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American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill President Truman--And the Shoot-Out That
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American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill President Truman--And the Shoot-Out That Stopped It Paperback - 2007

by Stephen Hunter; John Bainbridge

This electrifying book is the first full account of the historical day fanatical suicide-martyrs attempted to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola viewed themselves as soldiers participating in the violent campaign for an independent Puerto Rico.


Summary

November 1, 1950 -- an unseasonably hot afternoon in sleepy Washington, D.C. At 2:00 P.M. at his temporary residence in Blair House, President Harry Truman takes a nap. At 2:20 P.M., two Puerto Rican natives approach from different directions. Oscar Collazo, a respected metal polisher and family man, and Griselio Torresola, an unemployed salesman, don't look dangerous, not in their new suits and hats, not in their calm, purposeful demeanor, not in their slow, unexcited approach. What the three White House policemen and one Secret Service agent guarding the president cannot guess is that under each man's coat is a 9mm German automatic pistol and in each head, a dream of assassin's glory.

From the publisher

November 1, 1950 -- an unseasonably hot afternoon in sleepy Washington, D.C. At 2:00 P.M. at his temporary residence in Blair House, President Harry Truman takes a nap. At 2:20 P.M., two Puerto Rican natives approach from different directions. Oscar Collazo, a respected metal polisher and family man, and Griselio Torresola, an unemployed salesman, don't look dangerous, not in their new suits and hats, not in their calm, purposeful demeanor, not in their slow, unexcited approach. What the three White House policemen and one Secret Service agent guarding the president cannot guess is that under each man's coat is a 9mm German automatic pistol and in each head, a dream of assassin's glory.

First line

On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican Nationalists named Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola pulled German automatic pistols and attempted to storm Blair House, at 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., where the president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, was at that moment-2:20 P.M. on an abnormally hot Wednesday-taking a nap in his underwear.

Details

  • Title American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill President Truman--And the Shoot-Out That Stopped It
  • Author Stephen Hunter; John Bainbridge
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 384
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Simon & Schuster, New York
  • Date 2007-02-06
  • ISBN 9780743260695 / 0743260694
  • Weight 0.95 lbs (0.43 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.16 x 6.34 x 0.94 in (23.27 x 16.10 x 2.39 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1950's
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
    • Cultural Region: Mid-Atlantic
    • Geographic Orientation: District of Columbia
    • Locality: Washington, D.C.
  • Library of Congress subjects Assassins, United States - Officials and employees
  • Dewey Decimal Code 364.152

Media reviews

"A fast-paced thriller."
-- Alonzo Hamby, The Wall Street Journal

About the author

Stephen Hunter has written over twenty novels. The retired chief film critic for The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, he has also published two collections of film criticism and a nonfiction work, American Gunfight. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. John Bainbridge, Jr., is a freelance journalist. A former reporter for The Baltimore Sun and legal affairs editor for The Daily Record (Baltimore), he is also a lawyer and former Maryland assistant attorney general. He lives near Butler, Maryland.
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American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill President Truman--and the Shoot-out That Stopped It

by Stephen Hunter; John Jr. Bainbridge

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