NEWTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY LOOKS AT PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATIONS

NEWTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Box 189
NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT 06470

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact John Renjilian, 203-426-0864

Being president has a long history of danger. For more than 150 years attempts have been made on the lives of numerous presidents, and the Newtown Historical Society, in conjunction with the C H Booth Library, will gather the evidence of many of those attempts in a program entitled Failed Presidential Assassinations, October 21, at 7.30 in the meeting room of the Library, presented by Jason Scapputicci.

Every schoolchild knows of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and many of us lived through the last presidential killing, that of John F Kennedy. There have been two other successful attempts on the lives of presidents, James A Garfield in 1881, and William McKinley in 1901. While the shooting of Lincoln and Kennedy might be seen as political acts, Garfield and McKinley were more the actions of individuals with personal grudges. But what of all the other presidents, have they been immune from attack? Actually, attempts on the lives of the president have been frequent. Both Presidents Bush, Nixon, Clinton, all have been attacked, sometimes by rather drastic means. Harry Truman suffered a major attack fueled by a Puerto Rican nationalist group, and Ronald Reagan was actually shot and hospitalized soon after his inaugural in 1981. Scapputicci will cover all these and many more in his talk.

Jason Scapputicci is the Associate Dean of Student Affairs at Capitol Community College, and serves on the Manchester Board of Education. he has a passion for history and enjoys sharing the passion with others. He has has presented several programs to groups around the state, including programs on the 1964 World’s Fair and Transatlantic Airships over the last two years for the Newtown Historical Society.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the presentation. For further information please visit the website at www.newtownhistory.org, find the Society at www.facebook.com/newtownhistoricalsociety, or call the Society at 203-426-5937.