President Gerald Ford left the St. Francis Hotel on Post Street in San Francisco after he addressed the World Affairs Council. Sara Jane Moore stood in a crowd across the street about 40 feet from the president and held a .38-caliber revolver. She fired once and missed. Oliver Sipple, a former United States Marine and Vietnam veteran, lunged and grabbed her arm as she fired again. The second bullet struck taxi driver John Ludwig, who stood inside the hotel, and he survived his injury. Secret Service agents and San Francisco police officers subdued Moore at the scene. Agents moved the president into his limousine and drove him to San Francisco International Airport, where he boarded Air Force One.
The attempt occurred 17 days after Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme tried to shoot President Ford in Sacramento on September 5, 1975. Moore’s revolver discharged both times. Reports state that her first shot narrowly missed the president’s head. Sipple’s intervention prevented a direct second shot at the president. Contemporary accounts identify the location as the north, Post Street entrance of the St. Francis Hotel at Union Square, and place the time at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon Pacific Time.
Public records and reporting document Moore’s actions before the shooting. Police detained Moore the day before the attempt on an illegal handgun charge and confiscated a .44-caliber revolver and ammunition. She purchased a different .38-caliber revolver on the morning of September 22. Investigators later noted that the sights on that weapon were misaligned at the distance involved. Those details explain why the first shot missed and provide clear context for the event sequence.
Law enforcement and federal proceedings moved quickly after the arrest. A federal court found Moore competent to stand trial in November 1975. Moore entered a guilty plea in December 1975 to attempting to murder the president of the United States. The court sentenced her to life imprisonment in January 1976. The Federal Bureau of Prisons released Moore on parole on December 31, 2007, after more than three decades in custody. Those dates appear in federal appellate records and in major news outlets that covered her case and release.
Sipple’s quick action drew immediate praise from authorities and press. President Ford sent Sipple a letter thanking him for his conduct. Media coverage also disclosed Sipple’s sexual orientation without his consent. Sipple filed privacy lawsuits in California courts against several outlets. Appellate decisions in those cases affirmed judgments for defendants on public disclosure of private facts claims. Those rulings cited Sipple’s public role in a newsworthy event and his prior, local public profile. The litigation placed the case in United States privacy law history and linked it to the event outside the St. Francis Hotel.
The attempt shaped protective measures for the president’s public appearances in the following weeks. Accounts note that after two California attempts in the same month, protective details added visible safeguards for open-air movements. Reporting from the period describes the issue of a bulletproof trench coat for the president’s use during public walks. The San Francisco attempt also reinforced the importance of crowd control and clear sightlines at hotel entrances and urban streets where a president might pause to greet spectators.
The historical significance of September 22, 1975, rests on confirmed facts. A would-be assassin fired twice at a sitting president in a dense urban setting. A bystander reacted in a split second and altered the trajectory of a bullet. A civilian was wounded and survived. Police and agents acted and secured the president within moments. Courts processed the case and imposed a life sentence. Parole followed after decades. The event also produced a measured shift in protective practice and a notable series of privacy decisions connected to Sipple’s outing. Each element appears in official records and credible reporting and establishes the event as a key moment in late 20th-century American political history.
References / More Knowledge:
National Archives, “A Reluctant Hero – Ford In Focus.” https://ford.blogs.archives.gov/2024/06/13/a-reluctant-hero/
History.com Editors, “President Ford Survives Second Assassination Attempt.” https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-22/president-ford-survives-second-assassination-attempt
United States Court Of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, United States Of America v. Sara Jane Moore, 599 F.2d 310. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/599/310/114403/
California Court Of Appeal, Sipple v. Chronicle Publishing Co., 154 Cal.App.3d 1040 (1984). https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/3d/154/1040.html
The Washington Post, Lynne Duke, “Caught In Fate’s Trajectory, Along With Gerald Ford.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2006/12/31/caught-in-fates-trajectory-along-with-gerald-ford/9cd10310-89b7-43ba-89b7-9d18e948e12d/
TIME Magazine, “The Shooting: Ford’s Second Close Call.” https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,913508-6,00.html
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Gerald Ford Survived Second Assassination Attempt 45 Years Ago.” https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/gerald-ford-survived-second-assassination-attempt-45-years-ago/OKJFLTSLLRHPNKPLAQG6AWW4FY/