An Assassin's Diary
An Assassin's Diary (ISBN 0-06-120470-6) is a book written by Arthur Bremer and Harding Lemay. It was released in 1973 which was based on part of the diary of Bremer, the would-be assassin of Alabama Governor George Wallace. Bremer shot Wallace at the Laurel Shopping Center in Laurel, Maryland, while Wallace was making his third campaign for President on May 15, 1972.
 First edition | |
| Authors | Arthur Bremer and Harding Lemay |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | United States, Assassins |
| Published | 1973 (Harper's Magazine Press) |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 0-06-120470-6 |
| OCLC | 590731 |
| 976.1060924 | |
| LC Class | E840.8.B73 |
In the book, Bremer says that he was not particularly opposed to Wallace's political agenda, which many had branded as white supremacist, but his primary motive was to become famous, and that he had also stalked President Richard Nixon. However, other sources shed light on a different Arthur Bremer. Those examples are as follows: A 113-page portion of Bremer's diary was published in 1973 as An Assassin's Diary; it covers the period from April 4, 1972—which, incidentally, was the day on which George McGovern won the Wisconsin primary—to the day before he shot Wallace and Bremer's subsequent arrest. The motive for Bremer's assassination attempt on Governor Wallace in 1972 can be inferred by his own words. Based on the racist ideologies that Wallace had at the time, Bremer wrote an entry in his diary that Wallace (had he been assassinated) would not have even been buried in Washington among those he called "snobs." Neither would an assassination of Wallace have interrupted television programs in Russia and/or Europe, due to his lack of notoriety. Another entry that Bremer made in his diary was about his admiration for an African-American woman named Velvalea Hortense Rodgers, known as "Vel" Phillips (February 18, 1923 – April 17, 2018). She was an American attorney, politician, jurist, and Civil Rights activist, who served as an alderperson and judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as Secretary of State of Wisconsin (1978-1982).
Often, Vel Phillips was the first woman and/or African-American in her position. She was the first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Further evidence shows that the motive of Arthur Bremer in his assassination attempt on Governor Wallace was his reference to Wallace at his 1996 parole hearing. He referred to Wallace as a "segregationist dinosaur"[18] (in other words a brute) to commute his sentence. Moreover, Bremer kept a low profile before and after prison, and while in prison for 35 years, and he was a model inmate who worked as an educational aide. He also turned down offers before and after prison that would have made him rich and famous. Therefore, his motive to assassinate the governor was not for attention but conviction.
Paul Schrader was partly inspired by Bremer's diary when he wrote the screenplay for the 1976 film Taxi Driver, directed by Martin Scorsese. Peter Gabriel's 1980 song "Family Snapshot," from Peter Gabriel (III) was inspired by An Assassin's Diary.[1]
Reviews
In the essay "The Art and Arts of E. Howard Hunt", Gore Vidal assesses Bremer's writing style and notes the apparent contradiction between Bremer's lucid prose and his characterization as a person with a mediocre intellect.[2]
References
- Music Review: Peter Gabriel – Melt (1980)
- Vidal, Gore (December 19, 1973). "The Art and Arts of E. Howard Hunt" (PDF). The New York Review. New York. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
External links
- Portrait of an Assassin: Arthur Bremer, with quotes from his diary