''An Assassin's Diary'' () is a book written by Arthur Bremer and Harding Lemay and released in 1973. It was based on part of the diary of Bremer, the would-be

assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of Alabama governor

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

. Bremer shot Wallace on May 15, 1972, at the Laurel Shopping Center in

Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River, in northern Prince George's County. Its population was 30,060 at the 2020 census. Founded as a mill town i ...

, while Wallace was in the midst of his third campaign for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. In the book, Bremer says he was not particularly opposed to Wallace's political agenda, which many had branded as

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

; his primary motive was to become famous as he had also stalked President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...

was partly inspired by Bremer's diary when he wrote the screenplay for the 1976 film ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...

'', which was directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

. Peter Gabriel's 1980 song " Family Snapshot," from '' Peter Gabriel (III)'' was inspired by ''An Assassin's Diary''.Music Review: Peter Gabriel – Melt (1980)
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Reviews

In the essay "The Art and Arts of E. Howard Hunt",

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

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. Vidal further speculates that CIA agent E. Howard Hunt may have authored parts of Bremer's supposed diary, arguing there are similarities between Bremer's writing style and the prose found in Hunt's adventure and espionage novels, and noting Bremer's supposed diary alternates between passages of clear writing and passages of extreme misspelling and poor grammar.

References

External links

Portrait of an Assassin: Arthur Bremer
, with quotes from his diary
Bremer Arthur Diary Book of
from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assassins Diary, An 1973 non-fiction books Diaries Works about George Wallace