 On the evening of July 2 , 1915 , Eric Muenter , a onetime German professor at Harvard and Cornell universities , who opposed American support of the allied war effort , broke into the U.S. Senate and , finding the door to the Senate chamber locked , laid dynamite outside the reception room , which happened to be next to Marshall 's office door . Though the bomb was set with a timer , it exploded prematurely just before midnight , while no one was in the office . Muenter may not have been specifically been targeting the Vice President . 
