Fair Play


This article came from the spirited discussions between myself and my grandfather during the recent elections.  My grandfather, being a very moral person as well as the smartest person to disagree with everything I say, sent me this article about an older type of politics.  Enjoy!

- Matt
Lest we forget the greatness of our heritage, we might reflect on an incident from the presidential campaign of l9l2, regarded in some scholarly quarters as the most substantive political contest in American history. There were three candidates: Republican President William Howard Taft; Democratic challenger Woodrow Wilson; and former President Theodore Roosvelt who had just organized the Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party. As Roosevelt was preparing to leave his hotel in Milwaukee one evening to speak at the convention center, a fanatic drew a gun and shot the former president in the chest at close range. People swarmed the would-be assassin and disarmed him. Roosevelt's first outcry was to not hurt his assailant.
Doctors insisted that the injured canidate, with the bullet lodged in his upper torso, must lie still and be taken immediately to a hospital. Roosevelt refused "After my speech." he insisted. He'd advertised that he would speak. Peoplehad come in considerable numbers. They were entitled to be satisfied and he had a commitment to keep; Roosevelt explained. He would not relent. Mounting the platform, he pulled his speech from an inner coat pocket. It was soaked in blood. The audience quieted as Roosevelt, in a slight less vigorous voice than usual, spoke for 90 minutes. At the hospital, the bullet was removed from near the right lung, and a broken rib was tended. Roosevelt was remanded to recuerate for two weeks.

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 Here's a surprise: Wilson and Taft voluntarily suspended campaigning out of respect to their honarable opponent until he was ready to resume. What would we give for that kind of nobility, civilityand wholesome sportsmanship in politics today?

Jim Wright in the Fort Worth Star Telegram