FBI Files: Presidential Assassins

Background

Since the founding of America, there have been four presidential assassinations: Abraham Lincoln, James Abram Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1897-1901), and John F. Kennedy (1961-63).

But in addition to these assassins, there have been other attempts that thankfully, were not successful.

This section archives those individuals who were both successful, and not so successful, in assassinating the President of the United States.

Declassified Presidential Assassin FBI Files

Booth, John Wilkes – [ File #1 | File #2 | File #3 | File #4 ] – These records contain correspondence dated 1922-23 of William J. Burns, former Director of the Bureau of Investigation, concerning a theory that Booth lived many years after the assassination of President Lincoln. Also included are the results of a 1948 examination by the FBI Laboratory of a boot said to be worn by Booth on the night of the assassination and a 1977 examination of a diary belonging to Booth.

Pavlick, Richard [ 289 Pages, 16MB ] United States Secret Service File [ 601 Pages, 29.39MB ] Secret Service Release #2 [ 9 Pages, 1.7MB ] – Richard Paul Pavlick (February 13, 1887 – November 11, 1975) was a retired postal worker from New Hampshire who stalked U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy, with the intent of assassinating him. On December 11, 1960 in Palm Beach, Florida, Pavlick positioned himself to carry out the assassination by blowing up Kennedy and himself with dynamite, but delayed the attempt because Kennedy was with his wife and children. He was then arrested before he was able to stage another attempt.

Zangara, Giuseppe [305 Pages, 165.5MB] – Giuseppe “Joe” Zangara (September 7, 1900 – March 20, 1933) was an Italian immigrant and naturalized citizen of the United States who attempted to assassinate then-President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 15, 1933.  During a night speech by Roosevelt in Miami, Florida, Zangara fired five shots with a handgun he had purchased a couple days before. He missed his target and instead injured five bystanders, killing Anton Cermak, the Mayor of Chicago.

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