American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman--and the Shoot-out that Stopped It

On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican Nationalists—Oscar Collazo, a metal polisher, and Griselio Torresola, an unemployed salesman—attempted to assassinate President Harry Truman at his temporary residence, Blair House, in Washington, DC. Armed with 9mm automatic pistols, they opened fire at point-blank range on the president and the security detail protecting him, triggering a violent shoot-out in the streets. Stephen Hunter and journalist John Bainbridge, Jr. reconstruct this historical event by examining the conspiracy behind the assassination attempt and the security personnel who stopped it. The authors explore the perpetrators' backgrounds, motivations, and personal histories alongside the stories of the ordinary men—White House police and Secret Service agents—who risked their lives to protect the president. The account documents both the forces that led to the plot's conception and the heroism displayed during the crisis.