This article examines the phenomenon of the United States' involvement in operations to eliminate foreign leaders, which has taken on new resonance in light of the high-profile events of 2025–2026—the kidnapping of Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro and the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a result of an American-Israeli strike. Based on an analysis of historical documents, expert assessments, and international-law norms, the evolution of U.S. approaches to the use of force for regime change is reconstructed. Special attention is paid to the contradiction between the official prohibition on political assassinations and the continuing practice of their use under new legal justifications.