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 LIFE AND WORK 
 
 OF 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt 
 
 TYPICAL AMERICAN 
 
 Patriot, Orator, Historian, Sportsman, Soldier, 
 Statesman and President 
 
 By 
 THOMAS H. RUSSELL, LL.D. 
 
 Author of "America's War for Humanity," etc., etc. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 MERRITT STARR, M.A., LL.B. 
 
 Contemporary at Harvard University with Colonel Roosevelt 
 
 A SPECIAL TRIBUTE BY 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL LEONARD WOOD, U.S.A. 
 
 Commanding the Central Department and 
 Former Chief of Staff, United States Army 
 
 ALSO SPECIAL ARTICLES AND TRIBUTES OF RESPECT 
 
 BY MANY LEADERS IN PUBLIC LIFE, INTIMATE FRIENDS AND 
 
 POUTICAL ASSOCIATES OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT 
 
 Illustrated with Many Characteristic Portraits and 
 Scenes in a Wonderful Life 
 

 Copyright, 1919, by 
 L. H. Walter 
 
 •': \ ^^ 17/g/Q 
 
 N. B.—The pliotographs reproduced in this book are copyrighted hy 
 Underwood & Uu,lcrwood, New York; the International Film Service, 
 Western Newspaper Union, or others, by whom all rights of further repro- 
 duction are rcsarved. 
 
 ©CLAr, (:a<i5 5 
 
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 S TO <} 
 
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 •& The American People ^ 
 
 « . . * 
 
 ■0- in loving memory ^ 
 
 J OF 5 
 
 ■» their great President S 
 
 5 and faithful servant 2 
 
 5 THEODORE ROOSEVELT g 
 
 •» ? 
 
 ^ whose whole career may be o 
 
 o summed up in the words: S 
 
 t ,t ^ 
 o "He served wherever duty called'* ^ 
 
 2 ^ 
 
No Divided Allegiance in America 
 
 "There must bo no saggiiii^ back in the fight for 
 Americanism merely because the war is over. There are 
 plenty of persons who have already made the assertion 
 that they believe the American people have a short 
 memory and that they intend to revive all the foreign 
 associations which most directly interfere with the com- 
 plete Americanization of our people. Our principle in 
 this matter should be absolutely simple. In the first 
 place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes 
 here does in good faith become an American and assimi- 
 late himself to us he shall be treated on an exact equality 
 with everybody else, for it is an outrage to discriminate 
 against any such man because of creed or birthplace or 
 origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming 
 in very fact an American, and nothing but an American. 
 If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin 
 and separated from the rest of America then he isn't 
 doing his part as an American. There can be no divided 
 allegiance at all." 
 
 — Tjjeodoke Koosevelt. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The passing of Theodore Roosevelt from the stage of 
 American life leaves a noticeable blank in the busy scene, 
 but draws public attention more than ever to the won- 
 derful and distinctive character of his career. 
 
 More than merely interesting is the story of his life 
 and work. It is full of instruction, by precept and exam- 
 ple, for Americans of all classes and all ages. It is a 
 story of which the reader will never tire. Abounding m 
 action and achievement, it is extraordinary from begin- 
 ning to end. Its pubhcation in any form needs no 
 excuse, but in the complete form in which it is presented 
 in these pages, it is fairly demanded by the American peo- 
 ple, who revere the memory of their great leader and 
 would fain preserve it as a priceless heritage. 
 
 From the cradle to the tomb the career of Roosevelt 
 was so thoroughly and tj^jically American that its study 
 may well be regarded as a national duty. Most certainly 
 it is the duty of every American parent to give his chil- 
 dren the fullest possible opportunity to learn the lessons 
 of this great career, and to profit by them. 
 
 This volume aims to present the wonderful Roosevelt 
 story in such a manner that young and old may gather 
 from its pages a complete and correct view of the great 
 patriot in all his many-sided aspects. It is therefore 
 replete with illustrative anecdotes of his career, as well 
 as ^vith the biographical details that are in themselves so 
 unusually interesting. 
 
 The graphic illustrations are numerou^s, and with 
 propriety they consist mainly of photographs that depict 
 the great American in characteristic attitudes and scenes 
 in all the multifarious stages of his career. 
 
 5 
 
Acknowledgments 
 
 In the preparation of this volume many works on various phases of 
 Colonel Roosevelt's life and services have been consulted, and acknowl- 
 edgments are due the following, among other authors and pub- 
 lishers of Rooseveltiana: 
 
 Jacob A. Riis — "Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen" (The Outlook 
 Company, 1903). 
 
 Charles Eugene Banks and Leroy Armstrong — "Theodore Roose- 
 velt, a Typical American" (E. R. Dumont, 1901). 
 
 George William Douglas — "The Many-Sided Roosevelt" (Dodd, 
 Mead & Co., 1907). 
 
 Addison C. Thomas — "Roosevelt Among the People" (The L. W. 
 Walter Co., 1910). 
 
 Murat Halstead — "The Life of Theodore Roosevelt" (The Saalfield 
 Publishing Co., 1902). 
 
 J. Martin Miller — "Leaders and Issues of the Campaign of 1904" 
 (The L. W. Walter Co., 1904). 
 
 James Morgan — "Theodore Roosevelt, the Boy and the Man" (The 
 Macmillan Company, 1907). 
 
 Charles Scribner's Sons, publishers of Colonel Roosevelt's own 
 books, Including "America and the World War" (1915), and 
 the "Autobiography." 
 
 Charles Hanson Towne and David Henderson, editors of McClure's 
 Magazine — "The Fighting Roosevelts" (1918). 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Preface 5 
 
 Introduction, by Merritt St.\jir 11 
 
 CHAPTER I. — Theodore Roosevelt — In Memoriam 39 
 
 Special Tributes by Major-Qeneral Leonard Wood, U. S. A.; 
 Hon. Ctauncey M. Depew, Hon. Joseph G. Cannon, Col. 
 Henry Watterson, Senator Hiram A. Johnson, Senator 
 Miles Poindexter, Senator Joseph I. France, Hon. John 
 Wanamaker, Bishop Samuel Fallows, Dr. Frank Crane, and 
 Others. 
 
 CHAPTER II.— Birth and Boyhood 77 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt a Native of New York — His Pioneer 
 Ancestry — Social and Political Leaders in New York City 
 — His Parents and Grandparents — The Boy, Father of the 
 Man. 
 
 CHAPTER III.— Life at College 95 
 
 Enters Harvard University — Appearance at That Time — A 
 Studious Collegian — Vacations in the Maine Woods — 
 Boxing at Harvard — Graduation — Another Trip to Europe. 
 
 "t^HAPTER IV.— Entry into Politics 105 
 
 Attends His First Primary — Discovers His Life Work — Nom- 
 inated and Elected State Assemblyman — Fights Corruption 
 and Beats a Hired Thug — Good Work and Valuable Experi- 
 ence in the Legislature — Reform His Watchword — Early 
 Steps in National Politics. 
 
 CHAPTER v.— Life on the Ranch 115 
 
 Getting Acquainted with the Wild West — Thrilled by the 
 Plains — He Buys a Ranch — Gains by Western Life — Fight 
 with a Bully — His Moral Strength — Hunting Big Game — 
 The Roosevelt Ranch. 
 
CONTENTS— ( Continued) 
 
 CHAPTER VI.— Return to Public Life 127 
 
 Candidate for Mayor of New York — Second Marriage — Ldeal 
 Domestic Life— Civil Service Commissioner — Police Com- 
 missioner of New York — His Unusual Methods — Resigns to 
 Become Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 CHAPTER VII.— His Work for the Navy 139 
 
 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Department — His Record as 
 a Naval Author — Cutting Red Tape — Foresaw War with 
 Spain — His Preparedness Order to Dewey — Improved Amer- 
 ican Gunnery. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII.— The Rough Riders 151 
 
 Destruction of the ' ' Maine ' ' — Roosevelt Resigns from the 
 Navy Department — Organizes the Rough Riders — Leonard 
 Wood as Colonel — Record of the Regiment — Las Guasimas 
 and San Juan Hill — Praise from General Wheeler — The 
 Famous ' * Round Robin ' ' — Return to the United States. 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— Governor of New York 165 
 
 Nominated at Saratoga — Chauncey M. Depcw 's Nominating 
 Speech — Roosevelt and Piatt — A Reform Administration — 
 Taxation of Corporations — Nominated and Elected Vice- 
 President of the United States. 
 
 CHAPTER X.— He Succeeds McKinley 179 
 
 Inaugurated as Vice-President — Relations with McKinley 
 Pleasant — Assassination of the Presidfnt — Roosevelt in the 
 Adirondaoks — He Becomes President — Followed McKinley 's 
 Policies — An International Peacemaker. 
 
 CHAPTER XL— Election as President 192 
 
 Roosevelt as a Politician and Leader — His Success Predicted 
 — Nominated for a Full Term and Triumphantly Elected — 
 Many Reforms Urged — BringB Peace Between Russia and 
 Japan — The Panic of 1907 — Foreign Relations. 
 
 CHAPTER XII.— Record in the White House 208 
 
 The Panama Canal Problem Solved — Mr. Roosevelt 's Conser- 
 vation Polii-y — Praise from an laipartial Source — His 
 Colonial Policy — The Standard Oil Fight — Consular Service 
 Reformed — .Appointed General Wood as Chief of Staff — 
 Secret of Roosevelt 's Success — Getting Close to the People. 
 
CONTENTS— (Contiuued) 
 
 CHAPTER XIII.— In Africa and Europe 228 
 
 Departure for Big-Oame Hunting in the African Jungle — 
 Description of a Buffalo Hunt — The Colonel 's Vigor and 
 Endurance — Eeturn to Civilization — Travels in Europe — 
 Honored by Potentates and People — The Incident in Eonie 
 — His Eeturn Home — Roosevelt and Taft. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV.— The Progressive Party 241 
 
 Roosevelt Chosen at the Primaries for President, but Denied 
 a Nomination by the Bosses — Birth of the ' ' Bull Moose ' ' 
 Party — He Is Nominated as Its Standard-bearer — Shot by 
 a Crank in Milwaukee — His Courage and Endurance — 
 Results of the Campaign — Taft Defeated and Wilson 
 Elected, 
 
 CHAPTER XV.— The Private Citizen 250 
 
 Lectures in Principal Cities Followed by Exploration of the 
 Brazilian Jungle — The " Eiver of Doubt "—Visits to Eng- 
 land and Spain — The Barnes Libel Suit — Outbreak of the 
 Great War — The Campaign of 1916 — He Declines Another 
 Nomination. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI.— Apostle of Preparedness 263 
 
 Twenty Years of Warning to the United States — He Prac- 
 tised What He Preached — Urged Universal Training in 
 1914 — Roused the American Spirit — Offers of Personal 
 Service Eejected — Statement by Eoosevelt and Taft — The 
 Colonel's Attitude on the Great War. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII.— A Family of Patriots 277 
 
 Four Sons in Active Service — One Killed, Two Wounded, All 
 Distinguished — Quentin 's Grave Visited by His Mother — 
 War Records of the Eoosevelts — The Colonel 's Family- — 
 Ideal Family Life — Love of the Outdoors — Oyster Bay a 
 Mecca for Distinguished Visitors. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII.— The Young Man's Hero 285 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt the Idol of American Youth — His Strong, 
 Lovable Character Appealed to Its Imagination — One Secret 
 of His Power as a Citizen — A Perennial Boy — Mourned by 
 the Boys of America — The Colonel Among Children — How 
 He Raised His Sons. 
 
CONTENTS— (Continued) 
 
 CHAPTER XIX.— The Squ.vre Spoktsman 297 
 
 Theodore Koosevelt 's High Standard in Sports — A Lover of 
 Clean Sport — Himself an Athlete — Sports in the White 
 House — A Close Follower of Football — A Great Hunter — 
 His Fondness for Boxing — Friends Among the Experts — 
 Wrestling at Albany — Roosevelt as an Outdoor Man — A 
 Keally Great Naturalist. 
 
 CHAPTER XX.— Roosevelt the Author 319 
 
 Literature His Profession — A Prolific Writer of History, Pol- 
 itics, Biography, Travel and Essays — Regular Contributor to 
 the Magazines — Hie Versatility and Remarkable Output — A 
 Master of Concise and Vigorous English — List of His 
 Works. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL— Anecdotes of Roosevelt 329 
 
 Interesting Little Stories That Will Long Survive the Beloved 
 Colonel, Dlustrating His Fearlessness, Energy, Versatility, 
 Patriotism and Other Outstanding Traits of His Many- 
 Sided Character. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII.— Death and Burial 365 
 
 The End Comes in His Sleep — Death Caused by a Pulmonary 
 Embolism — His Last Words — Last Message to the Amer- 
 ican People — None Present When He Died — Burial in Old 
 Cemetery Near His Home — A Simple but Deeply Impressive 
 Ceremony, Such as He Desired — Distinguished Men at the 
 Funeral. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII.— A World in Mourning 393 
 
 Messages of Grief and Sympathy — Tributes by Public Men 
 in Many Countries — Official Action by States, Cities, Courts, 
 and Public Bodies — .\utopraphed Expressions of Respect — 
 A Special Day of Tribute to Theodore Roosevelt' s Lite and 
 Memory. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV.— The Official Memorl^l 435-512 
 
 Congress in .Joint Session with Crowded Galleries Hears a 
 Magnificent Tribute to Theodore Roosevelt from the Lips 
 of Senator Lodge, His Long-Time Personal and Political 
 Friend. 
 
 10 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 By Meeeitt Staee^ M. A., LL. B. 
 
 A noble life lias been lived. A noble life on earth has 
 ended. The object of this sketch is to introduce an 
 account of that life to the busy people of the world, and 
 to the rising generation. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt was at his death the greatest pri- 
 vate citizen of the world. He shared the life of his gen- 
 eration and molded its future more than any other man. 
 Three principles of action were dominant throughout his 
 life, and should be recognized at the outset. They were : 
 
 1. To make the best use of his life. 
 
 2. '*To fear no evil"; and 
 
 3. iVo5/e55e ofc/i^e (nobility obliges). Nobility, which 
 the accident of birth or opportunity confers, requires 
 nobility of life. 
 
 Theodore quotes his father as telling him while a col- 
 lege freshman, and during the last year of the father's 
 life, ''that if I wished to become a scientific man, I could 
 do so, * * * if I intended to do the very best work 
 there was in me." 
 
 His daring was inborn. Before he was six, his mother 
 said: "If the Lord hadn't loved Theodore, he'd have 
 been dead long ago. ' ' 
 
 His father, Theodore Roosevelt, was in business, a 
 glass importer; but he was a man of great public spirit. 
 He drafted the Act of Congress creating the ''Allotment 
 
 11 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Commission," officers who saw to it that an agreed part 
 of the pay of the Civil War soldiers reached their fami- 
 lies; and served as New York commissioner of allotment 
 with William E. Dodge and Theodore B. Bronson. 
 
 Roosevelt the father was one of the organizers of the 
 Union League Club, the Sanitary Commission, the Sol- 
 diers' Employment Bureau, the Children's Aid Society, 
 head of the State Board of Charities, and founder of the 
 Roosevelt Hospital. He was nominated by President 
 Hayes for Collector of the Port of New York, but rejected 
 through the influence of Roscoe Conkling. The time for 
 appointing a Collector on civil service principles had not 
 come. Early in the 1800 's two of the Rooeevelts were 
 aldermen of New York, when that was a title of honor and 
 of public service. Isaac Roosevelt sat in the Constitu- 
 tional Convention "\\ith Alexander Hamilton. The public 
 spirit ran in the family. 
 
 Seven generations of Roosevelts preceded Theodore in 
 New York, the first coming from Holland in 1644; and 
 these Knickerbockers intermarried with Pennsylvanians, 
 including English and Welsh Quakers, Scotch-Irish, Irish 
 and Pennsylvania-Germans. 
 
 His mother's people were Southerners, Georgians, of 
 predominantly Scotch, but inclusive of Huguenot French, 
 and English descent. They included slave-holders, sea 
 captains, and two Confederate naval officers. Theodore 
 was a composite. His father well-earned Theodore's 
 tribute, "the best man I ever knew"; and the family 
 sobriquet of "Great Heart." Theodore's upbringing was 
 religious. Morning prayers for a start, and evening dress 
 for dinner, were indispensable ; and the children enjoyed 
 the parents' companionship and the prayers. "I speak for 
 you and the cubby-hole (sofa-arm next the father) too," 
 
 12 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 was their cry as they raced for his coat-skirt, on the way 
 to prayers. Before he was ten, he began collecting a zoo, 
 and writing phonetically spelled natural histories. 
 
 Born October 27, 1858, in New^ York City (at old No. 
 28 East Twentieth Street) ; with two sisters and a brother 
 he grew up in a normal and healthy family life. The 
 summer home at Oyster Bay, on a hill overlooking Long 
 Island Sound, in the family from his grandfather's time, 
 helped this. At ten he made his first trip to Europe; 
 and at fourteen his second, which was extended to Egypt 
 and the Holy Land. From the beginning he was asth- 
 matic and sickly and needed and received open-air treat- 
 ment. At thirteen he got a gun, found out his need of 
 spectacles, and put them on ; and began stuffing birds. 
 
 Following his father's example, at fifteen he took, and 
 for three years taught a Mission Sunday-school class in 
 New York. He early became and throughout life remained 
 a faithful member of the Dutch Reformed Church. 
 
 Entering Harvard at eighteen, he taught a mission 
 class in Boston or Cambridge throughout his four college 
 years. This did not prevent him one midnight on return- 
 ing from a Boston opera from chasing Prof. Lane's fine 
 cat over several fences, and finally capturing, skinning, 
 and stuffing it ; nor from beginning boxing lessons at four- 
 teen, which he kept up through life, at the cost of an 
 injury to the sight of an eye from a blow while in the 
 A^Tiite House. He learned to defend and take care of him- 
 self, and developed his natural love of fair play in a fair 
 fight. Entering an exhibition match at the Harvard Gym, 
 he stretched out his glove for the ring-courtesy hand- 
 shake. His opponent, mistaking the gesture, warded it 
 off and countered on Eoosevelt's nob. Teddy hushed the 
 laughs and hisses of the front-seaters by holding up both 
 
 13 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 hands and shouting in falsetto, "He didn't mean any- 
 thing. He didn't understand." 
 
 His development makes a record of obstacles over- 
 come by determined industry. A sickly child, he became 
 a healthy man. Dependent on spectacles, he became a 
 sure shot. Originally slight, and handicapped in physique, 
 he became a good boxer and rider (the last at the cost of 
 many falls, one yielding a broken arm, another a broken 
 rib, and another a cracked shoulder joint) all by persist- 
 ent training. Ha\dng a falsetto break in his voice, still he 
 became a most skillful public speaker, by the native fire 
 within him, and dint of much practice. A born sport 
 rather than a student, at his graduation (A. B.) in 1880, 
 he made the Phi Beta Kappa, which ranked him in the 
 first tenth of his class in scholarship. The death of his 
 father when Teddy was twenty (and half through college) 
 brought a quick sobering of responsibility, and pushed 
 him early into a man's estate. 
 
 In all this he was making the best use of his life. He 
 feared no evil. Noblesse was written deep in his family 
 inheritance. He was to ennoble it still further by public 
 duty well performed. 
 
 All our sketches are inadequate ; but an attempt at a 
 birdseye view of some of the leading events of his life 
 may be made with the help of this 
 
 Partial Chronology 
 
 Born in New York City in 1858 
 
 Graduate at Harvard in 1880 
 
 Law Student (New York University) in 1881 
 
 Elected to New York Legislature three times, 
 
 in 1881-1882-1883 
 
 Republican candidate for Speaker in 1883 
 
 14 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Delegate to New York Republican State Convention 
 
 in 1884 
 
 First of the four Delegates-at-Large from New York 
 to Republican National Convention (the other 
 three being Andrew D. White, John I. Gilbert 
 and Edwin Packard). (His practical manage- 
 ment of the New York State Convention secured 
 the election of these four delegates-at-large, and 
 placed him at the head of the delegation w^hich 
 included George William Curtis and Thomas C. 
 
