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Presidential history: Another former president was shot on the campaign trail

Prior to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, there was one other time in history that a previous chief executive was shot while campaigning for an additional non-consecutive term in the White House.

It occurred on Oct. 14, 1912, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when former President Theodore Roosevelt was shot by John Schrank at nearly point-blank range. Like with Trump, the would-be assassin was unsuccessful and only wounded the old Rough Rider.

When the 1912 Republican Convention nominated William Howard Taft to a second term, Teddy broke with the party. While Taft was Roosevelt’s chosen successor, they became estranged when Taft took a different approach to governing. Subsequently, in a swiftly assembled convention of a third “progressive” party, Roosevelt became their nominee for the nation’s highest office by acclamation. Roosevelt hit the campaign trail to win the Oval Office from Taft and the Democrats’ candidate, Woodrow Wilson.

Unbeknown to Roosevelt and his handlers, during the canvassing “he was shadowed by a paranoiac John Schrank, whose sick brain created a drama in which he was to be the hero,” according to Dr. Rudolph Marx in his book, “The Health of the Presidents.” Schrank was a shy man who gained a feeling of self-esteem by tagging along as Roosevelt sought votes. “To shoot him down would give him for a moment the sense of ecstatic power and make the world take notice of him at last.”

Schrank had his chance on the evening of Oct. 14, 1912, in Milwaukee.

Roosevelt was standing in his automobile in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel enjoying the admiration of the affable crowd when from just a mere 6 feet away, Schrank aimed his 38-caliber Colt and shot the former president. Author Dr. John R. Bumgarner wrote: “Ebert E. Martin, one of TR’s secretaries, forced the would-be assassin to the ground. Martin was a former football tackle and his intervention may have saved the president’s life.”

The bullet struck Roosevelt’s right chest and pushed him backward, but he did not fall. He coughed, and there was no blood. Several nearby physicians in the crowd examined the injured ex-president and found the slug in his breast. Fortunately, its impact was dampened by the contents of his pocket that held his metal glasses case and folded speech manuscript.

Although he was advised to go to the hospital, he refused. Homer F. Cunningham in “The Presidents’ Last Years” noted that The Colonel, as he was sometimes called, “dramatically proclaimed, ‘I have a message to deliver and will deliver it as long as there is life in my body.’”

He was driven to the auditorium instead of the hospital. “As he opened his coat to take out the bullet-pierced manuscript, his blood-soaked shirt became visible, arousing a wild frenzy among the large audience,” Marx said in his book. With his friends surrounding him, he abandoned his prepared remarks and spoke extemporarily for over an hour. At the conclusion, he was asked how he felt; he responded, “I feel as strong as a bull moose.”

His political party adopted “Bull Moose” as their moniker.

Marx wrote that at the local hospital after his address, Roosevelt said, “I do not want to fall into the hands of too many doctors and have the same experience that Garfield and McKinley had.” He was advised to go to Chicago for additional evaluation. Arriving there, the attending surgeon did not probe the wound. An X-ray revealed the bullet to be imbedded in the fractured fourth rib. No surgery was performed.

No complications occurred and the “Bull Moose” returned to the campaign trail just two weeks after his injury, but his effort failed to return him to the White House. Having split the Republican voters with Taft, Woodrow Wilson won the presidency. Meanwhile, Schrank was sent to a mental facility for an indefinite period — he died in 1943.

Jonathan L. Stolz is a resident of James City County.