A Dangerous Occupation

Today--February 12--is the birthdate of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, perhaps the greatest of United States presidents, was also the first to be assassinated. He would be followed by James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and, most familiar to our time, John F. Kennedy.

But there were attempted assassinations of many more--thirteen, by count, including very near misses of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan.

Today's "Writer's Almanac," a laudable production of American Public Media, told the story of Lincoln's train ride to Washington for his inauguration. An assassination attempt was feared, and Allan Pinkerton--who later formed the famous Pinkerton's Detetctive Agency, for which Dashiell Hammett worked--rode the train with him.

This story was turned into an excellent, if little known, 1951 film called "The Tall Target." In it, Dick Powell plays the detective guarding Lincoln. But in the film, he is not called Allan Pinkerton. By a strange forecasting, he is called...John Kennedy.