The chaos that the United States has experienced over just these last few months might seem unprecedented ... 

But America is no stranger to political violence.  

For some perspective on all of this, We turned to presidential historian Barbara Perry ... she co-chairs the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia.  

She tells us this period of time reminds her of the last truly volatile decade for the country.

Perry says she understands when President Joe Biden says that political violence is not what America is about ... but the history doesn't really support that.
 
Perry went back to the turmoil of the 1960's ... arguing that perhaps we've learned the wrong lessons.

Just a few instances of political violence in this country over the last decade or so: 

The shooting attack on Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in 2011 ... the shooting attack against Congressional Republicans practicing for their softball game in 2017 ... the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ... and the 2022 hammer attack against Nancy Pelosi's husband.