Virginia Gov. Robert Dinwiddie, asking the French to vacate the region.
The French resisted the idea of leaving the area, which led to the start of a war six months after Washington's visit to Fort Le Boeuf.
On Dec. 27, 1753, Washington and his guide, a surveyor named Christopher Gist, were following the Venango Indian Trail on their way back to Virginia when they stopped for the night at Connoquenessing Creek in Pennsylvania.
An "Indian guide" who promised to assist them through the wilderness befriended the two.
The "Indian guide" was an ally of the French troops and was displeased upon encountering Washington.
The man "loaded his musket and shot at Washington and just missed him."
Cohen stated that the man "fired his musket at Washington but missed him by a hair's breadth."
"Gist advised them to let the man go, and they did so. The next morning, they continued on their journey."
In Evans City, Pennsylvania, two markers commemorate the 300-year anniversary of the assassination attempt on George Washington, which took place near the Butler Farm Show, where Donald Trump nearly lost his life recently.
The gunman fired the shot at Washington's would-be assassin, who was "less than 15 paces from him."
Currently, Cohen and the other board members are working to have Washington's historic route acknowledged as a National Historic Trail by the National Parks Service.
George Washington could have been killed here, and it should be a national trail, according to what he told Planet Chronicle Digital.
"That happened right here in Butler County."
On July 13, 2024, 270 years after Washington survived an assassination attempt, Trump also escaped death when a bullet grazed his right ear, six miles away from his campsite in Butler County.
The similarities between the two events were not lost on Cohen.
He told Planet Chronicle Digital that the attempt on Washington's life was "pretty much like what just happened to Trump."
"Isn't that crazy?" said Cohen.
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