:Sara Jane Moore

Moore was born in Charleston, West Virginia, the daughter of Ruth (née Moore) and Olaf Kahn.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cO8rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=32gFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1084,2562758&dq=west-virginia-neighbors-recall-young-mrs-moore&hl=en|title=Kentucky New Era - Google News Archive Search|access-date=2015-07-23}} Her paternal grandparents were German immigrants.{{cite book|title=Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford|author=Spieler, G.|date=2008|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=9780230621848|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eg2Ed3efhEMC&pg=PA20|page=20|access-date=2015-07-23}} Moore had been a nursing school student, Women's Army Corps recruit, and accountant. Divorced five times, she had four children before she turned to revolutionary politics in 1975.{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913511,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930060025/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913511,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 30, 2007|title=Making of a Misfit|work=Time Magazine|date=1975-10-06}}{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/features/article/85363.html|title=Assassins Shooting Gallery, Part III: Garrison as Fromme and Baker as Moore|access-date=2007-01-03|last=Hernandez|first=Ernio|date=2004-04-05|work=Playbill|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930193450/http://www.playbill.com/features/article/85363.html|archive-date=2007-09-30}} Moore comes from a Christian background. She later began practicing Judaism.{{cite web|url=http://www.nndb.com/people/324/000023255/|title=Sara Jane Moore|publisher=nndb.com|access-date=2015-07-23}}

Moore's friends said that she had a fascination and an obsession with Patricia Hearst.{{cite web|title=Timeline: Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/guerrilla/timeline/timeline2.html|access-date=2007-01-03|date=2005-02-16|work=American Experience|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service}} After Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), Hearst's father, Randolph Hearst, created the organization People In Need (PIN) to feed the poor, as a response to the SLA's claims that the elder Hearst was "committing 'crimes' against 'the people{{'"}}. Moore, a volunteer bookkeeper for PIN, had been serving as an FBI informant there until the moment she attempted to assassinate Ford.{{cite web|title=Public Report of the White House Security Review|url=http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/ustreas/usss/t1pubrpt.html|author=United States Secret Service|access-date=2007-01-03|publisher=United States Department of the Treasury|quote=Just seventeen days after the Fromme incident, Sara Jane Moore fired a bullet at President Ford in San Francisco. As President Ford exited a downtown hotel, Moore, standing in a crowd of onlookers across the street, pointed her pistol at him. Just before she fired, a civilian grabbed at the gun and deflected the shot. The bullet missed Ford but slightly injured a bystander. Moore was a known radical and a former FBI informant.|archive-date=2006-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923173741/http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/ustreas/usss/t1pubrpt.html|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Gerald Ford assassination attempt in San Francisco}}

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Moore had been evaluated by the Secret Service earlier in 1975, but agents decided that she posed no danger to the president.{{cite magazine|first=James|last=Carney|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988864,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626221314/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988864,00.html |archive-date=June 26, 2007 |title=How To Make The Secret Service's 'Unwanted' List|magazine=Time|date=August 3, 1998 |url-status=dead|access-date=January 3, 2007 }} She had been arrested by police on an illegal-handgun charge the day before the Ford incident, but was released. The police confiscated her .44-caliber Charter Arms Bulldog revolver and 113 rounds of ammunition.{{cite web|first= Geri|last=Spieler|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988864,00.html |archive-url= http://web.archive.org/web/20090628000000/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988864,00.html|archive-date=June 28, 2009 |title=Sara Jane Moore -- Then and Now|work=Huffpost|date=June 28, 2009|access-date=June 28, 2009}} [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sara-jane-moore-then-an_b_208842/amp Alt URL]

Moore's assassination attempt took place in San Francisco on September 22, 1975, just 17 days after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme's attempted assassination of Ford. She was standing in the crowd across the street from the St. Francis Hotel, and she was about {{convert|40|ft}} away from Ford{{cite news|first=Jill|last=Tucker|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/29/BAG9LM27J51.DTL|title=Kenneth Iacovoni – special agent|work=San Francisco Chronicle|page=B-7|date=2006-10-29|access-date=2007-01-03}} when she fired a single shot at him with a .38 caliber revolver. She was using a gun which she bought in haste that same morning and as a result, she did not know that the sights were 15 cm (6 inches) off the point-of-impact at that distance, causing her to narrowly miss.{{cite web|url=http://www.gerispieler.com|title='Taking Aim at the President', by Geri Spieler}}

