#085 - She Harvey Oswald, Part 5

This week marks our penultimate episode about the first of the two would-be assassins who, in September 1975, pointed a gun at President Gerald R. Ford and pulled the trigger. That’s right, folks, we are nearing the end of the line for Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. In this episode, we focus on the lead-up to the day that changed Squeaky’s life forever.

We start off by returning to our dig site in the early 1970s, with Squeaky and her Manson sister, Sandra Good, living in Sacramento, California. Shacked up in a Victorian era mansion-turned tenement, Squeaky and Sandy find themselves in the closest they've had to a routine in a long time. They take classes at the local community college, dumpster dive for food, and sew clothes with their landlord. The two were also working on their next big scheme for Charlie, for Air Trees, Water, and Animals. Squeaky also continued to work full-time on her book and to secure visitation rights for Charlie.

At the time, the city of Sacramento was experiencing conditions similar to those of many cities in the 1970s. Between the national spike in crime and the great suburban migration, Sacramento was turning into a bit of a ghost town. The perfect environment for the fringes of society to prosper, including the likes of Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army, who were very much in Squeaky’s orbit during this time.

We then turn to President Gerald Ford and his trip to Sacramento in September 1975. Ford’s trip to Sac Town was part of his tour of the West Coast’s more provincial cities, including Portland and Seattle. The intended purpose of the trip was little more than a charm offensive to bring the country together and get everyone amped for the bicentennial. What was meant to be a series of layups turned into a series of disasters, culminating in a near-catastrophic trip to Sacramento.

We end this episode on the day that changed Squeaky’s life forever: September 5, 1975. Next week we will take on the trial and aftermath as we chart our path towards the next would-be assassin in this tale, Sara Jane Moore.