Giuseppe Zangara
Attempted Assassin
Date Of Birth:
7 September 1900
Date Of Death:
20 March 1933
Place Of Birth:
Ferruzzano, Italy
Best Known As:
The man who almost shot FDR
Giuseppe Zangara tried to shoot Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami on 15 February 1933 -- before Roosevelt even took office as president for the first time. A bricklayer, Zangara apparently was angry at Roosevelt (and his predecessor, Herbert Hoover) over poor economic conditions amid the Great Depression. Zangara missed the president-elect but did hit five other people, including Chicago mayor Anton Cermak. Cermak later died, and Zangara was swiftly convicted of murder and executed in the electric chair.
Extra Credit:
Zangara is also known as Joseph Zangara… Zangara was about five feet tall and so had to stand on a chair to get his shot at FDR. According to some accounts, his aim was thrown off when the chair wobbled; other say a local woman grabbed Zangara’s arm.. Roosevelt was inaugurated on 4 March 1933, and Cermak died two days later… His last words before his execution were reportedly “Adios to the world!”
A Good Link
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Semi-reliable history of the shooting, playing up the alleged mob connection
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