Giuseppe Zangara, also known as Joseph Zangara, is infamous for the murder of the mayor of Chicago, Anton J. Cermak during an assasination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. He believed that capitalists were to blame for not punishing his father, who caused him to have a 'burning stomach'. His stomach caused him constant agony for over half his life, and he never knew why.

Giuseppe Zangara was born September 7, 1900 in Ferruzzano, Italy. When he was two years old, his mother died. Shortly thereafter, his father was married to a widow who had six daughters. The expanded family, already poor, endured severe hardship and soon food became scarce. When Zangara was six he started school, but after two months, his father took him out of school and put him to work. He was put to work digging deep ditches and hauling heavy bricks and stones. The strenuous work, combined with the lack of nourishment at such a young age, probably was a contributing factor to his slight build. He developed a burning stomach ache, and the pain began to drive him mad. His entire life began to revolve around his stomach pain and his health.

Zangara hated his father and blamed him for the horrible stomach pain he endured. He believed that his father should be punished, but the lousy capitalists in Italy were too busy to help him. Thus he developed a deep hatred for everyone who was rich or worked in government. Driven mad with pain, he came to believe that if he could kill the leader of the capitalists, his stomach pain might go away. He plotted to assassinate King Victor Emmanuel III, but left for the United States before carrying out his plan.

On August 18, 1923 he and his uncle left Italy for the United States of America on the steamship Martha Washington and arrived in Philadelphia on September 2, 1923. He secured a job as a bricklayer in New Jersey. He and his uncle lived together for a year until his uncle married. Zangara and his new aunt did not get along well, so he moved out. He lived very frugally and saved most of his money, allowing him the freedom to travel. He traveled to Panama and California in hopes that the warmer climate would help his stomach.

Finally he moved to Miami, Florida and again was working as a brick layer. In 1926 he went to see doctors about his stomach, who removed his appendix hoping that would solve the problem. However, it did not. On September 11, 1929, Zangara became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1932, as the Great Depression had started to effect him, his stomach pain grew progressively worse. He decided that if he were to assassinate President Herbert Hoover the problem would be solved, because everyone said Hoover was to blame for the Depression. However, Hoover lost the presidential election to Democratic candidate, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

On February 13, 1933, Zangara bought a .32 caliber pistol for $4 at a local drugstore, and planned to take a bus to Washington D.C. the next day. While walking to the bus station, he saw newspaper headlines reporting that President-elect Franklin Roosevelt was visiting the Miami area the next day. He was scheduled to make a speech at the Bayfront Park.

On February 15th, just after 9am Franklin Roosevelt arrived at Bayfront Park in a light blue Buick. Because he was crippled by polio as a child, he gave a short speech from inside the car. Well wishers crowded around the car to see Roosevelt. One of the well wishers was the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. At this time Zangara was trying to work his way to the front of the crowd so he could shoot. Because he was so short, only 5 feet tall, it was very hard for him to see his target. He climbed on top of an old unstable wooden chair and started to fire. A woman in front of him saw what he was doing and tried to push Zangara's demure 105-pound frame off of the chair. Zangara fired five bullets and hit five people. Roosevelt was not one of them, but Cermak was. Cermak suffered from an abdominal wound and was taken immediately to the hospital in Roosevelt's car. On the way, FDR embraced Cermak and told him that it would be okay. Cermak's response was "I'm glad it was me and not you, Mr. President."

After arresting Zangara, doctors examined him and discovered severe ulcers as the cause of his chronic pain. Zangara was put on trial and sentenced to 84 years for injuring bystanders during his attempt to kill Roosevelt. He pleaded guilty and showed no remorse except for missing Roosevelt. When Cermak died on March 3, Zangara was put on trial for his murder and was sentenced to death in the electric chair at the Florida State Penitentiary in Raiford. When he heard his sentence he yelled at the judge, "You give me electric chair. I no afraid of that chair! You're one of capitalists. You is crook man too. Put me in electric chair. I no care!"

On March 20, Zangara walked to the electric chair unaided and not afraid. He yelled and cursed at the guards. After a shroud was placed over his head, he screamed, "Lousy capitalists! No picture! Capitalists! No one here to take my picture. All capitalists lousy bunch of crooks. Go ahead. Push the button!" The guard pulled the switch and Zangara was no more. He had no family or friends present, and his unclaimed remains were buried in an unmarked grave at the prison.