Assassins the Musical TO BE EDITED

Assassins the Musical
Dramaturgy Packet for the Cast/Crew
Directed by Lavina Jadhwani
DePaul University, Fall 2013
Dramaturgy: Samantha Bentson
[email protected] 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS...
In Order of Assassination/Attempts:
John Wilkes Booth.................................................................3-4
Charles Guiteau.....................................................................5-6
Leon Czolgosz.......................................................................7-8
Guiseppe Zangara..................................................................9-10
Lee Harvey Oswald................................................................11-12
Samuel Byck .........................................................................13-14
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme...................................................15-16
Sara Jane Moore....................................................................17-18
John Hinckley.......................................................................19-20
Other information on Assassins..............................................21
2
John Wilkes Booth
(May 10, 1838- April 26, 1865) 26
ASSASSINATED: U.S PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“Sic semper tyrannis” (Thus always to tyrants)
Famous actor, John Wilkes Booth, goes rouge and kills President Lincoln in 1865 based on
Booth’s Confederate beliefs and strong disagreement with emancipating slaves.
Booth’s Early Life:
• Booth was the 9/10 children in his family, and was named after the radical politician John
Wilkes, a distant relative. There were many actors in his family.
• Booth attended a Quaker-run Boarding School for boys.
• He served as a soldier in the Civil War and supported the Confederacy: A group of people who
have united for unlawful practices; a conspiracy.He was upset with the South’s defeat in the
Civil War.
• He strongly opposed the abolition of slavery and Lincoln's proposal to extend voting rights to
recently emancipated slaves.
• He was 5’8 with jet black curling hair, he was lean and athletic. People described him as a
“muscular, perfect man” and as “the handsomest man in America.” He was noted for having an
astonishing memory, and being a “natural genius.”
• Booth was a family friend of John T.Ford who just opened their 1,500 seat theatre and Booth
was one of the first leading men to perform there.
Assassination Attempt:
• Originally plotted to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the release of Confederate Prisoners of
War but then his planned failed and he chose to kill him by shooting him in the back of the
head.
3
• After he shot Lincoln he jumped from the balcony to the stage from where he was sitting and
yelled, “Sic semper Tyannis” meaning “thus always to tyrants” from Julius Caesar. He fled the
Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865.
• He broke his leg on his escape, jumping off of his horse.
• Lincoln died the next day.
• Booth fled to Maryland by horse but he was tracked down 12 days later when his ally gave him
up.
• Booth was shot by a Union Soldier in the barn that he was hiding in and the barn went up in
flames. 4/8 other conspirators were tried and hung.
More on Booth:
• The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: (5:56) https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=6qAeFjCscRY
• America the Story of Us: Lincoln: (3:59) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjxbb-tjSAA
• Abraham Lincoln- Origin of the Assassination: (2:46) https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=7NZLe90ZD2k
• Lincoln was the 1st President to be assassinated.
• Was John Wilkes Booth really incinerated? http://www.unsolved.com/ajaxfiles/
leg_john_wilkes_booth.htm
• Lincoln was the 16th President of the U.S http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/culture/
historical-vertebrae-a-sideshow-mummy-and-the-lingering-mystery-of-john-wilkes-booth/
8560/
•
4
Charles Guiteau
(Sept. 8, 1841- June 30, 1882)40 years old
ASSASSINATED: U.S PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD
Found:! guilty! !
!
Sentence: hanging!
!
2 month trial
I have just shot the President. I shot him several times as I wished him to go as easily as
possible. His death was a political necessity.
Shot President Garfield twice in the back at the Potomac Railroad Station in Washington D.C.,
on July 2, 1881. He used a fancy $15 pearl-handled revolver, hoping it would be displayed in a
museum afterwards.
Guiteau’s Early Life:
• Born in Illinois, and raised in Wisconsin in the middle class.He failed to get into the University
of Michigan. Throughout his life he attempted several careers: law, evangelism, and politics.
• Job seekers lined up daily to seek work in the new administration, so Guiteau's presence
wasn't strange. But he made such a pest of himself that Secretary of State James G. Blaine
personally told him to leave and never return.
• He requested the position of ambassador of France and was ignored.
• His family believed he was insane in 1875 and attempted to have him committed but Guiteau
escaped.
