The Man Who Almost Assasinated JFK In 1960

In December of 1960, Richard Pavlick was the first disgruntled postal worker to make headlines.  It wasn't exactly the headline he was hoping for and not many people read it due to a terrible plane accident in Brooklyn that happened the same day.  Pavlick was arrested with a car full of dynamite (left) in Palm Beach, FL where President-elect Kennedy was staying.  He had been stalking the JFK and waiting for the right moment to drive into him or his house and blow him up because he thought the Kennedy's wealth had stolen the election of 1960.  He apparently came very close to do it one afternoon when JFK exited the residence but changed his mind when he saw Mrs. Kennedy and the children, because he had nothing against them.

Anyway, this is a fascinating bit of lost history I just found out about when reading a review for a new book by Jeff Greenfield called "Then Everthing Changed." The book, just out this week, serves up three fictional alternative histories of the 60's, 70's and 80's where timing changes everything and history takes a radically different course.  I am definitely planning on reading this as one of my favorite recent books was Phillip Roth's "The Plot Against America", about an alterna-30's where Lucky Lindbergh actually becomes  President and the nation sprials into neo-Facism.  Alternate history is a popular and growing genre of fiction, with other writers including new Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich and Michael Chabon.