Did You Know The Texas Rangers Stopped a Presidential Assassination?
When it comes to protecting the President of the United States of America, we all think of the Secret Service. However, one day in Texas, it was our very own Texas Rangers that saved a president's life.
American Presidents That Have Been Assassinated
Obviously, the most famous presidential assassinations are John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln. Two that people forget about are James Garfield and William McKinley. I think that's because those two lived several days after the attempts on their life, but sadly succumbed to their injuries. It's crazy, in my lifetime, I have never had a president that did not have an assassination attempt on their life.
I was born in 1989 and every president in my lifetime has had some sort of attack on their life. You can check out the history of Presidential Assassinations here. But today I learned about an attack on American president in Texas that was prevented one meter from the president being shot.
Did You Know the Texas Rangers Saved President Taft's Life?
Our 27th President William Howard Taft would be the first American President to meet with the President of Mexico. In 1909, a planned summit would take place in El Paso, Texas. The two agreed the strip in between Texas and Mexico would be a great place for the meeting. America apparently had a bunch of money invested in Mexico at the time and this was to show Taft endorsing the Mexican President Porfirio Díaz.
Day of the Assassination Attempt
On October 16, 1909, they had a procession route for the two presidents. They were apparently going by the El Paso Chamber of Commerce when two men noticed 52-year-old Julius Bergerson was holding a small pistol in his palm. These two men were able to subdue Bergerson as he was one meter away from the two presidents.
The Two Heroes that Stopped a Presidential Assassination
Frederick Russell Burnham was a member of Taft's additional security for the big meeting between the two presidents and Texas Ranger C.R. Moore were the ones who protected the presidents. I actually cannot find a lot on this particular Texas Ranger. The only article I can find on him is from a book called "Texas Ranger Tales." Moore had only been a Texas Ranger for about eight months at the time of this assassination attempt.
The Texas Ranger That Saved the President's Life
It looks like Moore spent his days as a Texas Ranger seemingly on border patrol, preventing Mexican armies from sneaking into America for supplies. Sadly, his days as a Texas Ranger would not be long. It looks like he passed away five years into his career as a Texas Ranger. He underwent intestinal surgery in 1914 for a medical issue, three days later he passed away from the surgery. Official cause of death was "intestinal obstruction."
A little Texas history to start your day out with. The time a Texas Ranger saved a president's life.