The American
President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt passed away on this date (6
January 1919). He would have been 155 years old today! In loving memory of him,
I will post two quotes from him.
QUOTE
1:
“As regards capital cases, the trouble is that
emotional men and women always see only the individual whose fate is up at the
moment, and neither his victim nor the many millions of unknown individuals who
would in the long run be harmed by what they ask. Moreover, almost any
criminal, however brutal, has usually some person, often a person whom he has
greatly wronged, who will plead for him. If the mother is alive she will always
come, and she cannot help feeling that the case in which she is so concerned is
peculiar, that in this case a pardon should be granted. It was really
heartrending to have to see the kinfolk and friends of murderers who were
condemned to death, and among the very rare occasions when anything
governmental or official caused me to lose sleep were times when I had to
listen to some poor mother making a plea for a criminal so wicked, so utterly
brutal and depraved, that it would have been a crime on my part to remit his
punishment.”
QUOTE
2:
“The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and
to humanity as is the most brutal wrongdoer.”
AUTHOR: Theodore
"Teddy" Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 –
January 6, 1919) was the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909). He is
noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and
his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy"
persona and robust masculinity. He was a leader of the Republican Party and
founder of the first incarnation of the short-lived Progressive ("Bull
Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming President, he held offices at the
city, state, and federal levels. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist,
explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any
office he held as a politician. Roosevelt was 42 years old when sworn in as
President of the United States in 1901, making him the youngest president ever;
he beat out the youngest elected president, John F. Kennedy, by only one year.
Roosevelt was also the first of only three sitting presidents to have won the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Born into a wealthy family
in New York City, Roosevelt was a sickly child who suffered from asthma and
stayed at home studying natural history. To compensate for his physical
weakness, he embraced a strenuous life. Home-schooled, he became an eager
student of nature. He attended Harvard University, where he studied biology,
boxed and developed an interest in naval affairs. In 1881, one year out of
Harvard, he was elected to the New York State Assembly, where he became a
leader of the reform faction of his Republican Party (the "GOP"). His
The Naval War of 1812 (1882) established his professional reputation as
a serious historian; he wrote numerous books on hunting, the outdoors, and
current political issues, as well as frontier history. In 1884, his wife and
his mother died on the same day. He left politics and went to the frontier,
becoming a rancher in the "Badlands" in the Dakotas. Returning to New
York City, he ran for mayor in 1886, finishing third with 60,000 votes. He
later gained fame by taking vigorous charge of the city police. At the national
level, he was a leader in civil service reform. The Spanish–American War broke
out in 1898 while Roosevelt was, effectively, running the Department of the
Navy. He promptly resigned and formed the Rough Riders – a volunteer cavalry
regiment that fought in Cuba. The war hero was elected governor in 1898 and in
1900 was nominated for vice president. He successfully energized the GOP base
as a highly visible campaigner to reelect President William McKinley on a
platform of high tariffs, the gold standard, imperialism, prosperity at home
and victory abroad.
In 1901, President William
McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt became President at the age of 42; he
remains the youngest president. Roosevelt attempted to move the Republican
Party (GOP) toward Progressivism, including trust busting and increased
regulation of businesses. In 1904 Roosevelt was elected to a full term of his
own, becoming the first person elevated from the Vice-Presidency to do so, as
well as winning the largest percentage of the popular vote since the
uncontested election of 1820. Roosevelt coined the phrase "Square Deal"
to describe his domestic agenda, emphasizing that the average citizen would get
a fair share under his policies. As an outdoorsman and naturalist, he promoted
the conservation movement. On the world stage, Roosevelt's policies were
characterized by his slogan, "Speak softly and carry a big stick".
Roosevelt was the force behind the completion of the Panama Canal; sent the Great
White Fleet on a world tour to demonstrate American power; and negotiated an
end to the Russo-Japanese War, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize.
At the end of his
second term, Roosevelt promoted his friend William Howard Taft for the 1908
Republican nomination. He toured Africa and Europe. On his return in 1910 he
broke bitterly with President Taft on issues of progressivism and
personalities. In the 1912 election Roosevelt tried and failed to block Taft's
renomination. He launched the Bull Moose Party that called for far-reaching
progressive reforms. He lost to Democrat Woodrow Wilson, as the Taft
conservatives gained control of the Republican party for decades to come.
Roosevelt led a major expedition to the Amazon jungles but contracted diseases
which ruined his health. He died relatively young at the age of 60. Roosevelt
has consistently been ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents,
having revived a declining presidency.
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