 Piatt) 1884 
 
 Ranchman in North Dakota 1884-1889 
 
 Republican Candidate for Mayor of New York 1886 
 
 United States Civil Service Commissioner 1889-1895 
 
 President New York Police Commission 1895-1897 
 
 Assistant Secretary United States Navy 1897-1898 
 
 Organized Rough Riders (First U. S. Volunteer Cav- 
 alry), Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel in Cuba 
 Campaign, in which he took the lead in the bat- 
 tles of Las Guasimas and San Juan Hill 1898 
 
 Governor of New York (elected in 1898) 1899-1900 
 
 Vice President of United States (unanimously nom- 
 inated in 1900) 1901 
 
 Succeeded to the Presidency September 14 1901 
 
 Elected President (by largest majority ever given a 
 
 candidate) 1904 
 
 President of United States 71/2 years 1901-1909 
 
 Initiated our Forest and Land and River Reclama- 
 tion Policy 1901 
 
 Settled the coal strike 1902 
 
 Enforced the Monroe Doctrine in Venezuela, 1902- 
 
 1903, and in Santo Domingo in 1905-1907 
 
 15 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Recognized Republic of Panama and initiated con- 
 struction of Panama Canal in 1903 
 
 Re-elected President (is the only Vice-President who 
 became President through the death of his pred- 
 ecessor and then succeeded himself) 1904 
 
 Negotiated the Russo-Japanese Peace Treaty 1905 
 
 Outlined solution of Algeciras Conference concern- 
 ing Africa (France, Germany, Spain, Morocco, 
 Italy and United States) 1906 
 
 (lie wrote the terms on the French Ambassador's 
 visiting card.) 
 
 Received the Nobel Peace Prize 1906 
 
 Established Roosevelt Foundation for Industrial 
 
 Peace 1907 
 
 Secured Santo Domingo Treaty, recognizing Monroe 
 
 Doctrine ' 1907 
 
 Sent our fleet round the world — 42,000 miles — (first 
 
 national fleet to circumnavigate the globe) .1907-1908 
 
 Assembled first House of Governors in Conservation 
 
 movement 1908 
 
 Editor of "The Outlook" 1909-1914 
 
 Tour of Africa and Europe 1909-1910 
 
 Special Ambassador to England at funeral of Ed- 
 ward VII 1910 
 
 Lectured at European Universities, Oxford, Paris, 
 and P>erlin (delivering the Romanes Lecture at 
 Oxford) 1910 
 
 At the written request of Governors of seven States 
 
 he led the Progressive Campaign 1912 
 
 Toured South America 1913 
 
 16 
 
At the University of Chicago. President Roosevelt Receiving the Degree of Doctor 
 of Laws from President Harper and Faculty. 
 
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 Banquet in Chicago. The Most Notable Men of a Great City Were Gathered at 
 This Feast in Honor of President Roosevelt. 
 
Three Generations of Roosevelts in a Family Group at Sagamore Hill. Left to 
 Right — Theodore Roosevelt's Grandson, the Baby of Archibald; Colonel 
 Roosevelt; Mrs. Archibald Roosevelt; Richard Derby, Jr.; Mrs. Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt; and Baby Edith Derby on the Lap of Her Mother. Mr». 
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INTRODUCTION 
 
 Toured South America again; discovered and ex- 
 plored 600 miles of unknown river, which the 
 Brazilian Government named after him, Rio 
 
 Teodoro 1914 
 
 Attacked "invisible government*' in New York 1914 
 
 Proved his attack and defeated Barnes libel suit. , . .1915 
 
 Initiated the Preparedness movement. 1916 
 
 Declined Progressive nomination and supported 
 
 Hughes 1916 
 
 Organized Roosevelt Legion of 150,000 men and ten- 
 dered it to the Government 1917 
 
 Championed more efficient and vigorous prosecution 
 
 of war 1918 
 
 Gave four sons to the service (three wounded, one 
 
 killed) 1918 
 
 Turned over Nobel Peace Prize to Soldiers* Aid So- 
 ciety: 1918 
 
 Some Results of His Life Work 
 
 150 National Forests with an area of over 300,000 square 
 
 miles. 
 
 5 great National Parks. 
 
 4 Reservations for Big Game. 
 
 51 Bird Reservations. 
 
 22 Reservations of American Antiquities. 
 
 His Land Reclamation, Forest, and Game Preserve 
 
 Policy saved and dedicated to public use an area greater 
 
 than all Germany — greater than the combined area of 
 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 
 
 The twenty-two Reserves of American Antiquities, es- 
 tablished through his efforts — a truly remarkable work — 
 are as follows : 
 
 17 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Name and State. Year. Acres. 
 
 Chaco Canyon, N. ^l 1907 20,629 
 
 Cinder Cone, Cal 1907 5,120 
 
 Devil's Tower, Wyo 1906 1,152 
 
 El Morro, N. M 1906 160 
 
 Gila Cliff Dwellings, N. .M 1907 160 
 
 Grand Quivira, N. M 1909 160 
 
 Grand Canyon, Ariz 1908 806,400 
 
 Jewel Cave, S. D 1908 1,280 
 
 Lassen Peak, Cal 1907 1,280 
 
 Lewis and Clark Cavern, Mont 1908 160 
 
 Montezuma Castle, Ariz 1906 160 
 
 Mount Olympus, Wash 1909 608,640 
 
 Muir Woods, Cal 1908 295 
 
 Mukuntuweap, Utah 1909 15,840 
 
 Natural Bridges, Utah 1909 2,740 
 
 Navajo, Ariz 1909 600 
 
 Oregon Caves, Ore 1909 480 
 
 Petrified Forest, Ariz 1906 25,625 
 
 Shoshone Cavern, Wyo 1909 210 
 
 Tonto, Ariz 1907 640 
 
 Tumaeacori, Ariz 1908 10 
 
 Wheeler, Col 1908 300 
 
 He was the first to begin this system of Reserves. 
 Since then, under the influence of his initiative, eleven 
 other Reserves of American Antiquities have been added 
 to the list. 
 
 He built the Panama Canal, the greatest public work 
 in all history. From sea to sea, across the isthmus, he 
 carved, '^ Theodore Roosevelt, his mark." 
 
 He built the Roosevelt Dam in Arizona (opened 1911). 
 He raised the United States Navy from near the bot- 
 tom to second place. 
 
 He made three fleets ready and munitioned; and sent 
 Dewey to the Philippines, two months in advance of the 
 Spanish war. The victories of Manila and Santiago and 
 their fruits were due to his preparedness. 
 
 At Santo Domingo in 1905 he made the United States 
 
 18 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 receiver of customs; paid forty-five per cent to Santo 
 Domingo and fifty-five per cent to foreign creditors; 
 restored peace without firing a shot ; enforced the Monroe 
 Doctrine. This was embodied in the treaty with Santo 
 Domingo, ratified in 1907, and established a precedent 
 followed in Costa Rica. He established a policy of civil 
 protectorate for the smaller states. 
 
 Measures for Social and Industrial Justice and Wel- 
 fare, he made leading public policies. 
 
 He enforced and extended the eight-hour law and 
 made it alive. 
 
 Appointed the first Country Life Commission. 
 
 Secured Workmen's Compensation and Employer's 
 Liability Laws. 
 
 Developed the Bureau of Mines. 
 
 Maintained the open shop, for both union and non- 
 union labor. 
 
 His book, ''Conservation of Womanhood and Child- 
 hood," published in 1912, following his policy as Gov- 
 ernor of New York, practically initiated the movement for 
 national legislation to protect woman labor and forbid 
 child labor, in works under Federal control. 
 
 When he became Civil Service Commissioner in 1889, 
 he found 14,000 Government officers under the civil serv- 
 ice rules. He left 40,000 there ; and as Jacob Riis said in 
 1904, ''there are 125,000 now, and when the ransomed 
 number 200,000, it will still be Roosevelt's work." Ap- 
 pointed by President Benjamin Harrison, he fought and 
 defeated Harrison's Postmaster General over the 
 appointment of postmen in Indianapolis, Harrison's home 
 town. He was retained in office by President Cleveland 
 in 1893-4-5; and when Roosevelt insisted on retiring at 
 the end of his term, Grover Cleveland wrote him: "You 
 
 ]9 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 are certainly to be congratulated upon the extent and 
 permanency of the civil service reform methods which 
 you have so substantially aided in bringing about. The 
 struggle for its firm establishment and recognition is 
 past. Its faithful application and reasonable expansion 
 remain, subjects of deep interest to all who really desire 
 the best attainable service." 
 
 In 1890, after a year of service as National Civil Serv- 
 ice Commissioner, he came to Chicago and helped us in 
 our struggle for city and State civil service laws. At a 
 mass meeting we held in Madison Street Theatre in 
 March, 1890, addressing an audience, half supporters, 
 half opponents, he said: ''Every ward heeler who now 
 ekes out a miserable existence at the expense of oflSce- 
 holders and candidates is opposed to our policy, and we 
 are proud to acknowledge it. Every politician who sees 
 nothing but reward of office in the success of a party or a 
 principle is opposed to us, and we are not sorry for it. 
 * * We propose to keep a man in office as long as he 
 serves the public faithfully and courteously. * * "We 
 propose that no incumbent shall be dismissed from the 
 service unless he proves untrustworthy or incompetent, 
 and that no one not specially qualified for the duties of 
 the position shall be appointed. These two statements we 
 consider eminently practical and American in principle." 
 (Riis, pp 109-110.) 
 
 On Government operation of railways he said: "Be- 
 fore that question can be so much as discussed, it ought 
 to be definitely settled that, if the Government takes con- 
 trol, of either telegraph line or railway, it must do it to 
 manage it purely as a business undertaking, and must 
 manage it with a service wholly unconnected with poli- 
 tics. I should like to call the special attention of the gen- 
 
 20 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 tlemen in bodies interested in increasing the sphere of 
 State action — interested in giving the State control more 
 and more over railways, over telegraph lines, and over 
 other things of the sort — to the fact that the condition 
 precedent upon success is to establish an absolutely non- 
 partisan governmental system. When that point is once 
 settled, we can discuss the advisability of doing what 
 these gentlemen wish, but not before." (Riis, p. 112.) 
 
 He exemplified the psychological truth that man can- 
 not be split up into departments ; that the intellect is the 
 whole man thinking; the sensibilities are the whole man 
 feeling; and the will is the whole man deciding. In few 
 men are they so thoroughly commingled. Still, it is con- 
 venient to consider his qualities in the established class- 
 ification. 
 
 Let us simply observe his personality in three groups 
 of qualities; namely, those of his intellect, those of his 
 ethical nature or character, and those of his temperament. 
 
 Leading traits of his intellect were : 
 
 1. Nobleness. He took things in the large, high way, 
 and not in the low or petty way. 
 
 2. Idealism. He saw that everything contains a 
 promise of something better; that everything could be 
 improved. He saw things both as they are in reahty 
 and also in imagination, as if the improvements had come 
 into being, and things were freed of defects. 
 
 3. Concentrated application. His intellect was over- 
 poweringly active. His extraordinary endowments com- 
 bined ceaseless activity with single-eyed attention to the 
 chosen goal. His industry was marvelous. His intellect, 
 sensibilities, and will combined instinctively in this. 
 
 4. Insight or intuition. He had immediate under- 
 standing of people. He saw into things deeply and with 
 
 21 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 instmctive perception. He simply absorbed the best 
 thought of the past and of his time. 
 
 5. Geniality. He was intellectually akin to and at- 
 tuned to the life of the world about him. He shared the 
 life of his kind, human kind, and was always cordial and 
 hearty and social, and of good fellowship. This trait 
 characterized him intellectually, ethically, and temper- 
 amentally. 
 
 In his moral nature : 
 
 1. Rectitude was his leading trait. He was upright 
 and downright. He saw straight. He gave and demanded 
 the square deal and fair play. Out of this came 
 
 2. Honesty. He was honest to the core. 
 
 3. Fidelity. He was faithful. He enlisted for the 
 war. He stayed through to the end. 
 
 4. Patriotism. He was always a plus American. 
 
 5. Dutifulness. He overflowed with zeal for good. 
 In home life he was an exemplar. Wife, children, par- 
 ents, relatives, and countless friends, found him ever a 
 model of clean, pure, high living. 
 
 In inborn temperament : 
 
 1. Chivalrous courage comes first. **I will fear no 
 evil,** was his attitude, consciously and unconsciously. 
 He never feared the face of man. **Fear God and Take 
 Your Own Part" entitled one of his last books, and char- 
 acterized his life. His spirit was dauntless. This was 
 higher and deeper than fearlessness. It was intrepid 
 {gallantry for the worthy cause. 
 
 2. Power, which is force, ready and easy in use, he 
 had beyond most men. He had phenomenal driving en- 
 ergy. Vigorous, strong, rugged, he was indeed a man of 
 might. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 3. Alertness. He was ever quick. He had dashing 
 initiative. **A young fellow of infinite dash and orig- 
 inality, ' ' said John Hay in 1901. 
 
 4. Joyousness continuously radiated from him. He 
 delighted in doing his daily task and doing it well. He 
 was a clean, true sport. He saw life as a strenuous work, 
 brightened into a mighty game. He always made the first 
 move. He drank dehght of battle with his peers. ** De- 
 lighted" was the greeting in his heart and on his lips. 
 He saw everything with a sparkle of humor. 
 
 5. Unselfish ambition. Just as he naturally saw that 
 things could be better, he was ambitious and determined 
 to make them better. ''Follow the gleam" (of the vision 
 of better things) was his natural rule of action. 
 
 He was a genius. A genius is an enlargement of the 
 common mind and heart — a man with eye to see, heart to 
 conceive, and hand to execute, more than other men. His 
 power of concentration on the thing in hand and ease in 
 transferring his concentrated attention to the next were 
 great. 
 
 To illustrate — A Congressman brought him a Water 
 Power Bill. The President slowly passed his eye down 
 over it from beginning to end, and handed it back with the 
 remark: ''Yes, that's important, and the Waterways 
 Commission ought to have that before them." "But, 
 Mr. President, I should like to have you familiarize your- 
 self with it. I believe it will interest you. " "I have done 
 so," replied Roosevelt, "you can examine me on it, if you 
 wish." 
 
 A continental author and statesman was visiting New 
 York during the campaign of 1910. A New York lawyer 
 took him to an open-air meeting where Roosevelt was 
 speaking. A voice in the crowd cried: "Tell us about 
 
 23 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Cuba and San Juan Hill." T. R.: ''Oh, you want to hear 
 how w^e helped out the Cigar Makers' Strike?" And a 
 concluding paragraph of the speech followed. Five min- 
 utes later, being introduced to the continental author, he 
 said: **I enjoyed reading your new book on Social De- 
 mocracy and especially your views in the seventh chap- 
 ter." 
 
 Roosevelt's intellectual output is monumental. 
 
 In the thirty-seven years from 1882 to 1919, he for a 
 time conducted a ranch, contributed articles to many 
 periodicals, served as visitor to Harvard University, was 
 editor of *'The Outlook" four years, brought out forty- 
 three volumes of books, and a similar volume of messages 
 and reports, besides unnumbered editorials and ad- 
 dresses. The volumes may be classified thus : 
 
 Histories : Winning of the West, four volumes ; Naval 
 War of 1812, History of New York City, History 
 of the Royal Navy (being the sixth volume of a 
 large English work and dealing with the British 
 Navy in the war of 1812), The Rough Riders, The 
 Philippines (one volume each) 9 
 
 Biographies: Of Cromwell, Benton and Gouverneur 
 Morris 3 
 
 Science: The Deer Family; Life Histories of African 
 Game Animals (two volumes) ; Through the Bra- 
 zilian Wilderness 4 
 
 Political and Literary Essays and Sketches 13 
 
 Narratives and Sketches of Ranch Life, and Hunting 
 Experiences 13 
 
 Autobiography 1 
 
 43 
 
 24 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 It was a topic of conversation in North Dakota in the 
 eighties, that he brought over a freight-car load of books 
 with him and worked there in winter evenings on his 
 ** Winning of the West." 
 
 Of his quahty as a nature-lover and observer, let John 
 Burroughs speak. Describing a trip with Roosevelt 
 through Yellowstone Park in the spring of 1903, he says : 
 **A woman * * wrote me to protest against the hunt- 
 ing, and hoped I would teach the President to love the 
 animals as much as I did — as if he did not love them 
 much more, because his love is founded upon knowledge, 
 and because they had been a part of his life. * * The 
 President said: ''I will not fire a gun in the park; then I 
 shall have no explanations to make. * * The Presi- 
 dent suddenly jumped out, and with his soft hat * * 
 captured a mouse that was running along over the ground 
 near us. * * He wanted it for Dr. Merriam, on the 
 chance that it might be a new species. While we all went 
 fishing in the afternoon, the President skinned his mouse, 
 and prepared the pelt to be sent to Washington. It was 
 done as neatly as a professed taxidermist would have 
 done it. This was the only game the President killed in 
 the park. * * It turned out not to be a new species, 
 as it should have been, but a species new to the park. 
 * * His instincts as a naturalist * * lie back of all 
 his hunting expeditions, and in a large measure * * 
 prompt them. Certain it is that his hunting records con- 
 tain more live natural history than any similar records 
 known to me, unless it be those of Charles St. John, the 
 Scotch naturalist-sportsman. * * The chief qualifica- 
 tion of a born observer is an alert, sensitive, objective 
 type of mind, and this Eoosevelt has in a pre-eminent 
 
 25 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 degree." ("Camping vdih Roosevelt," pp. 6-41-66-7- 
 103.) 
 
 And here we may remember his great constituency of 
 jvoung people. As the "Tribune" of his native city said: 
 "Millions who have no spokesmen to make articulate 
 their emotions, who lack words to express their grief, 
 mourn Theodore Roosevelt surely quite as sincerely as 
 those who fill papers with their tributes and draw up res- 
 olutions of regret. Among these mute mourners are the 
 boys of America. In their Pantheon Theodore Roosevelt, 
 hero of San Juan, mighty hunter, slayer of lion, bear, 
 wolf, and panther, explorer, occupied a throne more 
 exalted than any mythical hero. 
 
 "He was the eternal boy. His were the boy's enthu- 
 siasms and unlimited capacity for swift movement of 
 body and brain. And the boys shall mourn the passing of 
 this full-colored, virile man long after grief has faded 
 from older and colder hearts and minds, untouched by 
 the eternal dawn." 
 
 He published over a book a year, besides administer- 
 ing all these offices, leading these public movements, and 
 rearing a family of children. 
 
 Here are some of his literary titles : 
 
 Washington's Maxim (Address, U. S. Naval College, 
 June, 1897): "To be Prepared for War is the Most 
 Effectual Means to Promote Peace." 
 
 "The War of America the Unready." (1913.) 
 
 "Speak Softly— and Carry a Big Stick— You Will Go 
 Far." 
 
 "Our Poorer Brother." 
 
 "The Strenuous Life." 
 
 "The Square Deal." 
 
 "Fear God and Take Your Own Part." 
 
 26 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ' ' Realizable Ideals. ' ' 
 
 * ' Applied Idealism. ' ' 
 
 '* A Book Lover's Holiday in the Open." 
 
 ' ' Ranch Life and Hunting Trail. ' ' 
 
 "The New Nationalism." 
 
 "The Peace of Righteousness." 
 
 "We Stand at Armageddon and We Battle for the 
 Lord." 
 
 When he was born 83.9 per cent of our people lived on 
 farms or in rural homes. Railways and other instru- 
 mentalities and influences drew the people to the cities. 
 When he became President, although the total population 
 had more than doubled, the rural population had fallen to 
 59.5 per cent of the whole. And with the urbanizing 
 tendency came also the tendency to make each man part 
 of a machine. Roosevelt, city born and bred, realized the 
 need of conserving the farms and forests, the fauna and 
 flora, the waters and minerals, the natural resources, and 
 the men, women, and children of the land. 
 
 As Governor of New York, he brought together in the 
 Executive Chamber at Albany, a conference of forty of 
 the best guides and woodsmen of the Adirondacks, and 
 initiated a program of forest, stream, and game preserva- 
 tion, and the propagation of food fish and sporting fish. 
 "The game wardens in the forests must be woodsmen, 
 and they should have no outside business. " * * " The 
 State should not permit within its limits, factories to 
 make bird skins or bird feathers into articles of ornament 
 or wearing apparel." * * "A primeval forest is a 
 great sponge which absorbs and distills the rain water. 
 And when it is destroyed the result is apt to be an alter- 
 nation of flood and drought;" — said his message to the 
 New York Legislature in January, 1900. As President he 
 
 27 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 found Gifford Pinchot already in office as head of the in- 
 fant Forestry Bureau, retained him there throughout his 
 two presidential terms, and left him there. In Roose- 
 velt's first message to Congi-ess, December 3rd, 1901, he 
 said: "The forest and water problems are perhaps the 
 most vital internal problems of the United States. ' ' June 
 17, 1902, the Land Reclamation Act was passed, under 
 which during his term of office over 3,000,000 acres (an 
 area approximating that of Connecticut) were reclaimed, 
 irrigated, and made productive. 
 
 February 1, 1905, the Act was passed on his recom- 
 mendation transferring the National Forests from the 
 Interior Department, where they had been treated as part 
 of the general public lands, to the Department of Agri- 
 culture, classifying them as part of the cultivated re- 
 sources of the United States. 
 
