Oscar Collazo
Oscar Collazo was a Puerto Rican nationalist known for his involvement in a failed assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S. Truman in 1950. Born on a farm and the youngest of fourteen children, he grew up in a family that lost their land after his father's death. His political awakening came in his youth when he became a follower of Pedro Albizu Campos, the leader of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, who opposed the incorporation of Puerto Rico into the United States.
Relocating to New York, Collazo actively participated in nationalist movements, eventually leading to his involvement in a planned revolution in Puerto Rico. This culminated in the assassination attempt on Truman, where Collazo and Griselio Torresola aimed to draw attention to Puerto Rico's plight. The attempt was chaotic, resulting in Torresola's death and Collazo's capture, leading to a death sentence that was later commuted to life imprisonment.
After spending nearly 30 years in prison, he was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter and returned to Puerto Rico, where he passed away in 1994. Though his actions were unsuccessful, Collazo's legacy influenced future political radicals and highlighted a shift in motivations behind attempts on political figures, from personal grievances to political causes.
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Oscar Collazo
Puerto Rican-born radical who attempted to assassinate President Harry S. Truman
- Born: January 20, 1914
- Birthplace: Florida, Puerto Rico
- Died: February 21, 1994
- Place of death: Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
Committed to an independent Puerto Rico, Collazo was one of two men who plotted to assassinate President Truman in 1950. His accomplice was killed, and Collazo was captured and sent to prison.
Early Life
Born on a farm, Oscar Collazo (koh-LAH-zoh) was the youngest of fourteen children of a land-owning family in Puerto Rico. When Collazo was four years old, his father sold the family farm and died soon afterward. Collazo grew up working in an elder brother’s general store. By 1932, he was out of school, unemployed, and directionless.
In April, 1932, Collazo found himself in a public square in San Juan, listening to a speech by Pedro Albizu Campos, a compelling orator and political agitator. The “supreme leader” of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, Albizu Campos maintained that the incorporation of Puerto Rico into the United States was illegal, financially motivated, and exploitative. Although Albizu Campos and his party were rejected in free elections that year, he won a devoted convert in Collazo. Over time, Collazo personalized Albizu Campos’s thesis, believing that predatory North American banking interests had forced his father to sell the family farm.
Life’s Work
Even when he moved to New York to find stable employment, Collazo remained in contact with Puerto Rican radicals. During the 1940’s, he served as the president of the New York chapter of the Nationalist Party. At the same time, Collazo gave the outward appearance of a contented family man. He got married, found a good job, had children, and even saved up for a house in the suburbs.
Realizing that he would never win a free election in Puerto Rico, Albizu Campos planned an island-wide revolution sometime in 1950 against the territorial government. It is unclear to what extent violence against the U.S. government was part of this plan, but several historians doubt the likelihood of Collazo plotting an assassination without orders from Albizu Campos.
In October, 1950, after a series of arrests, the territorial government in Puerto Rico became aware of the planned revolution. In response, the Nationalist Party prematurely launched its revolt; however, because various incidents were poorly coordinated, the uprising was mostly unsuccessful. In the end, a few police stations were burned down and several police officers were murdered. Although an attempt to assassinate the island’s governor failed, the party did seize control of a small mountain town, declaring it the capital of a free Puerto Rican republic. Within a week, the uprising was crushed and Albizu Campos was behind bars.
Meanwhile, Collazo and another Puerto Rican assassin, Griselio Torresola, tried to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. At the time, Truman was living in the Blair House, a townhouse on a Washington side street, while the much more secure White House was being renovated. The assassination attempt was a suicide mission that maximized speed and surprise. Collazo approached the house from one direction, carrying a concealed handgun. When he reached the front of the house, he was to draw his weapon and kill any guards on the scene. Although an inept assassin, Collazo was an effective distraction. His pistol jammed when he first tried to shoot, and only after repeatedly striking it was he able to clear the weapon. Alerted to Collazo, the Secret Service and White House police began shooting at him, pinning him down behind a metal railing and eventually wounding him.
With attention drawn to Collazo, Torresola planned to approach the house from the other direction, killing any remaining guards. Afterward, he planned to enter the house, locate the president, and kill him. A trained gunman, Torresola mortally wounded one police officer and seriously wounded two others. In a second-floor bedroom of the Blair House, Truman heard the sound of gunfire and looked out the window. Torresola was only a few dozen feet away. Had he not been killed by a desperate shot from a dying police officer, Torresola might have seen and killed the president.
After a short trial in late 1950, Collazo was sentenced to death. The sentence later was commuted to life in prison. Collazo repeatedly claimed that he had nothing personal against Truman; his goal was to assassinate the president to draw the attention of the world to unfair conditions in Puerto Rico. He just as repeatedly denied that the assassination attempt had any connection to Albizu Campos’s failed revolution.
By the late 1970’s, after almost thirty years behind bars, Collazo was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter. An unrepentant Collazo returned to Puerto Rico, where he died on February 21, 1994.
Significance
Although unsuccessful in his primary mission, Collazo served as an example for later radicals. In 1954, a group of Puerto Ricans, several of whom personally knew Collazo, attacked the U.S. House of Representatives. Moreover, Collazo signaled a change in would-be presidential assassins. Before 1950, most had been motivated either by personal grudges or by mental illness. After Collazo, most assassins claimed a political motivation—that their murderous actions were designed either to bring about a revolution or to free an imprisoned leader.
Bibliography
Clarke, James K. American Assassins: The Darker Side of Politics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982. Surveys the efforts of various historical figures to make political statements through murder.
Collazo, Oscar. Oscar Collazo: Memorias de un patriota encarcelado. 2d ed. San Juan, P.R.: Cabrera, 2000. Collazo’s Spanish-language autobiography details his political beliefs and motivations.
Hunter, Stephen, and John Bainbridge, Jr. American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. A skillful reexamination of Collazo and Torresola’s tactical plans.