History is usually a series of slow, grinding gears, but sometimes it turns on a dime. A literal dime, or in this case, a cheap .32-caliber revolver bought for eight bucks at a pawn shop. Most people know FDR for the wheelchair, the cigarettes, and the fireside chats. They don't realize how close the world came to never knowing those things.
The Franklin D Roosevelt assassination attempt isn't just a footnote; it's a terrifying "what if" that almost erased the 20th century before it truly started. It happened in Miami. February 15, 1933. Bayfront Park was packed, humid, and loud. Roosevelt was the President-elect, a man carrying the weight of a collapsing global economy on his shoulders. He was sitting on the back of an open Buick, totally exposed. People were desperate for hope. Giuseppe Zangara was just desperate to kill a king.
📖 Related: Is Oregon a Swing State? What Most People Get Wrong
The Man Who Hated Tall People (and Presidents)
Giuseppe Zangara wasn't some political mastermind. He wasn't part of a deep-state cabal or a foreign intelligence plot. He was a short, angry Italian immigrant with chronic stomach pain. He literally blamed "the capitalists" and world leaders for his physical agony. It sounds absurd, but that's the reality. He bought his gun at a Miami pawn shop and headed to the park with one goal.
He was only five feet tall. This actually saved FDR’s life. Because Zangara was so short, he couldn't see over the crowd. He had to stand on a wobbly folding metal chair just to get a clear shot at Roosevelt’s head.
Think about that. The entire trajectory of the Great Depression and World War II hinged on a folding chair in a Florida park.
What Really Happened During the Franklin D Roosevelt Assassination Attempt
Roosevelt had just finished a short, unscripted speech from the back of his car. He was leaning back, relaxed. Zangara pulled his pistol. He fired five times.
He missed Roosevelt completely.
Why? Because a woman named Lillian Cross saw the gun. She didn't freeze. She grabbed Zangara’s arm and shoved it upward as he pulled the trigger. The shots went wild, screaming into the crowd. It was chaos. Screaming, diving, the smell of gunpowder mixing with the salty Miami air.
While Roosevelt was unscathed, others weren't so lucky. Five people were hit. The most prominent was Anton Cermak, the Mayor of Chicago. He was standing right near the car. The bullet tore into his abdomen. Legend says Cermak told Roosevelt, "I'm glad it was me instead of you," but historians like to point out that he probably never said that. It’s a great line for the papers, though. Honestly, Cermak was likely in too much shock to be that poetic.
📖 Related: Merrick Garland Explained: What Really Happened with Obama's Supreme Court Nominee
The Calmness of FDR
This is where you see the mettle of the man. If someone shoots at you five times, you'd expect a normal person to panic. Secret Service agents yelled for the driver to get out of there. The Buick started to peel away.
Roosevelt stopped them.
He saw Cermak slump over. He ordered the car to stop, had the Mayor loaded into the back seat with him, and held the dying man’s pulse all the way to the hospital. He stayed calm. He spoke softly. He showed the kind of psychological iron that would later define his presidency during the darkest days of the war. If you want to know when FDR truly became "The President" in the eyes of the public, it was that night in Miami.
Why Zangara’s Motives Still Confuse Historians
We love a good conspiracy. People have tried for decades to link Zangara to the Chicago mob. The theory goes that Cermak was the real target because he was cracking down on Al Capone’s outfit.
But it doesn't hold water.
Zangara’s own confession was rambling and focused on his stomach. He hated "kings and presidents." He didn't care which one. If Herbert Hoover had been there, he would have shot him instead. He was a lone actor driven by a mix of physical illness and a fractured worldview. He was executed in the electric chair just weeks later. His final words? He told the executioner to "push the button." He was a man who had completely checked out.
The Impact of a "What If"
If the Franklin D Roosevelt assassination attempt had succeeded, the United States would have entered 1933 under President John Nance Garner. Garner was a conservative Texan. He hated the New Deal. He likely wouldn't have pushed the radical economic reforms that pulled the country out of the dirt.
Without FDR, would the U.S. have been ready for Pearl Harbor? Would the social safety net even exist?
The stakes were astronomical. We were inches away from a totally different world. Lillian Cross, the woman who bumped Zangara’s arm, is basically an unsung hero of the American century. Without her, the Buick would have been a hearse.
How to Research This Further
If you're looking to dive deeper into the gritty details of that night, avoid the over-dramatized TV documentaries. They tend to lean too hard into the mob conspiracy theories because they make for better television.
📖 Related: Illinois Congressional District 6 Explained (Simply)
- Read the Secret Service reports: These are available in the National Archives and provide the most clinical, non-sensationalized version of the events.
- Check out "The President and the Assassin": There are several scholarly articles that track Zangara’s mental health history in Italy before he ever came to the States.
- Visit Bayfront Park: If you're ever in Miami, stand near the commemorative plaque. It’s a chilling feeling to see how close the shooter actually was to the vehicle.
The real takeaway here is that history isn't inevitable. It’s fragile. It’s held together by luck, the bravery of random bystanders, and sometimes, a wobbly folding chair. Understanding the Franklin D Roosevelt assassination attempt is about more than just a guy with a gun; it’s about realizing that the world we live in was almost canceled before it began.
Next Steps for History Buffs:
Check the local newspaper archives from February 16, 1933, via the Library of Congress (Chronicling America). Seeing the immediate, unpolished reactions of the public provides a raw look at the national panic that gripped the country before the "official" narrative was settled.