FDR escapes assassination in Miami
On this day in 1933 a deranged unemployed brick layer named Giuseppe Zangara shouts Too many people are starving and fires a gun at Americas president-elect Franklin D.Roosevelt.Roosevelt had just delivered a speech in Miamis Bayfront Park from the back seat of his open touring car when Zangara opened fire with six rounds.Five people were hit.
The president escaped injury but the mayor of Chicago Anton Cermak who was also in attendance received a mortal stomach wound in the attack.Several men tackled the assailant and might have beaten him to death if Roosevelt had not intervened telling the crowd to leave justice to the authorities.Zangara later claimed I dont hate Mr.Roosevelt personallyI hate all officials and anyone who is rich.
He also told the FBI that chronic stomach pain led to his action Since my stomach hurt I want to make even with the capitalists by kill the president.My stomach hurt long time [sic].Zangaras extreme action reflected the anger and frustration felt among many working Americans during the Great Depression.At the time of the shooting Roosevelt was still only the president-elect and had yet to be sworn in.
His policies remained untested but reports of Roosevelts composure during the assassination attempt filled the following days newspapers and did much to enforce Roosevelts public image as a strong leader.Unsubstantiated reports later claimed that Zangaras real target had been Cermak and hinted at Zangaras connection to organized crime in Chicago.Zangara was initially tried for attempted murder and sentenced to 80 years in prison but when Mayor Cermak later died of his wounds Zangara was retried and sentenced to death.Zangara died on the electric chair on March 5 1933.
