The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in London using a 1d. stamp on Thursday the 5th. January 1928. It was sent to:
Miss J. H. Martin,
301, King's Road,
Chelsea,
London SW3.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear J,
I will see you outside the
shop on Saturday night.
Please let me know what
time you finish.
Had a letter from Mother
who is quite well.
Fred x"
Charles Lindbergh
So what else happened on the day that Fred posted the card?
Well, on the 5th. January 1928, Charles Lindbergh landed in Nicaragua during his goodwill tour of Latin America where he met President Adolfo Díaz.
Four years later, on the evening of the 1st. March 1932, twenty-month-old Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. was abducted from his crib in the Lindberghs' rural home, Highfields, in East Amwell, New Jersey.
A man who claimed to be the kidnapper picked up a cash ransom of $50,000 on the 2nd. April, part of which was in gold certificates, which were soon to be withdrawn from circulation, and would therefore attract attention; the bills' serial numbers were also recorded.
On the 12th. May, the child's remains were found in woods not far from the Lindbergh home.
The case was widely called the "Crime of the Century," and was described by H. L. Mencken as:
"The biggest story since
the Resurrection".
In response, Congress passed the so-called "Lindbergh Law", which made kidnapping a federal offense if the victim is taken across state lines or (as in the Lindbergh case), the kidnapper uses "the mail or ... interstate or foreign commerce in committing or in furtherance of the commission of the offense", such as in demanding ransom.
Richard Hauptmann, a 34-year-old German immigrant carpenter, was arrested near his home in the Bronx, New York, on the 19th. September 1934, after paying for gasoline with one of the ransom bills.
$13,760 of the ransom money and other evidence was found in his home. Hauptmann went on trial for kidnapping, murder and extortion on the 2nd. January 1935, in a circus-like atmosphere in Flemington, New Jersey.
He was convicted on the 13th. February 1935, sentenced to death, and electrocuted at Trenton State Prison on the 3rd. April 1936.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
The day also marked the birth, in in Larkana, British India, of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, 4th. President and 9th. Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a Pakistani barrister, politician, and statesman. He served as the fourth President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973, and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977.
Bhutto founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and served as its chairman until his execution at the age of 51 on the 4th. April 1979.
Born in Sindh and educated at the University of California, Berkeley and Christ Church Oxford, Bhutto trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn in London before entering politics.
Initially, he was a cabinet member during president Iskandar Ali Mirza's tenure, holding various ministries during president Muhammad Ayub Khan's military rule from 1958.
Bhutto became the Foreign Minister in 1963, advocating for Operation Gibraltar in Kashmir, leading to the 1965 war with India.
Following the Tashkent Declaration, he was dismissed from the government. Bhutto established the PPP in 1967, focusing on an Islamic socialist agenda, and contested the 1970 general election.
The Awami League and the PPP were unable to agree on power transfer, leading to civil unrest and the creation of Bangladesh.
After Pakistan's loss in the 1971 war against India, Bhutto assumed the presidency in December 1971, imposing emergency rule.
During his presidency, Bhutto secured the release of 93,000 prisoners of war, and reclaimed five thousand square miles (13,000 km2) of Indian-held territory through the Simla Agreement.
He also strengthened diplomatic ties with China and Saudi Arabia, recognized Bangladesh, and hosted the second Organisation of the Islamic Conference in Lahore in 1974.
Bhutto's government drafted the current constitution of Pakistan in 1973, after which he transitioned to the Prime Minister's office. He played a crucial role in initiating the country's nuclear program. However, his policies, including extensive nationalisation, led to economic stagnation.
Despite winning the 1977 parliamentary elections, Bhutto faced allegations of widespread vote rigging, sparking violence across the country.
On the 5th. July 1977, Bhutto was deposed in a military coup by army chief Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.
Controversially tried and executed in 1979, Bhutto's legacy remains contentious, praised for nationalism and a secular internationalist agenda, yet criticized for political repression, economic challenges, and human rights abuses.
He is often considered one of Pakistan's greatest leaders. His party, the PPP, continues to be a significant political force in Pakistan, with his daughter Benazir Bhutto serving twice as Prime Minister, and his son-in-law, Asif Ali Zardari, becoming President.
Bhutto's Trial and Execution
On the 5th. July 1977, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq led a military coup, removing Bhutto from power and detaining him for a month.
Zia promised new elections within 90 days, but continually postponed them, asserting that Bhutto's party wouldn't return to power if he participated.
Upon release, Bhutto toured the country, addressing adulatory crowds of PPP supporters. Banned from train travel due to delays caused by these gatherings, Bhutto's last visit to Multan marked a turning point. Despite administration efforts to block the gathering, the crowd's size led to disorder, providing a pretext for Bhutto's arrest, claiming it was necessary for his safety.
On the 3rd. September 1977, Bhutto was arrested again, charged with authorizing the murder of a political opponent in March 1974. The charges were deemed "questionable" by some scholars, including Vali Nasr.
A politician, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, claimed he was the target of the attack orchestrated by Bhutto. Bhutto's wife, Nusrat Bhutto, assembled a defense team, securing his release after ten days due to contradictory evidence. However, Bhutto was arrested again under martial law, leading to the cancellation of upcoming elections.
