GIUSEPPE ZANGARA
Giuseppe Zangara
Born September 7, 1900
Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy
Died March 20, 1933 (aged 32)
Raiford, Florida, U.S.
Giuseppe Zangara (September 7, 1900 - March 20, 1933) attempted to kill United
States President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. Zangara successfully
assassinated Chicago mayor Anton Cermak during the same incident.
Zangara was born in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy. After serving in the Tyrolian
Alps in World War I, Zangara did a variety of menial jobs in his home village
before emigrating with his uncle to the United States in 1923. He settled in
Paterson, New Jersey and on September 11, 1929, he became a naturalized citizen
of the United States.
Zangara, a poorly educated bricklayer, suffered severe pain in his abdomen,
later attributed to adhesions of the gall bladder. These were later cited as a
cause for his increasing mental delusions. It became increasingly difficult for
him to work due to both his physical and mental conditions, and in his fevered
mind came to believe the President of the United States was supernaturally
responsible for causing his pain. Shortly before becoming a legal citizen of the
United States, Giuseppe was diagnosed with appendicitis. This lead to him in
1926 to have an appendectomy, or removal of the appendix. Further, he was a very
lonely man; he blamed authority figures for his pain, but the side effects of
his condition included chronic flatulence, while his outspoken and impatient
nature likely pushed other people away. Other sources report that Zangara envied
those who had more than he did, and sought the assassination of "all capitalist
presidents and kings." Zangara began plotting to assassinate the current
president Herbert Hoover, but Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was elected to
replace him before Zangara could act on his plan. Zangara would later say, "Hoover
and Roosevelt everybody the same."
On February 15, 1933, FDR was giving a speech in Bayfront Park in the city of
Miami, Florida where Zangara was living, working the occasional odd job, and
living off his savings. Zangara took a .32 caliber pistol, purchased at a local
pawn shop, and joined the crowd. However, being only five feet tall, he was
unable to see over other people and had to stand on a wobbly, folding, metal
chair, peering over the hat of Lilian Cross, a doctor's wife, to get a clear aim
at his target. After the first shot, Mrs. Cross and others grabbed his arm and
he fired five more shots wildly. He missed the President-Elect. Five other
people were hit including Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, who was sitting next to
FDR. En route to the hospital, Cermak had allegedly told FDR, "I'm glad it was
me and not you, Mr. President" words that are currently inscribed on a plaque
located in Bayfront Park.
Giuseppe Zangara
Born September 7, 1900
Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy
Died March 20, 1933 (aged 32)
Raiford, Florida, U.S.
Giuseppe Zangara (September 7, 1900 - March 20, 1933) attempted to kill United
States President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. Zangara successfully
assassinated Chicago mayor Anton Cermak during the same incident.
Zangara was born in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy. After serving in the Tyrolian
Alps in World War I, Zangara did a variety of menial jobs in his home village
before emigrating with his uncle to the United States in 1923. He settled in
Paterson, New Jersey and on September 11, 1929, he became a naturalized citizen
of the United States.
Zangara, a poorly educated bricklayer, suffered severe pain in his abdomen,
later attributed to adhesions of the gall bladder. These were later cited as a
cause for his increasing mental delusions. It became increasingly difficult for
him to work due to both his physical and mental conditions, and in his fevered
mind came to believe the President of the United States was supernaturally
responsible for causing his pain. Shortly before becoming a legal citizen of the
United States, Giuseppe was diagnosed with appendicitis. This lead to him in
1926 to have an appendectomy, or removal of the appendix. Further, he was a very
lonely man; he blamed authority figures for his pain, but the side effects of
his condition included chronic flatulence, while his outspoken and impatient
nature likely pushed other people away. Other sources report that Zangara envied
those who had more than he did, and sought the assassination of "all capitalist
presidents and kings." Zangara began plotting to assassinate the current
president Herbert Hoover, but Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was elected to
replace him before Zangara could act on his plan. Zangara would later say, "Hoover
and Roosevelt everybody the same."
On February 15, 1933, FDR was giving a speech in Bayfront Park in the city of
Miami, Florida where Zangara was living, working the occasional odd job, and
living off his savings. Zangara took a .32 caliber pistol, purchased at a local
pawn shop, and joined the crowd. However, being only five feet tall, he was
unable to see over other people and had to stand on a wobbly, folding, metal
chair, peering over the hat of Lilian Cross, a doctor's wife, to get a clear aim
at his target. After the first shot, Mrs. Cross and others grabbed his arm and
he fired five more shots wildly. He missed the President-Elect. Five other
people were hit including Chicago mayor Anton Cermak, who was sitting next to
FDR. En route to the hospital, Cermak had allegedly told FDR, "I'm glad it was
me and not you, Mr. President" words that are currently inscribed on a plaque
located in Bayfront Park.