 In 1907, the Government published sixty-one bulletins 
 of Forestry, with a total of over 1,000,000 copies dis- 
 tributed to the people (compared with three bulletins and 
 82,000 copies in 1901). The Forestry Bureau under his 
 direction secured the publication of bulletins of scientific 
 forestry facts in 50,000,000 copies of newspapers per 
 month, at a total expense of $6,000 a year. The area of 
 National Forests was increased from forty-three millions 
 to one hundred and ninety-four millions of acres (303,125 
 square miles, an increase of 235,937 square miles, com- 
 pared with the area of the German states, 208,780 square 
 miles). His water power policy required grants of such 
 power on the public domain, in the National Forests and 
 on navigable streams, to be for limited periods, with pro- 
 tection for navigation, under Federal regulation, and 
 requiring payment for value received. 
 
 His forest preserve policy has been decided valid by 
 
 28 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 the Supreme Court of the United States (220 U. S. 
 506, 523). 
 
 President Roosevelt put new life into the Government. 
 As he had put new life into the Municipal Government of 
 New York City, and into the State Government of the 
 Empire State, he did the same in fuller measure for the 
 Nation. 
 
 He realized the need of conserving the achievements 
 and institutions of the past, of keeping the governmental 
 mind open to new ideas, and ready to adopt new methods 
 and enter new fields of governmental action, when the 
 need for it was shown. He conserved the fruits of the 
 past while planting for the future. 
 
 He realized the need of new light from the advice of 
 competent men who were not parts of the Government, 
 who were not walled in by official habit and routine, and 
 who saw things from the viewpoint of up-to-date busi- 
 ness, and with the trained experience of specialists. When 
 the world war came, this example was to some extent fol- 
 lowed, and where followed, proved of immeasurable value. 
 He initiated the practice of appointing unpaid voluntary 
 commissions; and appointed and received the aid of six 
 such commissions in the six years 1903-1909, viz: Com- 
 missions on Organization of Government Scientific "Work 
 (Charles D. Walcott, Chairman) ; on Department 
 Methods (Charles H. Keep, Chairman) ; on Public 
 Lands ; on Inland Waterways ; on Country Life ; and on 
 National Conservation. These commissions rendered 
 great service in promoting the adoption of modern 
 methods ; in opening the eyes of the nation to the fact that 
 even its natural resources were not inexhaustible; that 
 our continental system of rivers should be conserved and 
 developed as a unit for transportation, for climatic stabil- 
 
 29 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ization, and as a by-product, for water-power develop- 
 ment; that our forests and mines and soils were the treas- 
 uries of the future; that undiscriminating exploitation 
 meant national impoverishment; that the farmers by iso- 
 lation were handicapped in securing needed labor, in 
 securing expression and recognition of their needs — and 
 that where those needs coincided with national needs it 
 was proper governmental policy to ascertain and seek to 
 satisfy them. 
 
 The new life which he put into our municipal, state 
 and national governments was in part the consequence, 
 in part the guiding influence, and in part the source, of 
 mighty movements for the regeneration of public life in 
 America. He blazed a new trail through the complexities 
 of modern life. It was a trail of applied idealism, applied 
 democracy. ''It is better," he wrote, "for the Govern- 
 ment to help a poor man make a li\'ing for his family than 
 to help a rich man make more profit for his company." 
 It led to the movement for overcoming what he called the 
 ''human deficit." In this term human deficit he grouped 
 occupational diseases, child labor, overwork and prema- 
 ture exhaustion, economic dependence of women, indus- 
 trial accidents, inadequate wages, involuntary unemploy- 
 ment, illiteracy, and impoverished old age. These are the 
 evils to be overcome. He led the pioneers and blazed the 
 trail leading to the conservation and enlargement of the 
 common life of the people. And as he initiated the move- 
 ment for efficiency in the work of governmental depart- 
 ments, so he initiated the movement for efficiency in every 
 field of public work. This has grown into a general move- 
 ment for efficiency in industry, in education, in the 
 charitable and penal institutions, and in the higher activi- 
 
 30 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ties of the community, including those of philanthropy 
 and religion. 
 
 Beginning with the attempt to cut out the circumlo- 
 cution office from the national Government, and extending 
 through the political and industrial life as an eliminator 
 of waste, the movement extended to the salvaging of the 
 human unit itself. Wasted vitality, mutilated lives and 
 impoverished progeny were objects of his anxious concern 
 and vigorous efforts to overcome. He saw even more 
 clearly that competition is war; that unregulated, unre- 
 stricted competition is ruinous ; that the civil laws which 
 were built up around the maxim, * * competition is the life 
 of trade," belonged to the period of isolation and scat- 
 tered development; that those laws had served a useful 
 purpose; but that society, industrial and economic, had 
 outgrown those conditions; that a time comes in every 
 growing community where competition is the death of 
 trade ; that unfair competition is destructive ; that regu- 
 lation to prevent such unfairness is an immediate 
 requisite; that growth and increase are the natural 
 rewards of excellence ; that great size is not a wrong in 
 business; that not bigness but badness was what called 
 for repression ; that combination is the step beyond com- 
 petition; and that both competition and combination of 
 industries need public regulation and supervision with 
 ceaseless vigilance. 
 
 To the statesmen of our centennial period, who loved 
 the glorious record of our unparalleled prosperity, who 
 on one side promoted broad construction and rejoiced in 
 the old flag and liberal appropriations, and who on the 
 other stood for strict construction and home rule, and 
 between whom were waged the tariff and currency 
 debates (all of which have their most important places 
 
 31 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 in governmental life), these new ideas were like new vdne 
 in old bottles. 
 
 It will ever remain true that the governmental 
 machine cannot stop for repairs ; that it must go on oper- 
 ating and renewing at the same time. Men who can do 
 what Roosevelt did are indispensable when the critical 
 period of renewal during operation is upon u'fe. 
 
 ** Speak softly — and carry a big stick; you will go 
 far," was his counsel and his practice. He said this of 
 the Monroe Doctrine, and styled a large and efficient navy 
 the big stick. Timid souls, and Mr. and Mrs. Grundys, 
 and opponents of change, saw the big stick. They didn't 
 always heed his soft speech. He went far, farther, higher 
 and better — beyond what his best friend hoped or his 
 most determined opponent feared. Such people no more 
 comprehend him than a fly on St. Peter's dome, poising 
 for a moment on its downmost rim, comprehends the 
 greatness of that majestic creation of Michael Angelo. 
 And they did not disturb him. 
 
 In 1884 ''at the Chicago Convention," says our states- 
 man, diplomat, university president, Andrew D. ^Vhite, 
 ** though he was in a small minority" (and at the age of 
 25, the youngest man in the convention) ''nothing 
 daunted him. As he stood upon a bench and addressed 
 the chairman, there came from the galleries on all sides a 
 howl and yell, "Sit down! Sit do^Ti!" Avith whistling 
 and cat-calls. All to no purpose; the mob might as well 
 have tried to whistle down a bronze statue. Roosevelt, 
 slight in build as he then was, was greater than all that 
 crowd combined. He stood quietly through it all, defied 
 the mob, and finally obliged them to listen to him." 
 (White, Autobiography, p. 205). It was in this speech 
 that he opposed the conventional method of a mere "call 
 
 32 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 of states*' and demanded a roll call of individual dele- 
 gates. ''Let each man stand accountable to those whom 
 he represents for his vote. " (Tuesday, June 3, 1884, sup- 
 porting the colored man, John R. Lynch, for temporary 
 Chairman). The new precedent he thus helped to estab- 
 lish has been followed ever since. 
 
 Such men make mistakes — otherwise they would not 
 be men. Roosevelt made mistakes, and looking backward, 
 he frequently publicly so declared. 
 
 ''A friend of his one day took him to task for some 
 mistake he had made in one of his appointments. "My 
 dear sir," replied the President, ''where you know of one 
 mistake I have made, I know of ten." (Burroughs, pp. 
 22-3.) 
 
 He saw large; and when his "speak softly" was 
 turned away and disregarded, he spoke loudly with a 
 magnifying — even exaggerating — trumpet. He was 
 intensely human, and he was intensely loved. He was so 
 human that we couldn't help loving him, even when we 
 were against him. "Dancing down the way of life he 
 came, with life and love and courage and fun stickin' out 
 all over him." 
 
 "The dandy copper of the Broadway squad," was 
 first applied to him as New York Legislator in 1882, and 
 again when he was President of the Police Board in 1895. 
 There is a mark of widespread recognition, of fine quality 
 and good heart that comes to few public men — that came 
 to him — the affectionate nickname. He always was and 
 always will be ' ' Teddy, dear. " " Teddy ' ' was his college 
 nickname, which stayed with him through life; and he 
 became "Teddy dear" to all America. Beautiful was his 
 friend's tribute in the Chicago Evening Post in 1916, the 
 day after the Republican Convention took Hughes in his 
 
 33 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 place: **Ah, Teddy, dear — and did you hear — the news 
 that's goin' 'round? They say you've gone from off the 
 stage, that strange cold men whom we respect but love 
 not, must be our meat for all the days to come. Our 
 hearts are broke. We need you every minute. Ah, the 
 fun of you and the glory of you ! Ah, Teddy, dear — we 
 love you now and always." 
 
 In every city, town, and hamlet, there were men of 
 vision, in advance of their time, men brooding over plans 
 of national aid for the emigrant; men like Buffalo Jones,' 
 striving to save the buffalo; men like Gifford Pinchot, 
 striving to save the forests ; men like Father Curran and 
 John Mitchell, trying to help the miners ; men like Booker 
 Washington, stri\^ng to uplift the colored people. 
 
 In Roosevelt they found a leader and a friend. They 
 flocked to him naturally, and found a tonic stimulant in 
 his genial courage and effective leadership. 
 
 He knew that in big business, in big politics, in gov- 
 ernment, and in international diplomacy, we must still 
 sight along the line of the Ten Commandments. 
 
 There were men with him and against him that for- 
 got it. 
 
 Germany forgot it. 
 
 Sometimes politicians and big business men forgot it. 
 
 Roosevelt remembered it. Roosevelt stands for the 
 revival of conscience in American public life. Theodore, 
 as we know, means ' ' Gift of God. ' ' Truly he was the gift 
 of God to the American people. 
 
 He remembered that governments are instituted to 
 secure the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 ness ; and that our Constitution was ordained to promote 
 the general welfare, and to secure the blessings of liberty 
 to ourselves and posterity. 
 
 34 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Higher laws than those of economics control the 
 development of a nation's life and expression of its con- 
 sciousness. That development and expression must be 
 true to the line of the Ten Commandments. That develop- 
 ment and expression at times seem to sleep a long, long 
 sleep. Suddenly bursting seams and lines of growth show 
 everywhere, like a century plant as it bursts in bloom; 
 and the flower and fruiting of a great period is seen in 
 the career of a man instinct with the life — the hope — the 
 need — the ideals — the aspirations of his people. Such a 
 man was Roosevelt. Born rich and gentle and citified, he 
 sought the country and the wild. He became poor, and he 
 loved the common people. He ate and drank with pub- 
 licans and sinners; and the common people heard him 
 gladly. 
 
 Riches hamper and obstruct; they add power to the 
 right man ; but at the start they dull the spirit. One hun- 
 dred poor young men rise for one rich young man. Roose- 
 velt found in aristocratic birth an invidious bar. But he 
 was the exceptional one 
 
 Who breaks his birth's invidious bar, 
 
 And grasps the skirts of happy chance, 
 
 And breasts the blows of circumstance, 
 And grapples with his evil star; 
 
 Who makes by force his merit known, 
 And lives to clutch the golden keys. 
 
 To mold a mighty state's decrees, 
 
 And shape the whisper of the throne; 
 
 And moving up from high to higher, 
 
 Becomes on Fortune's crowning slope 
 The pillar of a people's hope, 
 
 The center of a world's desire; 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Yet feels as in a pensive dream, 
 
 "When all his active powers are still, 
 
 A distant dearness in the hill, 
 
 A secret sweetness in the stream. 
 
 God's finger touched him and he slept. He is laid in 
 the grave. Those who fought him stood in tears beside 
 his tomb. Who now shall bend the bow of the mighty 
 Ulysses? WTio again shall hurl Achilles' spear? Who 
 now shall wield the sword of Arthur — the bright Excal- 
 ibur? 
 
 This was the Happy Warrior — he 
 
 That every man at arms would wish to be. 
 
 Ocean tides from the Atlantic and Pacific that meet 
 in inlets of his creation at Panama shall chant his 
 requiem. The murmur of innumerable trees in the 
 National Forests that he saved shall forever sing his 
 threnody. Waterfalls that he dedicated to freedom on 
 every mountain side shall perpetually cast rainbows into 
 the sunlight as tributes to his praise. 
 
 Already plans are making for his monument. A tablet 
 marks his victory in the park of San Juan Hill. Well 
 might there be a Roosevelt Park in every town, and a 
 Roosevelt Hill in every range, and his name be inscribed 
 on the walls of every student society, political club, and 
 Boy Scouts' hall. 
 
 But we who remain must remember what he exempli- 
 fied. Better far that each of us, in his measure, be a 
 H\'ing remembrancer. Beauty and truth and goodness 
 and courage are not dead. They spring eternal in the 
 breast of man. As each new springtime heaps the 
 orchards full of bloom and scent, so the eternal spirit of 
 
 36 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 goodness brings to flower and fruit each year a gronp of 
 heroes and of leaders. Like soldiers in the phalanx, w© 
 must close ranks and go forward, remembering 
 
 The stubborn spearmen still make good 
 
 Their dark, impenetrable wood, 
 Each stepping where his comrade stood, 
 
 The instant that he fell. 
 
 It is right to mourn the passing of Theodore Roose- 
 velt. It is right to rejoice in the rich legacy of patriotic 
 ideals he has left us. But it is rather for us, the living, 
 to be here dedicated to the unfinished work he and his 
 associates have thus far so nobly advanced. 
 
 We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord. 
 Armageddon, in the Apocalypse, was the field of battle 
 between the Faithful and True and the unclean spirits of 
 all the world, led by the Beast. 
 
 Three months ago, Armageddon was in Flanders. One 
 month ago it was in the streets of Moscow and Petrograd. 
 The Beast had taken on the form of Bolshevism. In this 
 new disguise, he has now moved on to Berlin; and we 
 learn that the Bolshevist movement is spreading west- 
 ward to Dresden and Leipsic and Hamburg and Brussels. 
 
 Well may we set our house in order against it ; for, like 
 the influenza, it may spread even to our doors. We 
 should take courage from Roosevelt, and follow his 
 example, and stand for law and order. Let us say, 
 ''Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of 
 death, we will fear no evil. ' ' We will fear God and take 
 our own part. For we stand at Armageddon and we bat- 
 tle for the Lord. 
 
 And here we may fitly end with the lines of another 
 nature lover, Henry David Thoreau : 
 
 37 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Ye skies, drop gently round his breast, 
 
 And be his corselet blue ; 
 Ye earth, receive his lance in rest, 
 
 His faithful charger you. 
 
 Ye stars, his spearheads in the sky, 
 
 His arrow-tips ye are ; 
 We see the routed foemen fly; 
 
 His bright spears fixed are. 
 
 Give him an angel for a foe. 
 
 Fix now a place and time, 
 And straight to meet him he will go 
 
 Above the starry chime. 
 
 And with their clashing bucklers' clang, 
 The heavenly spheres shall ring. 
 
 While bright the Northern Lights shall hang 
 Beside their tourneying. 
 
 And if she lose her champion true, 
 
 Tell heaven not despair, 
 For he will be her champion new. 
 
 Her fame he will repair. 
 
 * Tis sweet to hear of heroes dead, 
 
 To know them still alive ; 
 But sweeter if we earn their bread, 
 
 And in us they survive. 
 
 ^iL. ^'lJ/a^ J 
 
 Chicago, January, 1919. 
 
 38 
 
CHAPTER I 
 1S5S— 1919 
 
 By Major-General Leonard Wood, U. S. A. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt's services were never more 
 needed by our country than today. His death coming at 
 this time, perhaps the greatest crisis in our national life, 
 is a calamity. 
 
 In the consideration of the great issues of the moment 
 his broad experience, clear judgment, good sense, his 
 comprehension of the issues, and his almost intuitive 
 understanding of the sentiments of our people are all 
 needed, as is his conscientious and fearless leadership. 
 Theodore Roosevelt's voice has at times seemed to be 
 the voice of one crying in the wilderness, but whether 
 listened to for the moment or not, his words have always 
 rung true, voicing sound policies and pointing out safe 
 lines of procedure. 
 
 He perhaps more than any man in public life appre- 
 ciated that true democracy means equality, not only of 
 opportunity and privilege but also of obligation; that 
 there can be no true democracy which does not welcome 
 honest criticism and practice frank and fearless pub- 
 licity. No one knew better than he that a democracy 
 
 39 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 shnnning publicity, resenting criticism and striving to 
 limit free expression of opinion on the part of press or 
 people is a democracy in danger, if not a democracy 
 dying. 
 
 His voice has been raised on many issues, sometimes 
 in commendation, sometimes in criticism, but always 
 with a purpose single to the people 's welfare. He hated 
 shams, was intolerant of weakness, and feared nothing 
 so much as failure to do his whole duty as he saw it. 
 Many people misjudged him, but no one who knew him 
 intimately ever failed to recognize that, right or wrong, 
 his desire was for the good of our people and the uphold- 
 ing of sound national policy. He felt that both the indi- 
 vidual and the nation should not only be prompt to voice 
 its disapproval of injustice and wrong-doing, but should 
 be ready to back its righteous protest ^ith force if need 
 be. In other words, it was not enough to protest against 
 wrong; we must also use everything we have of force 
 and strength to correct it. 
 
 It was my good fortune to have known him long and 
 intimately, and to have had an opportunity to see him 
 under stress and strain not only in times of war but in 
 times of peace. He was a splendid example of clean 
 and upright living and of strenuous endeavor. He 
 believed that men should have not only clean, sound 
 bodies, but also clean souls. As a leader he was fearless, 
 direct, and compelling. As a subordinate he was frank, 
 and while distinguishing between civility and subordina- 
 tion was always a loyal and conscientious subordinate. 
 He gave his opinion frankly and honestly, and if his 
 chief differed with him he accepted without discussion 
 and lived up to the orders he received. 
 
 40 
 
 i 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 I happen to have been his military commander during 
 the Spanish- American War, and in all my experience in 
 the army of something over thirty years I have not come 
 in contact with an officer who more fully represented 
 ideal military subordination of the best type. Frank to 
 express his honest views when called for, as a soldier 
 always should be, fearless in looking out for the interests 
 of his subordinates, he nevertheless was prompt and 
 unfailing in carrying out the policy agreed upon. He 
 dropped without effort all that prestige and influence 
 which had surrounded him as Assistant Secretary of the 
 Navy, a position which he had filled with ability and in 
 which he had exercised a very great measure of power, to 
 assume the duties and responsibilities of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the First U. S. Volunteer Cavalry, or, as it 
 came to be known, the Rough Riders. 
 
 The interests of his men were his own. He realized 
 and lived up to the definition given by Socrates to 
 Xenophon of the ideal officer as one who looks after the 
 welfare of his soldiers. He instinctively appreciated that 
 the less the soldier is able to protect himself because of 
 his subordinate position, the more the officer is under 
 obligation to look after his interests and welfare. He 
 was a brave officer, never thinking of his own life, but 
 always of his objective, and attaining it with as little loss 
 as possible among his own men. He defended his coun- 
 try in war as his sons have done in this war, and as he 
 endeavored to do. Keen always to practice what he 
 preached, he sent his sons cheerfully to the front, and 
 having failed in his own efforts to go, turned everything 
 he had of moral and spiritual strength into an effort to 
 build up a vigorous prosecution of the war, realizing that 
 when you have to strike it is humane to strike hard. 
 
 41 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 He saw \\^th a clear \dsion that the war was as much 
 America's war as it was the war of France and the 
 European Allies. He saw the far-reaching danger of 
 German success. He realized that the quicker we were 
 in, the fewer men would die, the less there would be of 
 opportunity for that kind of upheaval and unrest which 
 comes when wars are too long drawn out. He realized 
 that we must meet the organized strength of wrong- 
 doing with the disciplined and united force of right. He 
 was a believer in preparedness. He knew that had we 
 been ready to do our part in the great struggle, our pro- 
 test would have been listened to and there would have 
 been no war ; but once the war was on and all these things 
 were as water that had gone under the bridge, with his 
 eyes to the front he did everything possible to aid in a 
 vigorous conduct of the war. 
 
