Richard Paul Pavlick (February 13, 1887 – November 11, 1975) was a retired

postal worker A postal worker is one who works for a post office, such as a mail carrier. In the U.S., postal workers are represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL–CIO, National Postal Mail Handlers Union – NPMHU, the National Associatio ...

from

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who stalked Senator and U.S. president-elect

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, with the intent of assassinating him. On December 11, 1960, in Palm Beach, Florida, Pavlick positioned himself to carry out the assassination by blowing up Kennedy and himself with dynamite, but delayed the attempt because Kennedy was with his wife

Jacqueline Jacqueline may refer to: People * Jacqueline (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jacqueline Moore (born 1964), ring name "Jacqueline", American professional wrestler Arts and entertainment * ''Jacqueline'' (1923 film), ...

and their two young children. He was arrested before he was able to stage another attempt.

Personal background

Pavlick was born on February 13, 1887, in Belmont,

. After serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he worked as a postal worker in

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Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, before retiring and relocating to Belmont in the 1950s. Pavlick had no family. He became known at local public meetings for his angry political rants, which included complaints that the

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was not being displayed appropriately; he also criticized the government and hated Catholics, focusing much of his anger on the

Kennedy family The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy beca ...

and their wealth.

Assassination plan

After Kennedy defeated

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Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

in the 1960 presidential election, 73-year-old Pavlick decided to kill Kennedy. He turned his property over to a local youth camp, loaded his meager possessions into his 1950 Buick, and disappeared. Soon after, Belmont's postmaster began receiving bizarre

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s from Pavlick stating that the town would soon hear from him "in a big way"; noticing that the postmarked dates and locations matched Kennedy's movements, the postmaster contacted the

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

; the Secret Service interviewed locals and learned of Pavlick's previous outbursts and that he had recently purchased dynamite. During his travels, Pavlick had visited the Kennedy compound at

Hyannis Port, Massachusetts Hyannis Port (or Hyannisport) is a small residential village located in Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. It is an affluent summer community on Hyannis Harbor, 1.4 miles (2.3 km) to the south-southwest of Hyannis. Community It has ...

, and photographed the Kennedy home while also checking out the compound's security. Shortly before 10 a.m. on Sunday, December 11, as Kennedy was preparing to leave for

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

at St. Edward Church in Palm Beach, Pavlick waited in his dynamite-laden car hoping to detonate his 1950 Buick to cause a fatal explosion. However, Pavlick changed his mind after seeing Kennedy with his wife,

, and the couple's two small children. Pavlick said, "I did not want to harm her or the children." While waiting for another opportunity over the next few days, Pavlick visited the church to learn its interior, but the Secret Service had informed local Palm Beach police to look out for Pavlick's automobile. Four days later, on December 15, Palm Beach police officer Lester Free spotted Pavlick's vehicle crossing the Royal Poinciana Bridge. After his arrest, Pavlick said, "Kennedy money bought the White House and the Presidency. I had the crazy idea I wanted to stop Kennedy from being President." On January 27, 1961, Pavlick was committed to the federal medical center in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, then was indicted for threatening Kennedy's life seven weeks later. According to

Ted Sorensen Theodore Chaikin Sorensen (May 8, 1928 – October 31, 2010) was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. He was a speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, as well as one of his closest advisers. President Kennedy once called hi ...

, Kennedy "was merely bemused" when he found out about Pavlick.

Later life

Charges against Pavlick were dropped on December 2, 1963, ten days after Kennedy's assassination in

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. Judge Emett Clay Choate ruled that Pavlick was

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

—unable to distinguish between right and wrong in his actions—and ordered that he remain in a

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. The federal government also dropped charges in August 1964, and Pavlick was eventually released from the

New Hampshire State Hospital The New Hampshire State Hospital was originally constructed in 1842 in Concord, New Hampshire, Concord, New Hampshire, as the seventeenth such mental institution in the country to cater to the state's mentally ill population. History It ...

on December 13, 1966. Pavlick died at age 88 on November 11, 1975, at the

Veterans Administration Hospital Veterans' health care in the United States is separated geographically into 19 regions (numbered 1, 2, 4-10, 12 and 15–23) In January 2002, the Veterans Health Administration announced the merger of VISNs 13 and 14 to create a new, combined netw ...

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In popular culture

Pavlick was portrayed by Kent Broadhurst in the 1983 miniseries '' Kennedy'', but his age is inaccurately portrayed as being 36, rather than the actual 73. In 2013, the

Military Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television television network, channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The n ...

produced a hypothetical documentary, ''What If...? Armageddon 1962'', in which Pavlick managed to kill Kennedy, and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

's inept handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis resulted in a nuclear exchange.

References

External links

The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed
, by Dan Lewis, Smithsonian.com, December 6, 2012. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlick, Richard Paul 1887 births 1975 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I Failed assassins of presidents of the United States Presidency of John F. Kennedy People from Belmont, New Hampshire Military personnel from New Hampshire American failed assassins Stalking