After realizing that she had missed, Moore raised her arm again, and Oliver Sipple, a former Marine, dived toward her and grabbed her arm, possibly saving Ford's life.{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/americancentury/imperialpres.html|title=The Imperial Presidency: 1972–1980|access-date=2007-01-03|last=Evans|first=Harold|year=1998|work=The American Century|publisher=Random House}}{{cite web|title=Remember... Oliver Sipple (1941-1989)|url=http://www.lambda.net/~maximum/sipple.html|access-date=2007-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103155735/http://www.lambda.net/~maximum/sipple.html|archive-date=2006-11-03}} Sipple said at the time: "I saw [her gun] pointed out there and I grabbed for it. [...] I lunged and grabbed the woman's arm and the gun went off."Seattle Times. "Ford 'won't cower' after shooting." September 23, 1975. The bullet from the second shot ricocheted and hit John Ludwig, a 42-year-old taxi driver. Ludwig survived.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000160.html Caught in Fate's Trajectory, Along With Gerald Ford], Lynne Duke, The Washington Post, December 30, 2006, p. D01. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti, who sentenced Moore, voiced his opinion that Moore would have killed Ford had she had her own gun, and it was only "because her gun was faulty" that the president's life was spared.

During an interview which she conducted in 2009, Moore stated that her motive was to spark a violent revolution in order to bring change to America.{{cite web | url=https://www.historyonthenet.com/sara-jane-moore | title=Sara Jane Moore: Radical Would-Be Ford Assassin | date=22 April 2017 }}

Moore pleaded guilty{{cite web|title=December 12, 1975 in History|url=http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1975/december_12_1975_148048.html|access-date=2007-01-03|work=BrainyHistory}} to attempted assassination and was sentenced to life in prison.{{Cite AV media|people=Nevas, Steve (news anchor)|date=1976|title=Ten O'Clock News broadcast|url=http://main.wgbh.org/ton/programs/8_02.html|medium=Television news|location=Boston, MA|publisher=WGBH}}{{cite web|title=January 15, 1976 in History|url=http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1976/january_15_1976_148171.html|access-date=2007-01-03|work=BrainyHistory}} At her sentencing hearing Moore stated: "Am I sorry I tried? Yes and no. Yes, because it accomplished little except to throw away the rest of my life. And, no, I'm not sorry I tried, because at the time it seemed a correct expression of my anger."{{cite book|author=Geri Spieler|title=Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eg2Ed3efhEMC&pg=PA177|date=23 December 2008|publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-230-62184-8|page=177}} She served her term at the federal women's prison in Dublin, California, where she worked in the UNICOR prison labor program for $1.25 per hour as the Lead Inmate Operating Accountant.{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/08/12/MNR6BA1.DTL |title=Ford Assailant Blocks Prison Key Crackdown|work=San Francisco Chronicle |page=A-21 |date=August 12, 2000 |access-date=January 3, 2007}} Moore had the Federal Bureau of Prisons register number 04851-180.{{cite web |title=Sara Jane Moore |url=http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Sara&Middle=Jane&LastName=Moore&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=0&y=0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118075308/http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Sara&Middle=Jane&LastName=Moore&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=0&y=0 |archive-date=November 18, 2007 |accessdate=January 9, 2010 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Prisons}}

In 1979, Moore escaped, but she was captured several hours later.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/06/archives/sara-jane-moore-in-a-futile-escape.html|title=Sara Jane Moore in a Futile Escape|newspaper=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date=February 6, 1979|accessdate=April 29, 2024}}

During an interview which he conducted in 2004, Ford described Moore as "off her mind" and he also stated that he continued to make public appearances, even after two attempts on his life within such a short period of time, because "a president has to be aggressive, has to meet the people."{{cite web|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0406/08/lkl.01.html|title=Interview with former President Gerald Ford and former first lady Betty Ford|access-date=January 3, 2007|last=King|first=Larry|authorlink=Larry King|date=June 8, 2004|work=Larry King Live}}

