Gerry McMahon

🇺🇸 Most Badass Presidents: Combat Veteran Edition #7 Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th President, was one badass President. He is the only U.S. President ever awarded the Medal of Honor. Born October 27, 1858, in New York City. He was crippled by severe asthma as a child. When he was 12 years old, his father looked him in the eye and said, "You have the mind, but you have not the body. You must make your body." Roosevelt took this literally. He built a gym in his home and began weightlifting, hiking, and boxing to transform his frail frame. When war with Spain erupted in 1898 he was working as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He quit his post and personally recruited and trained the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. They were a wild mix of cowboys, athletes, Native Americans, and Ivy Leaguers. They would become the Rough Riders. Roosevelt was commissioned lieutenant colonel but soon took full command as colonel. He had his own uniform privately tailored by the high-end retailer Brooks Brothers in Boston. They got to Cuba on June 22, 1898 and waded ashore through the surf. Their first action occurred at the Battle of Las Guasimas. Roosevelt led his squadron along a high-ridge trail to strike the enemy's right flank. He survived a close call when a bullet struck a tree inches from his cheek. The impact sprayed wooden splinters into his face. On July 1, 1898, at the Battle of San Juan Hill, Roosevelt and his men were pinned down under a heavy Spanish artillery barrage. A fragment of shrapnel from an exploding shell sliced into his wrist. He ignored the injury, bled through a temporary dressing, and eventually got orders to attack. He unleashed a furious, highly aggressive assault. He mounted his warhorse ‘Little Texas’ that he purchased directly from the U.S. Army Quartermaster and moved forward. They encountered regular U.S. Army infantry troops who had been ordered to hold their positions. Roosevelt yelled to their commander, "If you guys won't lead, get out of the way so my men can pass!" When the officer hesitated, Roosevelt said, "Then let my men through, sir!" and surged past them. He drew his revolver, waved his hat, and yelled for his men to follow him. As they charged across the open valley, Roosevelt was the only man riding a horse. He was a massive target. Forty yards from the crest of Kettle Hill, he ran directly into a thick barbed wire fence. As he scrambled off Little Texas to clear the wire, a Spanish bullet grazed his left elbow. He tied his horse to the fence and charged the remaining distance on foot. Roosevelt was one of the first three men to reach the trenches at the top of Kettle Hill. He personally shot and killed a Spanish soldier using his revolver. Next he set his sights on San Juan Hill. He yelled for a second charge, but in the din of battle, only five men heard him. Three were instantly shot down. Roosevelt ran back down the hill and rallied a larger force of soldiers. They stormed up the steep slopes of San Juan Hill, overwhelmed the final Spanish positions and secured the heights above Santiago. He was immediately recommended for the Medal of Honor but denied for political reasons. It was finally awarded posthumously in 2001. By late July, nearly 80% of the American force was infected or sick with malaria, yellow fever, and typhoid fever. Roosevelt broke military protocol and drafted the famous "Round Robin" letter. It demanded that the government immediately evacuate the troops before the entire army died of disease. This pressure forced Washington to pull the troops out. He had spent 46 days in Cuba. Roosevelt brought Little Texas back home to live out his days peacefully at his Sagamore Hill estate. He fought for the Republic before he ever stepped foot in the White House. Thank you, Mr. President! 🇺🇸🫡

🇺🇸 Most Badass Presidents: Combat Veteran Edition #8 John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, our 35th President, was one badass President. His boat was sliced in half by a Japanese destroyer. He then swam miles towing a badly burned crewman with his teeth to save him. Born May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts. Kennedy tried to enlist but was rejected because of a chronic and severe back injury along with debilitating gastrointestinal illnesses. Refusing to sit out the war, he used family connections to get in. He became a lieutenant in the Navy. He commanded PT-109 in the Solomon Islands in 1943. In the darkness of night of August 2, 1943, a Japanese destroyer slammed into his boat at full speed and cut it in two. Two crewmen were killed instantly. Kennedy was thrown hard into the cockpit and reinjured his back badly. Kennedy and his ten surviving crew clung to the wreckage for hours. It began to sink. One man, Patrick McMahon, was badly burned and could barely swim. Kennedy gripped the strap of McMahon’s life jacket in his teeth and swam more than three miles in four hours through rough seas to the nearest island. The crew spent days stranded, moving between tiny islands. Kennedy swam out into dangerous coral channels at night, searching for passing American boats. He eventually encountered two native Solomon Islander scouts. Lacking any paper, Kennedy used a pocket knife to carve a rescue message into a green coconut shell: "NAURO ISL COMMANDER NATIVE KNOWS POSIT HE CAN PILOT 11 ALIVE NEED SMALL BOAT KENNEDY" The scouts paddled through enemy-controlled waters to deliver the coconut to an Allied base. They were finally rescued after six days. Kennedy later took command of PT-59 and continued combat patrols. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism and the Purple Heart for his wounds. He was the only U.S. president to receive the Purple Heart. He fought for the Republic in the Pacific long before he ever stepped foot in the White House. Thank you, Mr. President! 🇺🇸🫡

Trump's 2nd term differs greatly from his first in a crucial way -- It is relentlessly MONETIZING the presidency. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…