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THE MAKING OF A NATION - Woodrow Wilson Wins 1912 Presidential ElectionBy Frank Beardsley

Broadcast: Thursday, February 23, 2006

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

(MUSIC)

The first ten years of the twentieth century in America were shaped by the strong leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt. And in the second decade, Roosevelt returned to national politics to bring, once more, dramatic changes to the United States.

In nineteen twelve, he organized a new political party: the Progressives. Roosevelt created this new party after he failed to win the Republican presidential nomination1. The Republican convention of nineteen twelve had been controlled by conservative supporters of President William Howard Taft. And they nominated Taft for four more years in the White House.


William Howard Taft

VOICE TWO:

As a result, Roosevelt broke with the Republicans. And he and his supporters held their own convention. They formed the Progressive Party and approved a platform that promised reforms. These reforms were proposed to make the government serve the people and carry out more fully2 their desire for social progress.

The Democratic Party also nominated a candidate who supported progressive ideas. The Democrats3 chose Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey4, a former president of Princeton University.


Woodrow Wilson

So, for the first time in many years, there were three major candidates for president. Wilson clearly had the best chance to win. He had the support of almost all the Democrats. The Republicans, however, were split. Some supported Taft. The others were for Roosevelt.

VOICE ONE:

Roosevelt refused to accept the idea of defeat. He campaigned hard, visiting many cities and towns, making speech after speech. Wilson also campaigned hard. He seemed to enjoy it as much as Roosevelt.

Taft did not like it at all. He refused to do much campaigning. He spent most of the time at his summer home.

It was a quiet election campaign. . . until the middle of October. Then, only three weeks before election day, Roosevelt was shot.

VOICE TWO:

It happened in Milwaukee. Roosevelt had just left his hotel and climbed into the automobile5 that would carry him to the hall where he planned to make a speech. As he stood in the open car, an extremist named John Schrank ran up to him, pulled a gun from his coat, and fired a bullet into Roosevelt's chest.


Theodore Roosevelt

The bullet knocked him down. Roosevelt said it felt as if he had been kicked by a mule6. He jumped up and put his hand to the wound. The bullet had passed through the inside pocket of his coat. It struck a steel case that held his glasses, and went through the folded fifty pages of his written speech. These slowed the bullet, and it went only a few centimeters into his chest.

VOICE ONE:

Roosevelt did not know if he was seriously wounded. He put his hand to his mouth and coughed. No blood came. And he knew the shot had not damaged his lungs. Roosevelt ordered the crowd around to stop beating Schrank. Bring him to me, he said. He looked down at the man. You poor creature, said Roosevelt. Then he turned away.

Doctors arrived. They said Roosevelt must go at once to the hospital. But Roosevelt refused. He said he would go to the hall. I will make this speech, he said, or die. It will be one or the other. On his way to the hall, he told a friend: It takes more than that to kill a Roosevelt. I do not care a rap about being shot. Not a rap.

VOICE TWO:

At the hall, he stood before the big crowd. His face was white. But he stood straight, without help. Someone announced that Roosevelt had been wounded, but still planned to speak.

Roosevelt's voice was very low, almost a whisper. I Am going to ask you to be very quiet. And please excuse me from making a long speech. I will do the best I can. But there is a bullet in me. He paused and then continued. It is nothing. I am not hurt badly. I have something to say. And I will say it as long as there is life in my body.

VOICE ONE:

Roosevelt's speech was not important. He said nothing that he had not already said many times before. What was important, however, was his cool courage. Men did not see his act as foolish or overly-dramatic. They saw it as the brave act of a strong man. To the public, he was a hero.

Roosevelt spoke7 for almost an hour. Finally, very weak, he let himself be helped from the hall. He was rushed to a hospital where doctors could examine the wound.

VOICE TWO:

The doctors found that the bullet had broken a rib8, but caused no serious damage. They decided9 to leave the bullet where it was. The next day, Roosevelt made a statement from his hospital bed. Tell the people not to worry about me. For if I go down, another will take my place.

