Truman Dodges Assassins' Bullets

It was a peaceful, rather ordinary Wednesday afternoon in the nation’s capital, Nov. 1, 1950. While the White House was being renovated, President Truman and his wife Bess were staying across the street in the Blair House. Around 2:15 the president was in an upstairs bedroom napping in his underwear, sound asleep—when suddenly the calm was shattered by a fierce exchange of gunshots. The abruptly-awakened yet calm president stuck his head out the window and saw a scene of great confusion. Trouble from far away had literally come to Truman’s doorstep: two Puerto Rican nationalists had rushed Blair House to assassinate him. The president’s nap was over.