THE ORIGINAL BULL MOOSE. Teddy Roosevelt, shown here in Illinois in 1910, was shot while campaigning in Milwaukee. A bullet lodged in his chest, but he went on to deliver his speech before seeking medical help. (Photo: Library of Congress)

1. 2020 DNC

The 2020 Democratic National Convention was supposed to run July 13-16 and draw 50,000 people to Milwaukee, but those plans went out the window because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the convention is planned for Aug. 17-20, and most of its events will be virtual – so although the convention will still be “anchored” in Milwaukee, you won’t see thousands of delegates gathered in an arena cheering as former Vice President Joe Biden accepts his party’s nomination. And while Milwaukee won’t get the big economic bump it was expecting from the convention, the world’s eyes will still turn toward the city, at least for a little while.

2. BIRTH OF THE GOP

An 1854 gathering of 53 voters in a Ripon schoolhouse may have been modest in size, but it was momentous in impact. Foes of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill – which would have allowed new states to decide whether they wanted to allow slavery – met there and decided to form the new Republican Party. The party soon spread nationwide, and the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, was elected six years later. Today, the “Little White Schoolhouse” is a historic site.

3. WHO SHOT T.R.?

“It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose,” declared Theodore Roosevelt to a Milwaukee audience in 1912. Just a few minutes earlier, Roosevelt – an ex-president again seeking the Oval Office on the Progressive (a.k.a. Bull Moose) Party ticket – had been shot by a mentally ill assailant. A thick speech and an eyeglass case in the candidate’s pocket likely saved his life. Teddy delivered the speech, lost the election, and spent the rest of his life with a bullet in his chest.

4. FIGHTING BOB’S BID

Another Progressive Republican, Robert M. “Fighting Bob” La Follette, served as Wisconsin’s governor and U.S. Senator in the early 20th century. A firebrand opponent of monopolies and proponent of higher taxes on the wealthy, La Follette led the Progressive ticket in the 1924 presidential race. La Follette won nearly 17 percent of the vote nationwide – one of the best third-party showings in U.S. history – and won his home state’s 13 electoral votes.

5. WALKER RECALL

In the wake of his legislation that virtually eliminated the power of public-sector labor unions, Republican Gov. Scott Walker became the focus of a recall effort in 2011. By the following spring, Walker opponents had collected more than 900,000 signatures, prompting a recall election. On June 4, Walker won 53 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic opponent Tom Barrett and becoming the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall attempt. Walker was re-elected in 2014 but was defeated in a bid for a third term in 2018 by Tony Evers, a Democrat.