In 1912, the Theodore Roosevelt was running for his third term in office (though it would only be the second he was elected into after his first began with the assassination of President McKinley). He had split from the Republican Party and created his own Progressive Party after sitting President Taft had received the Republican Party’s nomination.
While on his way to a speech in Milwaukee Roosevelt was shot by John Schrank. The bullet deflected off his glasses case and a copy of his speech before it lodged in his chest. Instead of going to a hospital, Roosevelt insisted on giving his speech with blood seeping into his shirt. He addressed the situation as soon as he got on stage but insisted it would take more than a gunshot to stop a “Bull Moose.” His speech lasted a full 90 minutes before he allowed himself to receive medical attention. The bullet would remain lodged in his chest for the rest of the ex-President’s life. Because of the opening lines of his speech the Progressive Party was nicknamed the “Bull Moose” Party.
Roosevelt would go on to take second place in the presidential election of 1912, behind Woodrow Wilson but ahead of Taft. It is remarkable that his party was able to receive more votes than one of the nation’s two parties through Roosevelt's efforts on the stump and the sheer force of his personality. Four years later, Roosevelt declined the Progressive Party’s nomination in the 1916 presidential race. This led to a large portion of the Progressive Party to rejoin either the Republican or Democratic Party. By 1918 the “Bull Moose” Party ceased to exist without the charismatic voice of their former leader.
