It's a Date - The Attempted Assassination of Theodore Roosevelt - October 14th, 1912

`It’s a Date - The Attempted Assasination of Theodore Roosevelt - October 14th, 1912

It was a brisk autumn evening in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 14th, 1912, when a growing and expectant crowd gathered outside the Gilpatrick Hotel to catch a fleeting glimpse of Theodore Roosevelt. The former President of America was now the leader of the Republican breakaway Progressive Party, also known as the “Bull Moose” Party. Roosevelt was in the thick of campaigning for what would be an historic and unprecedented third term in office.

Excitement and curiosity charged the air. Roosevelt, robust and energized despite his advancing years, descended the hotel steps, preparing to greet his supporters before heading to a nearby venue to deliver a crucial campaign speech. The crowd pressed close, a sea of faces glancing up at the man who sought to lead their country once again. But, not everyone there was a supporter. And, one man in particular - a bar owner named John Schrank - was so against Roosevelt that he was about to take matters, and history, into his own hands.

Without warning, a crack tore through the congregation. A sharp punch, greeted at first with a confused hush… and then with sudden chaos. The surrounding witnesses soon realised that a shot had been fired and that Roosevelt had been hit. It was John Schrank behind the revolver, his finger on the trigger, as his target stumbled where just seconds before he had stood smiling and waving his hat to wellwishers.

Schrank had fired straight at Roosevelt’s chest. He was quickly wrestled to the ground by the furious crowd, but in that moment it appeared that the worst may well have happened; that Roosevelt may well have been killed.

And yet Theodore - already affectionately known as Teddy - did not collapse. He staggered, his aides rushed to his side, but he did not fall. Schrank had made a brazen attempt on Roosevelt’s life, but Roosevelt stared him down, characteristically determined never to be silenced.

This is the story of the attempted (and failed) assassination of Theodore Roosevelt. Welcome to “It’s a Date.”

STANDARD INTRO - JINGLE / VISUAL

In the months leading up to October 14th, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt had been at the center of one of the most extraordinary presidential campaigns in American history up until that point. The public were already well aware of who he was, seeing as he’d previously served almost two terms as President of the United States between 1901 and 1909. Roosevelt had been initially hurried into the White House following the successful assassination of his predecessor, William McKinley.

In 1909, Roosevelt honored a pledge that he’d previously made on more than one occasion not to stand for a third term. Roosevelt himself is said to have believed that, should anyone be President for longer than two terms, it could pave the way to tyranny and dictatorship. History shows how he actively backed and convinced his successor, William Howard Taft, to run for the top job instead. Taft was ultimately successful and was President for the next four years.

This seeming political bromance didn’t last for long, however. By the time of the country’s next election, in 1912, Roosevelt had grown deeply disillusioned with the conservative-leaning Taft. Roosevelt labelled Taft “utterly unfit for leadership”. Taft bit back by calling Roosevelt a “neurotic”. The tension ultimately led to the two facing off against each other for the Republican nomination in the run up to the 1912 election. Roosevelt was apparently feeling less ill at ease with a third term so long as he’d had a break in between. Eventually, though, Roosevelt lost, Taft gained the nomination to stand again, and that might’ve been that… were it not for Roosevelt’s dogged refusal to back down.

When Roosevelt failed in his bid to secure the Republican nomination, he broke from the Republicans altogether and founded the Progressive Party. The Progressives were then quickly nicknamed the “Bull Moose” Party after Roosevelt famously declared that, despite his loss to Taft, he felt “as strong as a bull moose.”

INTERVIEW EXCERPT #1

WE ONLY HEAR FROM THE INTERVIEWEE

THERE IS ALWAYS A ONE-LINE INTRO - EG “Jane Smith is a professor of american history at Milwaukee University with a particular interest in the political landscape at the start of the 20th century”

IN THIS CASE, THE INTERVIEWEE IS ASKED TO PROVIDE DETAIL ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF PERSON, CHARACTER ETC. ROOSEVELT WAS - AND HOW HE WAS POSITIONING HIMSELF IN US POLITICS AT THE TIME

So, here we have someone who, to many Americans - especially the working classes - was a heroic figure of fearless leadership. But, among his critics, Roosevelt was painted as reckless, egotistical, and even dangerously radical. The eventual emergence of John Schrank as Roosevelt’s would-be assassin isn’t quite so straight-forward as Schrank simply disliking Roosevelt’s policies, however. And, in fact, Schrank’s leading inspiration in trying to kill Roosevelt was altogether more mysterious and spiritual.

