"Strong as a Bull Moose"
On the attempted assassinations of Teddy Roosevelt and Donald Trump
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump is a harrowing sign of the overheating intensity of America’s political discourse. Whether you like or dislike the former President, we should all be thankful that the bullet missed, and the suspected shooter was neutralized.
But this was not the first time that a controversial former President was a target of an attempt on his life during his campaign trail. Candidate Trump in 2024, having shown strength and fortitude after such an attempt, powerfully evokes candidate Theodore Roosevelt in 1912.
The date was October 14th, 1912, and the location was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Having served two terms as a Republican President, Teddy was now running as a third-party candidate, directly challenging the conservative Republican establishment led by President William Howard Taft. A 50-page speech was prepared for the occasion, titled “Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual”. TR kept the written copy in his jacket pocket, alongside his steel eyeglass case.
Also in Milwaukee on the same day was John Flammang Schrank, a saloonkeeper from the Kingdom of Bavaria. Born in 1876 as Johann Nepomuk Schrank, he arrived in the United States via Manhattan, New York with his adopted family in 1889. Schrank was vehemently opposed to TR running for a third term in office, claiming that his policies violated the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Having followed TR from New Orleans to Milwaukee, Schrank awaited the ex-President outside the Gilpatrick Hotel, where he was staying. As Roosevelt went to his car, the tavern keeper opened fire. The bullet hit Roosevelt’s chest, flying past the 50-page address and his steel eyeglass case before being lodged in his chest.
Schrank was immediately disarmed and captured. Several people in the onlooking crowd called for him to be hanged, but the former President implored for him not to be harmed. Seeing that he was not coughing blood, TR assumed that the bullet had not reached his lung - he was correct. Instead of directly going to the hospital, Teddy delivered the speech as scheduled. His opening lines to the crowd were:
“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—but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”
When someone in the crowd shouted “Fake!”, Roosevelt showed him and everyone attending his bloodied shirt, as well as the pages of his speech punctured by bullet holes. Had he not prepared such a long address, and had he not carried his eyeglass case in his chest pocket, Teddy would have been mortally wounded, and Schrank’s attempt might have been successful.
Upon his arrest, Schrank claimed that he was visited by the ghost of President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901, to avenge his death by killing Roosevelt. But he also had strong political motives behind his actions - he opposed TR’s third term, claiming that the former President’s policies violated the Declaration of Independence and that he would abolish the Constitution if elected. Immediately following his arrest, Schrank was asked about his motives, to which he answered: "I did it because I was opposed to the third term. Don't talk to me I will not say anything until tomorrow, for I want to sleep."
The bullet, lodged inside Roosevelt’s chest, remained inside his body for the rest of his life. Doctors concluded that it was less dangerous to leave it in place than to remove it. Upon hearing of the assassination attempt, incumbent President Taft and Democratic Party candidate Woodrow Wilson both suspended their campaigns until Roosevelt was recovered.
Because the attempt on Roosevelt’s life occurred so close to the election date (November 5th, 1912), it had a massive impact on the Bull Moose’s campaign. He gained a higher percentage of the popular vote than President Taft (27.4% to 23.2%), but both men would lose to Wilson, who carried 41.8% of the vote. Theodore Roosevelt remained an admired figure in American politics, although his legacy is still a matter of debate.
Although Donald Trump named Andrew Jackson was his favorite President, he can learn a thing or two from Teddy in his current campaign. After all, TR was a fellow Republican, while Jackson founded the party Trump is currently running against - the Democrats. The administration of Trump, like that of Roosevelt, resulted in a decisive realignment within the GOP. And like Roosevelt, Trump is a controversial candidate with a strong following. On October 14th, 1912, Roosevelt showed that it took more than an assassin’s bullet to stop his momentum. On July 13th, 2024, Donald Trump demonstrated the same.
