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flotsam

(3,268 posts)
Wed Jul 3, 2019, 07:37 PM Jul 2019

When a leader won't let go...

Following is a chronological list of some major assassinations of heads of state since the end of World War II:leader Mohandas Gandhi, Jan. 30, 1948; shot by a Hindu fanatic while walking to a prayer meeting in New Delhi.

King Faisal II of Iraq in 1952; killed when army troops stormed royal palace in Baghdad in coup led by Brig. Gen. Abdul Karin Kassem.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Liaquate Ali Khan, Oct. 16, 1951; shot at public meeting.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike, Sept. 25, 1959; killed by monk.

Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Garcia in 1956; killed by assassin's bullet.

Domincan Republic dictator Rafael Leonida Trujillo Molina May 30, 1961; killed when gunmen attacked his car in Ciudad Trujillo. The assassins, including Brig. Gen. Juan Tomas Diaz, were later captured and executed.

South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem, Nov. 2, 1963; apparently assassinated by rebel forces along with brother although rebels claimed the pair committed suicide.

President John F. Kennedy, Nov. 22, 1963; fatally shot as he rode in open car through Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald, charged with the crime, fatally shot two days later by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who died before he could be brought to trial.

Prime Minister Henrik Verwoerd of South Africa, Sept. 6, 1966; stabbed to death on Parliament floor by messenger.

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, March 25, 1975; stabbed at his royal palace in Riyadh by nephew.

Bangladesh President Mujibur Rahman, Aug. 15, 1975; assassinated with wife and five children in coup by rightist, pro-Pakistan army officers. He led his nation to independence from Pakistan in 1971.

South Korea President Park Chung Hee, Oct. 26, 1979; shot to death by head of Korean Central Intelligence Agency.

Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman, May 30, 1981; shot with eight aides at government house in port city of Chittagong by rebels commanded by demoted general who subsequently was captured and killed.

Iran's President Mohammed Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Hojjatoleslam Mohammed Javad Bahonar, Aug. 30, 1981; killed by bomb at prime minister's office.



Bolivian President Maj. Gualberto Villaroel in 1946; killed by lynch mob in La Paz.

Lebanon's President-elect Beshir Gemayel, Sept. 14, 1982; killed in bombing of his Beirut party headquarters.

Grenada's Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, Oct 19, 1983; killed by militant Marxists. The United States led an invasion six days later and ousted new regime.

India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Oct. 31, 1984; shot by Sikh members of her own security guard outside her home in

New Delhi.

Sweden's Prime Minister Olof Palme, Feb. 28, 1985; shot at least twice at close range minutes after he left a movie theater with his wife.


Oh-I forgot one!!! Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Oct. 6, 1981; killed by fanatic Moslem gunmen during Cairo military parade.

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SWBTATTReg

(22,112 posts)
1. Wondering about the title 'when a leader won't let go', I'm not really sure what kind of leader...
Wed Jul 3, 2019, 07:41 PM
Jul 2019

you are talking about (I saw your list)...are you talking about leaders that self appointed themselves (as opposed to JFK who was voted in), etc. Might want to clarify. Nice list but didn't know what to make of it.

flotsam

(3,268 posts)
2. What's the origin of the phrase 'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown'?
Wed Jul 3, 2019, 07:51 PM
Jul 2019

'Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown' comes from Shakespeare's Henry IV. Part II, 1597.

KING HENRY IV:

And in the visitation of the winds,
Who take the ruffian billows by the top,
Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them
With deafening clamour in the slippery clouds,
That, with the hurly, death itself awakes?
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose
To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude,
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

In this piece Henry is bemoaning his position as king in that he, unlike even the most humble cabin-boy, cannot find a moments peace and repose.

malaise

(268,949 posts)
4. Salvador Allende, Chile - 1976
Wed Jul 3, 2019, 08:14 PM
Jul 2019

Sorry you had Bishop
add Nicolae Ceaușescu,Romania, 1989
Sadam Hussain 2003 ,Muammar Gaddafi 2011

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