In the build-up to the assassination attempt, Schrank - a native of Bavaria, Germany who had moved to America as a child - had followed his target all around the country, on the campaign trail. Schrank had long been obsessed with Roosevelt, believing that he had been complicit in the 1901 murder of former President William McKinley - who Roosevelt had previously been Vice President to and, again, who Roosevelt succeeded as President following McKinley’s death in 1901.

Between the years 1901 and 1912, John Schrank claimed to have experienced dreams and visions during which the ghost of William McKinley appeared to him… urging him to avenge his death, and implying that Roosevelt truly had been to blame. In reality, there is no historical suggestion that Roosevelt was involved, but in Schrank’s mind the case against him was clear. So much so that Schrank believed that he was on a mission from God to take Roosevelt out. On September 14th 1912, exactly one month before his assasination attempt, Schrank claimed to have had his final major visitation from McKinley, who allegedly told him not to let a murderer serve as President for a third term.

The winding paths walked by Roosevelt and Schrank do, of course, eventually cross. On October 14th, 1912 when, as Roosevelt appears on the steps of the Gilpatrick Hotel, Schrank is waiting amongst the crowd at the bottom of those same steps.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT #2

WE ONLY HEAR FROM THE INTERVIEWEE

IN THIS CASE, THE INTERVIEWEE IS ASKED TO PROVIDE FURTHER DETAIL ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF PERSON, CHARACTER ETC. SCHRANK WAS - AND TO REFLECT ON HOW HIS ACTIONS WERE THE PRODUCT OF HIS OWN MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, BUT ALSO A REFLECTION OF JUST HOW POLARIZING US POLITICS HAD BECOME AT THE TIME

But, again, Roosevelt doesn’t die. No matter the motive behind the attack on his life, he leaves the scene with his life intact. And it’s mostly due to some extreme good fortune. The bullet fired by Schrank does hit Roosevelt in the chest. But, in doing so, it passes through a thick, steel glasses case in Roosevelt’s pocket, and then through the folded, fifty-page speech that (remember) he was due to deliver later that day. The exact placement of these two objects slowed Schrank’s bullet down just enough that it didn’t quite reach (nor penetrate) Roosevelt’s lung. Instead, it lodged in the surrounding muscle across his chest.

Roosevelt may have been hurt but, remarkably, he carried on. He stayed standing before the crowd, and even persuaded them not to lynch Schrank there and then, following Schrank’s almost immediate capture. Roosevelt was clearly opposed to violence against his attempted assassin as a punishment.

The wounded campaigner did then leave the scene, but only to travel to the auditorium he was due at. There, Roosevelt spoke for about 50 minutes, with blood all the while seeping through his shirt. Only after meeting his public commitments did Roosevelt accept medical help. The decision was made not to extract the bullet from his chest, and so he lived the rest of his life with a constant reminder. That reminder apparently didn’t bother Roosevelt himself, though, as he likened it to simply having something in his waistcoat pocket.

In the end, although thankfully alive and safe, Theodore Roosevelt was unsuccessful in his run for the 1912 election. The Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson claimed victory, comfortably defeating both him and Taft. Roosevelt died in his sleep just a few years later, in January 1919, aged 60. John Schrank lived for decades more, dying in September 1943, aged 67 - but he spent all his remaining time institutionalized in hospitals for the criminally insane.

The attempt against Roosevelt’s life in the run-up to a then-vital election remains a dark and disturbing moment in US history. At the same time, his insistence that the shooting shouldn’t derail him has become the stuff of legend as, after literally being shot in the chest, Roosevelt famously opened his speech to the masses with an iconic line. “Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible,” he said. “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”.

STANDARD OUTRO - JINGLE / VISUAL