On November 1, 1950, Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo, Puerto Rican nationalists, shot at guards outside the Blair House—the house in Washington, D.C. where President Truman lived while the White House was being renovated. The two men wanted to draw worldwide attention to the cause of independence for Puerto Rico.

One guard and Torresola were killed during the gunfire. Collazo and two guards were injured. Collazo was convicted and sentenced to death. Truman, who did not believe in capital punishment, commuted his sentence to life in prison. He became eligible for parole in 1966, but remained in prison until President Jimmy Carter granted him clemency and he was released for time served.