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A Defiant Speech After an Assassination Attempt: Theodore Roosevelt's Legendary Courage

On October 14, 1912, while heading to deliver a campaign speech in Milwaukee, Theodore Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt—a bullet struck him in the chest. The projectile first passed through his steel eyeglass case and a thick stack of papers containing his speech, which likely reduced its lethal force. Drawing on his experience as a hunter, Roosevelt assessed his injury and, noting the absence of blood in his cough, concluded the bullet had missed his lungs.

Despite the severity of the wound, he insisted on proceeding with his address, declaring defiantly, "It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose!" For the next hour and a half, he spoke to the crowd while bleeding. Doctors later determined that removing the bullet lodged near his heart was too dangerous, so Roosevelt carried it for the rest of his life—a testament to his resilience and unshakable determination.