An assassination attempt on Franklin Delano Roosevelt more than 80 years ago had dire consequences that threatened to turn the Magic City’s reputation tragic.
President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressing a throng of 25,000 Miamians in Bayfront Park from the backseat of his Buick convertible on February 15, 1933.
Less than a month before his initial inauguration, Franklin Delano Roosevelt paid a visit to Miami following a 12-day fishing trip on Vincent Astor’s yacht, Nourmahal. On February 15, 1933, an estimated 25,000 Miamians, the largest crowd ever to assemble in the city at that time, lined Biscayne Boulevard and filled Bayfront Park to catch a glimpse of the man who they hoped would lead them out of the Great Depression. In this throng of optimistic well-wishers was one whose purpose for being there was much different—an unemployed Italian bricklayer named Giuseppe Zangara was carrying a .32 caliber pistol he’d recently purchased at a pawnshop for $8 in order to kill the president-elect, whom he blamed for the country’s economic woes.
Among the group of dignitaries greeting FDR that evening were Miami Mayor Redmond Gautier and Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. After an introduction by Gautier, FDR delivered a 145-word speech from the backseat of his green Buick convertible. As the president-elect handed the microphone back to Gautier, Zangara, who’d climbed on a rickety folding chair due to his short stature, fired five shots. Though the would-be assassin missed his primary target, his bullets struck five people, including Chicago’s mayor.
Zangara was quickly apprehended as Cermak was bundled into Roosevelt’s car and rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Just days later, the failed assassin was indicted on four counts of attempted assault with intent to kill, and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor. “Don’t be stingy,” Zangara stated. “Give me a hundred years.” It was a taunt to which Judge E.C. Collins replied, “Maybe there will be more later.” On March 10, four days after Cermak died of his injuries, there was more: Zangara was sentenced to death by electrocution, which took place on March 20, a mere 33 days after the shooting at Bayfront Park. And although Zangara’s case is frequently cited as the most rapid trial, sentencing, and execution process in the annals of 20th-century American history, it is the preservation of FDR’s life—and his crucial presidency—that had the most lasting effect on Miami and its people.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HISTORY MIAMI