Assassination:
• Guiteau spent several years stalking Garfield before the assassination.
• He would write letters to the Commanding General of the US Army, William Tecumseh
Sherman justifying his actions based on the need to heal the Republican Party for their factions.
• He even went to take a tour of the District of Columba Jail of where he knew he would be
incarcerated but was told to come back later.
• He made one previous attempt of killing the president but knew his wife was in poor health and
decided to wait in order of not upsetting her.
5
• In Washington, he set out to kill Garfield. He left his hotel by carriage for the Baltimore and
Potomac Railroad station (where Garfield was leaving for his summer vacation), he left the
carriage and told the driver to wait because he will be in jail soon.
• In May, 1881, he was banned from the White House waiting room and was told by the Secretary
of State James G. Blaine “Never to speak to me again of the Paris consulship as long as you
live.”
• At 9:30 am in Washington D.C. on July 2, 1881, Guiteau killed President Garfield (only 4
months into his Garfield’s presidency.) As President Garfield entered the waiting room of the
station Guiteau stepped forward and pulled the trigger from behind at point-blank range. "My
God, what is that?" Garfield cried out, flinging up his arms. Guiteau fired again and Garfield
collapsed. One bullet grazed Garfield's shoulder; the other hit him in the back. He was
arrested before he made it back to his awaiting cab.
• As he was arrested he exclaimed, “I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts! I did it and I want to be
arrested! Arthur is President now!” Stalwart were a Republican faction loyal to ex-President
Grant, strongly opposing Garfield’s Half-Breeds.
• Garfield died 11 weeks later on September 19, 1881 and died from infection of his poorly cared
for wounds. Of the two bullets the doctors could not find one.
After the Assassination:
• Guiteau pleaded not guilty to murder, his trial was one of the first high-profile cases in the U.S
that the insanity defense was used. He argued that he was legally insane not medically insane at
the time of the shooting.
• He cursed and insulted the judge during his trial and was oblivious to how the American Public
hated him, even with almost being assassinated twice. He was happy to be the center of
attention.
• Until his hanging he spent his time at the St. Elizabeths Hospital(the same hospital that
Hinckley spent the rest of his life in).
• When he was found guilty his response was to yell, “You are all low, consummate jackasses!”
• He recited a poem at the gallows called “I Am Going to the Lordy.”
• Eventually Guiteau’s wish came true and his gun was displayed in the Smithsonian in the early
20th century but it has been lost.
More on Guiteau:
• http://www.biography.com/people/charles-julius-guiteau-235814
• The Assassination of James Garfield: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6USyilfk6w
• President Garfield: (0:55) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E96OmSH-xJA
• Garfield was the 20th President of the U.S
• Garfield was the 2nd President to be assassinated and lived the longest after the shooting of any
other U.S Presidential Assassination.
6
Guiteau as an artist and in Assassins:
• In Guiteau’s last poem The Prisoner’s Last Words (June 30, 1882) he wrote,
“I am going to the Lordy, I am so glad,
I am going to the Lordy, I am so glad,
I am going to the Lordy,
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy.
I love the Lordy with all my soul,
Glory hallelujah!
And that is the reason I am going to the Lord,
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lord.
I saved my party and my land,
Glory hallelujah!
But they have murdered me for it,
And that is the reason I am going to the Lordy,
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy!
I wonder what I will do when I get to the Lordy,
I guess that I will weep no more
When I get to the Lordy!
Glory hallelujah!
I wonder what I will see when I get to the Lordy,
I expect to see most glorious things,
Beyond all earthly conception
When I am with the Lordy!
Glory hallelujah! Glory hallelujah!
I am with the Lord.
The underlined lyrics are used in the score of The Ballad of Guiteau.
• Also in The Ballad of Guiteau, the Balladeer’s line, “Come all ye Christians and learn
from a sinner...” is a play on Guiteau’s song called "Charles Guiteau," a traditional song
about the assassination of President James A. Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau. It is based
on another old ballad, "James A. Rogers." It was written in 1882. Hear an mp3 excerpt
here: http://toneway.com/songs/charles-guiteau The song starts with,
Come all you tender Christians”
7
LEON CZOLGOSZ “Schollgosch”
(Jan. 24, 1873- Oct. 29, 1901) 28 years old
ASSASSINATED: U.S PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY
Found: Guilty! !
