The Five Weeks of Giuseppe Zangara: The Man Who Would Assassinate FDR

Rating:
Summary: An important work on a crucial, yet forgotten event.
Review: I had a dual interest in reading this book. One of them is the fact that I am a historian in training, working on my Masters in History at the moment. The attempted assassination of then President-elect Franklin Roosevelt is a moment in American history that has passed into obscurity, yet the consequences could have been enormous. What if FDR had died that day in Bayfront Park in Miami? No New Deal? No Atlantic Charter?Possibly no United Nations? Who would have led American through World War II? This subject deserves a lot more attention from scholars, and I am glad Mr. Picchi has chosen to examine the topic.

The other main reason I was interested in this subject was because of a more personal connection to the events. My great-grandfather was one of the three Miami police officers who tackled Zangara that day, and was credited with saving Roosevelt's life. He died before I was born, but I grew up learning about him from my family members and by looking at his scrapbook of memories from his time on the Miami Police force. My great-grandfather is mentioned several times in the book, but is misnamed as Officer LESTER G. Crews. His name was actually LEASTON G. Crews. This error might not be the fault of Mr. Picchi or the editors. He was misnamed in some of the newspaper articles from the time as well, and this could have been reflected in Mr. Picchi's research.

The book itself is a well researched account of the events hampered by two very important obstacles to Mr. Picchi's efforts. One is the fact that so much of the historical evidence has been lost over time. Examples of lost documentation include the file the Secret Service had on the case and the original autopsy reports from the post mortem performed on Zangara after his execution. These and other documents could have been very beneficial to Picchi or any scholar doing research on the topic. That being said, the author did have evidence not available to scholars before, such as the manuscript of Leonard F. Chapman, Superintendent of the Florida State Prison at Raiford (where Zangara was held before his execution). The most important piece of previously unavailable evidence was an autobiography of sorts written by Zangara himself while awaiting execution.

The other important stumbling block that Picchi had to contend with was the perplexity of the crime itself. Why did Zangara attempt to kill Roosevelt? Was it really because of a stomach ailment that he blamed on capitalists and kings? Was Zangara really aiming for Roosevelt, or was his intended victim the unfortunate Chicago Mayor Anton Cermack, who died from his wounds received on that day? Picchi's thesis seems to support the idea that Zangara was aiming for Roosevelt, and did so because of a slightly deranged personality caused by a hard life and chronic pain. This assassin seemingly had his own ideas about politics and capitalism that would perplex anyone who studies him.

Ultimately, the questions of Zangara's motives and intentions are not conclusively answered by Mr. Picchi in his book. However, there is some doubt that they could be due to the lack of evidence and the mysteries behind Zangara's actions and motives. Picchi seems confident in his thesis, but his presentation is slightly hampered by perspective.

The book seems to be an attempt by Picchi to act almost as Zangara's lawyer, trying to present the best case possible that Zangara was a disturbed individual that should not have been executed for his crime. He presents incompetence on the part of Zangara's lawyers and Cermack's doctors as mitigating factors, along with the possibility that Zangara was a psychologically disturbed individual who wanted to die. Ultimately, the book is written from a lawyer's perspective, which is excellent for understanding the legal complexities of the case and for highlighting mistakes made by the attorneys who defended Zangara. But the caveot is that a lawyer is often tempted to act either as prosecutor or defense attorney in a case such as this, and Picchi seemed to choose the role of defense counsel. This puts all of the accompanying biases on his work.

For example, Picchi placed entirely too much weight on Zangara's statements about himself in his memoir. He certainly gave it more weight that any evidence presented that may have contradicted what Zangara said about himself in his writings. Picchi probably believed that since Zangara was going to be executed, and wanted to make his case to the world, he would write honestly about himself because he had no reason to bend the truth. But trained historians will tell you that any document, letter, or memoir, written by someone about themself can be a valuable source of historical evidence, but one that should be taken with a grain of salt. No matter the circumstances of the document's composition, it must be assumed that anyone will attempt to present themselves as positively as possible. He or she will consciously or unconsciously omit and alter details of their experiences, thoughts, and actions.

Ultimately, Picchi's book will not close the case on Zangara's motives and actions on that day in Bayfront Park. However, despite its flaws, the book is an extremely valuable work on the case because it presents more detail on these events than any other book before. Hopefully, this work will be the inspiration for historians and other scholars to take another look at this case, and produce further works that, when added to Mr. Picchi's, can provide a more complete picture of this important event in twentieth century American history.