 He was, after all, a very human man, impetuous and 
 strong, with the defects and the strong points which come 
 with such a character. His personal characteristics were 
 charming. He was an embodiment of gentleness and 
 consideration with subordinates and those in the humbler 
 walks of life. If an engineer brought him safely through 
 a hard run, he never failed personally to express his 
 appreciation. There was always that instinctive desire 
 to make those with whom he came in contact feel that 
 they had done him a good turn, that they had been of real 
 service, to impress upon them the dignity of labor and 
 that the way really to dignify labor was to do one's task, 
 no matter how humble, cheerfully and thoroughly. A 
 thousand times I have seen him win the lasting affection 
 and regard of those with whom he came in contact by 
 these little simple human acts of appreciation and kind- 
 ness. With a snob, a cad, a faker, he was brusque, direct, 
 and intolerant, as all honest men should be. 
 
 42 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 No man had a finer family life. No man was more 
 devoted to home and family, or more intolerant of loose 
 living or of vulgar thinking. I never knew him to tell a 
 suggestive story, and I have never known anyone who 
 really knew him and understood him even to attempt to 
 tell one in his presence. He loved Nature and understood 
 her varying moods. He loved the wild places of the 
 world and the animals and the birds which inhabited 
 them, and he understood them to an extent that few men 
 ever have. He enjoyed keenly a hard bout with the 
 broadswords, giving and taking in the spirit of fair play 
 and good sportsmanship. Stiff rides across country, 
 long walks and hard runs through the ups and downs 
 of the banks of the Potomac, and the rough bits of Rock ■ 
 Creek Park, were sources of keen enjoyment and served 
 to keep him in good condition, vigorous in body and clear 
 in thought. 
 
 He dearly loved to gather his own children and those 
 of his friends and take them for long tramps along the 
 river banks and through the bits of dark forest in the 
 park, piloting them across the streams and around bits 
 of rocky cliffs, across little valleys, using the trunks of 
 fallen trees as bridges, and bringing them in toward 
 nightfall through the woods. These excursions were to 
 the children like voyages into an unknown land. The 
 streams they crossed were rivers and the bits of forest 
 were the unknown. These tramps were always filled 
 with httle lessons and interesting talks by which he 
 taught the children things he knew would interest them 
 and would build up in them a love of Nature and an 
 understanding of many things. 
 
 He measured a man's Americanism by the way he 
 lived and measured up to American ideals. With him 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 no man could be an American and something else. He 
 saw in universal training for national service something 
 which would fuse the diverse elements which come into 
 and make up much of our population into one homogene- 
 ous mass of Americanism. He saw in this training all 
 together, shoulder to shoulder, rich and poor, newcomer 
 and native-born, an influence toward better understand- 
 ing and truer appreciation, a democracy of service, a 
 community of purpose, with its brotherhood of man. He 
 saw in it the building up of a truer and better citizenship. 
 He always stood ready to sacrifice everything for his 
 country. He understood that none are fit to live who are 
 afraid to die. He was a many-sided character, but all 
 sides were good, as difficult to give a word picture of as it 
 is to write a description of the Grand Canyon or any 
 great and complex thing. 
 
 We have lost a great leader in the crisis of the 
 nation's life. He has left us in his writings, in his work, 
 in his precepts and ideals, clear guides for the future. 
 Though his voice is silent, his spirit lives and will live to 
 stir us to effort in times of public danger and to stimulate 
 our righteous efforts for good government, fair dealing, 
 and right living at all times. Wise leader, true patriot, 
 devoted husband and father, the best type of American, 
 such was Theodore Roosevelt. We can ill spare him in 
 these days. In his last message to us he has left an 
 inspiration and preached a lesson which we must heed. 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 AN UNADULTERATED AMERICAN 
 
 By Chauncey M. Depew, former United States 
 Senator from New York 
 
 The whole public career of Theodore Roosevelt is 
 lined with monuments in beneficent legislation. He was 
 born two years before the outbreak of the Civil War, 
 and was President of the United States when it was 
 necessary to have a united country in support of policies 
 for the benefit of the whole United States. For this 
 destiny he was fortunate in his ancestors. His father, 
 of Dutch and Scotch ancestry, was a leading citizen of 
 New York, and one of the most useful and prominent 
 citizens of the North ; his mother was from Georgia, and 
 represented the best blood and traditions of the South. 
 So he could appeal, as no President had been able to 
 since the Civil War, to all sections of the country, North, 
 South, East, and West. Harvard gave him an Eastern 
 culture, and ranch life on the Western plains brought 
 him in contact and close association with those pioneers 
 who have discovered, developed, and peopled our terri- 
 tories from the Mississippi to the Pacific. 
 
 He inherited a small trust estate, the income of which 
 was not sufficient for more than a quarter of his expenses 
 of living, and yet it had the singular effect of destroying 
 all ambition to accumulate a fortune. He always felt 
 sure that by his own exertions he could so supplement 
 this limited income as to meet all requirements and at 
 the same time have the income as an anchor which in 
 great stress or necessity would prevent his drifting to 
 want. 
 
 His activities were during the period of the greatest 
 industrial development which this country has ever 
 
 45 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 known, a period in which masterful men developed in an 
 imprecedented way our natural resources, our manufac- 
 turing, and our transportation, with results that were 
 enormously beneficial to communities and multitudes of 
 people, and yielded enormous returns to the architects. 
 Colonel Roosevelt admired these men and their achieve- 
 ments, but always looked upon them and what they did 
 from the standpoint of public safety and public service. 
 He had no fear of big business, and to his mind the 
 bigger the better, if the best results for all could be had 
 that way. At the same time, if in his judgment the 
 process was becoming dangerous to the public welfare 
 because of its tendency to monopoly, he became at once 
 its enemy. 
 
 I remember as if it were yesterday the commencement 
 of his career. From the beginning his ambitions were for 
 public life and public ser\dce. A Republican district 
 leader, forty years ago, came to my office and said, * * We 
 have this difficulty in our district. A small part of it is 
 composed of what the boys call 'highbrows', living along 
 Fifth Avenue and the adjoining streets, while the major 
 part of it runs over into sections which are under the 
 control of Tammany Hall. To keep our organization 
 alive and secure for the boys some recognition in office- 
 holding, I have to deal with a very difficult problem. 
 These dealings have offended 'highbrows', but we need 
 their votes, and especially their contributions. I can 
 think of but one way out, and that is to nominate for 
 the Legislature a representative of these men of wealth 
 and high social position. A^Hiat do you think of young 
 Theodore Roosevelt?" Of course, I became enthusiastic 
 at once. ''"Well," said this astute leader, "we will have 
 a dinner at Delmonico's and bring him out. None of our 
 
 46 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 organization will attend, none but that class will be 
 invited, but I will be in the pantry. I want you to 
 preside. ' ' 
 
 The dinner was a great success. Young Eoosevelt 
 was at that time about 22 years old, but he looked much 
 younger. He read for about an hour from his manuscript 
 to an audience of as hard-headed, practical, and suc- 
 cessful men as could be gathered in New York. They 
 were tolerant of his emphatic views on the evils of city, 
 State, and National Government, and how he would 
 correct them, and it is one of the extraordinary things 
 in politics that this young man of 22 afterwards, as 
 Police Commissioner of New York, as Governor of the 
 State of New York, and as President of the United 
 States, had the opportunity to carry out these policies 
 and to translate them into laws. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt was one of the few more responsible 
 than others for bringing on the Spanish War. It is well 
 known that President McKinley did his best to prevent 
 it. It was the characteristic of Roosevelt that he never 
 asked from others that they volunteer for a dangerous 
 enterprise unless he was willing to share in it himself. 
 So he raised the ''Rough Riders" regiment, and, by 
 gallantry in action, became the foremost figure in the 
 Spanish- American War. 
 
 Nothing has impressed me so much as the accidents 
 of public life. In business and professional careers, 
 brains, industry, and efficiency always tell, but not so in 
 politics. The National Convention which met in Phila- 
 delphia in 1900 was a unit for the renomination of Mr. 
 McKinley, but all at sea about the Vice-President. 
 Roosevelt's independent and masterly administration of 
 New York as Governor had made him so powerful that 
 
 47 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 not to renominate him was to court defeat, and to renomi- 
 nate him was equally dangerous on account of the hos- 
 tility of the local organizations all over the State. So 
 there was a general assent to his being put on the ticket 
 with McKinley for Vice-President. Mr. Roosevelt 
 strenuously opposed it. He said, "The Vice-Presidency 
 is a tomb, and I will not be buried." So after further 
 debate we nominated Roosevelt again ; he again declined, 
 and then I declared the meeting adjourned to prevent 
 further action. The next morning he accepted. This was 
 the crisis of his career. 
 
 Great and successful leadership requires many qual- 
 ities. I have known, beginning with Lincoln, with con- 
 siderable intimacy, every President of the United States. 
 None of them had all these qualities except Mr. Roosevelt. 
 He was a born leader of men. His industry was phe- 
 nomenal, but it w^as that intelligent work which knew 
 where to find w^hat he wanted, and his marvelous intelli- 
 gence grasped, absorbed, and utilized this material with 
 the precision of a machine. 
 
 He loved companionship and found time to enjoy 
 his friends. When that friend left he had contributed 
 all he possessed to the materials useful to this great 
 Executive. He might be a college professor, a United 
 States Senator, a foreign Ambassador, a State Governor, 
 a Justice of the Supreme Court, a cowboy from the 
 ranches, a hunter from the mountains, a traveler from 
 overseas, — all were equally welcome and all equally 
 contributors. 
 
 I was in the Senate during the whole of his Presi- 
 dency, and saw him nearly every day. It was a delight 
 to \isit the Executive Office or to meet him in the closer 
 associations of the White House. He was the most out- 
 
 48 
 
i/.u-^ 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND HIS GALLANT SONS 
 
 Top — Lieut. Quentin Roosevelt, Killed in Aerial Combat in France, 1918; Left, 
 
 Capt. Archibald Roosevelt; Right, Lieut.-Col. Theodore Roosevelt, 
 
 Jr.; Bottom, Capt. Kermit Roosevelt. 
 
 — Copyright, A. Thomas. 
 
Tlieodore Roosevelt in 1918, when five members of his immediate family, including four 
 
 sons, were in war service. From one of his last photographs regarded by 
 
 the family as the best likeness of the Colonel. 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 spoken of public men. As I was entering Ms room one 
 morning, a Senator was coming out. This Senator had 
 made some request of the President which had angered 
 him. He shouted to me so the Senator and everybody 
 else could hear him: '*Do you know that man?" I 
 answered, * ' Yes, he is a colleague of mine in the Senate. ' ' 
 **But," the President shouted, "he is a crook." Subse- 
 quent events proved the President correct ; the man came 
 within the clutches of the criminal law. 
 
 I never knew such an omnivorous reader. He mas- 
 tered all literature, past and present. Several times I 
 called his attention to a book which had been sent me 
 and was just on sale. He had already read it. 
 
 He was intensely human. He had no airs, nor fads, 
 nor frills. His cordiality was infectious, his friendship 
 never failed. No man of his generation has so long held 
 public esteem and confidence. His work in the world 
 was great and greatly done. It is a commonplace when 
 a great man dies to say, '*It is not for his contemporaries 
 to pass judgment upon him. That must be left to 
 posterity and to the historian after the passions of his 
 time have been allayed." There are only two exceptions 
 to this maxim : one is Washington, the other is Roosevelt. 
 With this magnificent fighter, this reckless crusader, this 
 hard-hitter, the world is stilled and awed when the news 
 of his death is flashed over wires and cables, but the 
 instant voice of friend and enemy is the same. All 
 recognize the purity of his motives, the unselfishness of 
 his work, and his unadulterated Americanism. 
 
 New York, 
 
 January, 1919. 
 
 43 
 
 (:i^^ou<AAiLC^(hA^-^s^^ 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 By Hon. Joseph G. Cannon, former Speaker, U. S. 
 House of Representatives 
 
 President Roosevelt, in 1904, wrote that a man who 
 goes into the actual battle of politics ''must stand firmly 
 for what he believes, and yet he must realize that political 
 action, to be effective, must be the joint action of many 
 men, and that he must sacrifice somewhat of his own 
 opinions to those of his associates if he ever hopes to 
 see his desires take practical shape." 
 
 Throughout Roosevelt's administration, I had many 
 conversations with him on many subjects, and I found 
 him ready to follow that platform of political action, 
 presenting his own ideas forcibly and earnestly and 
 giving fair consideration to the ideas and arguments of 
 others. The great volume of important and progressive 
 legislation enacted during the Roosevelt administration 
 was accomplished in that way, by cooperation and 
 coordination of the legislative and executive departments 
 of the government, and by the sacrifice of some opinions 
 on both sides. That cooperation made the Roosevelt 
 administration a great Republican administration and a 
 great American administration — two synonymous terms. 
 That administration defeated Bolshevism sugar-coated 
 with Bryan's rhetoric; and such cooperation will again 
 defeat Bolshevism in the name of pure democracy. 
 
 Washington, D. C, 
 January, 1919. 
 
 50 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 By Col. Henry Watterson 
 
 No one knew Theodore Roosevelt better than I; cer- 
 tainly no one goes back farther in a knowledge of him, 
 for that knowledge takes me to a time preceding his birth, 
 when his mother and my mother, old and very dear 
 friends, were much together, the Roosevelts living at the 
 family homestead down about Broadway and Thirteenth 
 Street, New York, what was then the Union Place Hotel 
 near by, though Theodore was born in the Twentieth 
 Street house to which just before his birth his parents 
 had removed. He was all sorts of a boy. Indeed, like 
 the boy in the play who never grew up, he remained a 
 boy all his life. He was wayward, willful, affectionate ; 
 never vicious, though mischievous; wholly loveable and 
 
 trying. 
 
 * * 
 
 From the first he essayed the impossible and oddly 
 enough often got away with it. Frail of body and poor 
 of sight, he wanted to be a hunter. Without military 
 training, or natural bent, he wanted to be a soldier. He 
 possessed rare aptitude for politics, on which he did not 
 pride himself. His passion was for getting at the heart 
 of things — for hitting the bull's eye — for playing life as 
 if it were a game of ''shinny," rushing in among the 
 kickers and bringing away the ball in triumph. He pre- 
 ferred his muscle to his wit. He was a perfect cross of 
 the Roosevelt upon the Bulloch. In him met, commingled, 
 and flowed the blood of the Dutchman and the Cavalier, 
 the one restraining if it did not temper the other. Theo- 
 dore was by no means an uncalculating visionary. In 
 many ways he was exceedingly practical. 
 
 Personally, no man could be worthier. His domestic 
 relations were ideal; he was the best of husbands and 
 
 51 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 fathers ; patient only, but very patient, as a paterfamilias. 
 A cleaner man never lived. No dirty or doubtful dollar 
 ever touched his palm. In this he resembled his uncle, 
 his mother's brother, the Confederate Admiral, who fitted 
 out and sent the South 's privateer cruisers to sea, han- 
 dled milhons of Confederate money in England, and ^vith 
 a half million of this still in his possession at the close 
 of the War of Sections, turned it over to the United States 
 and died a pauper. 
 
 Although Teddy and I agreed about nothing — fell 
 surely apart when an issue arose — the differences cut no 
 figure in our personal relations. When he came to his 
 kingdom he often sought to be good to me. The surviv- 
 ing guests at Robert Collier's famous dinner will recall 
 an illustrative incident. I had said in response to a 
 toast, "You gentlemen fancy that there have been ruc- 
 tions between Theodore Roosevelt and myself, but let 
 me say to you that in the very plenitude of his power 
 he offered me one of the greatest honors within his gift." 
 Then he called out, "Tell me about that, Marse Henry," 
 and I continued : 
 
 "I was at dinner with my family at Willard's Hotel 
 when General Corbin came over and said in his abrupt 
 way, 'Will you accept the chairmanship of the Board of 
 Visitors for West Point next Junef 
 
 " '"VV^iat do you want me for ? ' said I. 'It is the Acad- 
 emy's centenary,' he answered, 'and we are looking for 
 an orator.' 'Corbin,' I replied, 'you are coming at me in 
 a very tempting way; that a ragged old rebel like me 
 should be chosen for such a service appeals to my pride 
 of country as well as my personal vanity. Give me a 
 little time to think it over.' When I thought it over — 
 
 52 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 honorable and gratifying as it was — I put it from me. A 
 presidential election was at hand. The issues were bound 
 to be implacable. I had my duty to perform, and if I 
 accepted with all that acceptance implied, I could not do 
 
 my duty. So very reluctantly I declined. ' ' 
 
 * * 
 
 I rang all the changes of the third-term issue upon 
 him. Among the rest there was a long circumstantial 
 story of an old Georgia lady — a life-long friend of his 
 mother — whose dream was to see Theodore crowned 
 Emperor of America. She had lived in France and was 
 a thorough Imperialist and devotee of Louis Napoleon. 
 We sat in a garden and she told her story and unfolded 
 her hope. I contrived to get into this setting every man- 
 ner of persiflage, closing with, ''She passed from the 
 moonlight into the house and I said to myself, *If out of 
 the mouths of babes and sucklings, why not out of the 
 fancy of this crazed old woman of the South?' " 
 
 He answered this by a public statement that he would 
 not be the candidate in 1908. When I was next in Wash- 
 ington he sent for me. Taking me into a rear room and 
 locking the door, he said: ''First, I want to know 
 whether that old woman was a real person, or a figment 
 of your imagination?" 
 
 I answered that she was a figment of my imagination. 
 "But," said I, "you killed her dead as a door nail; why 
 didn't you hold back and let us get lots of fun out of it?" 
 
 With a show of impatience he bade me sit down. 
 
 "I don't deny," he continued, "that I have thought 
 of it." Then in the frankest manner he went over the 
 situation, telling me of some personal and party matters 
 I did not know of, and ending, "Now what do you think 
 of it?" 
 
 53 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 I said, "Mr. President, you know that I am your 
 friend, and I tell you as your friend, that if you go out of 
 here the fourth of next March, putting your friend Taft 
 in your place, you will make a good third to Washington 
 and Lincoln. But if you allow the wild-hog politicians to 
 put you up for a third term, they will bring about your 
 defeat and make you a second to Burr." 
 
 He arose from his seat and said, '* Henry Watterson, 
 
 I will permit no such thing. If they do it, I will refuse. 
 
 If they do it and adjourn the convention they will have 
 
 to reassemble it, for I will refuse and still refuse." 
 
 * * 
 
 I saw him last but just a while ago when he and Mr. 
 Moore, of Pittsburgh, and Edward Riggs, of the New 
 York Central, and I had a merry lunch at an uptown hotel 
 in New York. For the first time he was beginning to 
 show something that looked like years. But he was all 
 life and the love of life — his sunny side out — intense 
 interest and tremendous grasp vibrating with his gaiety. 
 
 I am deeply and personally distressed by his death, 
 though it does not take me by surprise. He gave himself 
 no rest. His resources were multifarious, his interests 
 many and wide apart. Often his impetuosity did injus- 
 tice to his serious parts. As a matter of fact he was an 
 insurrecto whom destiny had elevated into a commander. 
 He could not help speaking out in meeting, as they say 
 in New England. Yet comparing his candor with the 
 garrulity of some public men having a reputation for 
 prudence, the record vdW show to his credit. Certainly 
 he had a way of getting after a rogue and running down 
 a rascal, that was often fruitful of good to the country. 
 
 His disappearance in a way clarifies politics on the 
 practical and tangible side. It clears the way for a united 
 
 54 
 
IN MEMOEIAM 
 
 Republican party. He was ever a thorn in the side of 
 the machine politicians, though a clever machine politi- 
 cian himself. His like will scarcely appear again. No 
 leader ever appealed as he did to the young. Had he 
 lived he would have cut a wide swath in 1920. His death 
 takes much of the complexity and all of the light out of 
 the political situation and levels the immediate future 
 into the commonplace. 
 
 Henry Watterson. 
 Miami, Florida, January 7, 1919. 
 
 By Senator Johnson of California 
 
 (Running Mate of Colonel Roosevelt in 1912} 
 
 The greatest American of our generation has passed 
 away. He had a truer vision, a higher courage, a wiser 
 statesmanship than any man of our time. I cannot speak 
 of him in ordinary terms. To me he had no parallel — 
 none approached him in virility or force or profound 
 knowledge of varied subjects. He stood alone in great- 
 ness of perception, in courage for the right as he saw 
 it. I am mourning not only the greatest American, 
 a world figure such as time seldom presents, but a 
 thoughtful, kindly, affectionate friend. 
 
 Washington, D. C, 
 January 6, 1919. 
 
 55 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 THE MAN WHO LOVED HIS JOB 
 
 By Sir John Willison 
 
 President of the Canadian Beconstruction Association. 
 
