On February 15, 1933, President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt (this was pre-20th Amendment, so the inauguration would have been in March) was in Miami following a cruise vacation. While there, Roosevelt’s staff planned for him to give a short speech at Bayfront Park before boarding a train to head north. With him at this speech was Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. He intended to meet up with the President-Elect to discuss the possibility of an RFC loan to the city of Chicago. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be a short stop for both men, one of them would not walk away from the encounter.
Following Roosevelt’s speech, he and his security team started moving toward their vehicle. Mayor Cermak approached Roosevelt at this point for their discussion. In this moment, a man named Giuseppe Zangara pulled a pistol from his pocket, took aim at the President-Elect, and began shooting. Zangara didn’t expect that the woman sitting next to him, Mrs. W. H. Cross would grab his arm, deflecting his aim. Regardless, Zangara continued shooting until all six bullets had been spent. Five of the six bullets injured six people, including Mayor Cermak, Robert Clark (one of Roosevelt’s Secret Service agents,) a chauffeur, a retired policeman, Mrs. Joe Gill (there with her husband who was the president of Florida Power and Light Company,) and a night club entertainer.
As the shots rang out, Roosevelt’s security team pushed him into his car and ordered the driver to pull out. Roosevelt told the driver to stop until wounded Cermak could be loaded into his car. Roosevelt later recounted, “. . . we put him in our car. He was alive, but I was afraid he wouldn’t last. I held him all the way.” The car drove to Jackson Memorial Hospital, a place Cermak would never leave. He died from his injuries 19 days after the shooting.
Zangara said he decided to assassinate the president because he hated all people with wealth and power. He also cited a medical condition for his rage. He said that his stomach hurt all the time, and the pain and anger turned to hate, which turned to violence. Zangara was initially charged with attempted murder; however, after Cermak’s death, he was charged with murder and sentenced to death by electric chair.
It is reported that upon arriving at Jackson Memorial, Mayor Cermak said to President-Elect Roosevelt, “I am mighty glad it was me instead of you . . . the country needs you.” As Cermak pointed out, it’s hard to imagine what might have happened if Zangara had been successful that day and Roosevelt hadn’t served his four terms as president.
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