February 15, 1933
Miami, Florida
A failed assassination attempt on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s life instead fatally wounds Chicago mayor Anton Cermak
The would-be assassin, Giuseppe Zangara, was short, standing at about 5 feet tall. In order to see over others in the crowd, he stood on a metal folding chair, armed with a .32 caliber pistol he had purchased at a pawn shop.
The first shot missed, and those near him grabbed his arm, leading Zangara to discharge four more shots wildly in the general direction of FDR. Five people were shot, none of whom were the original target, and Mayor Cermak succumbed to his wound on March 6.
At his execution, Zangara was asked why he targeted Roosevelt, to which he replied he hated rich people and it was not a personal attack against Roosevelt.