 There is a cant of democracy as well as a faith of 
 democracy. Roosevelt had all the faith and none of the 
 cant. He had faith in himself and faith in the people. In 
 what he did there was nothing very original. He profited 
 greatly by the evangelical sowing of Bryant. He achieved 
 by force, by courage, and even by violence. It was said 
 of Cavour that he had all the prudence and all the impru- 
 dence of the true statesman. To a degree this was true 
 of Roosevelt, but it is doubtful if ho ever found pleasure 
 in the exercise of prudence. He had many of the qualities 
 of those great old builders of the British Empire in the 
 outposts of the earth. He would have seized territory, 
 overturned effete institutions, established despotic 
 authority over subject populations, and by the char- 
 acter of his rule have justified despotism to himself and 
 probably to those whom he had reduced to subjection. But 
 for himself he would not have been thrifty nor ever have 
 been astonished at his own moderation. 
 
 In the man there was no pretense. When he was 
 told that he must rejoice to be relieved of the duties, 
 responsibilities, and perplexities of the Presidency ho 
 declared with blunt candor that he had loved his job and 
 would be glad to take it on again if the people would 
 agree. He would have said with Scott that 
 
 One crowded hour of glorious strife 
 Is worth an age without a name. 
 
 There was eternal youth in the soul of Roosevelt. 
 One cannot think that he ever would have grown old in 
 
 59 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 spirit or ever have ''ceased from mental strife" wliile 
 there were ''malefactors" to be disciplined and a world to 
 be fashioned to his way of thinking. Most of us as we 
 grow older become too wise and too cautious. We lose 
 the vision. We lose the courage. We lose the virtue of 
 rashness and the glory of insolence. With Roosevelt to 
 the end there was rashness and the audacity which bor- 
 ders upon insolence. There was always in him, as Mr. 
 Asquith said of Ireland, "a good deal of rhetorical and 
 contingent belligerency." 
 
 It is hard to think that he was chivalrous in his treat- 
 ment of Taft, but in method and character they were so 
 far removed from each other that conflict was almost 
 ine^dtable. He saw Taft trying to do with blundering 
 amiabihty and complacent indecision the things he had 
 done with energy and arrogance, and he revolted. He 
 lacked the last quality of loyalty which was Taft's great 
 characteristic and for the possession of which Taft was 
 perhaps the weaker and he the stronger. For Roosevelt 
 loved the authority which strong men covet. The taste 
 of power was the sweetest morsel on his tongue. He 
 could command confidence and inspire devotion. In all 
 history there is no more wonderful illustration of the 
 power of a single man than his bold challenge to a his^ 
 toric party and the creation of the Progressive move- 
 ment. For that movement represented the power of one 
 man and the attraction of one virile personality. More- 
 over, if he had lived he probably would have recreated 
 and re-established in office the party which he had 
 destroyed and under the leader which it had rejected. 
 Bolingbroke said of Marlborough, "He was a great man 
 and I have forgotten all his faults." There could be no 
 truer expression of the feeling of the Republican party 
 
 57 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 towards Roosevelt, and when we think of the long vindic- 
 tiveness of a political party towards those who desert 
 its standards, the thing that he did has the wonder and 
 the mystery of a miracle. 
 
 It is remarkable that Mr. Root and Mr. Taft, who 
 held the remnant of the Republican party against Roose- 
 velt, should have been his firm allies in urging American 
 intervention in the war in Europe. Divided in a domestic 
 conflict, they reunited in the great conflict for human 
 freedom and led the American people in the path of duty, 
 honor, and sacrifice. It ^vill be remembered, too, that in 
 the Congressional elections a few months ago Roosevelt 
 and Taft signed a common appeal to the party in which 
 for so long they had fought as comrades and which had 
 suflfered disaster through their differences. Thus at the 
 last the bitterness was assuaged and a reconciliation 
 declared in the face of the nation. 
 
 History will not deny that Roosevelt had the faults 
 of impetuosity, that he was sometimes ungenerous and 
 ruthless, and that he sometimes destroyed where it would 
 have been better to conserve and improve. But he was 
 a man of full blood and robust spirit, with the love 
 of adventure in his soul and the love of his kind in 
 his heart. He loved the deep bush and the open sky, 
 all green and growing things, the kindly earth and 
 the fruits thereof, the ships which traveled the wide and 
 strange waters, the touch of danger, the open war 
 between man and the jungle. He gave to his country far 
 more than he received. He struck hard and the blows 
 sometimes fell ^^'ildly, but he shattered some idols of clay 
 and destroyed some images of the marketplace which 
 had been worshipped far too long. 
 
 58 
 
IN MEMORJAM 
 
 One feels that Kipling could have taken Eoosevelt to 
 his soul, for what the one is in vision the other was in 
 action. The United States has had greater men, but no 
 one braver or more picturesque. He died in his sleep, for 
 perhaps even death would have hesitated to take him with 
 his head up and his face to the world. So another has 
 joined Bryant's innumerable caravan, but not with imme- 
 diate expectation of the summons. One wishes that death 
 had not been so eager, for Eoosevelt could not have 
 believed that his work was finished. But 
 
 Three fragile, sacramental things 
 Endure, though all your pomps shall pass, 
 A butterjSy's immortal wings, 
 A daisy and a blade of grass. 
 
 Toronto, Ontario, 
 January, 1919. 
 
 By John Wanamaker, Former Postmaster General 
 
 Not Since Abraham Lincoln Fell Asleep 
 has there been in this country such a sorrow as when the 
 messages came from 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S 
 silent home. Like a flash of lightning, it touched the 
 whole world. 
 
 The immeasurableness of the loss to America and the 
 world at this time is beyond human thought. 
 
 These are days of revelation. A man may be bigger 
 than his words. 
 
 59 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 It were well worth while to seek for the real secret 
 of Theodore Roosevelt's masterful greatness. 
 
 Was it in the fact that no insincerity lurked behind 
 
 his ever-welcoming smile ? 
 
 # * * 
 
 The piety of Roosevelt's patriotism and citizenship 
 still lives, and 
 
 Mt. Vernon, Va., 
 Speingfield, III., 
 Sagamore Hell, N. Y., 
 henceforth are inseparably linked together to bear wit- 
 ness of something in the lives of three great Presidents 
 that could not be buried in a tomb. 
 
 It is unmistakably clear that it was left for the events 
 of the passing week to bring to the surface the hidden 
 power Roosevelt exerted upon the public mind. 
 
 His robust manliness, extraordinary brain and far- 
 sighted vision, all filled with Americanism of the purest 
 type, turned the eyes of the entire world upon him as one 
 
 to help to build something better than an Empire. 
 
 # # * 
 
 No other man in the United States seemed to me so 
 much alive as Theodore Roosevelt, and what he thought, 
 he liked to say. 
 
 For a long period of years his name, until quite 
 recently, appeared oftener in the newspapers than any 
 other since Abraham Lincoln's time, as his views on 
 public questions were sought and freely given. 
 
 In the first years of service under the national govern- 
 ment I knew him very well. I was present at the cabinet 
 meeting when President Benjamin Harrison presented 
 Mr. Roosevelt's name as one of the three Ci\il Service 
 Commissioners. He became its most active member, and 
 
 60 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 the Post Office Department was the subject of his fre- 
 quent assaults. 
 
 I heard President Harrison, who admired Mr. Eoose- 
 velt, say to him that ''he was the most pugnacious man 
 he ever knew." 
 
 He was a remarkable man, as honest as the sun, ever 
 brim full of healthful, youthful energy, capable of pro- 
 longed effort, splendidly educated, bold as a lion, brave as 
 Kitchener or Lord "Bobs," intensely American, with 
 opinions on every phase of life, civilization and the 
 world's governments. 
 
 His soldierliness in the Spanish-American War placed 
 him on horseback for all time, notwithstanding the 
 embargo of Washington, which while conscripting men 
 needed for the army and navy, refused to accept the 
 services of Colonel Roosevelt, frequently tendered. 
 
 There were few sweeter, lovelier homes in the world 
 than that of the Christian family of plain Mr. and Mrs. 
 Theodore Roosevelt and he vnW be missed greatly at this 
 stage of our country's affairs. 
 
 The Roosevelt home life was one of the best Christian 
 Endeavor Societies in the land. 
 
 By Senator France of Maryland 
 
 It was with profound sorrow that I learned of the 
 death of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Within the last 
 few months I have had several long conferences with him, 
 
 61 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 and on each of these occasions he seemed to be in perfect 
 physical condition. His death involves a loss not only to 
 this Republic, but to the cause of progressive repubhcan 
 government throughout the world. Roosevelt was a con- 
 structive progressive. He did not believe in disordered 
 democracy, with its inevitable tyranny, but in the consti- 
 tutional republic so organized as to insure liberty. 
 
 His great and memorable address at the Oriole Park, 
 in Baltimore, at the opening of the last Liberty Loan 
 campaign, in which speech he outlined his broad policies 
 for the reconstruction period and for the nation's far 
 future, revealed again his capacity for courageous and 
 constructive statesmanship. 
 
 In the last analysis, this war has been a mighty con- 
 flict between reaction and liberalism in government. Men 
 have been battling and dying for political and social lib- 
 eration. During the present reconstruction period, it 
 shall be decided whether these martyrs shall have sacri- 
 ficed in vain for the cause of freedom. We must not go 
 back to the old static and passive condition. We must 
 organize the world not for friendship only, but for jus- 
 tice. The aim of a world league should not be to establish 
 a mere universal pacifism. We need, not an international 
 league of peace, but one of purpose and of progress. It 
 would be deplorable to create a new balance of power to 
 re-establish and preserve old intolerable conditions. The 
 world requires an enlightened and aggressive leadership 
 by organized republics, dedicated to the spread, even at 
 the risk of ease and comfort, of republican principles and 
 of a higher civilization throughout all the dark portions 
 of the world where millions of men dwell in bondage. 
 
 The American people believe this, and that is why 
 they were surely turning toward Roosevelt, who knew 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 world conditions in India, in Africa, and in the remote 
 countries and islands of the seas, and who also knew the 
 realities of the difficulties in international relationships. 
 The people believed in the sincerity of his motives and 
 had confidence in him as a man both of vision and of 
 action, rather than a man of dreams. They admired him 
 because he had the courage to fight for the right. Amer- 
 ica is a nation where men have ideals and are also prac- 
 tical, and our people know that only a vital, red-blooded, 
 militant, progressive leadership can lead the world out of 
 this present wilderness. That is why men were turning 
 to him, and why a world, woefully lacking in such leader- 
 ship, must mourn him. 
 
 «^€. 
 
 By Senator Miles Poindexter 
 
 The great keynote of Theodore Roosevelt's life and 
 jsuccess was service. He served mankind. He was a 
 'teacher and exemplar of work and action. He found 
 rest and recreation by passing from one form of exertion 
 to another. No man ever made a fuller use of the mental 
 and physical powers with which he was endowed than 
 Roosevelt. He put his talents to work and the result was 
 a great harvest of benefits for his time and generation 
 and for those to come. His industry and determination 
 were applied not only to the use of such powers as were 
 at his command in extraneous undertakings, but exempli- 
 fied themselves in the intense form of the improvement 
 of his own faculties. He was complete master of himself 
 
 63 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 and fixed his regimen by such a rule as would conserve 
 and improve bis bodily and mental faculties. Physically 
 weak, even as a boy he adopted such a course as to make 
 him physically strong. This was done not by mere 
 chance, but by set purpose and plan pursued with energy, 
 self-denial, and determination. 
 
 Being master of himself, developing himself, and 
 bringing his faculties to the height of their capacity, he 
 became also a master of others ; not by the imposition of 
 power, but by the gift of his ser\'ice. Pascal has said that 
 ''the proper study of mankind is man." Socrates, amid 
 the tyranny and prejudices of his times, taught his pupil 
 "Know thyself." Jesus, at the Sea of Galilee, said to 
 the poor fishermen, in their sordid occupation, *'I vdW 
 make you fishers of men." Roosevelt was a student of 
 man, and of himself, and knew himself ; and he rendered 
 service as a ''fisher of men." Men Hstened to him 
 because of his sincerity. They knew that he was their 
 friend. Ha\dng their confidence, he used the powers 
 which he had developed and the influence which he had 
 gained for the good of mankind. He directed them in 
 safe ways. He fought injustice ; was a champion of the 
 weak; feared not the strong; overcame his prejudices; 
 and was a happy warrior in the eternal struggle for 
 justice and truth. 
 
 Having gained power he abused it not, but guarded 
 it as a trust, and cherished in his heart of hearts loyalty 
 to his obligations. It was said of Roosevelt that, in the 
 height of his power as President of the United States, 
 he had upon the wall of his office a striking picture of a 
 typical farmer, and that on one occasion he pointed to 
 it and said : "There is the man that I am working for." 
 By it he meant that he was working primarily for those 
 
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Theodore Roosevelt as a Cowboy in His Ranching Days in North Dakota. Where Ha 
 Stood for L.air and Order and Gained Robust Health. 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 lost in the multitude that makes our nation, who often 
 cannot speak for themselves when great interests are 
 being decided. He recognized no class in the claims of the 
 people upon their government; but he felt undoubtedly 
 that, while the great were entitled to justice, ordinarily 
 they were able to present their demands; but that the 
 silent multitude must depend upon the loyalty and faith 
 of those who sat in the seats of the mighty and exercised 
 the powers of sovereignty. He was greater than his 
 office. Great as is the office of the Presidency, and there 
 is no greater, Roosevelt commanded it. It did not com- 
 mand him. In directing its powers he was able to assume 
 the initiative among all the officials and complicated func- 
 tions of state, and brought into use the accumulated, rip- 
 ened fruits of all his strenuous years of effort. 
 
 He is gone ; but is still here. His mortal remains are 
 mingling with the soil he loved so well, but his spirit lives 
 in the hearts of the millions for whom he had toiled. 
 When he fell, in the very midst of his activities, like a 
 plumed knight in battle, a gloom fell over the nation. A 
 real spiritual depression was manifest among the people. 
 They felt and knew that not only a great public servant 
 had passed into the ''undiscovered country," but that a 
 close and dear personal friend was gone. Never, per- 
 haps, in the history of the nation has there been, between 
 a public leader and all classes of the people, a more per- 
 sonal, sincere, and deep affection than that between 
 Roosevelt and his people. His greatest legacy and memo- 
 rial is the example of his stainless character, of his cour- 
 ageous and useful life, by which the mothers of the future 
 may guide the steps of youth. 
 Washington, D. C, Miles Poindexter. 
 
 January, 1919. 
 
 65 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Tribute by Bishop Fallows 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt stands as one oi" the most forceful 
 illustrations of the truth that man can create circum- 
 stances and conditions and not be controlled by them. 
 From a puny infant, by rigid obedience to the laws of life, 
 he became the incarnation of vigorous health and activity. 
 
 He mounted by successive steps in official positions, 
 all of which he honored by faithful doing, to the highest 
 place to which man can aspire, the Presidency of the 
 United States of America. 
 
 He went there as the living embodiment of a vital 
 Americanism. The various racial strains in his blood 
 made him the one great type of the mighty nation which 
 embraces the whole civilized globe in its fold. He did 
 not wait to be forced by the imperious voice of his people 
 to do their righteous bidding ; he led them splendidly for- 
 ward over the top, in the cause of justice and the square 
 deal. 
 
 When God wills a great reform, he sometimes makes a 
 man wrong-headed in the right direction to bring it about. 
 If Roosevelt was ever wrong-headed, it was always in the 
 right direction, and all the wrongs he confronted gave 
 way before him. 
 
 He felt the universe in his leaping pulses : 
 
 "Born for that Universe, he shrank not his mind, 
 Nor gave up to party what was meant for mankind." 
 
 His courage was proverbial. Over his grave, as over 
 the grave of John Knox, could be truthfully said, "There 
 lies he who never feared the face of man," 
 
 "Give me where I may stand and I vdW move the 
 world," said Archimedes. Roosevelt made good his 
 standing-place and moved the world. He was deeply 
 
 66 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 religious, thoroughly rooted and grounded in the love of 
 God and of his fellow-man. The call of humanity was 
 thrilling music to his soul. And as the knight errant of 
 the race he ever went full panoplied to break the lance 
 to meet its needs. 
 
 Side by side with Lincoln he stands in his rugged 
 personality and in his all-pervasive sympathy with 
 human kind. Like Lincoln he was the people's man. 
 Nay, like him he was the world's man. And as at the 
 death of Lincoln that world poured out its tribute of love 
 and regard as it had never done before for anyone of 
 woman born, so at the death of Roosevelt it sent the 
 undying words of affection and esteem. The trinity in 
 unity of the nation's greatest Americans we shall ever 
 honor : Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt. 
 
 By Dr. Frank Crane 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt is dead. 
 
 He has stepped from the midst of controversy and 
 taken his place among the immortals, against whom no 
 man can speak. 
 
 For the moment the conflict ceases, friend and foe 
 stand with bared heads to do homage to a great and 
 valiant soul. 
 
 There is a sudden and loyal silence throughout all the 
 hosts. For no man has ever been more a part of every 
 man in the United States than has Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
 His friends will rush no more quickly to speak his 
 praise than his enemies. 
 
 67 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 For he was a man's man, and it was a joy to fight him 
 as well as to agree with him. 
 
 His spirit was a fierce and beautiful flame. His opin- 
 ions were simple and always avowed with the wholeness 
 and self-abandon of a true believer. 
 
 He would have made a wonderful knight in the days of 
 Charlemagne, a fair and worthy companion to Roland. 
 
 He conceived of life, of duty and even of love in terms 
 of conflict. His makeup was militant, but his conceptions 
 were always sincere. 
 
 His chief characteristic was courage. Whatever may 
 have been charged against him in the extravagance of 
 dispute, his bitterest foe must confess that he was to the 
 last a warrior unafraid. And that quality of fearless- 
 ness, that indomitable bravery, when lodged in this weak 
 humanity, is always a thing of beauty, a little spark of 
 God. We love it. We respect it. It is the great worth- 
 while thing in an immortal soul. 
 
 So he was a friend, conceived of as a friend, in a pas- 
 sionate and personal way, as no other statesman of Amer- 
 ican history, except Lincoln. 
 
 He was very near to the American heart. And, even 
 in the stormy days of these vast issues that have swept 
 beyond him, the tribute of respect that this people pays 
 to him will be honest and profound. 
 
 He had a public mind and gave himself to the service 
 of the people with a singleness of purpose that ^^^ll be an 
 inspiration to American youth. He was thoroughly 
 human. He was frank, over-frank sometimes, but we love 
 the man whose heart outruns him. 
 
 Kings may pass and be followed to their graves with 
 "the boast of heraldry, the pomp of power." Presidents 
 and premiers may die and their statues be set up in halls 
 
 68 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 of fame, but none will go from the midst of the living and 
 leave a sense of deeper personal loss than this splendid 
 man, this impetuous companion, who has been snatched 
 by death from the intimate affection of a great people. 
 
 The Bull Moose has made his last charge. 
 
 The rough rider has led his last assault. 
 
 Bwana Tumbo, the mighty hunter, is back from this 
 perilous expedition we call life, and has gone home. 
 
 Friends and opponents, with equal earnestness, cry 
 out: **God rest his soul!" 
 
 Upon his tomb there can be inscribed an epitaph, than 
 which there can be no nobler, no prouder, no truer 
 tribute : 
 
 ''Here lies a real American." 
 
 Frank Crane. 
 
 By the Governor of Illinois 
 
 The Nation has suffered a loss it cannot well afford 
 at this time. Theodore Roosevelt has been a dominant 
 factor in American public life for thirty years. During 
 all his life, he has sought and striven for a better, juster 
 society. Men have differed with him as to the route, but 
 not as to the goal humanity should strive to attain. His 
 robust and fearless Americanism was like a bugle call 
 to his countrymen, whenever danger threatened, from 
 within or without. Whether in office or in private life, 
 he was a leader of thought and an inspirer of action. 
 And now, with the new problems which the end of the 
 war has brought, his voice will be sorely missed. It is 
 fortunate indeed for the coming years that he lived long 
 enough to give utterance upon many of the most impor- 
 
 69 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 tant questions which confront us. Whenever despotism, 
 whether the despotism of some future Hohenzollern or 
 a Bolshevist, shall threaten, Theodore Roosevelt, though 
 in his grave, ^v^ll speak to the American people with a 
 compelling voice. He is still the valiant foe of greed, 
 oppression and injustice. He is not dead, but has gone to 
 join his brave, beloved boy. He vriW live forever in the 
 hearts of the American people. 
 
 By a Charter Member of the Progressive Party 
 
 A great leader of men has fallen with a crash untimely 
 and all the world bows its head in sorrow at his loss. 
 
 In his native land the hum of industry and of commerce 
 is hushed and stilled as the mortal remains of Theodore 
 Koosevelt are laid to rest, and millions mourn his passing. 
 
 The sorrow of his fellow-countrymen knows no class, 
 no creed, no color. Rich and poor alike knew him, 
 respected him, esteemed him, admired him, trusted him, 
 followed him, and loved him. He was the American par 
 excellence, the plus-American, the prototype and exemp- 
 lar of all the ideals that true Americans stand for and 
 strive after, in public and in private life. He typified 
 America, with an upright, unselfish, virtuous, red-blooded 
 and God-fearing personality. 
 
