In the annals of American history, the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas on that fateful November day in 1963 forever haunts the nation. The tragedy that befell the youthful, charismatic president is seared into the collective consciousness. But few are aware that this was not the first attempt on JFK’s life. Three years prior, a disillusioned retired postal worker came close to assassinating the president-elect in a dynamite-laden suicide bombing. This is the forgotten tale of Richard Pavlick.
A Man Consumed by Anger and Paranoia
Born in 1887, Richard Pavlick was a New Hampshire native who served briefly in the military, including during World War I, but spent most of his career as a postal worker in Boston. Authors Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch paint a portrait of a deeply troubled man in their book The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy – and Why It Failed. Pavlick was plagued by mental health issues, prone to angry outbursts, and harbored deep suspicions about those he perceived as un-American.
In 1955, his paranoia and prejudice led him to attempt to form a Protestant war veterans’ group that would exclude Catholics and Jews from military service. When John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, secured the Democratic nomination in 1960, Pavlick seethed with resentment. He saw Kennedy’s wealthy father Joe as a puppetmaster trying to steal the presidency for his son.
Dynamite-Fueled Desperation
Following JFK’s narrow election victory over Richard Nixon, the 73-year-old Pavlick’s rage boiled over into a deadly plot. He packed up his belongings, including 7 sticks of dynamite, into his Buick and drove from New Hampshire to Palm Beach, Florida in December 1960. In a postcard to an acquaintance, he wrote ominously: “I came down to die.”
Pavlick planned to ram his dynamite-laden car into Kennedy’s vehicle when the president-elect left his Palm Beach compound to attend Sunday Mass, killing them both in a massive explosion. But seeing JFK accompanied by his wife Jackie and their two young children, he wavered, unwilling to kill the whole family.
“Kennedy money bought the White House and the presidency.”
– Richard Pavlick, upon his arrest
The Failed Assassin Forgotten By History
Pavlick was arrested four days later after a diligent postmaster in New Hampshire alerted authorities to the alarming postcards he had been sending as he stalked Kennedy. Deemed mentally unfit to stand trial, Pavlick was committed to an institution, where he died in obscurity in 1975. Incredibly, he was quickly forgotten by the public and seemingly even by JFK himself, who assumed the presidency apparently unfazed by the close brush with death.
This assassination attempt, the closest in Secret Service history at that point according to the agency’s chief, was overshadowed in the public eye by a plane crash in New York around the same time that dominated headlines. And of course, it paled in comparison to the earth-shattering tragedy in Dallas less than three years later. But Meltzer and Mensch’s book sheds crucial light on this overlooked episode, a chilling precursor to the event that would rob America of its 35th president and shape the course of history. It begs the haunting question: what if Pavlick had succeeded?
The Specter of the Grassy Knoll
The Kennedy assassination continues to be shrouded in conspiracy theories, with many refusing to accept that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. As Meltzer astutely observes, the shadowy villains often reflect society’s biggest fears of the era, from the Soviets in the 1960s to the CIA after Watergate in the 1970s to the mob in the 1980s. The truth remains elusive and divisive.
But the harrowing actions of Richard Pavlick, the assassin who came in from the cold New England winter in 1960, serve as a stark reminder that the unthinkable is often attempted by the lone, angry, unhinged individual. His story, masterfully unearthed in The JFK Conspiracy, is a dark reflection of the cultural and political turmoil of the time—and a chilling prelude to the shot that would ring out in Dealey Plaza and reverberate across the decades.
In 1955, his paranoia and prejudice led him to attempt to form a Protestant war veterans’ group that would exclude Catholics and Jews from military service. When John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, secured the Democratic nomination in 1960, Pavlick seethed with resentment. He saw Kennedy’s wealthy father Joe as a puppetmaster trying to steal the presidency for his son.
Dynamite-Fueled Desperation
Following JFK’s narrow election victory over Richard Nixon, the 73-year-old Pavlick’s rage boiled over into a deadly plot. He packed up his belongings, including 7 sticks of dynamite, into his Buick and drove from New Hampshire to Palm Beach, Florida in December 1960. In a postcard to an acquaintance, he wrote ominously: “I came down to die.”
Pavlick planned to ram his dynamite-laden car into Kennedy’s vehicle when the president-elect left his Palm Beach compound to attend Sunday Mass, killing them both in a massive explosion. But seeing JFK accompanied by his wife Jackie and their two young children, he wavered, unwilling to kill the whole family.
“Kennedy money bought the White House and the presidency.”
– Richard Pavlick, upon his arrest
The Failed Assassin Forgotten By History
Pavlick was arrested four days later after a diligent postmaster in New Hampshire alerted authorities to the alarming postcards he had been sending as he stalked Kennedy. Deemed mentally unfit to stand trial, Pavlick was committed to an institution, where he died in obscurity in 1975. Incredibly, he was quickly forgotten by the public and seemingly even by JFK himself, who assumed the presidency apparently unfazed by the close brush with death.
This assassination attempt, the closest in Secret Service history at that point according to the agency’s chief, was overshadowed in the public eye by a plane crash in New York around the same time that dominated headlines. And of course, it paled in comparison to the earth-shattering tragedy in Dallas less than three years later. But Meltzer and Mensch’s book sheds crucial light on this overlooked episode, a chilling precursor to the event that would rob America of its 35th president and shape the course of history. It begs the haunting question: what if Pavlick had succeeded?
The Specter of the Grassy Knoll
The Kennedy assassination continues to be shrouded in conspiracy theories, with many refusing to accept that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. As Meltzer astutely observes, the shadowy villains often reflect society’s biggest fears of the era, from the Soviets in the 1960s to the CIA after Watergate in the 1970s to the mob in the 1980s. The truth remains elusive and divisive.
But the harrowing actions of Richard Pavlick, the assassin who came in from the cold New England winter in 1960, serve as a stark reminder that the unthinkable is often attempted by the lone, angry, unhinged individual. His story, masterfully unearthed in The JFK Conspiracy, is a dark reflection of the cultural and political turmoil of the time—and a chilling prelude to the shot that would ring out in Dealey Plaza and reverberate across the decades.
