"Push The Button: An Examination of Guiseppe Zangara"
...his goal was to assassinate King Victor Emmanuel of Italy.# In preparation for his attack, he purchased a gun. When the opportunity came, he did not assassinate the King, because there were “too many people around.”# His opportunity to escape the monotony of his dreary life in Italy came in August 18, 1923. It was at this time Giuseppe and his uncle, Vincent Cafaro emigrated to the United States on the S. S. Martha Washington.# They arrived in Philadelphia on September 2, 1923. After a short stay in Philadelphia, Giusseppe found work as a bricklayer in Patterson, New Jersey. He and his uncle moved there to work.# Giusseppe continued to work as a briocklayer and live with his uncle until his uncle got married, and his wife was weary of Giusseppe. Giusseppe moved out and bought his own apartment.# On September 11, 1929, in Paterson, New Jersey, he became a naturalized citizen.# Zangara despised work and after he either “quit or lost his job,” he began to travel.# Some of the places that Giusseppe traveled to were Panama, California, and Miami.# In August of 1932 Zangara moved to Miami from New Jersey because he wanted to flee the cold of the winter.# In Miami, he made his earnings by betting on dog and horse races. His earnings were not as steady as the were in New Jersey, his money fluctuated dangerously.# It is not entirely clear why Giusseppe Zangara decided to attempt to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt, but the reason he gave was because he “didn’t like presidents.”# He claimed that he came up with the idea of killing the President-elect only two days prior to the attack. He said: “About two days ago I bought a paper for five cents and saw that the President- elect was coming to Miami.”# Originally, he wanted to take a bus to Washington D.C. and kill the reigning president, Herbert Hoover. He claimed he wanted to do this because he was angry about the unemployment rate. However, he decided not to do this because it would be cold in Washington D.C. He settled for the President-elect and later said,“Hoover and Roosevelt -- everybody the same.”# The day before the attack, Zangara walked into a store in Miami and purchased a gun for eight dollars. He arrived at Bay Front Park early, but there were already people there so he could not get a spot where he could get a clear shot at Franklin D. Roosevelt: “I sat there in the park waiting and my stomach kept aching more than ever. Maybe the excitement was responsible,” Zangara stated.# When the President-elect was passing he stood on a bench in an attempt to get a clear shot. He later described the scene: “The people around me were pressing against the bench and making it wobbly. The gun started to shake, but I pulled the trigger anyhow- I don’t remember how many times.”# Luckily, none of the five bullets fired hit his intended target, however, two people were seriously wounded. The two who were seriously wounded were Mrs. Gabel Gill, who was struck in the abdomen, and the other Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago.# Margeret Kruis of Newark, New Jersey, William Sinnot of New York, and Russel Caldwell of Miami were also hit by bullets but were less seriously wounded.# Immediately after the shots were fired, the crowd and police ambushed Zangara, while the Secret Service quickly got FDR into his limo and out of the park.# Zangara was immediately put into jail where he showed no remorse except for the fact that he did not hit the president, “ I sorry I no...