Onthis day, Dec. 15, in 1960, Richard Pavlick was arrested for attempting to blow up President-elect John F. Kennedy. Four days earlier, in Palm Beach, Fla., Pavlick took 10 sticks of dynamite, some blasting caps and waited in his car for Kennedy to leave the family compound for Sunday Mass. Pavlick planned to ram Kennedy’s limousine and blow up the president-elect and himself. However, Pavlick, 73, backed off when Kennedy appeared with his wife, Jacqueline, and his two small children.
Over the next few days, Pavlick tailed Kennedy and cased out the church. Palm Beach police, acting on U.S. Secret Service information, spotted Pavlick’s Buick, full of explosives, and arrested him.
Pavlick was confined to a mental health facility. He died in 1975.
Scott McCabe