 In distant lands, where kings and emperors, whom he 
 was wont to meet on terms of perfect equality, delighted 
 
 70 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 to do him honor, the name of Eoosevelt was a household 
 word, and the voice of sorrow at his death finds sincere 
 and eloquent expression. 
 
 From the democratic kings who are the only mon- 
 archs left in Europe by the tremendous wave of progress 
 whipped up by war, there come the tributes of more than 
 mere diplomacy, more than old-world courtesy. They, 
 too, knew him and were moved to admiration of his stal- 
 wart manhood and sterling statesmanship. Responsible 
 ministers of mighty foreign powers, ambassadors of 
 state, and great national leaders of world renown, testify 
 in a score of languages their high appreciation of his life 
 and their reverence for his memory. 
 
 Humanity hailed him as a citizen of the world, and 
 mourns his departure as that of a friend and brother. 
 
 In the camps of American soldiers, at home and over- 
 seas, there is one universal sense of loss. To the Ameri- 
 can in arms, there was an inspiration and an ideal in the 
 patriotic figure of ''The Colonel"; and that ideal will 
 never cease to be cherished, nor that inspiration cease to 
 be felt, wherever martial feet may tread beneath the 
 Stars and Stripes. For it is a modern Bayard that has 
 fallen — ^in very truth, a knight without fear and without 
 reproach. 
 
 The life of Theodore Roosevelt was spent for the most 
 part in public service. "He was straight, he was hon- 
 est," said the world's greatest inventor on hearing of 
 his death; and therein summed up the secret of Roose- 
 velt's strength. His life was an open book, and in his 
 straightforward honesty and sincerity of pui'pose he 
 stood hke a mighty rock when the fierce storms of politi- 
 
 71 
 
LIFE OF THEODOKE ROOSEVELT 
 
 cal criticism beat upon him with a fury that would have 
 overwhelmed a lesser man. 
 
 For nearly fortj^ years he was in the focus of the 
 pubhc eye ; yet throughout that long period of ceaseless 
 activity no breath of defamation ever succeeded in assail- 
 ing the virtues of his private life or his integrity as a 
 public servant. True, he was defamed, and more than 
 once ; but the foul breath of the defamer recoiled in every 
 case, leaving the fair name of Theodore Roosevelt 
 unscathed and its would-be despoiler an object of public 
 opprobrium. Probably no public man in American his- 
 tory ever passed so freely through the fires of criticism, 
 or left his enemies worse confounded in the end. A man 
 of his strong convictions and courage in expressing them 
 was bound to make enemies, and, as a rule, the great 
 American public loved him the better for the enemies 
 
 he made. 
 
 * * * 
 
 In the "White House Mr. Roosevelt took rank as one 
 of the country's greatest Presidents. For the first time 
 the United States had an executive who knew the West 
 as he knew the East, and he was the President of the 
 whole people, knowing no sectional prejudice or distinc- 
 tions of class or party, when it was a question of holding 
 the scales with equal justice to all. He took a sane view 
 of the relations of Labor and Capital, and lost no oppor- 
 tunity of defining, with mirror-like clearness, the rights 
 and the duties of each in close correlation with the body 
 politic. His state papers were models of conciseness and 
 force. He wielded a trenchant pen and spoke with a 
 tongue of fire. He aroused the sleeping conscience of the 
 American people, awakened their moral sense to the 
 existence of undoubted evih, and laid dovra. principles of 
 
 72 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 public and commercial conduct that were universally 
 recognized as essential to the progress of the republic. 
 He fought for equal rights to all, for social and industrial 
 justice, and for the rightful place of America among the 
 nations. He was a lover of peace, but an apostle of 
 preparedness for his beloved country, believing that 
 therein lay the surest guarantee of peace. 
 
 The private life of Theodore Roosevelt was singularly 
 blameless, and his domestic hearth was ever a haven of 
 happiness. Famous for his love of children, he lived to 
 find great joy in the society of his children's children. He 
 was the idol of American youth, and his own sons did but 
 follow in their father's footsteps when all four of them 
 eagerly volunteered for active service when the great 
 war involved their country in its inescapable meshes. The 
 death of his son, Quentin, who fell in aerial combat in 
 France, low to lie in Glory's lap, and the honorable 
 wounds sustained by two other sons, testified to the 
 patriotic devotion of this great American family and its 
 will to sacrifice even life itself upon the altar of country 
 and freedom. The great heart of the American people 
 went out in sympathy to Colonel Roosevelt in his 
 bereavement, but he bore it like the Spartan father and 
 soldier that he was. A pity 'tis that he did not live to 
 visit the last resting place of his son in France, though 
 that will ever be kept green by the grateful tears of the 
 
 French people. 
 
 * * * 
 
 The travels of Theodore Roosevelt had carried him 
 over a very large part of the civilized world, and into 
 the darkest corners of Africa and South America. He 
 was a mighty hunter and untrodden paths possessed for 
 
 73 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 him a peculiar fascination. In exploration he evinced the 
 same traits of courage and initiative that marked his 
 career in politics and in statesmanship. He was indeed 
 a many-sided man. Loving study as few men do, he also 
 loved the outdoor life. He found his recreation in all 
 kinds of healthy sport, and was equally at home on horse- 
 back and afoot. He took pleasure in pedestrianism as 
 well as in the blood-tingling gallop of a mettled steed. He 
 rowed, he sailed, he fished, he hunted, he boxed, he 
 wrestled; and at all the sports and exercises that he 
 essayed, he excelled. It was his nature to excel. 
 
 "Wherever he went, in whatsoever society he found 
 himself, Theodore Roosevelt was at home. Honored in 
 the most exclusive circles of the metropolis, he was 
 equally welcome in the ranch-house of the plains and the 
 abode of the lowly. No public man in America — probably 
 none in the world, save Gladstone — was ever so univer- 
 sally known and identified by his mere initials. Certainly 
 no American was ever so constantly greeted and 
 acclaimed in public by the diminutive pet-name of his 
 boyhood. These were no tokens of ordinary popularity ; 
 they were tokens of popular love. 
 
 Unfailingly courteous to women, he became their 
 especial champion, recognizing their power in human 
 affairs and the rights to which they are entitled. He 
 fought for all the downtrodden and oppressed. Though 
 born in the only real American aristocracy, that of brains 
 and culture, he was pre-eminently a man of the people. 
 And, behold, how easy it is to shorten that statement in 
 his case, and thereby paradoxically make it more com- 
 plete : He was a man ! 
 
 74 
 
IN MEMORIAM 
 
 Soldier of Liberty and friend of man, farewell I Best 
 thee in peace ! Though dead, thou still livest. Thy years 
 of patriotic service have not been spent in vain. The les- 
 sons of thy life and the glory of thine achievements shall 
 never fade from the minds of thy grateful countrymen, 
 and in their hearts thou art lovingly enshrined till time 
 shall be no more. 
 
 We cherish thy memory here on earth ; we commend 
 thy spirit to God who gave it. 
 
 January 8, 1919. 
 
 «^^«iM%^^^/^;5^e^ 
 
 75 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ROOSEVELT 
 
 Who goes there? An American! 
 
 Brain and spirit and brawn and heart, 
 'Twas for him that the nations spared 
 
 Each to the years its noblest part; 
 Till from the Dutch, the Gaul and Celt 
 
 Blossomed the soul of Roosevelt. 
 
 Student, trooper, and gentleman 
 Level-lidded with times and kings, 
 
 His the voice for a comrade's cheer, 
 His the ear when the saber rings. 
 
 Hero shades of the old daj-s melt 
 In the quick pulse of Roosevelt. 
 
 Hand that's molded to hilt of sword; 
 
 Heart that ever has laughed at fear; 
 Type and pattern of civic pride; 
 
 Wit and grace of the cavalier ; 
 All that his fathers prayed and felt 
 
 Gleams in the glance of Roosevelt. 
 
 Who goes there? An American! 
 
 Man to the core — as men should be. 
 Let him pass through the lines alone, 
 
 Type of the sons of Liberty. 
 Here, where his fathers' fathers dwelt, 
 
 Honor and faith for Roosevelt ! 
 
 Grace Duffie Boylan (ISOl), 
 
 76 
 
CHAPTER II 
 BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt a Native of New York — His Pioneer 
 Ancestry — Social and Political Leaders in New York 
 City — His Parents and Grandparents — The Boy 
 Father of the Man. 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT, destined to becom© 
 twenty-sixth President of the United States and the 
 typical American citizen, was bom on October 27, 1858, 
 at No. 28 East 20th Street, New York City. He came of 
 one of the oldest Dutch-American families. For more 
 than two hundred years his forbears have been leaders 
 in the community and councils of New York. 
 
 Members of the family were prominent in the com- 
 mercial and pubHc life of the colony under both Dutch 
 and English rule, and, subsequent to the Revolution, in 
 the State. Among them were merchants and lawyers of 
 distinction, who served in both the provincial and the 
 State legislatures. 
 
 The founder of the family in America was Klaes 
 Martensen van Rosevelt (as the name was originally 
 spelled), who left Holland about 1644 ''to better himself 
 spiritually and financially.*' After many days in the 
 steerage of a slow-sailing vessel, he landed at what was 
 then called New Amsterdam, at the foot of Manhattan 
 Island. He was a typical settler, or immigrant, much the 
 same as many who yearly come to our shores and are 
 
 77 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 given the freedom of the country to prove themselves 
 good citizens or failures, thrifty or shiftless, the founders 
 of American families or burdens to the state. It was his 
 fortune to found a great, a useful, and a patriotic Amer- 
 ican family, of untold value to the state and the nation. 
 
 From that time for the next seven generations every 
 one of the Roosevelts was born en Manhattan Island, and 
 for seven generations Roosevelts, father and son, have 
 from the same district in New York represented the 
 people in the city council, the State Assembly and the 
 United States Congress. In Theodore Roosevelt's ances- 
 try are found soldiers and political leaders, merchants, 
 judges, planters and pliilanthropists. 
 
 During the Revolution some of the family served 
 acceptably, though \\athout special distinction, in the 
 Continental army. Others rendered service in the Con- 
 tinental Congress or in various local legislatures. There 
 were ancestors of Theodore Roosevelt both in the North 
 and in the South during the Revolutionary period. Those 
 in the North were for the most part merchants ; those in 
 the South planters. 
 
 A Dinner to George Washington 
 
 Of Klaes van Rosevelt's descendants, one of the many 
 to appear in prominence was Isaac Roosevelt, who had 
 dropped the **Van" and was a member of the New York 
 provincial council, a member of the city council and 
 the president of the Bank of New York. 
 
 As an auditor of the accounts of the State at the close 
 of the Revolution in 1783 Isaac Roosevelt approved a bill 
 for the entertainment of the French Minister and George 
 Washington at a dinner whore the bill for wine consid- 
 erably exceeded the bill for food, and where, as Colonel 
 
 78 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 Roosevelt pointed out in bis autobiography, only eight 
 of the guests survived the potations to coffee. One John 
 Cape was the caterer, and bis significant bill was as 
 follows : 
 
 The State of New York, to John Cape ^^^ 
 
 To a Dinner Given by His Excellency the Governor and Council to 
 their Excellencies the Minister of France and General Washington & Co. 
 1783 
 
 December 
 
 To 120 dinners at Ss £48: 0:0 
 
 Tc 135 Bottles Madira 5-4: 0:0 
 
 36 ditto Port 10:16:0 
 
 60 ditto English Beer 9: 0:0 
 
 30 Bouls Punch 9 : 0:0 
 
 8 dinners for Musick 1 : 1- : 
 
 10 ditto for Sarvts 2: 0:0 
 
 60 Wiue Glasses Broken 4:10 :0 
 
 8 Cutt decanters Broken ^- 0:0 
 
 Coffee for 8 Gentlemen 1 : 12 :0 
 
 Music fees &ca ^'- 0:0 
 
 Fruits & Nuts '^- 0:0 
 
 £156:10:0 
 
 By Cash 100^0 
 
 55:14:0 
 We a Committee of Council having examined the above account do 
 certify it (amounting to one hundred and fifty-six Pounds ten ShiU- 
 ines) to be iust. December 17th 1783. 
 
 ^^ •" ISAAC EOOSEVELT 
 
 JAS. DUANE 
 EGBT. BENSON 
 FEED. JAY 
 
 Received the above Contents in full x^ttt^t ^«t^t7 
 
 New York 17th December 1783 JOHN CAi E 
 
 imagine the effect on public opinion if a bill of that 
 nature were to be presented nowadays for payment by 
 the State of New York, for the entertainment of the 
 French Ambassador and General Pershing. 
 
 An earlier ancestor was Nicholas J. Eoosevelt, born 
 in New York and a member of the City Council of 
 New York from 1700 to 1701. His son, John, a mer- 
 chant, served as a member of the city government from 
 1748 to 1767, and laid the foundation of the Roosevelt 
 
 79 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 fortune. John's son, Cornelius, was also a merchant who 
 was elected to the New York city council following the 
 Kevolution, from 1785 to 1801. The son of Cornelius, 
 James Roosevelt, another merchant, was a member of the 
 city council in 1797 at the same time his father was a 
 member. 
 
 President Roosevelt's Grandfather 
 
 The son of James was James J. Roosevelt, grand- 
 father of the future President. He was a member of the 
 city council of New York from 1828 to 1830, a member of 
 the State Legislature and congressional representative 
 from 1835 to 1840. 
 
 James J. Roosevelt was associated with Robert Fulton 
 in the invention of the steamboat, and the promotion of 
 navigation by steam. After the success of the experiment 
 had been established in the tidewater region, James J. 
 Roosevelt made a survey of the Ohio and Mississippi 
 Rivers, with the idea of introducing steam na\dgation in 
 those streams. Satisfied that the plan was feasible, he 
 built at Pittsburgh the first steamboat on the Western 
 inland waters, vdth which in the A^-inter of 1810-1811 he 
 made the first trip by steam from that point to New 
 Orleans. 
 
 ''Of my grandfather," said the Colonel in his auto- 
 biography, ''my most vixdd childish reminiscence is not 
 something I saw, but a tale that was told me concerning 
 him. In his boyhood, Sunday was as dismal a day for 
 small Calvinistic children of Dutch descent as if they 
 had been of Puritan or Scotch Covenanting or French 
 Huguenot descent — and I speak as one proud of his Hol- 
 land, Huguenot and Covenanting ancestors, and proud 
 that the blood of that stark Puritan divine, Jonathan 
 Edwards, flows in the veins of his children. One sum- 
 
 80 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 mer afternoon, after listening to an unusually long Dutch 
 Eef ormed sermon for the second time that day, my grand- 
 father, a small boy, running home before the congrega- 
 tion had dispersed, ran into a party of pigs, which then 
 wandered free in New York streets. He promptly 
 mounted a big boar, which no less promptly bolted and 
 carried him at full speed through the midst of the out- 
 raged congregation." 
 
 His Father 
 
 James J. Roosevelt's son Theodore (1831-1878), the 
 father of the President, was one of the foremost citizens 
 of New York. He was a member of the prosperous house 
 of Roosevelt & Co., glass importers, of Maiden Lane, when 
 on a trip to Georgia he met Miss Martha Bulloch, mother 
 of the future President. During the Civil "War he aided 
 in the equipment and organization of troops, including 
 negro regiments, and was one of the leaders in organizing 
 the Sanitary Commission. He suggested and drew up the 
 Federal Allotment law, devised for the purpose of saving 
 the pay of soldiers, and himself served as a member of the 
 State Allotment Commission which saved more than 
 $5,000,000 for the soldiers of New York State. He was 
 one of the founders of the "Union League Club, the Ortho- 
 pedic Hospital, and the Children's Aid Society, while the 
 Newsboys' Lodging House owed its existence to his sole 
 efforts. As a practical philanthropist, the works he 
 accomplished for the poor were legion, and when he died, 
 in 1878, a year before his famous son became of age, flags 
 flew at half-mast all over the City of New York and rich 
 and poor followed his remains to the grave. 
 
 It is interesting at the present time, with the problems 
 of reconstruction after the Great War staring the nation 
 
 81 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE FOOSEVELT 
 
 in the face, that on the return of peace after the Civil 
 War, when hundreds of thousands of young men were 
 suddenly mustered out of the army and thrown upon their 
 own resources, it was the elder Roosevelt who formed a 
 Soldiers' Employment Bureau in New York, whose 
 streets were thronged with idle and moneyless men. To 
 see that they got their just dues from the Government 
 without being robbed by claim agents, he joined in estab- 
 lishing the Protective Claims Association. 
 
 "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I 
 ever knew," said the Colonel in recalling his youth. "He 
 combined strength and courage with gentleness, tender- 
 ness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate 
 in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowar- 
 dice, or untruthfulness. As we grew older he made 
 us to understand that the same standard of clean liv- 
 ing was demanded for the boys as for the girls; that 
 what was wrong in a woman could not be right in a man. 
 With great love and patience and the most understanding 
 sympathy and consideration, he combined insistence on 
 discipline. He never physically punished me but once, 
 but he was the only man of whom I was ever really afraid. 
 I do not mean that it was a wrong fear, for he was 
 entirely just, and we children adored him." 
 
 His Mother 
 
 On his mother's side, Theodore Roosevelt was 
 descended from some of the best-known families of the 
 South, combining in his veins the blood of both Scotch- 
 Irish and Pluguenot ancestors. His gi'eat-great-grand- 
 father, Archibald Bulloch, was a member of the Conti- 
 nental Congress, and the first State Governor of Georgia. 
 One of his great-grandfathers, Daniel Stewart, was a 
 brigadier-general in the Continental army. 
 
 82 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 The lineal descent on the maternal side to Colonel 
 Roosevelt was as follows : One of the sons of Governor 
 Bulloch of Georgia was Captain James Bulloch of the 
 Virginia state garrison, who w^as born in 1765. He and 
 his wife, Annie Irvine, were the parents of Major James 
 S. Bulloch, who married a daughter of United States Sen- 
 ator Dunwoodie, and later married Martha Stewart, 
 daughter of General Daniel Stewart of the Revolution. 
 Of this marriage came Martha Bulloch, who married 
 Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., of New York on December 23, 
 1853, at her father's home in Roswell, Cobb County, Ga. 
 These were the parents of Theodore Roosevelt, who 
 became President of the United States and died at Oyster 
 Bay, N. Y., on January 6, 1919. 
 
 Of his mother, the late President wrote : "My mother, 
 Martha Bulloch, Avas a sweet, gracious, beautiful South- 
 ern woman, a delightful companion and beloved by every- 
 body. She was entirely 'unreconstructed' to the day of 
 her death. Her mother, my grandmother, one of the 
 dearest of old ladies, lived with us and was distinctly 
 over-indulgent to us children, being quite unable to 
 harden her heart towards us even when the occasion 
 demanded it. ' ' 
 
 It is interesting to note that Theodore's two uncles 
 on his mother's side, James Dunwoodie Bulloch and 
 Irvine Bulloch, of Georgia, \dsited the Roosevelts in New 
 York shortly after the close of the Civil War. Being at 
 that time among the Confederates exempted from the 
 amnesty, they came under assumed names. 
 
 Mrs. Roosevelt's elder brother. Captain James Dun- 
 woodie Bulloch, had been in the United States Navy, but 
 at the outbreak of the Civil War was in the merchant 
 marine, commanding a ship plying between New York 
 
 83 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 and New Orleans. This ship, the Bienville, was in port 
 at New Orleans at the time of the secession of Louisiana 
 from the Union, and the Governor commanded Captain 
 Bulloch to turn her over to the state. The Captain 
 refused, and his fealty to the South was brought into 
 doubt. Nevertheless he believed that honor required him 
 to deliver the vessel into the hands of her owners in New 
 York. Until he had done that he did not feel free to join 
 the Confederacy. 
 
 On offering his services to Jefferson Davis, he was at 
 once commissioned a captain in the Confederate Navy 
 and dispatched to England to buy arms for the new gov- 
 ernment. He discharged this duty successfully and deliv- 
 ered his purchases, being the first to run the blockade. 
 
 His next assignment was one of the most important 
 and delicate tasks that fell to a Confederate officer. He 
 returned to England to buy and equip vessels of war for 
 the South. The British government was forbidden by 
 the laws of neutrality to permit such a thing to be done 
 in her ports. The minister of the United States did his 
 utmost to prevent the launching of the Confederate ves- 
 sels which Captain Bulloch built, and commissioners were 
 hastened from Washington, with $10,000,000 in United 
 States bonds, in a last effort to stop his work. 
 