!
Sentence: Electric Chair
!
President
McKinley
“I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working
people. I done my duty.”
Shot President William McKinley twice, in the chest and abdomen, at the Pan American
Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y, on Sept. 6, 1901.
Life before prison:
• Born in Detroit, Michigan.
• 1 of 7 kids
• Heritage: Polish immigrant
• Raised Roman Catholic but rejected the beliefs
• Jobs: menial jobs in Cleveland, Ohio. (Started working at 12)
• Quit his job at a bottle factory after suffering from a mental breakdown and
became an anarchist.
• Inspired by the assassination of King Umberto I of Italy by an American anarchist
• Followed Emma Goldman, a well known agitator, around to hear her speak and
was able to speak to her at the Federal Liberal Club.
• Tried and failed to become friends with Goldman
Assassination:
• When he followed Goldman to Chicago he learned of the Presidents Exposition in
Buffalo.
• Sept. 3, 1901 he bought a pistol: .32-caliber Iver Johnson “Safety Automatic”
revolver and 3 days later he shot the President.
8
•
•
•
•
•
•
He went to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y, on Sept. 6, 1901, and
shot President William Mckinley(28th President) point-blank with a gun that cost
(Sept.7, 1900- March 20, 1933) 32
$4.50 wrapped in a white hanki.
McKinley died a week later from his wounds to the chest and abdomen.
When questioned, Czolgosz claimed that he incited to kill McKinley by the
speeches of Goldman. She was questioned and released.
When she was finally released she shocked the public by stating that: "He
(Czolgosz) had committed the act for no personal reasons or gain. He did it for
what is his ideal: the good of the people. That is why my sympathies are with
him."
He was tried and found guilty of killing President McKinley.
He was executed on Oct.30, 1901.
More on:
• In the wake of these events, socialism gained support over anarchism among U.S.
radicals. McKinley's successor, Theodore Roosevelt, declared his intent to crack
down "not only against anarchists, but against all active and passive sympathizers
with anarchists".
• His Execution: (1:12) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO_BQ-MI1zc or rare
footage (no sound) of his electrocution: (3:27) http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=UYSxfyIqrjs
• Leon Czolgosz and his assassination: (5:24) http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=spTCS698oNU
• The Assassination of William McKinley: (2:26) http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=H83vDUBiQ-I
• McKinley was the 3rd President to be assassinated.
• McKinley was the 25th President of the U.S
9
Guiseppe Zangara
“Joseph” !
aka
!
!
ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE: U.S PRESIDENT-ELECT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
ASSASSINATED: CHICAGO MAYOR ANTON CERMAK
Found: guilty!
!
!
Sentence: Electric Chair!
Time in Prison: 10 days
“I want to kill the president because I no like the capitalists. I have the gun in my hand, I kill
kings and presidents first and next all capitalists.”
Zangara assassinated Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in his attempt to assassinate the U.S
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Zangara’s Early Life:
•Born in rural Italy, he started to work at age 6. He served in the Tyrolian Alps in WW1. When
his mother died he immigrated to Philadelphia. He claimed to have stomach trouble for his life.
He became a naturalized citizen on Sept. 11, 1929 at 29 years old.
• He was a poorly educated bricklayer. It was hard for him to work because of his constant
stomach pains, and his mental health. He believed it was the President that was causing him
pain.
• He hated Capitalists: a person of wealth.
Assassination Attempt:
• He bought a $5 .32 caliber pistol, purchased at a local pawn shop, to shoot President-elect
(President to be before inauguration) Franklin D. Roosevelt at Bayfront Park in Miami on Feb.
15, 1933.
• The President was giving an impromtu speech from the back of an open car, in the
neighborhood of where Zangara was living in Florida.
10
• After firing 6 shots, he yelled, “There are too many people starving to death!” as he fired. He
missed Roosevelt because of his height, he shot Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. After 3 weeks
in the hospital he died. It was 2 days after FDR was inaugurated.
• In addition to Mayor Cermak, 4 other people were shot that were sitting near FDR.
• “According to Florida law, because Zangara intended murder, it was irrelevant that his
intended target was not who he killed; 1st degree murder was applicable. Also according to
Florida law, a convicted murderer could not share cell space with another prisoner before his
execution, but another convicted murderer was already awaiting execution at Raiford.
