John Flammang Schrank also known as Johann, was a German-American tavern owner from Bavaria who attempted to assassinate former President Theodore Roosevelt outside of the Gilpatrick Hotel in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912. Schrank was a wealthy man who claimed to have visions telling him that he had to stop Theodore Roosevelt from being elected to a third term as President of the United States. His assassination attempt was not successful; he was captured after shooting Roosevelt and adjudicated insane.
John Schrank after his arrest in Milwaukee (1912)
John Schrank being escorted to court (1912)
The .38 caliber Colt revolver used to shoot Roosevelt
Schrank's writing about presidential third-terms and about his hallucination
Attempted assassination of Theodore Roosevelt
On October 14, 1912, former saloonkeeper John Schrank (1876–1943) attempted to assassinate former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt while he was campaigning for the presidency in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Schrank's bullet lodged in Roosevelt's chest after penetrating Roosevelt's steel eyeglass case and passing through a thick single-folded copy of the speech titled "Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual", which he was carrying in his jacket. Schrank was immediately disarmed and captured; he might have been lynched had Roosevelt not shouted for Schrank to remain unharmed. Roosevelt assured the crowd he was all right, then ordered police to take charge of Schrank and to make sure no violence was done to him.
Memorial for the Attempted assassination of Theodore Roosevelt at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee
Theodore Roosevelt's eyeglasses case, penetrated by the bullet in the lower right
Elbert E. Martin Theodore Roosevelt’s stenographer, holding the speech with a bullet hole through the pages
X-Ray of Schrank's bullet in Roosevelt's chest