Words that stopped a bullet

March 24, 2025

"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. 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 cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best." -Teddy Roosevelt

Let me give you some context and then promise to re-read that quote again.

Teddy is in the midst of his presidential campaign and is seconds away from giving a speech to an onlooking crowd. Bang. A would-be assassin fires a round that passes through his 300-page speech into his chest.

He quickly assesses the situation. He wasn't coughing blood, so he knew his lungs weren't compromised. He then ushers the crowd to bring the failed executioner to him so he can ask why he did it. The man is speechless. Roosevelt sends him away and then delivers an hour-long speech in his blood-stained shirt.

The bullet remained lodged in Roosevelt's chest till the day he died.