Roosevelt's assassination attempt: Troy Cochrane 6 period

Theodore Roosevelt was shot at by John Schrank, a saloon owner, before a speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 15, 1912. The progressive party candidate was talking to people in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel. The only reason Schrank gave for shooting at Roosevelt was that "any man running for a third term ought to be shot." Schrank was labeled as insane and was committed to a mental institution. The .38 caliber bullet would have gone straight through Roosevelt's heart, but was slowed down enough to only pierce the skin. Roosevelt had his glasses case and speech for that night in the breast pocket of his coat. Just these two items alone were enough to slow down the bullet and save his life. Instead of going to the hospital, he went and still gave his speech. At the beginning of the speech, he pulled out his ripped and bloody speech and said, " You see, it takes more than one bullet to kill a Bull Moose." The speech was 50 pages long and folded in half which was obviously able to slow the bullet down enough to save him. Later Roosevelt was examined in a Milwaukee Hospital where he was given an injection of tetanus anti-toxin. He later was observed in a Chicago Hospital for eight days and was discharged on October 23, 1912 which was only a few days before the election. The bullet was never removed, but didn't cause any problems later. Before the assassination attempt, reporters were asking Roosevelt about what he would do if he was confronted by an assassin. Roosevelt implied, while discussing McKinley's assassination, that if it had been he instead of McKinley, he would have shot the assassin. Roosevelt, the former Rough Rider, was known to carry a gun during his presidency. There were multiple instances when people had seen the butt of a revolver sticking out of his pants pocket and another time when after accidentally switching coats with the Minnesota governor, that the governor found a pistol in the presidents coat pocket. However, Roosevelt did not have the gun with him when the assassin shot at him. Schrank followed Roosevelt all over the country and said he was motivated because of a dream he  had: I saw President McKinley sit up in his coffin pointing at a man in monk's attire in whom I recognized Theodore Roosevelt. The dead president said, "This is my murderer, avenge my death." After the assassin took the shot at Roosevelt he was tackled and taken away from the scene immediately. Henery F. Cochems and Elbert Martin, who were part of Roosevelt's party, detained Schrank until the police arrived. Within seconds of the shot being fired Martin, a six foot tall former football player, was on top of the assassin and  had twisted the gun out his hand. Roosevelt did not even realize he had been hit until someone had noticed a hole in his shirt. The doctors diagnosed it as a "superficial flesh wound and was bleeding insignificantly." However, even with this feat of extreme endurance and courage he still lost the election to Wilson.

Brown, RJ. "Teddy Roosevelt Shot by Anarchist - Manuscript of Speech Saves His Life."HistoryBuff.com.                                             Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://www.historybuff.com/library/refteddy.html>.
"Theodore Roosevelt: Assassination Attempt, 1912." Dr. Zebra. 12 May 2005. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/z_x26a_t.htm>.
 "Theodore Roosevelt Shot in Milwaukee — History.com This Day in History — 10/14/1912." History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. Web. 26 Jan. 2012.<http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/theodore-roosevelt-shot-in-milwaukee>.