 But he was not checked until he had set afloat fully 
 half a dozen ships under the stars and bars of the South, 
 among them the Alabama, and when the war was over 
 Great Britain was compelled, by the arbitration of 
 Geneva, to pay the government of the United States 
 $15,000,000 for the damages which Captain Bulloch's 
 ships had inflicted on Northern shipping. For his serv- 
 ices he was commissioned admiral by the Confederacy. 
 
 84 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 Mrs. Roosevelt's younger brother Irvine won a com- 
 mission in the navy of the South and was the navigating 
 officer of the Alabama in the destructive cruise of that 
 ship. When the Alabama was sunk in a battle with the 
 United States ship Kearsarge off the coast of France, he 
 commanded the last gun that was in action and fired the 
 last shot from her sinking deck. The men of the Alabama 
 were rescued by an English yacht, and Irvine Stephens 
 Bulloch married the daughter of one of his English 
 rescuers. 
 
 President Roosevelt did not hesitate to say that he 
 was proud of the gallantry of his Confederate uncles in 
 the war, and of ''Uncle Jimmy" he said: "My uncle 
 always struck me as the nearest approach to Colonel 
 Newcome (Thackeray's hero in 'The Virginians') of any 
 man I ever met in actual life." 
 
 A Product of Heredity 
 
 Even this cursory glance at the nature of his ancestry 
 will doubtless be found sufficient to force conviction that 
 Theodore Roosevelt was essentially a product of hered- 
 ity — <<an example which the eugenists (whose views he 
 championed) may cite with pride, and a witness to the 
 value of taintless blood and vigorous stock. He was what 
 he was, through the heritage of his ancestors." 
 
 Henry Adams, a great-grandson of one President and 
 a grandson of another wrote of him a few years ago that 
 "Roosevelt, more than any other man living, -showed 
 the primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter — the 
 quality that medieval theology assigned to God — he was 
 pure act. * * * Roosevelts are born and never can be 
 taught." 
 
 And it is a striking fact that even that supreme 
 endowment of will, which enabled him by conscious disci- 
 
 85 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 pline and conscientious endeavor to build over bis puny 
 body into one of vast energy and strength, may readily 
 be traced to ancestors of stark Puritan makeup, to whom 
 an implacable "vvill was most pleasing in the sight of God 
 and the lack of it an evil and a horror. 
 
 The superb physical equipment of Roosevelt's pro- 
 genitors, which had become weakened through time and 
 chance, he regained by the use of the great fund of reso- 
 lution with which they had endowed him. 
 
 In his veins was Dutch, German, Scotch-Irish, Welsh, 
 French Huguenot, and English blood, with the blood of 
 Dutch dissenters and Scotch Covenanters predominating. 
 In him were blended the temperaments of the Calvinists 
 of the North and the French Huguenots of the South, of 
 the Quakers and of the Puritans. And of these the out- 
 standing virtues are obviously honesty, strength of con- 
 viction, righteousness, self-discipline, and the fighting 
 qualities which insure and go with them. In his ancestry 
 can be traced no neurasthenics or sentimentalists, no 
 wavering, weak-willed, inert, and dependent men or 
 women. The Roosevelt stock has given us no poets or 
 philosophers, theologians or great authors, men of arts or 
 of science; but it has given us men of ser\dce and of 
 action. 
 
 Boyhood Days 
 The Roosevelt baby who was destined to become the 
 Nation's twenty-sixth — and youngest — President was one 
 of four children, two boys and two girls. He was the 
 elder son and the only one to grow to manhood. The 
 house on East Twentieth Street in which ho was born was 
 a typical New York town house of the old-fashioned sort, 
 in the Gramercy Park section of Manhattan. It was fur- 
 nished as he himself has said, "in the canonical taste of 
 
 S6 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 the New York which George William Curtis has described 
 in ' The Potiphar Papers. ' The black haircloth furniture 
 in the dining room scratched the bare legs of the children 
 when they sat on it. The middle room was a library, with 
 tables, chairs, and bookcases of gloomy respectability. It 
 was without windows, and so was available only at night. 
 The front room, the parlor, seemed to us children to be a 
 room of much splendor, but was open for general use only 
 on Sunday evening or on rare occasions when there were 
 parties. The Sunday evening family gathering was the 
 redeeming feature in a day which otherwise we children 
 did not enjoy — chiefly because we w^ere all of us made to 
 wear clean clothes and keep neat." 
 
 As a boy the young Theodore played tag in Madison 
 Square, which was not far from his home in East Twen- 
 tieth Street. The summers were spent in the country, 
 now at one place, now at another, sometimes at Oyster 
 Bay, Long Island, where Mr. Roosevelt subsequently 
 made his permanent home. 
 
 All the Roosevelt children loved the country and its 
 outdoor life, and were always wildly eager to get to the 
 country when spring came. They had there all manner of 
 pets, ran barefoot much of the time, and with a favorite 
 Shetland pony named General Grant developed a great 
 fondness and aptitude for riding. Thirty years later, by 
 the way, Theodore's own children had a pony named 
 General Grant. 
 
 Thanksgiving was a festival of great rejoicing in the 
 family, but it was not to be compared with Christmas, 
 which was to the young Roosevelts ''an occasion of 
 literally delirious joy." In the next generation it was 
 the annual pleasure of the Colonel to reproduce for his 
 children the Christmas joys of his own j^outh. 
 
 87 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 As a boy the young Theodore was pnny and sickly; 
 but with that indomitable determination which charac- 
 terized him in every act of his life, he entered upon the 
 task of transforming his feeble body not merely into a 
 strong one, but into one of the strongest. How well he 
 succeeded every American knows. This physical feeble- 
 ness bred in him nervousness and self-distrust, and in the 
 same indomitable way he set himself to change his char- 
 acter as he changed his body, and to make himself a man 
 of self-confidence and courage. He has told the story 
 himself in his autobiography : 
 
 "When a boy I read a passage in one of Captain 
 Marryat's books which always impressed me. In the 
 passage the captain of some small British man-of-war is 
 explaining to the hero how to acquire the quahty of fear- 
 lessness. He says that at the outset almost every man 
 is frightened when he goes into action, but that the course 
 to follow is for the man to keep such a grip on himself 
 that he can act just as if he was not frightened. After 
 this is kept up long enough it changes from pretense to 
 reality, and the man does in very fact become fearless by 
 sheer dint of practicing fearlessness when he does not 
 feel it. (I am using my own language, not Marryat's.) 
 This was the theory upon which I went. There were all 
 kinds of things which I was afraid of first, ranging from 
 grizzly bears to 'mean' horses and gun-fighters; but by 
 acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be 
 afraid. Most men can have the same experience if they 
 choose. They will first learn to bear themselves well in 
 trials, which they anticipate and school themselves in 
 advance to meet. After awhile the habit will grow on 
 them, and they will behave well in sudden and unexpected 
 emergencies which come upon them unawares." 
 
 8S 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 Weak, but Not an Invalid 
 
 Theodore, the child, was far from being an invalid 
 during those early days at Oyster Bay and elsewhere in 
 the country, but he was markedly less robust than even 
 the physical average of his little playmates — so much so 
 that he was rarely permitted to play with the lusty 
 youngsters of his neighborhood. 
 
 But he had a strong will and a crystal brain even when 
 a child. He battled with a troublesome asthma in boy- 
 hood days by *' working" in a porch gj^mnasium. Stead- 
 ily his bodily health was being brought nearer the normal 
 by outdoor exercise, the boy himself as he grew older 
 arranging a programme of rowing, swimming in the 
 Sound, hikes over the hills, long horseback rides. Also 
 he kept a diary and read so many books of history and 
 adventure that he was a boyish bookworm. 
 
 As he grew older and as his chest expanded, he grew 
 to love his outdoor life with a passion that remained 
 forever. 
 
 Developed Into a Naturalist 
 
 Simultaneously his rambles and rides developed an 
 early interest in animals, birds, plants, all growing 
 things, which in time was to assume an importance in his 
 mentality second only to his love of political life and was 
 to make of him a naturalist. 
 
 The fight for health lasted for years. The winter of 
 his childhood spent on the Nile partly rid him of the 
 asthma, but it was not until he had lived in the West that 
 the disease left him. Besides his bodily weaknesses he 
 was very near-sighted. 
 
 In Koosevelt's boyhood home, under the discipline of 
 his father, there was plenty of time for play, but none 
 
 S9 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 for idleness. If he was not strong, he was at least all 
 boy, if we are to accept the description of one of his ear- 
 lier intimates, the Long Island stage driver on whose 
 front seat ''Ted" frequently rode. 
 
 "He was a reg'lar boy. He was alius outdoors climb- 
 ing trees and goin' bird nestin'. I remember him par- 
 ticular like because he had queer living things in his 
 pockets." 
 
 The child was indeed father to the man, and many of 
 the tastes acquired in boyhood remained with him to the 
 end, in a highly developed and specialized form. 
 
 Weakness so often interrupted the studies of the 
 young Theodore that he took no pleasure in the compe- 
 tition of the schoolroom, although the records of the 
 public school, which he attended for a time, give him 97 
 in geography, 96 in history, and 98 in rhetoric. His 86 in 
 spelling was pretty good for a spelling reformer. It is 
 remembered by his teachers that he was strong for com- 
 position and declamation and that he had uncommon skill 
 in map-making. His schooling, however, was necessarily 
 irregular, and he was prepared for college by a private 
 instructor. 
 
 His Early Democracy 
 
 When Theodore was about ten years old his parents 
 took a house overlooking the Hudson River in Dobbs 
 Ferry for a summer. The property is known as the 
 Paton place, and its association with the Roosevelts has 
 been a source of pride to the older people of the pretty 
 village opposite the Palisades. 
 
 Theodore is remembered by Dobbs Ferry men who 
 were boys with him as small of stature for his years and 
 inclined to be delicate. They remember also that the 
 force of character, courage, and democracy that later 
 
 90 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 became dominant characteristics were noticeable in bis 
 dealings with his companions. Unlike the other youths 
 of prominent families that lived on the big estates along 
 Broadway, from the first days of his family arrival he 
 took part with energy in the boyish enterprises of those 
 among whom he found himself. He was usually to be 
 found with a crowd of boys on expeditions to the Saw 
 Mill River to swim and fish, and on these hikes, though 
 many were bigger and stronger than he, none outdid him 
 in endurance. 
 
 Roosevelt's particular pal among the boys was John 
 MacNichol, and the friendship of the two lasted until the 
 day of the Colonel's death, when MacNichol told how he 
 came to be the friend of Roosevelt's Dobbs Ferry days. 
 
 Roosevelt, assertive in what he believed to be right, 
 quarreled with two other boys of the "gang." Both of 
 the other boys were bigger than Roosevelt, but he had 
 raised his arms and was awaiting the onrush of the two 
 when MacNichol arrived. MacNichol, who was strong 
 for his age, took Roosevelt's part and his two foes called 
 off the impending fight. 
 
 In later years MacNichol became the village black- 
 smith. While he was hammering at his anvil his old 
 friend was mounting to the great position he attained. 
 Roosevelt did not forget his old friend, and on the not 
 infrequent occasions when he passed through Dobbs 
 Ferry after automobiles made Broadway along the Hud- 
 son a popular highway, he always stopped at MacNichol's 
 shop for a chat. 
 
 When the former President died, MacNichol showed a 
 memento which he cherishes most highly. It is a letter on 
 White House stationery from President Roosevelt, thank- 
 ing him for a horseshoe which the blacksmith had fash- 
 ioned with particular care. 
 
 91 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Two Trips to Europe 
 
 The young Theodore was taken to Europe in 1869 
 in the hope that it would benefit his health. "A 
 tall, thin lad with bright eyes and legs like pipestems," 
 is the memory picture drawn by one who was a play- 
 mate of his on the ship. Again, in 1873, he crossed the 
 seas and went to Algiers, for his weakened lungs were giv- 
 ing his family some concern and the warm African air 
 was sought as a balm for them. By President Grant's 
 appointment, his father was the American commissioner 
 to the Vienna Exposition in that year, and Theodore, 
 with his brother Elliott and sister Corinne, now Mrs. 
 Douglas Robinson, were brought from Algiers to Dres- 
 den, in Germany, where they were placed in the home of 
 a tutor. 
 
 This tutor interested Theodore, because he was an old 
 revolutionist of 1848 and had suffered in prison for Ger- 
 man liberty. He was, moreover, a member of the German 
 parliament or reichstag in 1873. It is recalled in this 
 family that their young American guest was an eager 
 and enterprising student, but not a brilliant scholar. 
 Nevertheless, one member of the household lived to vow 
 that she predicted then that he would be President of the 
 United States. ''He seemed to pick up things, one did not 
 know how." He delighted in the German classics and 
 laid the foundation for speaking German well, although 
 his asthma, while in Dresden, made an uninterrupted 
 conversation by him very difficult. All the while, how- 
 ever, he was fighting for health and strength with all the 
 determination of his nature and an indomitable will to 
 succeed, as he ultimately did. 
 
 He took drawing lessons in Dresden and showed an 
 unusual interest in natural history, the pursuit of which 
 
 92 
 
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 
 
 took him outdoors. When the Roosevelts were leaving 
 Dresden for Switzerland, it was found that Theodore's 
 trunk was so filled with the stones he had collected that 
 he had discarded some of his clothing. His mother 
 thought it better to leave the stones than the clothes, but 
 as fast as she threw them out of the trunk, the young 
 disciple of Nature picked them up and, truly boylike, 
 put as many of them as he could in his pockets. 
 
 Dresden always remained a happy memory to Mr. 
 Roosevelt, and just before entering Harvard he wrote to 
 his old friends in Germany : "I shall not go into business 
 until I have passed through college, which will not be for 
 four years. What business I shall enter then I do not 
 know." He did not need to cross the bridge until he 
 came to it. 
 
 He had won the battle of his boyhood. He had van- 
 quished the enemy of ill-health and was ready to play a 
 man's part in life. '*I made my health what it is," he 
 once said. * ' I determined to be strong and well and did 
 everything to make myself so. By the time I entered 
 Harvard I was able to take part in whatever sports I 
 liked. I wrestled and sparred and I ran a great deal, 
 and, although I never came in first, I got more out of the 
 exercise than those who did, because I immensely enjoyed 
 it and never injured myself." 
 
 Felt the Unity of the Nation 
 
 Intellectually and morally, Theodore Roosevelt inher- 
 ited much from his progenitors. Born just before the 
 Civil War of a Northern father and a Southern mother, 
 both sympathizing with their native section of the land, 
 he came naturally by his strong feeling that all sections 
 of the country were coherent as a nation. This feeling 
 
 93 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 was strengthened by his intimacy with the West and 
 increased by his utter familiarity with the East. 
 
 To this feeling may be traced his well-known convic- 
 tion for Federal centralization, perhaps one of the 
 strongest of his con\ictions. His pronounced feeling 
 for the South is also traceable to his pride in the family 
 of his mother. 
 
 ''He got," so it has been said, ''his love of a scrap 
 from the Irish in him, his volatility from the French, his 
 wariness from the Dutch, and his frugality from the 
 Scotch." 
 
 i 
 
 94 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 LIFE IN COLLEGE 
 
 Enters Harvard University — Appearance at That Time — 
 A Studious Collegian — Vacations in the Maine Woods 
 — Boxing at Harvard — Graduation — Another Trip to 
 Europe. 
 
 When he returned to America from Europe at the age 
 of fifteen, Theodore Roosevelt began serious study under 
 tutors to enter Harvard. In 1876, when near eighteen, 
 he was enrolled as a freshman and entered the Uni- 
 versity. Of all the members of the class of '80, his 
 classmates have said, he was almost the last they would 
 have picked out as a man destined for greatness. He 
 who was to become the most rugged and impressive figure 
 in the public life of his time went to college a stripling of 
 average height, slim of build, with narrow shoulders and 
 a rather flat chest. The fight for ruggedness was not yet 
 fully w^on when he appeared on the campus at Cambridge. 
 
 Just before entering Harvard he had been sent by his 
 family into the woods of Maine, where he developed his 
 taste for woodcraft under an old guide, Bill Sewall of 
 Island Falls. Here he learned to know and to love the 
 wilderness. He camped and tramped with the old woods- 
 man and made a lifelong friend of him. In the village 
 of Island Falls the pale young man from New York is 
 still remembered, and it is said, "Everyone in the Falls 
 likes him, for he was as plain as a spruce board and as 
 
 95 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 square as a brick." He had shot his first deer in the 
 Adirondacks at the age of sixteen, and in Maine he 
 roamed the primeval forest with Bill Sewall, who pro- 
 nounced the boy "grit clear through." Most of his 
 college vacations subsequently w^ere spent with Bill in 
 the Maine woods. 
 
 A Good Student 
 
 In college the young Roosevelt was studious. He was 
 neither a ''grind" nor a trifler. His name and his means, 
 two things that counted for a good deal at Cambridge, 
 gave him an opportunity to splurge. But the struggle 
 for health in his boyhood had given him simple tastes, 
 and he could not be a snob, because he had been brought 
 up to respect the feelings of others. 
 
 He selected two rooms in a lodging house near Har- 
 vard Yard, we are told, and these he fitted up plainly. 
 Instead of the unbecoming extravagance and frivolity, 
 with w^hich well-to-do students sometimes furnish their 
 quarters, at an expense running into the thousands, his 
 rooms were ornamented by the skins of stuffed animals 
 and by rare birds which he himself had mounted. He did 
 sport a high and fancy trap, which was the latest fashion 
 then, for he loved a horse, although he was not yet the 
 finished horseman that he afterward became. 
 
 Though he never cared to ''loaf," when he entered 
 a room where loafing was going on he always gave a 
 hearty greeting to "the roomful of fellows," then usually 
 took up a book, probably one on natural history, and 
 became dead to the world. While he studied indus- 
 triously, he took more exercise than his friends realized. 
 He ate "ravenously of plain food," and a man who sat 
 at the same table with him for four years never heard 
 him "kick about the grub." 
 
 96 
 
LIFE IN COLLEGE 
 
 The more select clubs and societies at Harvard 
 sought him out and took him in, and his name was 
 enrolled among the chosen few of his class in the Insti- 
 tute of 1870, the Porcellian Club, and the Alpha Delta 
 Phi, more renowned as the A. D., while he became secre- 
 tary of the famous old Hasty Pudding Club. At the same 
 time he is remembered pleasantly by that other and far 
 larger number of his classmates, who were not of these 
 fraternities, although he had not yet gained the full meas- 
 ure of the active democratic spirit which his broader life 
 out of college was to give him. 
 
 While many homes in Cambridge and in Boston were 
 open to him, he evinced little taste for formal society, 
 his interests being in quite another direction. * ' He wel- 
 comed the chance to meet his fellows in the friendly 
 rivalry of vigorous sports," says one of his biographers, 
 "and to put to the test the strength and skill he had 
 acquired on his back porch gymnasium at home. To 
 develop the muscles of his legs, which were not yet the 
 firm support that they were to be in his full maturity, he 
 took to skipping the rope. Others caught the habit from 
 him and rope skipping passed into the fashion of the 
 day. Wrestling was another of his hearty pastimes, and 
 he pursued it as a science." 
 
 An incident of his student life at Harvard shows 
 how Theodore Roosevelt had already gained that readi- 
 ness to act in any situation which was one of his marked 
 traits at all times. A horse in a stable adjoining his lodg- 
 ings aroused the neighborhood in the dead of night by a 
 noise that indicated it was in sore trouble. Half a dozen 
 men got up and dressed and went to the rescue, only to 
 find, when they reached the stable, that Roosevelt was 
 already on the scene and doing the needed thing to relieve 
 
 97 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 the poor beast. For he had not stopped to dress nor even 
 to take time to walk downstairs. He had gone to the res- 
 cue out of a second-story back window, and climbed down 
 a piazza post in his night clothes. 
 
 In 1877 he was one of twelve members of the sopho- 
 more class mentioned for the editorial board of the Har- 
 vard Advocate. A committee was appointed to inquire 
 into the fitness of the men for the places, that the board 
 might vote with intelligence. When the editors came 
 together to hear the reports, the man who had looked into 
 the qualifications of young Roosevelt said : 
 
 ''I cannot see that he is the kind of man we want. 
 Although I find that he is a thoroughly good fellow and 
 much liked by his classmates, I do not believe that he has 
 much hterary interest. He spends his spare time clip- 
 ping off pieces of rock and examining strata, catching 
 butterflies and bugs, and would, I think, be better suited 
 for a scientific society than for us.'* 
 
 The board sustained this view, and instead of Roose- 
 velt elected a man who has since won considerable fame 
 as a writer of fiction. Later in his course, however, Mr. 
 Roosevelt was elected to the board, but did little editorial 
 work. 
 