Rating:
Summary: An important work on a crucial, yet forgotten event.
Review: I had a dual interest in reading this book. One of them is the fact that I am a historian in training, working on my Masters in History at the moment. The attempted assassination of then President-elect Franklin Roosevelt is a moment in American history that has passed into obscurity, yet the consequences could have been enormous. What if FDR had died that day in Bayfront Park in Miami? No New Deal? No Atlantic Charter?Possibly no United Nations? Who would have led American through World War II? This subject deserves a lot more attention from scholars, and I am glad Mr. Picchi has chosen to examine the topic.

The other main reason I was interested in this subject was because of a more personal connection to the events. My great-grandfather was one of the three Miami police officers who tackled Zangara that day, and was credited with saving Roosevelt's life. He died before I was born, but I grew up learning about him from my family members and by looking at his scrapbook of memories from his time on the Miami Police force. My great-grandfather is mentioned several times in the book, but is misnamed as Officer LESTER G. Crews. His name was actually LEASTON G. Crews. This error might not be the fault of Mr. Picchi or the editors. He was misnamed in some of the newspaper articles from the time as well, and this could have been reflected in Mr. Picchi's research.

The book itself is a well researched account of the events hampered by two very important obstacles to Mr. Picchi's efforts. One is the fact that so much of the historical evidence has been lost over time. Examples of lost documentation include the file the Secret Service had on the case and the original autopsy reports from the post mortem performed on Zangara after his execution. These and other documents could have been very beneficial to Picchi or any scholar doing research on the topic. That being said, the author did have evidence not available to scholars before, such as the manuscript of Leonard F. Chapman, Superintendent of the Florida State Prison at Raiford (where Zangara was held before his execution). The most important piece of previously unavailable evidence was an autobiography of sorts written by Zangara himself while awaiting execution.

The other important stumbling block that Picchi had to contend with was the perplexity of the crime itself. Why did Zangara attempt to kill Roosevelt? Was it really because of a stomach ailment that he blamed on capitalists and kings? Was Zangara really aiming for Roosevelt, or was his intended victim the unfortunate Chicago Mayor Anton Cermack, who died from his wounds received on that day? Picchi's thesis seems to support the idea that Zangara was aiming for Roosevelt, and did so because of a slightly deranged personality caused by a hard life and chronic pain. This assassin seemingly had his own ideas about politics and capitalism that would perplex anyone who studies him.

Ultimately, the questions of Zangara's motives and intentions are not conclusively answered by Mr. Picchi in his book. However, there is some doubt that they could be due to the lack of evidence and the mysteries behind Zangara's actions and motives. Picchi seems confident in his thesis, but his presentation is slightly hampered by perspective.

The book seems to be an attempt by Picchi to act almost as Zangara's lawyer, trying to present the best case possible that Zangara was a disturbed individual that should not have been executed for his crime. He presents incompetence on the part of Zangara's lawyers and Cermack's doctors as mitigating factors, along with the possibility that Zangara was a psychologically disturbed individual who wanted to die. Ultimately, the book is written from a lawyer's perspective, which is excellent for understanding the legal complexities of the case and for highlighting mistakes made by the attorneys who defended Zangara. But the caveot is that a lawyer is often tempted to act either as prosecutor or defense attorney in a case such as this, and Picchi seemed to choose the role of defense counsel. This puts all of the accompanying biases on his work.

For example, Picchi placed entirely too much weight on Zangara's statements about himself in his memoir. He certainly gave it more weight that any evidence presented that may have contradicted what Zangara said about himself in his writings. Picchi probably believed that since Zangara was going to be executed, and wanted to make his case to the world, he would write honestly about himself because he had no reason to bend the truth. But trained historians will tell you that any document, letter, or memoir, written by someone about themself can be a valuable source of historical evidence, but one that should be taken with a grain of salt. No matter the circumstances of the document's composition, it must be assumed that anyone will attempt to present themselves as positively as possible. He or she will consciously or unconsciously omit and alter details of their experiences, thoughts, and actions.

Ultimately, Picchi's book will not close the case on Zangara's motives and actions on that day in Bayfront Park. However, despite its flaws, the book is an extremely valuable work on the case because it presents more detail on these events than any other book before. Hopefully, this work will be the inspiration for historians and other scholars to take another look at this case, and produce further works that, when added to Mr. Picchi's, can provide a more complete picture of this important event in twentieth century American history.

Rating:
Summary: Zangara Episode Rescued from Near-Oblivion
Review: Not until this new study has anyone examined tthe Roosevelt near-assassination as a criminal case that holds up American jurisprudence and American medicine to embarrassing scrutiny. Not until this new book has any writer delved deeply into the background, motivations and psyche of the assassin. Because of the importance of Zangara's intended victim, who ranks as one of the great men of history, this obscure episode clearly deserves the "sober analysis" that Blaise Picchi has given it. Future FDR biographers: Take note.