Giuseppe Zangara
Attempted Assassin
Date Of Birth:
7 September 1900
Date Of Death:
20 March 1933
execution
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!”
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