Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Attempted Assassination)
Late in the evening of February 15, 1943, President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt was coming ashore in Miami, Florida after a 12-day fishing trip. Afterwards, he decided to stop in a park to give a speech. While there, he spotted Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak who was sitting nearby. He waved at the Mayor to come join him which he did.
Meanwhile, gangster Guiseppe Zangara had maneuvered himself closer to the future President and the Mayor. Standing on a chair less then 25 feet away, he fired his .32 caliber revolver five times in rapid succession. A group of onlookers grabbed ZangaraΓÇÖs arm and shoved it upwards. Unfortunately, it was too late. Each of the bullets had found a target. Three men and one women were hit in the crossfire. The fifth bullet hit Mayor Cermak under his right armpit and entered his lung.
The intact, but shaken president stayed at the side of his fallen friend. Cermak whispered to Roosevelt that IΓÇÖm glad it was me instead of you. The President-elect rode all the way to the hospital with his Cermak, telling him to ΓÇ£...keep quiet-donΓÇÖt move-it wonΓÇÖt hurt you if you keep quiet and remain perfectly still.ΓÇ¥
Cermak died in the hospital three weeks later. Before his death he offered another suggestion as to who the real focus of the attack had been.
Cermak was not the responsible, clean-cut politician that he wanted others to believe he was. He had strong Mafia connections and wanted to take over Al CaponeΓÇÖs place as head of the Gangster families. To do this, he needed to get rid of Frank Nitti, CaponeΓÇÖs successor while in prison. A few weeks before the incident, Cermak sent some tough cops to assassinate Nitti. While handcuffed, the unarmed gangster was shot three times in the back. But he still managed to recover. That was when Cermak made a quick retreat out of Chicago and into the Florida sun.
Zitti then supposedly had CermakΓÇÖs mob boss in Chicago killed and sent his hitman after the Mayor. While many historians believe this story to be true, there is nothing to prove its validity.
Another explanation has focused on Guiseppe Zangara himself. He was an angry, antisocial man who raved against capitalists and rejected everything around him. He was not a member of the Communist, Socialist, or Anarchist parties.
During his trial, Zangara said that he would have just as soon killed Calvin Coolidge or Herbert Hoover as Roosevelt. He had also considered assassinating King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy before he moved to the United States in 1923. Zangara also remarked about Cermak saying I wasnΓÇÖt shooting at him, but IΓÇÖm not sorry I hit him.
Cermak was put to death in the electric chair. His final words to witnesses were good-bye. ΓÇ£Adios to all the world. Go ahead. Push the button.ΓÇ¥
