An American President Was Almost Assassinated In El Paso

Dallas will be forever remembered as the city where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Years before that, El Paso was also almost a Presidents' last stop.

This particular POTUS apparently wasn't too well liked as there were a number of attempts to kill him. One assassin even tried to blow up a train he was traveling on.

The attempt made here also included the President of Mexico. Despite a ton of Texas Rangers, U.S. and Mexican troops, Secret Service agents, FBI agents and U.S. Marshals, a gunman got within a few feet of both leaders.

In 1909, President William Howard Taft came to El Paso to meet with Mexican President Porfirio Diaz. It would be the first time a POTUS and a Mexican 'Prez met and the first time a POTUS ever crossed the US - Mexico border.

They agreed on meeting at the Chamizal strip between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez. It was considered disputed — but neutral — territory, and they agreed that no flags of either country would fly during the meeting. However, as news of the meeting began to circulate, a massive influx of assassination threats against both presidents began to raise concerns. - grunge.com

A Texas Ranger spotted an armed man waiting along the route that Taft and Diaz were to take, disarmed him and held him as both Presidents went past.

Taft was a big guy, (he weighed 330 pounds), and he joked afterward that if anyone wanted to kill him, he'd be "hard to miss".