Arraigned before the Lahore High Court, Bhutto was denied a lower court appeal level. The trial, lasting five months, began on the 24th. October 1977, with key witness testimony from Masood Mahmood, director general of the Federal Security Force.
Irregularities, alleged torture, and inconsistent confessions marred the trial. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark observed numerous irregularities and lack of corroborating evidence.
When Bhutto began testifying on the 25th. January 1978, Chief Justice Maulvi Mushtaq closed the courtroom to observers. Bhutto, accusing bias, demanded a retrial, but the court refused.
Bhutto's Death Sentence and Appeal
On the 18th. March 1978, Bhutto was pronounced guilty of murder, and was sentenced to death. Bhutto's former Legal Minister, Abdul Hafiz Pirzada petitioned the Supreme Court for the release of Bhutto's Science Adviser, Mubashir Hassan, and to review Bhutto's death sentence based on the split decision.
The Supreme Court denied Hassan's release because he was held by Military Police, but the court agreed to hear the arguments.
After 12 days of proceedings, the Supreme Court concluded that the President of Pakistan can commute a death sentence into life imprisonment. Pirzada filed an application to the Chief Martial Law Administrator. However, General Zia-ul-Haq did not act immediately, and claimed that the application had gone missing.
Devastated, Pirzada relayed the news to Bhutto, disclosing General Zia-ul-Haq's intentions. Consequently, Bhutto chose not to pursue an appeal.
As he was transferred to a cell in Rawalpindi central jail, his family appealed on his behalf, leading to a Supreme Court hearing in May. Bhutto was granted one week to prepare, issuing a comprehensive rejoinder to the charges, although Zia impeded its publication.
Chief Justice S. Anwarul Haq adjourned the court until the end of July 1978, purportedly because five of the nine appeal court judges were inclined to overturn the Lahore verdict, with one pro-Bhutto judge set to retire in July.
Chief Justice S. Anwarul Haq, despite his close ties to Zia, presided over the trial and even served as Acting President when Zia was abroad. Bhutto's legal team successfully secured his right to conduct his own defense before the Supreme Court.
On the 18th. December 1978, Bhutto appeared in public before a crowded courtroom in Rawalpindi. Having spent 9 months on death row, he had endured 25 days without fresh water at that point. Bhutto addressed the court for four days, delivering his statements without the aid of notes.
The appeal concluded on the 23rd. December 1978. On the 6th. February 1979, the Supreme Court voted 4-3, delivering a guilty verdict. Bhutto's defender, Ramsey Clark, noted that:
"During the appeal, not one witness was
re‐examined, nor did the court rectify the
glaring defects of the lower court's
proceedings."
Clark also noted that two of the Supreme Court's nine justices were absent from the decision, both showing signs of manipulation away from participation:
"One judge "who had remarked on an earlier
occasion that he would not succumb to
pressure was retired in the fall of 1978, even
though judicial propriety demanded that his
leaving the Court be deferred until the
conclusion of the case.
The other judge was prevented from sitting
in the Court from November onwards
because of an alleged illness, a Government‐
appointed medical board having pronounced
on his condition."
If the two men had been present and voted not guilty in a 5-4 decision, Bhutto would have gone free.
The Bhutto family had seven days to appeal, and the court granted a stay of execution while studying the petition. Appeals for clemency had arrived from many heads of state by the 24th. February 1979 when the next court hearing began, but Zia rejected them as "trade union activity" among politicians.
On the 24th. March 1979, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, and Zia upheld the death sentence. Bhutto was hanged at Central Jail Rawalpindi on the 4th. April 1979, after enduring severe torture in jail, leading to vomiting and intense chest pain. He was laid to rest at his family mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Baksh.
During his imprisonment, Bhutto's children Murtaza and Benazir worked tirelessly to seek international support for their father's release.
Libya's Colonel Gaddafi dispatched his Prime Minister Abdus Salam Jalloud on an urgent mission to Pakistan for talks with the military establishment in order to secure Bhutto's release.
In a press conference, Jalloud revealed that Gaddafi had proposed to exile General Zia to Libya, and the Presidential aircraft awaited Bhutto at the Islamabad International Airport.
However, after a week at the airport, General Zia rejected Jalloud's request, and upheld the death sentence.
Bhutto's execution shocked much of the Muslim world. In his final speech before being hanged, Bhutto's last words were:
"Oh Lord, help me for... I am innocent."
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto wrote the following letter to his daughter from his death cell:
"I did not kill that man. My God is aware of it. I am
big enough to admit if I had done it, that admission
would have been less of an ordeal and humiliation
than this barbarous trial which no self respecting
man can endure.
I am a Muslim. A Muslim's fate is in the hands of
God Almighty.
I can face Him with a clear conscience and tell
Him that I rebuilt His Islamic State of Pakistan
from ashes into a respectable Nation.
I am entirely at peace with my conscience in this
black hole of Kot Lakhpat. I am not afraid of death.
You have seen what fires I have passed through."
Walter Mondale
Also born on that day, in Ceylon, Minnesota, was Walter Mondale.
Walter was a U.S. Senator and 42nd. Vice President of the United States.
