The Attempted Assassination of Theodore Roosevelt; Or, It Takes More Than That to Kill a Bull Moose!

On October 14, 1912, John Schrank shot former President Theodore Roosevelt in the chest with a .38 caliber Colt Police Special at a campaign stop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bullet was slowed by Roosevelt's coat, the steel case that held his eyeglasses, and a folded copy of the 50-page speech he planned to deliver that day. Roosevelt, who was campaigning for his third non-consecutive term as President, famously went on to deliver the speech prior to seeking medical assistance, telling the crowd, "It takes more than that to kill a bull moose," the bull moose being the symbol of Roosevelt's Progressive Party. Perhaps less well known is that Roosevelt persuaded the crowd, which had quickly surrounded Mr. Schrank in preparation for hanging him for his assassination attempt, to instead bring the assailant forward so that Roosevelt could look the man in the eye and ask why he had pulled the trigger. Though Schrank, who would later be deemed legally insane, had no answer for Teddy, he would later proclaim his admiration for his would-be target, proclaiming him a "Great American."