The Attempted assassination of Truman at Blair House was a failed attack on Harry S. Truman by two Puerto Rican nationalists on November 1, 1950. The assault unfolded in the street outside his temporary residence, where guards stopped the gunmen before they could reach him. Its abrupt violence interrupted an otherwise ordinary afternoon, but Truman proceeded to his scheduled appearance at Arlington Cemetery, preserving the public routine in the immediate aftermath.

Setting and Immediate Context

At midday, Truman returned to Blair House after a troubling briefing from Walter Bedell Smith, the new head of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Smith reported that Chinese Communist soldiers were opposing United Nations forces in North Korea, with their numbers estimated at fifteen to twenty thousand. The international crisis formed the political backdrop to the day, though the evidence does not connect it to the assailants’ motive.

The afternoon was unusually hot: the temperature reached 85 degrees, a November record. Truman had lunch with Bess Wallace Truman and Madge Wallace, then went upstairs to nap. He was expected to leave at 2:50 for Arlington Cemetery, where he was to speak at the unveiling of a statue honoring Sir John Dill. Outside Blair House, the guards continued their routine in winter uniforms. Truman had never grown comfortable with the constant presence of protectors and would have preferred less security, but the attack would put those officers between him and the gunmen.

The Attack Outside Blair House

At 2:15, the guards began a rotation known as the push. Leslie Coffelt was stationed in the booth to the right of Blair House’s front steps; Donald Birdzell stood beneath the canopy, while Joseph Davidson occupied another booth roughly thirty yards away. Floyd Boring, a Secret Service agent, was with Davidson. The layout divided the officers along the sidewalk just as two men approached from opposite directions.

At 2:19, Griselio Torresola came from the west toward Coffelt’s booth, while Oscar Collazo approached from the east. Both were Puerto Rican nationalists from New York who had decided to kill the President to draw attention to their cause. Torresola carried a German Luger and Collazo a German Walther P-38; together they had sixty-nine rounds. Their subdued appearance had led a hotel clerk, the previous night, to mistake them for divinity students.

Torresola spoke loudly near Coffelt’s booth, apparently seeking to draw attention away from Collazo. Collazo passed Davidson and Boring and headed for the front steps. Birdzell turned as Collazo tried to fire at close range; Birdzell then moved out into Pennsylvania Avenue, drawing the gunman’s fire away from the residence and returning fire. Meanwhile, Torresola opened fire on Coffelt at the booth and shot Joseph Downs, who was near the basement door. Downs managed to get inside and call for help. Davidson and Boring fired at Collazo, hitting him and bringing him down near the front step.

Torresola turned toward Birdzell, who continued firing from the street. Though critically wounded, Coffelt managed to use his own pistol and stop Torresola with a single shot. The exchange lasted two minutes. When the shooting ended, Torresola was dead and Collazo was alive; Birdzell, Coffelt, and Downs had all been struck during the attack. Police, Secret Service agents, reporters, photographers, and a crowd gathered quickly around Blair House.

Truman’s Response

A rumor spread through the crowd that Truman had been murdered. He had been upstairs during the attack, but quickly dressed and came downstairs. From a first-floor window he saw police gathered around Collazo and Charlie Ross making his way through the crowd. Asked whether he would still go to Arlington, Truman indicated that he would.

Within fifteen minutes, he left by the back door. Secret Service agents followed closely in an open car as his limousine crossed the Potomac. At Arlington, several hundred people watched him step out looking grim but calm. The ceremony continued without the crowd initially knowing what had happened; the news reached them about ten minutes later, when a motorcycle messenger arrived to collect a photographer’s film.

Truman delivered his prepared remarks beside the equestrian statue of Sir John Dill, speaking about the importance of understanding and trust between nations. The subject of the ceremony gave his words an immediate resonance, but the account presents the address as a continuation of his scheduled public duty, not as a response composed after the attack.

Significance and Narrative Shape

The episode turns on the collision between a private residence and a public street. The guards’ routine positions, the ordinary afternoon traffic, and Truman’s scheduled departure make the attackers’ approach legible as an interruption of daily life. The officers’ rapid response—not any action by the President—prevented the gunmen from reaching him. The event also makes visible the burden of protection that Truman disliked: the security presence he found grating became essential when danger arrived at his door.

The account then shifts from the brief, chaotic exchange to Truman’s deliberate return to public ceremony. The contrast is not that the danger was slight: several officers were hit, and one attacker was killed. Rather, the narrative emphasizes the separation between the violence outside Blair House and the President’s composed appearance at Arlington. He did not cancel the engagement, and for several minutes the gathered public remained unaware of the attack. The episode therefore records both the limits of presidential security and the demands of public office: the attempt was stopped at the entrance, while the day’s official observance went on.