President Taft and Woodrow Wilson sent messages of regret to Roosevelt. They announced that they would not campaign until Roosevelt was able to do so.

VOICE ONE:

Roosevelt's condition improved quickly. After two weeks of rest, he was ready to continue his campaign for the presidency10. He made a speech to a big crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Everyone was surprised to see how strong and healthy he seemed.

Wilson ended his campaign in New York City the next day. He told a cheering crowd of Democrats: What the Democratic Party proposes to do is to go into power and do the things that the Republican Party has been talking about for sixteen years.

VOICE TWO:

On November fifth, the people voted. The winner was Woodrow Wilson. He received more than six million votes. Roosevelt was second with four million. Taft received only about three and a half million. Wilson's victory was even greater in the electoral vote. He got four hundred thirty-five. Roosevelt got only eighty-eight. And Taft received only the eight electoral votes of Utah and Vermont.

The Democrats won not only the White House, but also control of Congress. And a number of Democratic governors were elected in states formerly11 controlled by Republicans.

VOICE ONE:

The nineteen twelve campaign ended public life for Theodore Roosevelt. Soon after the election, a friend visited Roosevelt and talked of possible victory in nineteen sixteen.

I thought you were a better politician, Roosevelt said. The fight is over. We are beaten. There is only one thing to do. That is to go back to the Republican Party. You cannot hold a party like the Progressive Party together. There are no loaves and fishes. . . no financial support.

VOICE TWO:

War was soon to break out in Europe. The United States would enter the struggle in nineteen seventeen.

As always, Roosevelt was ready to join in a fight. He asked for permission to organize an American force and lead it into battle in France. President Wilson, however, turned down the request. Roosevelt was sure that it was a political decision. He never forgave Wilson for keeping him out of the war.

Although Roosevelt himself could not fight, four of his sons went into battle. One -- his youngest son Quentin -- did not return. When he received news of his son's death, Roosevelt wrote these words to honor him:

VOICE ONE:

Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die. And none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life. Both life and death are parts of the same great adventure. All of us who give service and stand ready for sacrifice are torch bearers. We run with the torches until we fall, satisfied if we can then pass them to the hands of other runners.

The torches whose flame is brightest are carried by the brave men on the battlefield and by the brave women whose husbands, lovers, sons, and brothers struggle there. These are the torch bearers. These are they who have dared the great adventure.

VOICE TWO:

Roosevelt's own great adventure was itself coming to an end.

He suffered from painful attacks of inflammatory rheumatism13 and from a serious ear infection. He had difficulty in hearing and could not walk. But the old man was still cheerful. He spent his sixtieth birthday in the hospital. And to his family and friends, he said: I am ahead of the game. Nobody ever packed more kinds of fun and interest into sixty years.

Death came to Roosevelt as he slept on the night of January sixth, nineteen nineteen. Said Vice12 President Thomas Marshall: Death had to take him sleeping. For if Roosevelt had been awake, there would have been a fight.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

You have been listening to the Special English program THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Maurice Joyce and Leo Scully. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 nomination BHMxw     
n.提名,任命,提名权
参考例句:
  • John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
  • Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。
2 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
3 democrats 655beefefdcaf76097d489a3ff245f76     
n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
  • The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 jersey Lp5zzo     
n.运动衫
参考例句:
  • He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
  • They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致,都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。
5 automobile rP1yv     
n.汽车,机动车
参考例句:
  • He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
  • The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。
6 mule G6RzI     
n.骡子,杂种,执拗的人
参考例句:
  • A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
  • He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。
7 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
8 rib 6Xgxu     
n.肋骨,肋状物
参考例句:
  • He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
  • He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨,医生已包扎好了。
9 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
10 presidency J1HzD     
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
参考例句:
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。
11 formerly ni3x9     
adv.从前,以前
参考例句:
  • We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
  • This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。
12 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
13 rheumatism hDnyl     
n.风湿病
参考例句:
  • The damp weather plays the very devil with my rheumatism.潮湿的天气加重了我的风湿病。
  • The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。

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