Hirschi Law Group PLLC

October 14 - 20

This Week in History
Hard to Kill a Moose

October 14, 1912 - While campaigning in Milwaukee for a third term as President, former president Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest by would-be assassin John Schrank. Roosevelt, who had already served from 1901-1909, was seeking a third term under his newly-formed Bull Moose Party. On the evening of October 14 Roosevelt was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Milwaukee auditorium. After eating dinner at the Gilpatrick Hotel, Roosevelt headed out to the auditorium. As he neared his car, Schrank approached him and fired. The bullet passed through Roosevelt's steel eyeglass case and his 50-page speech, which were both tucked in his coat, before entering his chest. Roosevelt, as an experienced hunter and anatomist, correctly concluded that since he wasn't coughing blood, the bullet had not penetrated his lung, and so declined suggestions he go to the hospital immediately. Instead he delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt. However, Roosevelt was forced to suspend his campaign during the final weeks of the race.  Out of respect, both of his opponents, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, also suspended their campaigns during the week that Roosevelt was in the hospital, but resumed once he was released. As a result of the split Republican vote between Roosevelt and Taft, Woodrow Wilson was elected as the 28th president.


Not in Our Backyard

October 14, 1962 - An Air Force U-2 reconnaissance plane flying over Cuba took photographs of Soviet missile bases being constructed on the island nation. The discovery of medium-range ballistic nuclear missiles only 90 miles from American shores set off a tense two-week period known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. In response to the construction, President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba. The Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev responded by stating that the blockade was "an act of aggression propelling humankind into the abyss of a world nuclear-missile war." The standoff was ultimately resolved through back-channel communications with an agreement by the Soviet Union to dismantle and remove the weapons in exchange for a promise that the United States would never invade Cuba. The crisis was one of the tensest moments of the Cold War and likely the closest the world has come to nuclear war.

On Top of the World, Again

October 16, 1986 - Reinhold Messner, an Italian mountaineer and explorer, reached the summit of Lhotse on the China-Nepal border and thus became the first person to summit all 14 of the world's Eight-thousanders, which refers to mountains more than 8,000 meters above sea level. Messner is also known for making the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.

Lord, I'm Coming Home to You

October 20, 1977 - Several members of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed in a plane crash near Gillsburg, Mississippi, after their plane ran out of fuel. The band, best known for its hit song Sweet Home, Alabama, formed in 1964 under the name "The Noble Five" but in 1970 changed names to "Lynyrd Skynyrd" in mocking tribute to Leonard Skinner, the former high school gym teacher of several of the band members. After the plane crash, the remaining members split up but reformed in 1987 with Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, as the frontman. The band continues to tour and record today, although only one original member remains.

"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. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best."

-  Teddy Roosevelt, 10/14/12

Side Note



The bullet fired at Roosevelt traveled through 3 inches of tissue before becoming lodged in his muscle. Because removing the bullet would have caused more damage, Roosevelt carried it in him for the rest of his life.

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