Which theory emerged years later about the attempted assassination of U.S. President F. D. Roosevelt?

On February 15, 1933, there was an attempted assassination on the life of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). He was scheduled to be inaugurated in just 17 days. Giuseppe “Joe” Zangara (1900-1933) the assassin, was an Italian immigrant and naturalized U.S. Citizen. This event occurred in Miami, Florida during an impromptu night speech that Roosevelt was giving from the back of an open car.

Zangara fired 5 shots with a handgun but missed Roosevelt and instead injured five bystanders, mortally wounding Anton Cermak (1873-1933), the Mayor of Chicago.

Convicted, Zangara was executed on March 20, 1933 in the electric chair at Florida State Prison.

John William Tuohy, author of numerous books on organized crime in Chicago, reviewed Secret Service records and in 1999, asserted that Zangara was a hired killer working for Frank Nitti (1886-1943), an Italian born-American gangster in Chicago. He was one of Al Capone’s (1899-1947) top henchmen in charge of all money flowing through the crime syndicate’s operations. He later succeeded Capone as boss of the Chicago Outfit.

His theory was enhanced by numerous researchers, citing their analysis of court testimony, asserting that Mayor Cermak had directed an assassination attempt on Nitti fewer than three months earlier.

Raymond Moley (1886-1975) was an American political economist and an initial supporter of FDR’s new Deal interviewed Zangara and believed he was not part of any conspiracy- he intended to kill FDR.