Compass Points - Assassin's Bullet
Former President is Shot
July 14, 2024
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On this Sunday, Compass Points is thinking of toughness and the former President who was shot.
The Marine Corps serves the United States. Both were formed in the cataclysmic years of the American Revolution. Those were difficult years. It took toughness to make it through those years. Marines, of course, are renowned for their toughness -- always have been and always will be. Down through the decades, America has always been blessed with tough citizens and leaders. Every period in our Nation's history has its own challenges and every age calls forth leaders who are physically, mentally, and spiritually strong.
No matter the generation, no matter the challenges, a few leaders standout for their strength and toughness. Often, they are military leaders. Sometimes they are politicians.
No doubt Compass Points readers already know the politician who was giving a speech and was shot, but got back up. That former President was the one and only, Teddy Roosevelt.
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Theodore Roosevelt’s opening line was hardly remarkable for a presidential campaign speech: “Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible.” His second line, however, was a bombshell.
“I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot.”
Clearly, Roosevelt had buried the lede. The horrified audience in the Milwaukee Auditorium on October 14, 1912, gasped as the former president unbuttoned his vest to reveal his bloodstained shirt. “It takes more than that to kill a bull moose,” the wounded candidate assured them. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a bullet-riddled, 50-page speech. Holding up his prepared remarks, which had two big holes blown through each page, Roosevelt continued. “Fortunately I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet—there is where the bullet went through—and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best.”
-- History.com
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One historian describes how the assassin, John Schrank, with a Colt revolver in his coat pocket, had stalked Roosevelt for weeks from one campaign stop to another.
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But finally, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Schrank got his chance. After reading the local papers to see when and where Roosevelt would arrive, Schrank learned that his unwitting prey would get to town at around 5 p.m., and would be staying at the Gilpatrick Hotel.
As he later confessed, Schrank managed to gain a position near the entrance where he “could shoot to kill” when Roosevelt appeared. And when Roosevelt left the hotel at around 8 p.m. on October 14, 1912, to give a speech at the Milwaukee Auditorium, John Schrank was waiting. It quickly became perhaps the strangest assassination attempt against an American president in history.
He fired at close range and hit Roosevelt in the chest — but Roosevelt survived. In fact, he carried right on and delivered his speech as planned. After exposing his bloodied shirt to the audience and explaining what happened, he told the shocked crowd that it took “more than that to kill a bull moose.”
-- History Uncovered
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The Marine Corps serves the United States. Both were formed in the cataclysmic years of the American Revolution. Those were difficult years. It took toughness to make it through those years. The Marine Corps today is facing serious challenges. It will take tough Marines and tough leaders of Marines to meet overcome today's challenges and be prepared for tomorrow. Compass Points salutes former President, Teddy Roosevelt, for providing an example of toughness and resolve, and salutes all those who take a hit and get back up.
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Publisher - 1961, Farrar, Straus and Cudahy - New York
Power and Responsibility - The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt
By William Harbaugh
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History.com
When Teddy Roosevelt Was Shot in 1912, a Speech May Have Saved His Life
By Christopher Klein
https://www.history.com/news/shot-in-the-chest-100-years-ago-teddy-roosevelt-kept-on-talking
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History Uncovered Episode 112 - 04/04/2024
When Teddy Roosevelt Was Shot By An Assassin — Then Gave A Speech
https://allthatsinteresting.com/history-uncovered/teddy-roosevelt-assassination-attempt
Compass Points ought to be commended for this post, it is a good time to remind and or remember that Marine Officers swear a sacred oath, not to a man or a woman, a political party of one stripe or the other but to the Constitution of the United States of America. Our opinions are best kept to ourselves in these matters, exercise your franchise, sure, go vote, but when the president of the United States issues a lawful order we follow it. It’s Aye Aye, Sir. One step to the rear and about face and carry out your order or orders. We may not like or admire the individual sitting behind the resolute desk, or what he or she may say, but our job is not to interpret what a president may say or not say, but to execute our orders to the very best of our ability. Ask the Marines at HKIA in August of 2021. No one wanted to be there, yet there they were, and there they executed the direct orders of the day. One of the issues that Colonel Anderson highlights in his real Clear Defense article of 28 May, “Generals and Admirals of a lesser God”, is in the attempt to make the military less intimidating to the general public, the law of unintended consequences has wrought a group of politicized senior officers. Their judgement clouded not by military issues, rather political issues and which side of the street to stand on so say.
No doubt there is a Hell of a lot of reflection on the events of 13 July 2024, and no doubt we are all going to hear a lot of noise on the whole matter, but the last time I looked we have a big problem with FD WXYZ and solving or working to solve that problem ought take precedent, the people of the United States of America will make their voices heard on the first Tuesday in November 2024. We will all live by the results come what may. In the meantime we ought to want our tanks, tubes, engineers, snipers, etc., and full T/O’s and T/E’s back, that support the Corps ability to wage war anywhere, any time, and in any place. If we concentrate on this daunting task, we can best provide a viable military option for the citizens of the USA and follow our duty to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, et al.
So thanks CP for making a point without without throwing a match and gasoline on the ammo dump, but providing a chance to take a deep breath and get back to “grab a book and get busy!”
Compass Points might reconsider.