On September 22, 1975, a middle-aged accountant and former FBI informant named Sara Jane Moore stood outside the Saint Francis Hotel in San Francisco and raised a .38-caliber revolver at President Gerald Ford. She pulled the trigger twice, missing the president's head by mere inches thanks to a deflected barrel and a bystander's intervention. Occurring just seventeen days after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme's failed attempt on Ford in Sacramento, Moore's attack shocked the nation. It cemented her status alongside Fromme as one of only two women in American history to attempt a presidential assassination.
Unlike Fromme, who was tightly tied to Charles Manson's inner circle, Moore operated as an isolated figure driven by radical anti-government delusions, deep personal instability, and an obsession with revolutionary theatre. Her life wasn't just a footnote in presidential security history; it was a bizarre psychological puzzle involving multiple marriages, secret intelligence work, and a frantic quest for relevance.
Early Life and Shifting Identities
Born Sara Jane Kahn in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1930, Moore showed early promise in academics but grew up in an emotionally cold household. Her early years were marked by a restless desire to escape conventional expectations. She dropped out of nursing school, served a brief stint in the Women's Army Corps, and eventually built a career as an accountant.
Throughout her early adulthood, stability eluded her. She married five times, abandoned several of her children, and frequently adopted new names and personas to reinvent herself. By the mid-1970s, Moore had drifted into the political underground of the San Francisco Bay Area. She gravitated toward radical leftist groups, though her erratic demeanor and transparent opportunism made actual revolutionaries deeply suspicious of her intentions.
The FBI Informant in the Underground
Behind her radical posturing, Moore led a double life. She volunteered as a bookkeeper for People in Need (PIN), a charitable food distribution organization founded by Randolph Hearst after the kidnapping of his daughter, Patricia Hearst, by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
At the same time, Moore was working as a confidential informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, passing along information about local radical groups. Her handlers viewed her as unreliable and emotionally unstable, yet she remained embedded in circles where violent rhetoric was normalized. Rather than acting as a disciplined revolutionary, Moore was a chameleon seeking a grand stage. She convinced herself that assassinating the president would ignite a widespread violent uprising against the U.S. government's policies, particularly regarding the Vietnam War.
The 1975 Assassination Attempt
On September 22, 1975, President Ford was leaving the Saint Francis Hotel after addressing the World Affairs Council. Moore stood roughly forty feet away in a crowd of onlookers.
As Ford emerged, Moore fired her first shot. The bullet missed the president's head, passing through the open door frame and lodging in a wall. Before she could fire a calculated second shot, a former Marine named Oliver Sipple lunged forward and grabbed her arm, deflecting the gun downward. The second shot ricocheted off the pavement, striking a passing taxi driver in the groin. Both victims survived, and police instantly subdued Moore.
According to the National Archives, Sipple's quick intervention averted a historic tragedy, though the immediate aftermath turned his personal life upside down due to unwanted media scrutiny.
Trial, Imprisonment, and Later Years
Following her arrest, Moore pleaded guilty to federal charges of attempted assassination and was sentenced to life imprisonment. During her decades behind bars, she spent years in isolation due to her volatile behavior, eventually escaping from a federal prison in West Virginia in 1979 before being recaptured shortly after.
Over time, Moore's worldview shifted. She renounced her past radical beliefs and converted to Judaism in 1986. Granted parole in 2007 at age 77, she lived quietly under supervision until her death in September 2025 at the age of 95, as detailed by the New York Times obituary. Her life remains a stark study in how personal alienation, mental instability, and political extremism can intersect with tragic unpredictability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Sara Jane Moore try to assassinate Gerald Ford?
Moore believed that killing the president would trigger a violent national revolution, forcing the U.S. government to collapse and fundamentally alter its political system.
Was Sara Jane Moore connected to the Manson family?
No. Unlike Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who attempted to assassinate Ford seventeen days earlier as a devoted follower of Charles Manson, Moore operated independently with no formal ties to any cohesive cult or radical faction.
How many times was Sara Jane Moore married?
Moore was married five times over the course of her life and gave birth to four children, most of whom she abandoned as she moved across the country and changed careers.
What happened to the man who stopped Sara Jane Moore?
Oliver Sipple, a disabled veteran, wrestled Moore's arm during the second shot. While hailed as a national hero by President Ford, the intense media spotlight that followed exposed his personal life, leading to severe personal and legal battles.
