On November 1, 1950, President Harry Truman was almost assassinated by Puerto Rican Nationalists. Apparently the incident was downplayed at the time, but was really quite a close call. America's Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman and the Shoot-Out that Stopped It is a new book out about the incident by Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge, Jr.
According to Hunter, if four other potential shooters hadn't have backed out (in other words, if there would have been 5 or 6 shooters instead of two)... welcome to the Alben Barkley era.
Listen to the the Hunter interview here (Nov. 14th edition)
Oddly enough, the two assassins weren't the poverty-stricken, oppressed, down-and-outers that you always here about (but somehow rarely see) carrying out these suicide missions. The ringleader was a middle-class family man who spoke English and put his kids in American schools. Hmmmm.
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