PUERTO RICAN NATIONALISTS ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE PRESIDENT TRUMAN
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate President Harry S Truman who was residing at Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the White House.
According to Jessie Kratz, the motive of Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola was both to bring national attention to the cause of independence for Puerto Rico from the United States and as retribution for U.S. military reprisals against nationalists on October 31, 1950.
The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico* had lobbied for independence since 1922. A series of nationalist uprisings against U.S. military attaches on October 30, 1950 led to reprisals the following day.
Torresola was killed and Collazo was wounded and taken into custody while President Truman, taking an afternoon nap on the second floor, was unharmed.
Officer Leslie Coffelt, whose bullet took the life of Torresola, became "the first and only member of the Secret Service to die protecting the President from an assassination attempt."
JFK+50 NOTE
Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States in 1898 as a result of the treaty ending the Spanish-American War. Residents of the territory were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917 but cannot vote in presidential elections. In 1952, the status of the territory was changed to that of a commonwealth.
SOURCE
"The Plot to kill President Truman," by Jessie Kratz, National Archives, Pieces of History, November 1, 2015, www.prologue.blogs.archives.gov/