Zangara's sentence required prison officials to expand their waiting area, and the "death cell"
became "Death Row."”
• Zangara pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death, he said, “You give me electric chair. I no
afraid of that chair! You one of capitalists. You is crook man too. Put me in electric chair. I no
care!”
• His final words were, “Viva Italia! Goodbye to all poor peoples everywhere![...] Pusha da
button!”
More on Zangara:
• http://www.biography.com/people/franklin-d-roosevelt-9463381/videos/giuseppe-zangaraa-near-miss-2179203722
• The Attempted Assassination of Franklin D. Roosevelt: (2:28) https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=dgu-gM-t-Fs
• Zangara’s attempt was on FDR the 32nd President of the U.S
11
Lee Harvey Oswald
(Oct. 18, 1939-Nov.24, 1963) 24
ASSASSINATED: PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
Time in Prison: two days!
!
!
!
Assassinated by upset Bar Owner
"Revolutions require work, revolutions require sacrifice, revolutions, and our own included,
require a certain amount of rationing, a certain amount of calluses, a certain amount of
sacrifice.
Oswald shot President Kennedy from the 6th floor of the Texas Depository in Dallas on Nov.22,
1963.
Oswald’s Early Life:
• Oswald was born in New Orleans, LA. His mother was unstable. He was English, Irish,
French, Dutch and German.
• At 15 he claimed to be a Marxist and he attempted to join the socialist party at the age of 16.
• He allegedly threatened his half sister-in-law with a knife.
• He had psychiatric assessment in juvenile reformatory because of his passive aggressive
tendencies.
• Oswald left school, never receiving his high school diploma, after the 10th grade to work as an
office clerk in New Orleans.
• He was court martialed out of the U.S. Marines, where he was a radar operator but like all
Marines, he was trained in shooting, and was defected to the USSR in 1959 after shooting
himself in the elbow with an unauthorized hand gun. There he married Marina Nickolaevna.
Then he was defected back to the U.S. after he was court martailed a second time for fighting
with a sergeant.
• 2 kids.
12
Assassination:
• There are claims that Oswald attempted to assassinate the retired U.S. Major Gen. Edwin
Walker, outspoken anti-communist, in March 1963. It was later found after activation analysis
that it was “extremely likely” that the bullet that struck Walker was the same manufacturer and
for the same rifle that struck Kennedy. This was never confirmed.
• Oswald moved to New Orleans for the month of September but returned to Dallas in October
gaining a job at the Texas Book Depository. His boss said that he was “above an average
employee.” 6 days after he got his new job his 2nd daughter was born.
• A coworker testified that Oswald was seen on the 6th floor of the Depository at 11:55 am, 35
mins before the assassination.
• As Kennedy’s motorcade passed through Dallas’s Dealey Plaza about 12:30pm on Friday,
Nov.22 1963, Oswald fired 3 rifle shots from the 6th floor, southeast corner window, killing
the president and seriously wounding Texas Gov. John Connally.
• Around 1:15 pm, exchanged a few words with a patrolman named J.D. Tippit, after he already
made it home and changed. As he exited Oswald’s car he was struck by 4 shots and killed.
• Oswald snuck into a theatre without paying shortly after, around 1:40pm. A bystander saw, the
police arrived. Oswald pulled a pistol out of his trousers and shot but the gun did not fire. He
struck the officer with his hand.
• His arrest was at 2pm and he was questioned for the shooting of Officer Tippit. Another officer
recognized his name as a missing person from the employee investigation of the JFK
assassination case. He was booked for both murders.
• He denied killing both Kennedy and Tippit. He denied owning a rifle. He said the photographs
of him holding a rifle were fakes. He denied carrying a long heavy box to work the morning of
the assassination.
• Two days after his incarceration in a prison transfer he was shot Oswald in the abdomen and
killed by Jack Ruby a nightclub operator, which was captured on Live TV. (1:04) http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xU7Lhd7Wwo
More on Oswald:
• Oswald’s last words: http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/LHO.html
• Announcement of JFK’s Death: (5:44) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K8Q3cqGs7I
• JFK was the 35th President of the U.S
• JFK was the 4th President to be assassinated.
13
Samuel Byck!
