assassinations

Exoneration of Convicted Malcolm X Killers Shows FBI Needs to be Held Accountable

"Were the real killers working with the FBI? And is that why the FBI withheld the information? What does it say that the only witnesses who placed Aziz and Islam at the scene of the crime were FBI informants?"

Did A Black Undercover NYPD Detective Unwittingly Aid Malcolm X’s Assassination?

A posthumous letter attributed to former NYPD Detective Ray Wood details a sting operation that resulted in the arrest of two of Malcolm X's bodyguards days before his assassination. Debate has raged if the letter is authentic and, if it is, if it reflects NYPD involvement in a conspiracy to kill Malcolm. 

Newly Obtained FBI Files Shed New Light on the Murder of Fred Hampton

by Aaron J. Leonard and Conor A. Gallagher

New documents shed further light on the involvement of the FBI in the 1969 assassination of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, who is the subject of the new film "Judas and the Black Messiah." 

Malcolm X's Family Releases Letter Alleging FBI, Police Role In His Death

The family of the late leader released a letter they claim shows the involvement of a NYPD detective in a conspiracy to assassinate Malcolm X. 

Biden Isn't the First President to Have to Change Tracks en Route to Inauguration

by Jeff Rogg

The threat of violence forced Joe Biden to cancel plans to travel from Wilmington to Washington by Amtrak, as he famously did during his Senate years. The decision recalls Lincoln's efforts to avoid the (possibly apocryphal) Baltimore Plot. 

After 34 Years, Sweden Says It Knows the Killer of Olof Palme

A prosecutor said there was “reasonable evidence” that the man who shot the Swedish prime minister was Stig Engstrom, a graphic designer, who took his own life in 2000.

The Attempted Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

In their new book, Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch provide a remarkable and often riveting account of an alleged plot to kill Lincoln in Baltimore on the way to his inauguration in Washington in February 1861.

‘Honey, I Forgot to Duck’: The Attempted Assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981

On March 30,1981 President Ronald Reagan was shot while leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C..

Who Really Killed Malcolm X? Fifty-five years later, the case may be reopened.

55 years after that bloody afternoon in February 1965, the Manhattan district attorney’s office is reviewing whether to reinvestigate the murder.

Assassination as Cure: Disease Metaphors and Foreign Policy

by Sarah Swedberg

Kinzinger’s words fit within a long historical tradition of badly used disease metaphors that often accompany bad outcomes.

The Original War on Terror

by Eric Laursen

A review of Nunzio Pernicone and Fraser M. Ottanelli, Assassins against the Old Order: Italian Anarchist Violence in Fin de Siècle Europe.

The plot to assassinate George Washington — and how it was foiled

If it weren’t for an overheard conversation in a New York jail, we might all be drinking British tea today.

Why RFK's assassination still matters today

by Leonard Steinhorn

As we look back on Robert Kennedy's death, we can trace a straight line from that tragic moment 50 years ago at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles to the racial resentments and grievances that Richard Nixon validated to the presidency of Donald J. Trump today.

The Never Ending Story of Lee Harvey Oswald

by Bruce Chadwick

In a new play Oswald's mama is blamed for many of his problems. The play winks at conspiracy theories, but says flat out that Oswald shot the president.

What Is It About September that Makes It Disastrous Month for Presidents and Presidential Candidates?

by Ronald L. Feinman

It’s just a historical curiosity. But it reminds us of the constant threat presidents face.

Donald Trump Has Created a Constitutional Crisis on the 42nd Anniversary of Richard Nixon’s Resignation

by Ronald L. Feinman

For a Presidential candidate even to hint at assassination reminds us of the many tragedies of Presidential and Presidential candidate assassinations and threats throughout American history.

Why This Historian Is Worried for His Country

by Ronald L. Feinman

As the author of a book on presidential assassinations, he’s concerned the ugly rhetoric of this election will lead to an act of violence.

A member of the Warren Commission staff now worries he was a victim of a “massive cover-up”

The commission, he believes, was the victim of a “massive cover-up” by government officials who wanted to hide the fact that, had they simply acted on the evidence in front of them in November 1963, the assassination might have been prevented.

Book: Jimmy Carter targeted by US and foreign assassins

Potential assassins have threatened the life of Jimmy Carter multiple times since he left the White House in 1981, making the one-term Georgian the most threatened former president in history, according to a new book about John F. Kennedy and his assassination 50 years ago.In "The Kennedy Half Century: The Presidency, Assassination, and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy," Carter told author Larry J. Sabato that he has faced at least three home-grown assassination attempts since returning to Georgia and is constantly warned by the U.S. Secret Service of personal threats during his frequent overseas travel."I have had two or three threats to my life after I came home from the White House," Carter said in the highly-anticipated book due out October 22. "When I go on an overseas trip almost invariably, I get a report from the Secret Service that where I'm going is very dangerous," he added in the book provided in advance to Secrets....

Allies discussed killing Rommel before D-Day

Plans to assassinate key German figures, including Erwin Rommel, in the run-up to D-Day are revealed in newly-released British intelligence files.It was discussed in communications between the British government, military and intelligence services with the aim of aiding the landings.They planned to target those involved in the Gestapo and enemy logistics.However it was dismissed as "the type of bright idea which... produces a good deal of trouble and does little good".The letters and telegrams detailing the plans were revealed in a file, dated 1944 and obliquely entitled "War (General)", from the foreign office's permanent under-secretary of state Sir Alexander Cadogan....