Brendan Powell Smith recreates some of America’s most violent and pivotal moments with his meticulous reproduction of presidential assassins—failed and successful—in his new book, Assassination! The Brick Chronicle of Attempts on the Lives of 12 US Presidents.
Brendan Powell Smith
On Sept. 22, 1975, 17 days after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme pointed a gun at him from two feet away, President Ford was in San Francisco, making his way out of the St. Francis Hotel at 3:30 PM, surrounded by heavy security. Standing on the other side of the street, 45-year-old Sara Jane Moore had been waiting amid a crowd for three hours, hoping to get a glimpse of the president. When he appeared, Moore took her .38 caliber revolver from her purse, aimed it at the president’s head, and fired. Moore’s first shot missed the president’s head by about six inches, likely because she hadn’t adjusted the sights on her new gun. She was about to line up a second shot when a decorated ex-Marine named Oliver Sipple shouted, “Gun!” and grabbed her arm, pulling her down. Released from prison in 2008 at age 77, Moore appeared as a guest on NBC’s Today show, saying, “We were saying the country needed to change. The only way it was going to change was a violent revolution. I genuinely thought that this might trigger that new revolution in this country.”
Brendan Powell Smith
The president’s limousine turned left onto Elm Street in Dealey Plaza just in front of the Texas Book Depository. Among the crowds lining the streets, a few noticed a man with a rifle perched in the window of the book depository but assumed he was there to protect the president. Amid the cheers of the crowd, a loud bang sounded. “They’ve killed my husband,” the first lady was heard to say. “I have his brains in my hand.” She then climbed out of her seat and onto the trunk of the limousine. Meanwhile, Secret Service Agent Clint Hill climbed onto the back of the car to protect the first lady. “My God,” she cried, “they have shot his head off.”
Brendan Powell Smith
Doctors discovered an entry wound just below the president’s left armpit. Reagan had been hit by John Hinckley’s sixth and final bullet, which flattened as it ricocheted off the side of the limousine and lodged an inch from his heart. Just before being put under for surgery, the president said to his team of surgeons, “Please, tell me you’re Republicans.”
Brendan Powell Smith
On the evening of July 1, 1881, President Garfield exited the White House and went on a walk with Secretary of State James G. Blaine. Charles Julius Guiteau followed them, gun in hand. Although he did not take the opportunity to attack either man, Guiteau was outraged by the warm friendship on display between the president and the man who had personally rebuffed him for a diplomatic job, and he determined that the next time there would be no hesitation. He shot the president the next day. Garfield succumbed to infection in September of that year.
Two of Booth’s accomplices, the burly, tall, young veteran Confederate soldier, Lewis Powell, and a local assistant pharmacist named David Herold, were outside the home of Secretary of State William Seward. Following a ruse to gain entry, Seward’s son Frederick, who was his father's assistant secretary of state, confronted Powell, who turned to leave. But suddenly, turning back toward Frederick Seward, Powell removed a revolver from his coat, aimed, and pulled the trigger. A click was heard, but the gun had misfired. Powell then smashed his gun over Frederick Seward’s head, managing to both break the gun and crack the younger Seward’s skull in two places before attacking the secretary himself with a knife. Both Sewards survived.
Brendan Powell Smith
As the 56-year-old president sat in a rocking chair next to his wife, John Wilkes Booth removed a single-shot pistol from his coat, cocked it, and took aim at the back of Lincoln’s head. “You sockdologizing old man-trap!” were the last words Lincoln heard from the stage, where the comedy Our American Cousin was being staged. As the crowd broke out in laughter, Booth pulled the trigger, and his bullet lodged itself deep inside Lincoln’s brain.
Brendan Powell Smith
Hard-luck immigrant Giuseppe Zangara managed to get as close as 25 feet away from the president-elect in Miami on Feb. 15, 1933. Standing on a wobbly folding chair, he barely had time to aim his revolver before Roosevelt’s 135-word speech concluded. Holding his arm over the heads of those in front of him, Zangara fired five shots in rapid succession. Six people were injured by Zangara’s bullets, including Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who later died of his wounds. In a scene of chaos, Zangara was tackled and beaten by bystanders as FDR attempted to get the wounded Cermak in the car and drive to the hospital. At Dade County Jail, the sheriff questioned Zangara about his motives, asking what he thought of anarchism. “Foolishness,” he replied. Asked about socialism, communism, and fascism, “More foolishness,” said Zangara. He also rejected religion. “I don’t believe in nothing,” he told police.
Brendan Powell Smith