(Jan.30, 1930-Feb. 22, 1974) 44 years old
ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE: U.S PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON
Committed Suicide after his attempt to hijack a plane failed.
“All I want for Christmas is my constitutional right to publicly petition my government for a
redress of grievances.”
Byck attempted to assassinate President Nixon on January 22, 1974 by attempting to fly an
airplane, that contained a briefcase with a gasoline bomb, into the White House.
Byck’s Early Life:
• Byck was born into a Jewish, economically disadvantaged family. He dropped out of high
school to support his family.
• Enrolled in the U.S Army in 1954, and served 2 years, trained in firearms and explosives. He
was honorably discharged in 1956.
• He was married with 4 children. In 1974, he started to suffer from depression after many job
failures. His wife divorced him
• Byck spent two months in a psychiatric hospital to be treated for depression and began to
blame his problems on a government conspiracy to keep the poor man down.
Before his Assassination Attempt:
• Known to Secret Service since 1972 for his threats to Nixon’s life (he was questioned by them
in October 1972 for his threats and claims he was joking). But they didn’t consider him as a
serious threat.
• He picketed the White House wearing a Santa Claus suit in December 1973,
• Before his attempt to kill the President Nixon, Byck made tape recordings explaining his plan.
“Allow me to introduce myself – my name is Sam Byck. I intend to…gain entrance to the
cockpit of a commercial airplane. I intend to instruct the pilot to fly the plan to the target area. I
intend to shoot the pilot and fly the plane into the Executive Mansion (White House).” In the
14
past he had also sent tapes to Jonas Salk, Senator Abraham Ribicoff, Leonard Bernstein and
Jack Anderson.
“Operation Pandora’s Box”
• Early morning on February 22, 1974, suicidal Byck traveled through the BaltimoreWashington International Airport, pulling out his “.38-caliber revolver, Byck goes through
line, shooting an airport security guard in the back (George Neal Ramsburg, 24), and, before
stunned onlookers, leaping over the security check and boarding a DC-9 Delta Airlines Flight
523 destined for Atlanta. He storms the planes cockpit and shoots the copilot. He commands
the pilot to take off immediately, Byck then wounded another after being informed they
couldn't depart without removing the wheel blocks; in desperation Byck became frustrated, he
grabbed a nearby passenger and shouted at her to 'fly the plane.' Meanwhile, a policeman who
heard the shots in the airport runs to the plane in pursuit. He sees Byck through the plane’s
window and shoots several times, mortally wounding Byck. As authorities moved in, he put the
revolver to his head and pulled the trigger.” 1
• Byck killed himself and 2 people, a 24 year old guard, and the co-pilot of the plane, in his
assassination attempt.
• Byck blamed Nixon for his business failures. Nixon resigned a few months later.
• After this attempt, it is lead to believe, that a bunker was built in White House and
unconfirmed reports of anti-aircraft missiles were placed on the roof.
• Nixon was the 37th President.
1 http://rvv.com/peacemaker/samuel_byck.htm
15
LYNETTE “SQUEAKY” FROMME
(Oct.22, 1948-present) 65 years old
(Fro-Me)
ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE: U.S PRESIDENT GERALD FORD
Found: Guilty! !
!
!
!
!
Years in Prison: 34 years
Charles Manson
"The country is in a mess. This man is not your president!"
Fromme attempted to assassinate President Ford outside the Senator Hotel in
Sacramento on Sept. 5, 1975, because he was a “phony who had not been elected and
who was partially responsible for our involvement in Vietnam.”
Life before Prison:
• Born in Santa Monica, in 1948
• Was kicked out by her father, and met Charles Manson at Venice Beach and
became one of his followers.
• Worked as a Westchester Lariats performer
The Manson “Family”:
• A group of young “hippies” that worshiped Charles Manson, convicted murderer for the
LaBianca and Tate murder cases in the 1960’s. He called himself both God and the
Devil in one. He believed in Helter Skelter, from famous Beatles song, and believed it
meant an apocalyptic war would arise from the tension over racial relation between
blacks and whites.
• “The Manson Family”: (44:29) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrr9yYTt3gs
• Documentary on Charles Manson, including Squeaky (1hr 45min) The Six Degrees of
Helter Skelter, available on Netflix
Assassination Attempt:
• Fromme remained in contact with Manson after his conviction of the Tate/
murders and would follow him city to city as he was moved from prison to prison.
