LOT #47037 |
Sold on Dec 1, 2022 for: Sign-in
or Join (free & quick)
Theodore Roosevelt Typed Manuscript Page of the 1912 Speech Carried During His Attempted Assassination. ...
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Sold on Dec 1, 2022 for:
$106,250.00
Bid Source: Live: Floor bidder
Get one of these:
Explore Available Items
Description
"It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose" - A Page from the Historic Speech that Saved Theodore Roosevelt's Life
Theodore Roosevelt Typed Manuscript Page of the 1912 Speech
Carried During His Attempted Assassination. One typed page, 6.5
x 7.875 inches. Page 6 of the historic speech carried in
Roosevelt's pocket that slowed the assassin's bullet after
Roosevelt was shot in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912. Presented by
Mrs. Roosevelt to Joseph M. Dixon, his 1912 Progressive Party
campaign manager. Exhibits two bullet holes in the upper and lower
margins."But fortunately I had my manuscript..."
In the fall of 1912, Roosevelt was running for his third presidential term as the third party candidate on the Progressive, or Bull Moose, ticket. The rancorous campaign had fractured the republican party between the conservatives who favored the incumbent President Taft and the progressives aligned with Roosevelt. To counter a potential split ticket, Roosevelt launched an intensive national campaign and on October 14, 1912, Roosevelt arrived in Wisconsin where he was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Milwaukee Auditorium. At approximately 8:10 p.m., the former president left the Gilpatrick Hotel and began making his way to the car that was to take him to the auditorium. Roosevelt was wearing a thick army overcoat to protect against the brisk evening and tucked in the breast pocket, folded once horizontally, was his 50-page speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual" and a metal case for his eyeglasses. As he paused briefly at the car door to wave good-naturedly to the assembled crowd, John Schrank, a thirty-six-year-old unemployed saloonkeeper from New York City, stepped forward, raised his .38 caliber revolver, and shot Roosevelt in the chest at close range. The bullet tore through the pages of the speech and deflected off the spectacle case, ricocheting away from the vital organs before lodging itself in Roosevelt's rib.
A member of Roosevelt's entourage immediately tackled Schrank, who later declared he wished to dissuade candidates seeking a third term after the ghost of assassinated President McKinley came to him in a dream. The incident happened so quickly that the majority of the crowd remained unaware that Roosevelt had actually been struck. After rapidly deducing that the wound wasn't fatal, he shook off his doctor's concerns and continued on his way to the auditorium. The pertinacious Roosevelt mounted the podium, bullet still lodged resolutely in his chest, and presented to the crowd the wounded manuscript, declaring, "Ladies and gentlemen, 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. But 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 that I can not make a very long speech, but I will try my best."
Roosevelt went on to speak for over an hour, eschewing his prepared speech in favor of one spontaneously composed, and all the while steadily becoming weaker from blood loss. After concluding the speech, Roosevelt was hastily rushed to the hospital, where it was discovered that the manuscript and eyeglasses case slowed the bullet just enough to alter its progress further into his abdomen, saving his life. This portion of the manuscript reads, in part: "...anyone alive today sympathizes with the efforts of the well-meaning but misguided people who in '64 followed the lead of Fremont and of Wendell Phillips (both men who had rendered fine service in the past) in the effort to beat the Progressives of that day, and thereby threw the victory into the hands of the reactionaries. I am sure that in the future a similar judgement will be extended by history as regards the men of our day who claim to be progressives while yet doing whatever in them lies to secure the triumph of the forces of reaction..."
It is accompanied by a separate sheet detailing its provenance that reads, "Leaf from the speech of Theodore Roosevelt given at Milwaukee during Bull Moose Campaign of 1912. Thro' these papers bullet passed when Roosevelt was shot there, and to these papers he owed his life. Gift to Joseph M. Dixon from Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt." Joseph M. Dixon, a close friend of Roosevelt's, served as his campaign manager and chairman of the National Progressive Convention in 1912. Mrs. Roosevelt undoubtedly recognized how deeply the message in this portion about converting to the Progressive cause would resonate with the senator, as Dixon lost his bid for reelection in the Senate in 1912 due in part to his unflagging dedication to Roosevelt's Bull Moose campaign.
Only a handful of pages from this historic manuscript have been offered at auction in the past fifty years, making the importance and scarcity of this page difficult to overstate. It serves as a lasting testament to the Bull Moose's obduracy, tenacity, and indefatigable spirit.
Condition: Irregular bullet holes at upper and lower margins with one smoothed horizontal fold. Appears trimmed along the lower margin, not affecting the text or bullet holes, with an uneven bottom edge. Offsetting to the bottom half of the manuscript. Pencil annotation to verso. Separate leaf with dried adhesive along margins of recto and with slight paper attachment to verso, presumably indicating prior mounting. From the Melvin "Pete" Mark, Jr. Collection
Auction Info
2022 December 1 Historical Platinum Session Signature® Auction #6267 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2022
1st
Thursday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 19
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 1,628
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% on the first $300,000 (minimum $49), plus 20% of any amount between $300,000 and $3,000,000, plus 15% of any amount over $3,000,000 per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms