---
# System prepended metadata

title: Leo J. Ryan

---

# Leo J. Ryan
**by John L. Swainston**

Murdered on the tarmac.
Jonestown, Guyana, South America.

He wanted to save those captured by cult leader Jim Jones.  
The messiah of the Peoples Temple. 
A San Francisco evangelist group.

But he failed by order of that Devil.
Becoming the first and only Congressman
to be assassinated in office.

Before Mr. Ryan became a congressman, he was a teacher.  
One of my teachers.
He taught me how to drive.  
He taught me about politics and politicians.  
Took a group of us to a Kennedy rally in 1960. 
I would work at a Kennedy election headquarters, 
   introduced by Mr. Ryan.

As a teacher he treated all students with respect.  
Even the ones that did not return that respect.
When around him I felt like a man.

The day he died – I cried.