16
•
•
Fromme went to Sacramento’s Capitol Park, wearing a nun-like robe.
Fromme was trying to gain attention from President Ford for the Manson
“family’s” environmental concerns. She brought a gun loaded with 4 rounds, but
with no bullet in the firing chamber, and pointed it at Ford who was 2 feet away at
the Senator Hotel in Sacramento.
More on Fromme:
• Fromme escaped from prison to be closer to Manson when she found out he was
ill
• Bio: http://www.biography.com/people/squeaky-fromme-20902443
• Assassination attempt interview:(3:55) http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=dxjggckztOY
• Fromme Interview on Manson Book: (9:56) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJGxTfeqI
• Gerald Ford- Assassination Attempts (02): (2:35) https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=da668XwQLuY
• Ford was the 38th President.
17
Sara Jane Moore
(Feb.15, 1930- present) 83 years old
ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE: U.S PRESIDENT GERALD FORD
Found: Guilty! !
Sentence: Life! !
Years in Prison: 32+ years, paroled on Dec.3, 2007
"I didn’t want to kill anybody, but there comes a point when the only way you can make a
statement is to pick up a gun."
Moore (45) attempted to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford on September 22,
1975, outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco (17 days after Squeaky Fromme had
pointed a gun at the president). A bystander grabbed her arm to deflect her aim at the
President.
Life before prison:
• Housewife, Moore had 5 husbands and 4 children.
• Divorced 5 times.
• She had several jobs throughout her life including: nurse, a member of the Women’s
Army Corps, and accountant.
Wannabe
Radical
•
• She became an FBI informant in 1972, when her ties became known, and in order to
regain her radical friends trust she attempted to assassinate the president.
Assassination Attempt:
• Ford took office in August 9, 1974 after the Nixon Watergate scandal, saying, “I assume
the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances...This is an hour of history that
troubles our minds and hearts.”
18
• Standing 40 feet away from President Ford she fired a single shot from her revolver that
she bought that morning.
• She stood in the middle of a crowd across the street from the St. Francis Hotel when
she fired.
• Moore had missed the President by 6 inches. When She realized she missed she raised
her arm to fire again, but was intercepted by Oliver Sipple, a retired Marine. He
knocked her arm twice and potentially saved the President’s life. The bullet slightly
injured a bystander after it ricocheted off the entrance to the hotel.
• She was found guilty.
More on Moore:
• Moore escaped from prison in 1979 and was caught a few hours later.
• Moore spent 32 years in prison and was paroled on Dec. 31, 2007 at 77 years old.
• Interview with Sara Jane Moore after her release from Prison. (May 28, 2009) http://
www.today.com/video/today/30978817#30978817
• http://www.biography.com/people/sara-jane-moore-21155825
• Gerald Ford- Assassination Attempts (02): (2:35) https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=da668XwQLuY
• Ford was the 38th President.
19
John Hinckley Jr
(May 29, 1955- Present) 58 years old+
ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE: U.S PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN
Found:! not guilty, basis: insanity Sentence: psychiatric facility Time in Mental Hospital: he is still
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
there today
President Ronald
Jodie Foster, “Taxi
Reagan
Driver”
“Guns are neat little things, aren't they? They can kill extraordinary people with very little
effort.”
25 year old Hinckley attempted to assassinate the U.S President Ronald Reagan to win over the
love of famous actor Jodi Foster.
Hinckley’s Life before his Assassination Attempt:
• Born into a good intentioned family in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Then moved to Dallas, Tx at age
4. He was a good athlete and spent most of his time alone and was elected class president twice.
They moved to Evergreen, Colorado after his High School graduation in 1973.
• Went to college on and off in 1974 and dropped out, moved to California in 1975 to become a
songwriter. He would write to his parents begging for money. He made up a girlfriend named
“Lynn Collins.” He made a pattern of moving in with his parents, moving out, going broke and
moving back home.
• He started shooting guns in 1979 while also taking anti-depressants and tranquilizers.
• He supposedly became obsessed with the movie “Taxi Driver,” a movie about an assassin, and
saw it 15+ times.
