Video: 'How Teddy Roosevelt Got Shot and Still Did an 84 Minute Speech'
(Monday, October 14, 1912, shortly before 8 p.m. CST; during the 1912 United States presidential election campaign) — Former President Theodore Roosevelt, running for a third term as presidential nominee of the Progressive Party, was shot and wounded in the right breast tonight in the right breast in front of the Hotel Gilpatrick.
Roosevelt was about to enter his automobile to go to the Auditorium for his evening address when John Flammang Schrank, a saloonkeeper from New York, rushed up and fired at close range.
The force of Schrank’s bullet, aimed directly at Roosevelt’s heart, was slowed by a steel eyeglass case and a copy of his campaign speech stuffed in the breast pocket of his heavy coat.
Schrank was immediately disarmed and captured. Schrank had been stalking Roosevelt. He was demented and said the ghost of President McKinley ordered him to kill Roosevelt to prevent a third term.
Video: 'Great Moments from the Campaign Trail - The Bull Moose'
Roosevelt shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed and assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and ensure no violence was done to him.
Roosevelt, an experienced hunter, and anatomist, correctly concluded that since he was not coughing blood, the bullet had not reached his lung. He declined suggestions to go to the hospital and instead delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt.
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.” He spoke for 90 minutes before completing his speech and accepting medical attention.
Afterward, probes and an x-ray showed that the bullet had lodged in Roosevelt’s chest muscle, but did not penetrate the pleura. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life.
Roosevelt spent two weeks recuperating before returning to the campaign trail with a major speech on Oct. 30, 1912, designed to reassure his supporters he was strong enough for the presidency.
