Assassination refers to “killing suddenly or secretively, especially a politically prominent person.” It will be the focus of a PowerPoint program by Ronald H. Koehn at 2:00 PM on Sunday, October 27, at the Windmill Cultural Center in Fulton.
Titled “The Other Assassinations: Garfield and McKinley,” this presentation is the next in the series of monthly programs sponsored by the Volunteer Millers of De Immigrant Windmill. The program is free and open to the public.
Seventeen Presidents of the United States were targets of assassination plots or actual attempts on their lives, and four of them paid the ultimate price. During the Civil War in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and a Confederate sympathizer who hoped Lincoln’s death would throw the American government into disarray and re-energize the rebellion. In 1963 President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, a Marxist and former U.S. Marine intent on making himself the center of attention. Both Booth and Oswald were killed before they could stand trial for murder.
The assassination stories of Lincoln and Kennedy are well known, but the same is not true regarding the assassinations of James A. Garfield and William McKinley. In 1881 President Garfield was shot and killed by Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally unbalanced and disappointed office seeker. In 1901 President McKinley was shot and killed by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. The focus of Koehn’s presentation will be the assassinations of Garfield and McKinley in which both assassins were apprehended, charged, tried, convicted, and punished.
James Garfield (click or tap on image to enlarge)
Ron Koehn earned two degrees from Illinois State University at Normal: a Bachelor of Science in Education, majoring in history and minoring in political science, and a Master of Science in history. A social studies instructor for 29 years at Fulton High School, he primarily taught United States history, sociology, and American government. The Windmill Cultural Center is located at 111 – 10th Avenue across from the windmill, and the facility is accessible to people with disabilities. The program is financially supported by a grant from the D.S. Flikkema Foundation. Light refreshments will be served following the presentation.