A Comparison Of Patrice Lumumba's Assassination

Lincoln, Malcolm X, Franz Ferdinand, all murdered, all with a purpose, all with a confirmed killer. Why did these assassinations happen? What caused these people to feel the need to kill such powerful people? While we know who killed many, and most of people, who were assassinated while in powerful positions, we have no idea who really killed Kennedy. Though many theories surround his death, we have no real evidence to confirm a killer. Could it have been the work of a single person, a group of people, maybe radicals, or even a conspiracy?

Although there have been numerous assassination plots and attempts, there have only been four successful presidential assassinations in the history of the U.S. Today I’ll be comparing and contrasting two different president killers: John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald. They lived almost a century apart, but still have many similarities. Lee and John basically did the same crime, assassinating a U.S President, however, they have numerous differences.

This new country fresh from being colonized had an army but very few Congolese officers just mainly army regulars. The country kept many foreign officers as the military trained local soldiers for leadership positions. Many soldiers saw no chance for advancement and it seemed to be the same conditions as they experienced before independence. An atmosphere of discontent grew rampant for foreigners still in positions of power. On July 05, 1960 the army had a revolt against these white officers near Leopoldville. They also attacked many Europeans targets in the area. Large groups of mutineers paraded over the area attacking any foreign interest they could find. There was wide spread looting and pillaging. The white population was targeted primarily. With the area in total chaos and no one to police the unrest, the local white population had to flee. The majority of the white refugees had to go to Brazzaville and Stanleyville to escape certain death. The unstable government and the clear inability to control the military and the people created concern locally and internationally.

The two most discussed assassinations out of the four within the position of the United States President are that of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. There are many similarities between the two and there are also some differences. There are many similarities associated with the assassination of Lincoln and Kennedy. They were both assassinated on the same day, and the men that were caught for the crime were born a century apart from each other and they were both killed before their trials. A difference between the two men is Lincoln was poor and worked his way to the top and Kennedy was born into a wealthy family in which his father was a large political figure. Both men had

John F. Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963. Caesar was killed by Brutus and other conspirators on March 15. John Kennedy and Caesar were both strong beloved leaders to their public. Although, President John Kennedy and Julius Caesar were both assassinated, there are some distinct differences between their assassinations. Some important differences are, the relationship between the victim and the killer(s), how many people worked together to assassinate the victim, the motive behind the killer(s), public knowledge of who killed the victim, the public’s reaction, and how the victim died.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy is said to be, as from the Warren report, a murder. The Warren report states that a man, Lee Harvey Oswald, fired 3 shots from the 6th floor of the Texas Book State Depository building. One missed the President’s motorcade completely; another hit President Kennedy in the neck, and the last hit him in the head, which was later said after an autopsy, to be the cause of death.

“Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another” (Doyle). Assassinations have taken place countless times throughout history. Anyone can get assassinated, but political leaders have to worry the most since so many leaders have been killed in the past. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus and Cassius (along with the other conspirators) murder Julius Caesar. Although this is just a play, it is very relevant to real life. One situation similar to this Is the JFK assassination. Both situations (Caesar and JFK) are similar in that someone was killed, and it ended poorly for the assassin(s).

In Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, the reader is introduced to Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, through the voices of the fictional Price women. Unlike the Price family, Patrice Lumumba was a non-fictional character who was elected and served only 7 months as the Congo’s Prime Minister. His reign was brought short by his execution in 1961. Though his tenure may have been short and occurred more than 50 years ago, Patrice Lumumba remains to this very day, an important man in history.

The United States would not be the same today if Abraham Lincoln was never assassinated on the unfortunate night of April 14, 1865. His killer, John Wilkes Booth, had a strong resent for the Union that subsequently caused a dramatic shift in history. This hatred was caused by many factors, such as his background and where he grew up, his lust for power and fame, and his mental illness. John Wilkes Booth, a master assassinator and conspirator, hoped to strengthen the confederacy by killing Abraham Lincoln. However, this murder created an even stronger opposition to the South than ever before.

JFK Assassination - John F Kennedy was the 35th President, and was was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dallas Texas. JFK was killed in a moving car by Lee Harvey Oswald. He was traveling with his wife Jacqueline, The governor of Texas, and his wife when he was shot. They had a 10 month investigation before they found Lee and didn't find him until September 1964. They say that Lee acted alone on the assassination but he was killed by Jack Ruby before the trial. That marked the 4th president to be successfully assassinated. JFK was also known as the last president to be successfully assassinated.

“Chasing Lincoln's Killer” by James L Swanson, is a great novel that provides a detailed insight into the assassin of Abraham Lincoln and his reasons for doing so. Overall the book was an enjoyable read because it went into a lot more depth about John Wilkes Booth that just the fact that he murdered the president. The book describes in detail the escape route that Booth had decided to take and the massive manhunt that would be in pursuit of him. This book was an enjoyable read because I personally really enjoy the mystery and suspense that surrounds assassinations and the motives that that person had for doing what they did. Another famous example of an assassination that fascinates me is the JFK assassination, but that one is much later in history.

In July of 1956, Lumumba was sentenced to two years imprisonment for embezzling $2,520 from the post office for the Association des Evolués. After the Association returned the money, Lumumba’s sentence was reduced to 12 months, which began his career as a prisoner, leaving and re-entering the prison system for the next five years. During his 1956-1957 imprisonment, Lumumba wrote Congo, My Congo, 200 pages to “make a contribution towards the search for a solution for the present and future problems of the Congo” (Lumumba 7). Because this book was not published until after Lumumba’s death, it did not have an impact on the independence movement, but the views Lumumba wrote about certainly did.

Out of the forty-four presidents, four of them have been assassinated. One being William McKinley the twenty-fifth president. William McKinley was a schoolteacher, enlisted in the army, studied law, got into politics, became governor, and became president of the United States.

Political assassination is defined as the act of killing a political figure mainly for political reasons. In most cases, the motive behind political assassinations is beyond the person who is killed. Assassinations have been rampant across the globe for ages and these assassinations do cause lots of political instabilities in a country especially when key personalities such as heads of states are the victims. In this essay, we shall discuss some of the major assassinations which occurred in history. These personalities include John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar and Robert F. Kennedy.

The conflict in the Republic of Congo can generally be attributed to a lack of democracy. The lack of democracy has developed an unfair supply of resources and corruption amongst government officials. Corruption in government slows the economic growth for all societies. The government is weak, and the judicial system is vulnerable against large political interference. Political conflict and the damage of social and economic structure have destroyed the economy. Corruption among government officials and foreign investors in the Republic of Congo has increased widespread poverty, hampered economic development, and widened unequal income and wealth distribution that is negatively affecting the poor more than the rich. By implementing new