“It Takes More Than That to Stop a Bull Moose”

President Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office not after being elected, but on September 6, 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley. At that time, the former New York Governor was the youngest person to become President of the United States. He was re-elected on November 8, 1904, after defeating Democrat candidate Alton B. Parker in the general election. In his March 4, 1905 inaugural address Roosevelt said: “Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems a people with such responsibilities.”

He became President in his own right in the 1904 election but in 1908, he declined to run again for the Republican nomination. His chosen successor William Howard Taft secured the position and defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan that fall. Taft oversaw a Republication party that began splitting into factions. Although he was unpopular, he was able to wrest the nomination away from former President Roosevelt at a contentious convention in June 1912.  Those who opposed him looked to Roosevelt as their nominee, but Taft had such firm control over the party apparatus by then, that Roosevelt walked out of the convention with his supporters and formed the Bull Moose Party. The name was a reference to Roosevelt’s legendary strength and stamina and his passion for life.

That fall, the former President campaigned throughout the Midwest, stopping in Milwaukee on October 14^th where he dined at the Gilpatrick Hotel. Afterward, as he and his aides went toward their car, lurking in the crowd was a 36-year-old New York City saloonkeeper man who aimed at the candidate with a .38 caliber Colt revolver.  John Schrank had been stalking Roosevelt across eight states, looking for an opportunity to kill the former President. He later said at his trial that President McKinley had twice appeared in his dreams, first accusing Roosevelt of murdering him, second commanding Schrank to kill Roosevelt and avenge McKinley.

Schrank’s bullet struck Roosevelt’s overcoat and tore through the right side of his chest. At the time, the former President had two items in his breast pocket, his 50-page speech folded in half, and a metal eyeglass case, which absorbed the bullet’s impact. Roosevelt’s stenographer, former football player Elbert Martin wrestled Schrank, who was trying to get off another shot. Wobbly from the impact, Roosevelt shouted, “He doesn’t know what he is doing. Don’t strike the poor creature.” His words and demeanor quelled the chaotic scene until police came and arrested Schrank.

His doctor tried to persuade Roosevelt to go to the hospital, but the former President was emphatic. He said, “This may be my last talk in this cause to our people.” In considerable pain, with a bullet lodged inside, he proceeded to the Milwaukee Auditorium where he delivered his speech.

He began with, “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.” He showed the crowd his manuscript and continued, “The bullet is in me now so that I cannot make a long speech, I will try my best.” When he unbuttoned his vest, the audience gasped at the bloodstains on his shirt.

The speech was long – an hour long – and he spoke, not from his bullet-ridden manuscript, but off the cuff. Shaky from a loss of blood, he was then hurried to a Milwaukee hospital, then transferred to Mercy Hospital in Chicago where doctors constantly kept watch, and Mrs. Edith Roosevelt maintained the vigil of a tigress. They decided not to try to remove the bullet. Roosevelt was released a week later and was back on the campaign trail on October 30^th.

That fall, a divided Republican Party could not stop Democrat Woodrow Wilson from being elected President.

When Roosevelt died seven years later on January 6, 1919,  Schrank’s bullet was still inside his chest.