11. “I Do Not Care a Rap About Being Shot“
Roosevelt pulled out a 50 page speech from his coat pocket, pierced through with a bullet, and continued: “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“.
Just about any other candidate – except maybe Andrew Jackson – would have keeled over in shock. That, or at least bid the audience adieu before rushing to seek medical care. Not Theodore Roosevelt. Assuring his audience “I give you my word, I do not care a rap about being shot; not a rap“, he proceeded to deliver a ninety-minute fiery speech.