• Hinckley was obsessed with the actress Jodi Foster who played a child prostitute in the film. He
learned that Foster enrolled at Yale University, so he followed her their and enrolled in an
20
english class. He stalked her with notes under her door and bombarding her with telephone
calls. He made no meaningful connection.Hinckley developed such plots as aircraft hijacking
and committing suicide in front of her to get her attention.
• Eventually he settled on a scheme to impress her by assassinating the president, with the theory
that as a historical figure he would be her equal. Hinckley trailed President Jimmy Carter from
state to state, but was arrested in Nashville, Tenn., on a firearms charge. Penniless, he went
home again, and despite psychiatric treatment for depression, his mental health did not
improve.
• He began to target the newly elected president Ronald Reagan in 1981 and started collecting
information on the assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald, whom he saw as a
role model.
• Hinckley wrote to Foster on March 30, 1981, just before his attempt on Reagan's life:
“ Over the past seven months I've left you dozens of poems, letters and love messages in the faint
hope that you could develop an interest in me. Although we talked on the phone a couple of times I
never had the nerve to simply approach you and introduce myself. [...] the reason I'm going ahead
with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you.
• This was his attempt telling her that he was going to make a “historical deed” in order to
impress her and that he was going to assassinate the newly elected President Reagan outside
the Washington Hilton.
Assassination Attempt:
• The same day of his letter, he attempted to assassinate the president.
• Hinckley arrived at 2:25 pm at the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C., on March 30, 1981. He
fired a .22-caliber Röhm RG-14 Revovler six times at Reagan as he left the hotel after his AFLCIO conference.
• Hinckley wounded 4 people in the process; police officer Thomas Delahanty, Secret Service
agent Timothy McCarthy, and he critically wounded Reagan’s press secretary James Brady
(remains paralyzed on the left side of his body). He didn’t hit Reagan directly but seriously
wounded him off of a ricocheted bullet off of the presidential limousine. All victims survived.
• He did not flee the scene, he was arrested at the scene. He was charged with 13 offenses but was
found not guilty on all charges. He was found Legally Insane.
More on Hinckley:
• The attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan (3:43) http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3Bj6aOgfcJU
• A report on ABC News “Nightline” (10:48) http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=4w6KPkv0vT8
• Attempted Assassination of a President by National Geographic: (3:34) http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYlYSc9hAUA
• Unsuccessful Assassinations: (3:42)https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3Bj6aOgfcJU&list=PL1F598750308BE6AE
21
Other Information on Assassins:
• Of the 4 completed Presidential Assassins (Lincoln-Booth, Garfield-Guiteau, McKinleyCzolgosz and JFK-Oswald) all off the assassins were murdered.
• Assassins with reported mental illness: Oswald, Byck, Guiteau, Hinckley, and arguably others.
• Assassins that have escaped:
• Prison: Moore, and Fromme
• Mental Institution: Guiteau
• The Nixon and Ford assassination attempts were a little over a year apart. 1974 and 1975.
• The Curse of Tippecanoe (aka the Presidential Curse): is used to describe the regular death in
office of the Presidents of the United States elected or re-elected in years divisible by twenty,
from William Henry Harrison (elected in 1840) to JFK (1960). 2 other assassination attempts
were made following this pattern but with the presidents surviving (Reagan and Bush).
• This pattern occurred for 120 years. All presidents in this time that were elected in the
years ending in “0” (every 20 years), died while serving in office.
22
Terms from Assassins the Musical:
• SCENE 5:
!
Goldman:
!
Cossacks: a member of a people of southern Russia, Ukraine, and Siberia, noted
!
for their horsemanship and military skill.
• SCENE 6:
!
Fromme:
!
Armageddon: (in the New Testament) the last battle between good and evil before the
!
Day of Judgment.
!
-the place where the last battle between good and evil will be fought.
!
-a dramatic and catastrophic conflict, typically seen as likely to destroy the world
!
or the human race: nuclear Armageddon.
!
Moore:
!
Haight Street: in San Francisco, known for it’s Hippie subculture. [heyt or hate]
!
Narc: a federal agent or police officer who enforces the laws regarding illicit sale or use
!
of drugs and narcotics.
• SCENE 16:
• Booth:
!
Demitasse cup(de-mi-tas) : a small cup used to serve
!
Turkish coffee or espresso
!
23