PROFILES IN COURAGE

One of the things that impressed me the most about the near assassination of President Trump on Saturday was how the crowd reacted. People were ducking and there were some screams but there was no wholesale panic. This may be partly due to the fact that there were many military veterans in the crowd but I believe much of the crowds composure was also due to the courage of president Trump. He did not panic and his response as the Secret Service was removing him from the stage reminded me of something Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan would have done under similar circumstances. Regardless of how we might feel about these people today they showed great physical courage when their lives were threatened. This courage inspired people to follow their leadership and courage under fire has a calming influence on people. Fireman Corey Comperatore instinctively shielded his wife and children before suffering a fatal head wound. Then there was 57 year old David "Jake" Dutch, a Marine Corps Desert Storm veteran who after being shot twice in the abdomen and liver calmly walked out of the bleachers to seek help. Finally there was 74-year-old James Copenhaver who I haven't been able to find much information on but he and David Dutch are in stable condition.

 On January 30, 1835, while Andrew Jackson was leaving the funeral of a Congressman in Washington DC a man named Richard Lawrence stuck a pistol in Jackson's  stomach and pulled the trigger. The percussion cap exploded but the gunpowder did not ignite. Jackson began beating the man with his cane. The assassin then pulled the trigger on a second pistol with the same results. The cap exploded but the powder didn't. Talk about divine intervention. If it had not been for Davy Crockett and others wrestling the man to the ground Jackson might have beaten him to death with his cane. When the assassins guns were tested later they worked just fine. Jackson was no stranger to danger. He survived a duel that left a bullet near his heart and he carried that bullet for the remainder of his life. Jackson nearly bled to death in 1813 from two wounds that he suffered in a Nashville street brawl with two brothers who became his political enemies, Jesse and Thomas Hart Benton. Jackson carried one of those bullets in his arm until he was president. By then he and Thomas Hart Benton, who had become a Missouri senator, had buried the hatchet becoming personal friends and political allies. When Jackson had the bullet removed in the White House without the benefit of anesthesia Jackson tried to return the bullet to Benton. He refused the offer by saying "you can keep it. You earned it." Jackson went on to lead troops in battle during the War of 1812 defeating the Creek nation and the British at the Battle of New Orleans displaying such courage and toughness that he earned the nickname "Old Hickory". Some historians have compared Trump to Andrew Jackson because Trump is a populist or a political leader that represents the interests of the common man like Jackson did. I see some similarities such as Trump's leadership ability, courage and that he is a man of the people. This is where the similarities end, however. Jackson founded the Democrat party and was a chief defender of slavery. He represented the common man but it was the white common man. Trump is the champion of working class people of all races and genders of which there are only two by the way. The Democrat party has had a very negative impact on this country since it's founding by Andrew Jackson. 

While Theodore Roosevelt was waving to a crowd from an open car in 1912 a would be assassin named John Schrank shot him from point blank range in the chest. His eyeglass case and a folded copy of his speech that he was supposed to give later that night slowed the bullet enough to save his life. Bleeding profusely Roosevelt refused to go to the hospital. The crowd swarmed Schrank but Roosevelt told them not to hurt him. Roosevelt asked them to bring Schrank to him so he could get a good look at him. After looking at him he assured the crowd he was okay and told the police to arrest Schrank. The crowd cheered. The bullet lodged in Roosevelt's chest muscle and doctors determined that it would be safer to leave the bullet in him. Roosevelt would carry that bullet to his grave. Wearing the same bloodstained clothes that he had been wearing when he was wounded Roosevelt gave his planned speech that night before he would allow himself to be taken to the hospital. Theodore Roosevelt had already served two terms as president. He finished the first term of William McKinley who had been assassinated in 1901 and was elected to a second term in 1904. Roosevelt promised not to violate the two term tradition set by George Washington. 

 After leaving office in 1909 Roosevelt left to go on an African safari. Roosevelt identified with the progressive movement and was very dissatisfied with his hand picked successor William Howard Taft who he considered to be too conservative. Roosevelt decided to run for a third term in 1912 but the Republican party decided to back Taft. He then created a third party which was called the Bull Moose party. Because Roosevelt was so popular he gained more votes than Taft but not enough to win the election. This led to the disastrous election of Woodrow Wilson who was a Democrat and a virulent racist. If Roosevelt had not run that year Taft would surely have been reelected and American history might have been much different. Which in my view would have been a good thing. Not only was Wilson a racist but he had a destructive view of the Constitution. Wilson involved America in WW1 which was an avoidable war and very bloody. America's involvement helped the allies win which would lead to the rise of Adolph Hitler. Finally Roosevelt, like Jackson, was a brave and fearless leader who had also helped lead our troops to victory in the charge up San Juan Hill in the Spanish American War. An interesting side note to the attempted assassination of Theodore Roosevelt is that John Schrank, the man who shot Roosevelt, had a vision that led him to try to kill Roosevelt. In the vision Schrank saw president William McKinley rise up in his coffin and point an accusing finger at Theodore Roosevelt. Mckinley ordered Schrank to avenge his death. Schrank was also upset that Roosevelt was running for a third term. Like Reagan's assassin John Hinckley, John Schrank was declared insane and would die in a Wisconsin mental institution on September 15, 1943 which was the anniversary of the vision that had led him to shoot Theodore Roosevelt. 

On March 30, 1981 I was sitting in a courtroom in Murfreesboro Tennessee when I heard about the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. Like a scene from a movie I watched as a woman walked up to the judge handing him a note. A look of surprise was on the judges face as he read the note. After reading the note he announced to a packed courtroom that he had just been informed that President Reagan had been shot. A collective gasp went up. After I arrived home that afternoon I watched the news until bedtime. Until that moment I was a Democrat. I had voted for Carter in 1976 and again in 1980. I believed the Democrat lies about Reagan. He was a cowboy that was going to involve us in a nuclear war. Also, he was a racist. Sound familiar. After that day I began to see Reagan differently. A leader that I wanted to follow emerged. I was impressed by the courage he displayed after nearly dying. At first the public did not realize how seriously he had been wounded. After the gravity of the situation became known I was impressed by the fact that he insisted on walking into the hospital unassisted. His humor as he faced death was impressive and although he was in his seventies the toughness that he displayed. It would take another couple of years for me to throw my support fully behind Reagan but the assassination attempt was the beginning of my conversion experience. I was beginning my journey from political darkness into the light of political truth. Forever turning my back on the Democrat party. The assassination attempt on Donald Trump and his display of leadership and courage may have insured that he will win in a landslide this November. I say may because I refuse to be overconfident. Some people like Tucker Carlson are willing to bet money that Trump won the election on Saturday. I believe that there are many people out there in the independent and Democrat ranks that are now giving President Trump a second look like I gave a second look to Reagan so many years ago. American's are drawn to leaders who are brave under fire. We are drawn to bad asses and Donald Trump is a badass. This is why soldiers fought so bravely for leaders like George Washington, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Jackson, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, George H. Thomas, John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton and so many other brave Americans because their bravery, competence and leadership under fire had a calming effect and courage, like fear can be contagious. This is what I and so many other people witnessed on Saturday.