I’ve been thinking about the 1912 election a lot, as one does.
On Oct. 14, Teddy Roosevelt, running for an unprecedented third term, was shot by a would-be assassin. /1
On Oct. 14, Teddy Roosevelt, running for an unprecedented third term, was shot by a would-be assassin. /1
Roosevelt *did* go on to do a campaign event immediately after being shot, though he did not infect the gathered crowd with gunshot wounds. Nor had he spent the previous six months mocking fears of assassination (having become president when Wm McKinley was assassinated). /2
Woodrow Wilson briefly suspended his campaign out of respect (and also because he needed to rest his voice) but largely had the field to himself for the last few weeks of the campaign. /3
Roosevelt gave a big speech two weeks after being shot, just to reassure his supporters, and he ultimately came in second — pretty impressive for a third-party candidate! /4
It was a four-person race (President Taft and Socialist Eugene Debs were the other two). Six days before the election, the vice president died, leaving Taft without a running mate and the country without a VP. /5
Anyway, one of the wilder election-year Octobers on record! 6/6
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