In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, Spoke For An Hour and 24 Minutes With a Bullet In His Chest, Following An Assassination Attempt
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt, Spoke For An Hour and 24 Minutes With a Bullet In His Chest, Following An Assassination Attempt
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I Don't Know If You Fully Understand That I've Been Shot, But It Takes More Than That To Kill A Bull Moose."
(Funny nobody’s bringing this up.)
Main article: Attempted assassination of Theodore Roosevelt
Three-and-a-half years after he left office, Theodore Roosevelt ran in the 1912 presidential election as a member of the Progressive Party. While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 14, 1912, John Schrank, a saloon-keeper from New York who had been stalking him for weeks, shot Roosevelt once in the chest with a .38-caliber Colt Police Positive Special. The 50-page text of his campaign speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", folded over twice in Roosevelt's breast pocket, and a metal glasses case slowed the bullet, saving his life. Schrank was immediately disarmed, captured, and might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed.[31] Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.[32]
Roosevelt, as an experienced hunter and anatomist, correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung, and he declined suggestions to go to the hospital immediately. Instead, he delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt.[33][34] He spoke for 84 minutes before completing his speech and accepting medical attention. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."[35][36][37] Afterwards, probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pulmonary pleurae. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and the bullet remained in Roosevelt’s body for the remainder of his life.[38][39] He spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail. Despite his tenacity, Roosevelt ultimately lost his bid for reelection to the Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson.[40]
At Schrank's trial, the would-be assassin claimed that William McKinley had visited him in a dream and told him to avenge his assassination by killing Roosevelt. He was found legally insane and was institutionalized until his death in 1943.[41]
—Wikipedia
I brought it up :-)
As I posted in this Note (https://substack.com/@margaretannaalice/note/c-61952733):
Don’t forget about Teddy Roosevelt, who survived an assassination attempt on October 14, 1912, because of the 50-page manuscript for his speech in his coat pocket. He delivered his speech before attending to the bullet wound, beginning:
“Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot. It takes more than that to kill a bull moose. Fortunately I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet—there is where the bullet went through—and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best.… I give you my word, I do not care a rap about being shot; not a rap.” (https://www.history.com/news/shot-in-the-chest-100-years-ago-teddy-roosevelt-kept-on-talking)
He was running under his third party (the Progressive Party, a.k.a. the Bull Moose Party). This was just a few months after he had uttered these dangerous words in his “Progressive Covenant with the People” speech:
“Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great staffs, both of the old parties have ganged aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests which use them in martialling [sic] to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.”
As I shared several months ago in this Substack Note (https://substack.com/@margaretannaalice/note/c-52757995), you can actually hear a recording of Teddy reading that speech here:
• https://loc.gov/item/99391565
his opponent Woodrow Wilson being the deep state candidate responsible for creating the federal reserve.
just a coincidence, i'm sure.