By: History.com Editors

1933

FDR escapes assassination attempt in Miami

History.com Editors

Published: November 16, 2009

Last Updated: January 31, 2025

On February 15, 1933, a deranged, unemployed brick layer named Giuseppe Zangara shouts "Too many people are starving!" and fires a gun at America’s president-elect, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Roosevelt had just delivered a speech in Miami’s Bayfront Park from the back seat of his open touring car when Zangara opened fire with six rounds. Five people were hit. The president escaped injury but the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, who was also in attendance, received a mortal stomach wound in the attack.

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Several men tackled the assailant and might have beaten him to death if Roosevelt had not intervened, telling the crowd to leave justice to the authorities. Zangara later claimed "I don’t hate Mr. Roosevelt personally, I hate all officials and anyone who is rich." He also told the FBI that chronic stomach pain led to his action: "Since my stomach hurt I want to make even with the capitalists by kill the president. My stomach hurt long time [sic]."

Zangara’s extreme action reflected the anger and frustration felt among many working Americans during the Great Depression. At the time of the shooting, Roosevelt was still only the president-elect and had yet to be sworn in. His policies remained untested, but reports of Roosevelt’s composure during the assassination attempt filled the following day’s newspapers and did much to enforce Roosevelt’s public image as a strong leader.

Unsubstantiated reports later claimed that Zangara’s real target had been Cermak and hinted at Zangara’s connection to organized crime in Chicago. Zangara was initially tried for attempted murder and sentenced to 80 years in prison, but when Mayor Cermak later died of his wounds, Zangara was retried and sentenced to death. Zangara died on the electric chair on March 20, 1933.

How Presidential Assassinations Changed U.S. Politics

Four sitting U.S. presidents have been felled by gunfire. Each time, important reforms and a new political era followed.

The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C, 1865. (Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

By: Lindsey Konkel

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on February 15th

1837

Congress ratifies treaties for Indian removal

On February 15, 1837, Congress ratifies treaties number 211 and 217, designed to remove Indigenous people from their ancestral homelands in the Midwest to make way for white settlement. One agreement had been negotiated with the Iowa, Sauk and Fox nations; the second, with the Oto, Omaha, Missouri and Santee Sioux and Yankton Sioux tribal people. The agreements represented just two of nearly 400 treaties—nearly always unequal—concluded between various Indigenous nations and the U.S. government between 1788 and 1883.

1898

The USS Maine explodes in Cuba’s Havana Harbor

A massive explosion of unknown origin sinks the battleship USS Maine in Cuba’s Havana harbor on February 15, 1898, killing more than 260 of the 350-plus American crew members aboard.

The Sinking of the U.S.S. Maine

1903

First Teddy bear goes on sale

On February 15, 1903, toy store owner and inventor Morris Michtom places two stuffed bears in his shop window, advertising them as Teddy bears. Michtom had earlier petitioned President Theodore Roosevelt for permission to use his nickname, Teddy. The president agreed and, before long, other toy manufacturers began turning out copies of Michtom’s stuffed bears, which soon became a national childhood institution.

1942

Singapore falls to Japan

On February 15, 1942, after a week of fighting, Singapore, the “Gibraltar of the East”—and a strategic British stronghold in Asia—falls to Japanese forces.

1950

Disney’s “Cinderella” opens in theaters

On February 15, 1950, Walt Disney’s animated feature Cinderella opens in theaters across the United States.

1953

Polio survivor becomes first female U.S. figure skater to win world title

On February 15, 1953, Tenley Albright, a 17-year-old from Boston, becomes the first American female to win the world figure skating championship. All seven judges at the event at an outdoor rink in Davos, Switzerland give her a first-place vote. Albright, who contracted polio six years earlier, calls the performance her "best."

1961

U.S. figure skating team killed in plane crash

On February 15, 1961, the entire 18-member U.S. figure skating team is killed in a plane crash in Berg-Kampenhout, Belgium. The team was on its way to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

1965

Canada adopts maple leaf flag

In accordance with a formal proclamation by Queen Elizabeth II of England, a new Canadian national flag is raised above Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

1968

Henry Lewis named first Black conductor of a major U.S. orchestra

In 1968, 36-year-old Henry Lewis makes history when he is chosen, over more than 150 other candidates, as the first Black conductor of a major U.S. orchestra: the New Jersey Symphony. It marks just one highlight in a barrier-breaking career that prompted The New York Times to liken him to Jackie Robinson of classical music.

1998

Dale Earnhardt Sr. wins his first Daytona 500

On February 15, 1998, after 20 years of trying, racing great Dale Earnhardt Sr. finally wins his first Daytona 500, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) season opener and an event dubbed the “Super Bowl of stock car racing.”

2002

IOC finds fraud, awards second gold in Winter Olympics skating event

On February 15, 2002, the International Olympic Committee announces it has sufficient evidence of fraud by a French judge and awards a second gold medal in pairs figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. The decision comes after days of rumors and behind-the-scenes investigations.

2003

Millions protest the impending invasion of Iraq

On February 15, 2003, millions of people across over 600 cities worldwide take to the streets to protest the impending invasion of Iraq. In New York City, approximately 200,000 people gathered in the 25-degree weather to march to the United Nations building, where less than two weeks prior, Secretary of State Colin Powell falsely claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. In Europe, crowds were even larger: Some three million are said to have demonstrated in Rome and 750,000 in London.

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Citation Information

Article title
FDR escapes assassination attempt in Miami
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
March 21, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 31, 2025
Original Published Date
November 16, 2009

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