The Assassination of Anton Cermak
In February of 1933, the month before he was due to be inaugurated as President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt did something that his campaign team had strongly advised him not to do, something for which the optics were just not right politically. He took a vacation in the Caribbean aboard the Normahal, the yacht belonging to millionaire Vincent Astor. The move was frowned upon by Roosevelt's brain trust because they thought it was the wrong time to be cavorting with the wealthy Astor on a vacation at a time when so many people were suffering financially.
Astor's yacht docked in Miami from which Roosevelt planned to take the train back to Washington to begin his presidency. While in Miami, he greeted crowds in an open vehicle and met with a fellow politician, the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. Cermak was not a supporter of Roosevelt's and had been part of a "stop Roosevelt" movement at the 1932 Democratic Convention in his city. He backed Roosevelt's opponent Al Smith. In Miami Cermak was hoping to mend some political fences with the President-elect.
Anton Joseph Cermak was born in Kladno, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic). He emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1874, and grew up in the town of Braidwood, Illinois, where he followed his father into a job as a coal miner. He moved to Chicago at age 16, and worked as a tow boy for the horse-drawn streetcar line, and then in a stable. After saving enough money to buy his own horse and cart, he went into business selling firewood, and he subsequently expanded this into a haulage business. He became more politically active, and got several good municipal government jobs, including as a clerk in the city police court, and as a bailiff for the Municipal Court of Chicago. He began his political career as a Democratic Party precinct captain, and in 1902, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He later became an alderman of the 12th Ward and was elected as the mayor of Chicago in 1931.
Another immigrant came to see Roosevelt on February 15, 1933. Giuseppe Zangara was born on September 7, 1900, in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy. After serving in the Tyrolean Alps in World War I, he emigrated with his uncle to the United States in 1923. He settled in Paterson, New Jersey, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1929.
He worked as a bricklayer and suffered from severe pain in his abdomen. In his prison memoir, Zangara attributed his pain to being forced to do grueling physical labor on his father's farm, writing that his pain began when he was six years old.
On the evening of February 15, Roosevelt was giving an impromptu speech from the back of an open car in the Bayfront Park area of Miami. Zangara had been working in Miami at the time, doing odd jobs and living off his savings. That day he came to see Roosevelt, and came armed with a .32-caliber US Revolver Company pistol he had bought for $8 (about $175 in today's dollars) at a local pawn shop. He joined the crowd of spectators, pushing his way to near the front of the crowd. He was only 5 feet tall, and was unable to see over other people. He stood on a wobbly metal folding chair, peering over the hat of a woman named Lillian Cross. While about 25 feet from Roosevelt, Zangara placed his gun over Mrs. Cross' right shoulder and fired the first of five shots. After Zangara fired the first shot, Mrs. Cross and others grabbed his arm. He fired four more shots wildly.
Five people were hit: Mrs. Joseph H. Gill (who was seriously wounded in the abdomen); Miss Margaret Kruis of Newark, New Jersey, (who suffered a minor wound to her hand and a scalp wound); New York detective and Roosevelt bodyguard William Sinnott (who suffered a superficial head wound); and Russell Caldwell of Miami (who sustained a flesh wound on the forehead). One of the bullets also struck Mayor Cermak, who was standing on the running board of the car next to Roosevelt. Mrs Cross had powder burns on her right cheek.[14] A Secret Service agent Bob Clark had a grazed hand, possibly from the bullet that struck Cermak. The intended target, Roosevelt, was unharmed.
Roosevelt held the mortally wounded Cermak in his arms as the car rushed to the hospital, and tried to calm Cermak in order to prevent him from going into shock. At first it appeared that Cermak might survive his wounds. The two men later spoke and Cermak is supposed to have said to Roosevelt, "I'm glad it was me, not you." Cermak had been shot in the lung.
Zangara told the police that he hated rich and powerful people, though he had no grudge against Roosevelt personally. Rumors had spread that Cermak, and not Roosevelt, had been the intended target, because his promise to clean up Chicago’s rampant lawlessness posed a threat to Al Capone and the Chicago organized crime syndicate. This theory had been proposed by reporter Walter Winchell. Zangara denied this and no connection between him and any organized crime syndicate was ever discovered.
Cermak died at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami on March 6, partly due to his wounds. His personal physician, Dr. Karl A. Meyer, stated that the primary cause of Cermak’s death was ulcerative colitis. Dr. Meyer told the media, “The mayor would have recovered from the bullet wound had it not been for the complication of colitis. The autopsy disclosed the wound had healed and the other complications were not directly due to the bullet wound.”
Zangara confessed in the Dade County Courthouse jail. He told police: "I have the gun in my hand. I kill kings and presidents first and next all capitalists." He pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to 80 years in prison. As he was led out of the courtroom, Zangara told the judge: "Four times 20 is 80. Oh, judge, don't be stingy. Give me a hundred years."
After Cermak's death, Zangara was charged with the murder. Because Zangara had intended to commit murder, the fact that his intended target may not have been the man he ultimately killed was not a defense to the charge. He was still guilty of first-degree murder under the doctrine of transferred intent. Zangara's lawyers did not argue that Cermak's death was caused by medical malpractice on the part of the doctors treating him. Zangara pleaded guilty to the additional murder charge and was sentenced to death by Circuit Court Judge Uly Thompson. Zangara said after hearing his sentence: "You give me electric chair. I no afraid of that chair! You one of capitalists. You is crook man too. Put me in electric chair. I no care!"
