FORMER PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT SHOT BUT NOT DETERRED FROM MAKING HIS SPEECH
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (JFK+50) At 8:10 p.m. on October 14, 1912, former President of the United States and current nominee of the Progressive Party in the Election of 1912 Theodore Roosevelt was shot while standing in his automobile outside the Gilpatrick Hotel here in Milwaukee.
A 32 caliber bullet was fired from a distance of four or five feet and went through Mr. Roosevelt's overcoat, glasses case and folded speech entering his chest.
The former Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War refused to be taken to a hospital and insisted he be driven to the auditorium where he was scheduled to speak.
TR asked the crowd to be very quiet while he spoke and at one point held up the bloody speech and said...
"It takes more than one bullet to kill a Bull Moose*."
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library says TR spoke for "about 80 minutes" before agreeing to be taken to hospital for treatment. Doctors decided to not attempt to remove the bullet since it did not penetrate the heart or lungs. He carried it in his body the rest of his life.
JFK+50 NOTE
The would-be assassin, John F. Schrank, had stalked TR during his whistle-stop campaign tour. JFS is described as "eccentric, prone to religious delusions and intense loneliness."
He claimed that as NY Police Commissioner, TR closed his family's liquor business. It is also believed that he was angered by TR's attempt to win a third term as POTUS.
Although TR did not believe Schrank a "madman," he was found to be insane & committed to a mental hospital.
*The Progressive Party of 1912 was commonly called "the Bull Moose" Party because its presidential nominee, TR, once said, "I am as strong as a Bull Moose!"
SOURCES
"TR Shot On Campaign in Milwaukee," JFK+50, October 14, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
"Why Was TR Shot?," Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, www.trlibrary.com/