On December 31, 2007, at age 77, Moore was slated to be released from prison on parole after serving 32 years of her life sentence. Ford had died from natural causes on December 26, 2006. Moore had later stated that she regretted the assassination attempt, saying she was "blinded by her radical political views".{{cite news |date=December 31, 2007 |title=Would-be Ford assassin freed from prison on parole |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/31/moore.release/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101230610/http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/31/moore.release/index.html |archive-date=January 1, 2008 |work=CNN}}{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/woman-who-tried-to-assassinate-president-ford-released-from-prison|title=Woman Who Tried to Assassinate President Ford Released From Prison|work=Fox News|date=December 31, 2007}} Moore was released under a federal law that makes parole mandatory for inmates who have served at least 30 years of a life sentence and have maintained a satisfactory disciplinary record. When asked about her crime in an interview, Moore stated, "I am very glad I did not succeed. I know now that I was wrong to try."{{cite news|title=Sara Jane Moore, who tried to kill Ford in '75, freed on parole|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2008%2F01%2F01%2FMN2UU7JA4.DTL|first=Michael|last=Taylor|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=January 1, 2008|access-date=October 1, 2008|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202063357/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2008%2F01%2F01%2FMN2UU7JA4.DTL|archive-date=February 2, 2008}}

In February 2019, at age 89, Moore was arrested for violating her parole by failing to tell her parole officer about a trip which she went on outside the country; she was subsequently released in August 2019.{{cite news |last1=McKay |first1=Hollie |title=Would-be President Ford assassin back in jail for violating her parole, official says |url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/woman-convicted-for-attempted-assassination-of-president-ford-back-in-jail-for-violating-parole-law-enforcement-says |newspaper=Fox News |date=26 February 2019 |access-date=26 September 2019}}

On May 28, 2019, Moore appeared on NBC's Today program, her first television appearance since she left prison on parole.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120928221415/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30978026/ns/today-today_people/ NBC News] msnbc.com

Moore also discussed her 1979 escape from prison. She revealed that an inmate told her, "when jumping the fence just put your hand on the barbed wire, you'll only have a few puncture wounds." She went on to say, "If I knew that I was going to be captured several hours later, I would have stopped at the local bar just to get a drink and a burger."{{cite web|url=http://www.theweek.com/article/index/97054/Video_Sara_Jane_Moore_on_the_Today_show|title=Video: Sara Jane Moore on the 'Today' show|publisher=theweek.com|access-date=2015-07-23|archive-date=2013-12-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228091315/http://theweek.com/article/index/97054/Video_Sara_Jane_Moore_on_the_Today_show|url-status=dead}}

Excerpts from an interview with Moore by Latif Nasser appear on an episode of the radio program Radiolab titled "Oliver Sipple", which was released on September 22, 2017. In the interview, Moore discusses the scene from the day she attempted to assassinate Ford and her perspective of being stopped by Oliver Sipple.{{cite web |url=http://www.radiolab.org/story/oliver-sipple/ |title=Oliver Sipple |last=Radiolab |publisher=WYNC |date=September 22, 2017 |website=Radiolab |access-date=September 22, 2017}}

Moore is a character in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical Assassins, which is about presidential assassins, both successful and unsuccessful. Moore, John Wilkes Booth, Charles J. Guiteau and Leon Czolgosz appear in "The Gun Song".

A biography of Moore called Taking Aim at the President was published in 2009 by Geri Spieler, a writer who had a correspondence with Moore for 28 years.{{Cite book |last=Spieler |first=Geri |year=2009 |title=Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Shot at Gerald Ford |url=https://archive.org/details/takingaimatpresi00spierich |url-access=registration |location=New York City|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=9780230610231 |oclc=226357171}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gerispieler.com/taking-aim-at-the-president.html|title=Taking Aim at the President|publisher=gerispieler.com|access-date=2015-07-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723091202/http://gerispieler.com/Geris_Book_Taking_Aim.html|archive-date=July 23, 2015}}

Suburban Fury, a 2024 Robinson Devor documentary about Moore, filmed after her release from prison, was selected to screen in the Main Slate section of the 2024 New York Film Festival.{{cite web |title=Suburban Fury |url=https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2024/films/suburban-fury/ |website=Film at Lincoln Center |access-date=9 August 2024}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203094734/http://www.cah.utexas.edu/photojournalism/detail.php?nickname=cah_reading&picid=1 |date=December 3, 2016 |title=Photograph of Ford and his Secret Service agents taken just after Moore fired her shot }}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926115727/http://www.ford.utexas.edu/avproj/assassin.htm |date=September 26, 2012 |title=Photographs of both the Fromme and Moore assassination attempts from the Ford Presidential Library (1) }}
• {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330151139/http://www.ford.utexas.edu/avproj/Assassinations.asp |date=March 30, 2012 |title=Photographs of both the Fromme and Moore assassination attempts from the Ford Presidential Library (2) }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Sara Jane}}

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