The authors did very well in describing the 39.5 second or so gun fight at the Blair House in which Truman was staying while the White House cross the street was undergoing major renovations. Not a simple task given the shortness of the actual event. They interleave the backgrounds of the participants with detail accounts of the event itself.
This nearly tragic attempt resulted in a complete overhaul of the Secret Service approach to presidential protection.
The authors point out that there were actual two distinct gunfights, one from each of the approaches to the Blair House by each of the would be assassins. Each gunfight was an event unto itself, very different from the other. The outcomes were in the main determined by the training and personalities of the actors.
A very riveting account of that day.
Interesting that in that era, with no movie or video press corps in attendance, the best approximation of the time elapsed was obtained by timing the response of a 19 year old electrician working up the strreet. On hearing the first shots he immediatley ran to the sounds of gun fire and to aid a downed officer. Reconstructing his dash provided the time.
ping
BTTT
I read the book and I agree that it is a good book about the gunfight. What I don't agree with is with the author's sympathetic view of the nationalists. They and their actions are almost universally aborred on the island.
I never knew this....ashamed to say