After spending only 10 days on death row, Zangara was executed on March 20, 1933, in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Raiford known as "Old Sparky." Zangara was angry that no newsreel cameras would be filming his final moments. His final words were said to be "Viva l'Italia! Goodbye to all poor peoples everywhere! Push the button! Go ahead, push the button!"
Astor's yacht docked in Miami from which Roosevelt planned to take the train back to Washington to begin his presidency. While in Miami, he greeted crowds in an open vehicle and met with a fellow politician, the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. Cermak was not a supporter of Roosevelt's and had been part of a "stop Roosevelt" movement at the 1932 Democratic Convention in his city. He backed Roosevelt's opponent Al Smith. In Miami Cermak was hoping to mend some political fences with the President-elect.
Anton Joseph Cermak was born in Kladno, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic). He emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1874, and grew up in the town of Braidwood, Illinois, where he followed his father into a job as a coal miner. He moved to Chicago at age 16, and worked as a tow boy for the horse-drawn streetcar line, and then in a stable. After saving enough money to buy his own horse and cart, he went into business selling firewood, and he subsequently expanded this into a haulage business. He became more politically active, and got several good municipal government jobs, including as a clerk in the city police court, and as a bailiff for the Municipal Court of Chicago. He began his political career as a Democratic Party precinct captain, and in 1902, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. He later became an alderman of the 12th Ward and was elected as the mayor of Chicago in 1931.
Another immigrant came to see Roosevelt on February 15, 1933. Giuseppe Zangara was born on September 7, 1900, in Ferruzzano, Calabria, Italy. After serving in the Tyrolean Alps in World War I, he emigrated with his uncle to the United States in 1923. He settled in Paterson, New Jersey, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1929.
He worked as a bricklayer and suffered from severe pain in his abdomen. In his prison memoir, Zangara attributed his pain to being forced to do grueling physical labor on his father's farm, writing that his pain began when he was six years old.
On the evening of February 15, Roosevelt was giving an impromptu speech from the back of an open car in the Bayfront Park area of Miami. Zangara had been working in Miami at the time, doing odd jobs and living off his savings. That day he came to see Roosevelt, and came armed with a .32-caliber US Revolver Company pistol he had bought for $8 (about $175 in today's dollars) at a local pawn shop. He joined the crowd of spectators, pushing his way to near the front of the crowd. He was only 5 feet tall, and was unable to see over other people. He stood on a wobbly metal folding chair, peering over the hat of a woman named Lillian Cross. While about 25 feet from Roosevelt, Zangara placed his gun over Mrs. Cross' right shoulder and fired the first of five shots. After Zangara fired the first shot, Mrs. Cross and others grabbed his arm. He fired four more shots wildly.
Five people were hit: Mrs. Joseph H. Gill (who was seriously wounded in the abdomen); Miss Margaret Kruis of Newark, New Jersey, (who suffered a minor wound to her hand and a scalp wound); New York detective and Roosevelt bodyguard William Sinnott (who suffered a superficial head wound); and Russell Caldwell of Miami (who sustained a flesh wound on the forehead). One of the bullets also struck Mayor Cermak, who was standing on the running board of the car next to Roosevelt. Mrs Cross had powder burns on her right cheek.[14] A Secret Service agent Bob Clark had a grazed hand, possibly from the bullet that struck Cermak. The intended target, Roosevelt, was unharmed.
Roosevelt held the mortally wounded Cermak in his arms as the car rushed to the hospital, and tried to calm Cermak in order to prevent him from going into shock. At first it appeared that Cermak might survive his wounds. The two men later spoke and Cermak is supposed to have said to Roosevelt, "I'm glad it was me, not you." Cermak had been shot in the lung.
Zangara told the police that he hated rich and powerful people, though he had no grudge against Roosevelt personally. Rumors had spread that Cermak, and not Roosevelt, had been the intended target, because his promise to clean up Chicago’s rampant lawlessness posed a threat to Al Capone and the Chicago organized crime syndicate. This theory had been proposed by reporter Walter Winchell. Zangara denied this and no connection between him and any organized crime syndicate was ever discovered.
Cermak died at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami on March 6, partly due to his wounds. His personal physician, Dr. Karl A. Meyer, stated that the primary cause of Cermak’s death was ulcerative colitis. Dr. Meyer told the media, “The mayor would have recovered from the bullet wound had it not been for the complication of colitis. The autopsy disclosed the wound had healed and the other complications were not directly due to the bullet wound.”
Zangara confessed in the Dade County Courthouse jail. He told police: "I have the gun in my hand. I kill kings and presidents first and next all capitalists." He pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted murder and was sentenced to 80 years in prison. As he was led out of the courtroom, Zangara told the judge: "Four times 20 is 80. Oh, judge, don't be stingy. Give me a hundred years."
After Cermak's death, Zangara was charged with the murder. Because Zangara had intended to commit murder, the fact that his intended target may not have been the man he ultimately killed was not a defense to the charge. He was still guilty of first-degree murder under the doctrine of transferred intent. Zangara's lawyers did not argue that Cermak's death was caused by medical malpractice on the part of the doctors treating him. Zangara pleaded guilty to the additional murder charge and was sentenced to death by Circuit Court Judge Uly Thompson. Zangara said after hearing his sentence: "You give me electric chair. I no afraid of that chair! You one of capitalists. You is crook man too. Put me in electric chair. I no care!"
After spending only 10 days on death row, Zangara was executed on March 20, 1933, in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Raiford known as "Old Sparky." Zangara was angry that no newsreel cameras would be filming his final moments. His final words were said to be "Viva l'Italia! Goodbye to all poor peoples everywhere! Push the button! Go ahead, push the button!"