17 Facts About Samuel Byck

Samuel Joseph Byck was an American hijacker and attempted assassin.

Samuel Byck enlisted in the US Army in 1954 and was honorably discharged in 1956.

In 1972, Samuel Byck began to suffer from severe bouts of depression after his wife divorced him and he had several job-related financial failures.

Samuel Byck admitted himself to a psychiatric ward, for a two-month stay.

Samuel Byck began to harbor the belief that the Nixon administration was conspiring to oppress the poor.

Samuel Byck came to the notice of the Secret Service in 1972, when he threatened Nixon, whom he had resented since the Small Business Administration had turned down his loan application.

Samuel Byck had sent tape recordings to various Jewish public figures and had tried to join the Black Panthers.

The Secret Service considered Samuel Byck to be harmless, and no action was taken at that time.

In early 1974, Samuel Byck made his decision to assassinate Nixon and started to stalk him and follow his movements via news outlets.

Samuel Byck planned to assassinate Nixon by hijacking an airliner and crashing it into the White House on a day when Nixon would be there.

Samuel Byck made a bomb out of two gallon containers of gasoline and an igniter.

All through this process, Samuel Byck made audio recordings explaining his motives and his plans; he expected to be considered a hero for his actions and wanted to fully document his reasons for the assassination.

Samuel Byck told a flight attendant to close the door, or he would blow up the plane.

Samuel Byck lived for a few minutes, dying after saying "help me" to one of the policemen who entered the plane after he had been shot.

Samuel Byck was buried at the Mount Jacob Cemetery in Glenolden, Pennsylvania.

Samuel Byck is one of the assassins portrayed in Stephen Sondheim's and John Weidman's 1991 musical Assassins.

Samuel Byck wears a Santa Claus suit throughout the play in reference to an incident where he did so while protesting Nixon on Christmas Eve in 1973.