FDR & JFK ESCAPED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS AS PRESIDENT-ELECT
West Palm Beach, Florida (JFK+50) Fifty-seven years ago today, December 15, 1960, Richard Paul Pavlick* was stopped here in West Palm Beach by police officer Lester Free who saw him drive across the highway dividing line. Upon a search of the vehicle, seven sticks of dynamite were discovered along with "spools of wire, and a homemade detonation device."
Pavlick, 73 years old, arrived in Palm Beach with the intention of driving his dynamite-laden vehicle into President-elect John F. Kennedy's limo. The would-be assassin waited outside the Kennedy compound on Sunday morning, December 11, 1960, but when the president-elect emerged with his wife and two children, Pavlick decided to "try again another day."
Pavlick was a retired postal worker who was known for writing "prolific letters to newspapers" about his belief that Joe Kennedy had been attempting to buy the presidency for his son. Pavlick, who remained institutionalized until December 13, 1966, had been determined to be legally insane. Secret Service Chief U.E. Baughman, later wrote...
"The closeness of the call was appalling. Hardly anybody realized just how near we came...to losing our president-elect to a madman."
John F. Kennedy became the 4th POTUS to be assassinated in November 1963. The others were Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. Four other presidents were targets of assassins. They are Jackson, Truman, Ford and Reagan. One more, Theodore Roosevelt, was targeted after his term of office.
Only two presidents-elect were targets of assassination. They include John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Both of these attempts came on the 15th day of the month: JFK, Dec 15, 1960; FDR, Feb 15, 1933.
*Richard Paul Pavlick (1887-1975) was born in Belmont, New Hampshire. He worked as a postmaster until his retirement. In 1960, RPP mailed strange postcards to Thomas M. Murphy, the postmaster in Belmont. Murphy became suspicious when the postmarks on these cards coincided with the places visited by President-elect John F. Kennedy. Murphy alerted US Attorney Maurice P. Bois who in turn contacted the Secret Service. RPP died at the VA Hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1975.
SOURCES
"JFK: the assassin who failed," by Philip Kerr, New Statesman, November 27, 2000
"Near Miss: JFK Assassination Attempt in 1960," by Steve B. Davis, Writings and Wramblings, www.stamperdad.wordpress.com
"Presidential Assassinations and Assassination Attempts", by Martin Kelly, August 14, 2017, www.thoughtco.com/
"The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed," by Dan Lewis, December 6, 2012 SMITHSONIAN.COM
West Palm Beach, Florida (JFK+50) Fifty-seven years ago today, December 15, 1960, Richard Paul Pavlick* was stopped here in West Palm Beach by police officer Lester Free who saw him drive across the highway dividing line. Upon a search of the vehicle, seven sticks of dynamite were discovered along with "spools of wire, and a homemade detonation device."
Pavlick, 73 years old, arrived in Palm Beach with the intention of driving his dynamite-laden vehicle into President-elect John F. Kennedy's limo. The would-be assassin waited outside the Kennedy compound on Sunday morning, December 11, 1960, but when the president-elect emerged with his wife and two children, Pavlick decided to "try again another day."
Pavlick was a retired postal worker who was known for writing "prolific letters to newspapers" about his belief that Joe Kennedy had been attempting to buy the presidency for his son. Pavlick, who remained institutionalized until December 13, 1966, had been determined to be legally insane. Secret Service Chief U.E. Baughman, later wrote...
"The closeness of the call was appalling. Hardly anybody realized just how near we came...to losing our president-elect to a madman."
John F. Kennedy became the 4th POTUS to be assassinated in November 1963. The others were Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. Four other presidents were targets of assassins. They are Jackson, Truman, Ford and Reagan. One more, Theodore Roosevelt, was targeted after his term of office.
Only two presidents-elect were targets of assassination. They include John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Both of these attempts came on the 15th day of the month: JFK, Dec 15, 1960; FDR, Feb 15, 1933.
*Richard Paul Pavlick (1887-1975) was born in Belmont, New Hampshire. He worked as a postmaster until his retirement. In 1960, RPP mailed strange postcards to Thomas M. Murphy, the postmaster in Belmont. Murphy became suspicious when the postmarks on these cards coincided with the places visited by President-elect John F. Kennedy. Murphy alerted US Attorney Maurice P. Bois who in turn contacted the Secret Service. RPP died at the VA Hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1975.
SOURCES
"JFK: the assassin who failed," by Philip Kerr, New Statesman, November 27, 2000
"Near Miss: JFK Assassination Attempt in 1960," by Steve B. Davis, Writings and Wramblings, www.stamperdad.wordpress.com
"Presidential Assassinations and Assassination Attempts", by Martin Kelly, August 14, 2017, www.thoughtco.com/
"The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed," by Dan Lewis, December 6, 2012 SMITHSONIAN.COM
Pavlick's Car and Weaponry