 Boxing at Harvard 
 Barred from baseball and football by poor eyesight 
 and from the crew by his light weight of 130 pounds, he 
 turned his attention to boxing, a sport in which above all 
 things a man must have a keen sight for judging distance. 
 He sometimes strapped a large pair of glasses to his 
 head before beginning a sparring match and probably is 
 the only man who ever took the chances of hard boxing 
 with a pair of glasses on his nose. His delicate appear- 
 ance amazed those who saw him make his first appear- 
 
 98 
 
 I 
 
LIFE IN COLLEGE 
 
 ance in the gymnasium, and he was a very doubtful-look- 
 ing entry in the lightweight class. To offset his handi- 
 caps, he aimed to lead swiftly and heartily, and thus put 
 his opponent on the defensive from the start. 
 
 In many ways Roosevelt's later life was foreshadowed 
 at Harvard. A remarkable similarity, reflecting his gen- 
 erally recognized straightforward sportsmanlike quali- 
 ties, is found for example in incidents that took place in 
 the sparring ring at Harvard and at Milwaukee in the fall 
 of 1912 when he was campaigning as the Progressive can- 
 didate and was shot by erratic John Schrank. Here is an 
 instance in which he showed the real sportsmanship that 
 was always one of his most marked characteristics: 
 
 Sisters, parents and admirers had gathered in the 
 name of their pet undergraduates for the fall athletic 
 meeting in the old round gymnasium by Quincy Street 
 and Memorial Hall at Cambridge. Roosevelt was a junior 
 then and entered for the middle-weight sparring. His 
 antagonist was a senior. The senior sparred with more 
 coolness, but neither seemed to have the advantage. 
 
 At the end of a round ''Time !" was called and Roose- 
 velt dropped his defense. The senior, however, before 
 he knew the round was over, landed a haiJ jolt on the 
 junior's nose and the blood flowed freely. Immediately 
 a hiss went up and cries of ''Shame!" It was only a 
 second before Roosevelt, whirling round, checked the 
 demonstration with a gesture demanding silence. 
 
 "It's all right! It's all right!" he exclaimed. "He 
 didn 't hear the call ! ' ' And he seized his opponent 's hand 
 in a hearty grip. 
 
 Taught Sunday-School at Harvard 
 
 But while Theodore Roosevelt was active in the gym- 
 nasium at Harvard, he was also active in good works. 
 
 99 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Having joined the old church of his fathers, the Dutch 
 Reformed, in New York, and for awhile taught a Sunday- 
 school class there, it was natural that he should seek out 
 a Sunday-school and a chance to teach as soon as he was 
 settled at Harvard, and that his choice should have fallen 
 upon a mission school. There being no church of his 
 own denomination in Cambridge, he took a class in the 
 handiest school, which happened to be of the high-church 
 Episcopalian variety. *' Theodore Roosevelt asked no 
 questions, but went to work." He got on famously with 
 his class of boys and girls. 
 
 Then one Sunday a boy came to school with a black 
 eye, and owned up that he had got it in a fight. The 
 young teacher questioned him earnestly about it. The 
 boy explained that *' Jim," who sat beside his sister, had 
 been in the habit of pinching her during the lessons. So 
 they had had a stand-up fight about it, and he had gal- 
 lantly given ''Jim" a good punching but had acquired a 
 black eye for himself in the process of punishing the 
 offender. The verdict of Theodore Roosevelt, muscular 
 Christian, was prompt. 
 
 ''You did perfectly right," he said to the boy, and 
 gave him a dollar. The class hailed this as ideal justice, 
 but it scandalized the officers of the school, with whom 
 Roosevelt was not popular. He had failed to observe 
 some of the forms of the Episcopal ser\dce, being unfa- 
 miliar with them, and the upshot of the matter was that 
 Roosevelt moved over to a Congregational Sunday-school 
 near by and taught there during the remainder of his four 
 years' course in college. 
 
 Impressions of Harvard 
 "I thoroughly enjoyed Harvard and I am sure it did 
 me good," wrote Mr. Roosevelt in later years, "but there 
 
 100 
 
LIFE IN COLLEGE 
 
 was very little in my actual studies which helped me in 
 after life. Before I left Harvard I Avas already writing 
 one or two chapters of a book I afterwards published, 
 on the naval war of 1812. These chapters were so dry 
 that they would have made a dictionary seem light read- 
 ing by comparison. Still, they represented purpose and 
 serious interest on my part. 
 
 *'I had at that time no idea of going into public life, 
 and I never studied elocution or practiced debating. This 
 was a loss to me in one way. In another way it was not. 
 Personally I have not the slightest sympathy with the, 
 debating contests in which each side is arbitrarily 
 assigned a given proposition and told to maintain it 
 without the least reference to whether those maintaining 
 it believe in it or not. I know that under our system this 
 is necessary for lawyers, but I emphatically disbelieve in 
 it as regards general discussion of political, social, and 
 industrial matters. 
 
 ''What we need is to turn out of our colleges young 
 men with ardent convictions on the side of the right ; not 
 young men who can make a good argument on either right 
 or wrong as their interest bids them. The present method 
 of carrying on debates encourages precisely the w^rong 
 attitude among those who take part in them. There is no 
 effort to instill sincerity and intensity of conviction. On 
 the contrary, the net result is to make the contestants 
 feel that their convictions have nothing to do with their 
 arguments. I am sorry I did not study elocution in col- 
 lege ; but I am exceedingly glad that I did not take part in 
 the type of debate in w^hich stress is laid, not upon getting 
 a speaker to think rightly, but on getting him to talk 
 glibly on the side to which he is assigned, without regard 
 either to what his convictions are or to what they ought 
 to be. 
 
 101 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 *'As regards political economy, I was of course while 
 in college taught the laissez-faire doctrines — one of them 
 .being free trade — then accepted as canonical. Most 
 American boys of my age were taught both by their sur- 
 roundings and by their studies certain principles which 
 were very valuable from the standpoint of national inter- 
 est, and certain others which were very much the reverse. 
 The political economists were not especially to blame for 
 this ; it was the general attitude of the writers who wrote 
 for us of that generation." 
 
 Graduation and Travel 
 
 He graduated from Harvard with the degree of A. B. 
 in June, 1880, standing twenty-second in his class, which, 
 by the way, was about the same as Grant's rank at West 
 Point. He won few academic honors. No commence- 
 ment part fell to him and the only mentions he received 
 were in natural history and economics. He had shaped 
 his studies to some extent with the idea of fitting himself 
 to be a professor in some branch of natural science, but 
 gradually the desire for a more active career than that 
 afforded by a college professorship possessed him. 
 
 After graduation at the age of twenty-two, young 
 Roosevelt went almost immediatelj^ to Europe. An indi- 
 cation of his improved physical condition is found in the 
 fact that he climbed the Jungfrau and the Matterhorn, 
 thereby winning immediately membership in the Alpine 
 Club of London, an honor not given to weaklings of soul 
 or body. He returned to New York with the strongest 
 sort of a bent for life in the open — and decided to become 
 a lawyer. 
 
 He entered the Columbia University Law School, at 
 the same time hammering away at the practical side of 
 law in the office of his uncle, Robert Barnhill Roosevelt — 
 
 102 
 
LIFE IN COLLEG'E 
 
 a Democrat and distinguished Manhattan lawyer, who 
 was a member of the old Committee of Seventy that dug 
 into Tammany crookedness; a Democratic member of 
 Congress in the early '70s, United States Minister to the 
 Netherlands later, a national committeeman, and first 
 president of the Holland Society. 
 
 But young Theodore Eoosevelt never followed out the 
 law to the extent of becoming a full-fledged lawyer. The 
 death of his father in 1878 had left him with a fortune, 
 modest but ample enough to wander into whatever fields 
 invited, and, although he had only just become of age, 
 the most tempting field to him even then was politics. 
 Advice to a Young Lawyer 
 
 Before Theodore had been in Robert Roosevelt's 
 law office long enough to take his examination for 
 admission to the bar, he was elected to the State Legisla- 
 ture. Though he never practiced law, he had definite 
 ideas on the way to win success at the bar, and expressed 
 them a few years later for the benefit of a struggling 
 young lawyer. 
 
 ''If I were you," he said, "I would hang out my shin- 
 gle and get a case. I don't care how you get it. Your 
 own wits ought to find one, at least, w^hich no other lawyer 
 has. I would not take a justice-shop case, either. I would 
 find a case that was right up in the regular courts, and 
 which possessed some merit. I wouldn't take it up for 
 nothing, either, or on a contingency. I would have a 
 decent fee attached to it. In other words, I would have 
 as many respectable features attached to the case as 
 possible under the circumstances. 
 
 ' ' Having got that case, I would try it as if it were the 
 last case I ever expected to have or which would ever be 
 in the courts. I would not make a nuisance of myself — 
 
 103 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 yon know enough to avoid that — but you can be so per- 
 sistent that you will win the respect of everyone who in 
 any way comes in connection with the trial. Put all of 
 yourself into the case. Get every side of it, and above all 
 things hammer it into your client by the force of your 
 actions that your integrity is above reproach. 
 
 ''When you get done with the case you will have a 
 reputation that many lawyers devote years in other ways 
 trying to obtain. You w^ill find that a second case is cer- 
 tain to come to you whether you lose or win the first case. 
 I would treat the second case just as I did the first one. 
 Live and act as if there never were such a case in exis- 
 tence before, and master it, just as you are required to 
 master your studies at the law school. If you find your- 
 self weakening at all, use the spur and whip until you 
 have created an enthusiasm in your work that imparts 
 itself to client, court, and jury, and results in your 
 victory. 
 
 *'Go at the third case in the same way. And for the 
 matter of that, as your patronage increases, give the 
 same treatment to all your cases. You will create confi- 
 dence in yourself that will insure you a constant practice, 
 and your clients, once secured, will never leave you." 
 
 It may be worth while noting, says Mr. George Wil- 
 liam Douglas, that this theory w^orked, for the young man 
 put it into practice and won his first case on a technical 
 point which all the other law^^ers had overlooked. 
 
 104 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 ENTRY INTO POLITICS 
 
 Attends His First Primary — Discovers His Life Work — 
 Nominated and Elected State Assemblyman — Fights 
 Corruption and Beats a Hired Thug — Good Work and 
 Valuable Experience in the Legislature — Reform His 
 Watchword — Early Steps in National Politics. 
 
 It was in 1881, when he was twenty-three years of age, 
 that Theodore Roosevelt attended his first primary in 
 New York and thereupon discovered his life work. To 
 the average well-educated young man of his day, there 
 might well have seemed nothing but mean selfishness and 
 sordidness in a city primary; but Mr. Roosevelt was 
 prompt to recognize the power of the primary and its 
 importance in a free government. 
 
 He saw an opportunity for good work to his liking, 
 and practical politics immediately began to attract him. 
 It was the beginning of a life-long interest, based upon a 
 sincere desire to correct existing evils of government and 
 to be of service to the community wherever service such 
 as he could render was needed. From that time on he 
 served wherever duty called and was nover found 
 wanting. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt had only just returned home from his 
 post-graduation travels when he was solicited to become a 
 candidate for election to the Legislature of New York 
 from the Twenty-first Assembly district of the State. 
 
 105 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 For nearly two centuries the Roosevelts had been con- 
 cerned with public affairs, and the prospect of an active 
 political life had a natural attraction for the young man. 
 Hon. Chauncey Depew, the distinguished former Sen- 
 ator of New York, has told in his memorial article in 
 earlier pages some of the circumstances that attended 
 the first nomination of Mr. Roosevelt for public office, 
 and it is not necessary to recount them. Other intimate 
 details of the event, however, that are still remembered 
 among New York politicians, will be found interesting. 
 
 How He Was Nominated 
 
 One day when Mr. Roosevelt was scarcely more than 
 a year beyond the last of his college days, he met one Joe 
 Murray, a district worker around the Roosevelt home 
 locality. Joe Murray had had a falling out with Jacob 
 Hess, the district boss of the Twenty-first Assembly dis- 
 trict. Jacob Hess had had his own idea as to who should 
 be the next Assemblyman from the Twenty-first. Joe had 
 an idea wholly different. 
 
 ''Listen, men," said Joe Murray to his faction of anti- 
 Hess district workers, according to the best local political 
 historians of the day. ''What this silk-stocking neigh- 
 borhood mil rise to is a swell candidate for the Assembly. 
 WHio's the swellest family around here? The Roosevelts. 
 Listen, men — let's trot out this young colleger, Tedd)' 
 Roosevelt, and we'll put Barney Hess flat on his back." 
 
 The young "colleger" got the nomination. Instantly 
 he began a local campaign that had all those elements of 
 the picturesque which in after years were to draw the 
 attention of the world to his far greater contests. And 
 whether it was due to his own campaign methods, the 
 hearty hustling of his lieutenant, Joe Murray, a desire of 
 the neighborhood for blue blood in the Assembly, or a 
 
 106 
 
ENTRY INTO POLITICS 
 
 combination of all these elements, the youthful-looking 
 colleger, Teddy Roosevelt, was elected. He took his seat 
 at Albany in January, 1882. 
 
 From the beginning of his public life the party ''man- 
 agers" were against him. They did not like the reputa- 
 tion of Roosevelt's for independent and fearless honesty 
 of purpose and action ; they looked young Roosevelt over, 
 noted his square jaw and independence of speech, and 
 resented them. They soon discovered that he was in the 
 habit of thinking for himself and would not submit to 
 dictation from ''headquarters," and so his fight against 
 bossism and the powers of evil in politics began with his 
 first nomination and continued with added zest after his 
 election. The "managers" soon found out with what 
 manner of man they had to deal. It was a political giant 
 in process of development. And the young giant knew 
 that corruption existed at Albany and throughout the 
 State. That was enough for him, and he soon got busy. 
 
 A Fearless Speech 
 
 It was on April 6, 1882, that young Roosevelt took the 
 floor in the Assembly at Albany and demanded that Judge 
 Westbrook of Newburgh, against whom certain charges 
 had been made, be impeached. And for sheer moral cour- 
 age that act is probably supreme in Roosevelt's life thus 
 far. He must have expected failure. Even his youth 
 and idealism and ignorance of public affairs could not 
 blind him to the apparently inevitable consequences. 
 
 That speech — the deciding act in Roosevelt's career — 
 was not remarkable for eloquence. But it was remarkable 
 for fearless candor. He calle*d thieves thieves, regardless 
 of their millions ; he slashed savagely at the judge and the 
 attorney-general ; he told the plain unvarnished truth as 
 his indignant eyes saw it. 
 
 107 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 When lie finished, the veteran leader of the Repub- 
 licans rose and with gently contemptuous raillery asked 
 that the resolution to take up the charge be voted down. 
 He said he wished to give young Mr. Roosevelt time to 
 think about the wisdom of his course. 
 
 "I," said he, ''have seen many reputations in the 
 State broken do^^^l by loose charges made in the Legis- 
 lature." 
 
 And presently the Assembly gave ** young Mr. Roose- 
 velt time to think" by voting not to take up his "loose 
 charges." 
 
 Ridicule, laughter, a ripple — apparently it was all 
 over, except the consequences to the bumptious and dan- 
 gerous young man which might flow from the cross set 
 against his name in the black books of ''the ring." 
 
 He Fights Corruption and Wins 
 
 That night the young man was once more urged to be 
 "sensible," to "have regard for his future usefulness," 
 to "cease injuring the party." He snapped his teeth 
 together and defied the party leaders. The next day he 
 again rose and again lifted his puny voice and his puny 
 hand against smiling, contemptuous Corruption. 
 
 Day after day he persevered on the floor of the Assem- 
 bly, in interviews for the press; a few newspapers here 
 and there joined vrith. him; Assemblymen all over the 
 State began to hear from their constituents. Within a 
 week his name was known from Buffalo to Montauk Point, 
 and everywhere the people were applauding him. 
 
 On the eighth day of his bold, smashing attack the 
 resolution to take up the charges was again voted upon 
 at his demand. And the Assemblymen, with the eyes of 
 the whole people upon them, did not dare longer keep 
 themselves on record as defenders of a judge who feared 
 
 108 
 
ENTRY INTO POLITICS 
 
 to demand an investigation. The opposition collapsed. 
 Eoosevelt won by 104 to 6. 
 
 Beats a Hired Thug 
 
 When the gentlemen who had been accustomed to run 
 the lower house of the Legislature, no matter which party 
 was in power, found that they could not control Mr. 
 Roosevelt, that he could be neither bought nor bullied, 
 they resorted to the desperate expedient of hiring a thug 
 to administer physical chastisement as a rebuke for his 
 temerity in opposing their will. The mere fact showed 
 the caliber of the men who had been in almost absolute 
 control of legislation in the State — and the need of men 
 like Roosevelt in public life. 
 
 One night, in the lobby of the old Delavan House in 
 Albany, since burned, the thug and his expected victim 
 met. There the legislators were accustomed to congre- 
 gate every evening and much of the ** inside'* business 
 of the session was transacted. Mr. Roosevelt started to 
 leave the hotel at 10 o'clock on the night in question, after 
 spending some time chatting with fellow-members. As he 
 passed a door leading to the buffet, a noisy group 
 emerged, as if by signal. Among them was a pugilist 
 known as "Stubby" Collins, and this fellow proceeded 
 to jostle Mr. Roosevelt with some force. Instantly the 
 latter, who was alone, realized the nature and animus 
 of the act. He paused, on guard, and "Stubby" struck 
 at him, demanding mth a show of indignation what he 
 meant by running into him that way. 
 
 "Stubby's" blow did not land on the young legis- 
 lator. His employers had not told him that Mr. Roose- 
 velt had been one of the best boxers at Harvard, and 
 enjoyed a fight. But he had been paid to "beat up" the 
 young man and went ahead to earn his fee. 
 
 109 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 AVitli great coolness Mr. Roosevelt awaited the attack 
 which he knew was coming. He took up a position where 
 he could see, not only the thug, but all the group accom- 
 panying him and in the background certain others whom 
 he suspected of being the real principals. As he stood 
 waiting, ''Stubby" made his rush. 
 
 The fight lasted less than a minute, for the thug had 
 more than met his match. He had the surprise of his life. 
 As his friends picked him up from the floor, a badly 
 beaten man, "Stubby" gazed in astonishment at the smil- 
 ing Roosevelt and realized that he had much to learn 
 about boxing and ''beating up." 
 
 As the thug was removed for repairs, Mr. Roosevelt 
 walked across the lobby and pleasantly informed the 
 astounded promoters of the affair that he understood 
 their connection with it and was greatly obliged to them. 
 He said he had not enjoyed anything so much for a year. 
 
 Respect for his personality was thenceforth among 
 the mingled feelings with which he was regarded by the 
 inner circles of legislation at Albany, and his influence 
 grew apace. 
 
 Becomes a Force in Politics 
 
 The investigation of the accused judge which Mr. 
 Roosevelt had secured, as noted above, resulted in a 
 whitewashing report, but that w^as not his fault. 
 
 The vote to investigate was his first personal political 
 victory, and from then on in the Legislature he was a 
 force to be reckoned with. In the fall of 1882, the year in 
 which Grover Cleveland was elected Governor of New 
 York, Roosevelt was re-elected Assemblyman by a big 
 majority, despite the fact that it was a Democratic year. 
 In 1883 he was elected for a third term. During his 
 second term he was the Republican floor leader, and in 
 
 110 
 
ENTRY INTO POLITICS 
 
 his third he was a candidate for the speakership, but was 
 defeated through the influence of Warner Miller. 
 
 During his last two terms in the Assembly Roose- 
 velt came into close touch with Grover Cleveland, then 
 Governor. Although of opposite political faiths, there 
 was a bond of sympathy between the two men in their 
 stalwart independence of thought and action, and the 
 Governor grew to trust and rely on his young antagonist, 
 even more surely, it is said, than he did the regular lead- 
 ers of his own party. Time and again the Governor 
 sought and found in the Republican leader the support 
 and encouragement that his own partisans denied him. 
 Particularly was this true in their united efforts in behalf 
 of a better civil service, in the national development of 
 which both were to be such efficient champions. It was 
 Mr. Roosevelt who, following the recommendation in the 
 Governor's message, introduced and pushed through the 
 Legislature a State civil service act, very similar to and 
 almost simultaneously with the Federal act. 
 
 Results of Legislative Work 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's experience in the Legislature was of 
 great value to him, in his development as a public man. 
 It also resulted in his introduction to the nation, for 
 larger opportunities for service were soon to open before 
 him. His work as a legislator was handicapped by the 
 opposition that sought to nullify his efforts, particularly 
 at the start, but he succeeded in making a decided impres- 
 sion on the legislation of his terms and several measures 
 of great public utility owed their inception to him. 
 
 Besides securing the enactment of a civil service law 
 for the State, thus inaugurating the merit system where 
 it was sorely needed, he secured an investigation of the 
 county offices of the State. By this investigation it was 
 
 111 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 discovered that the principal officials in Xew York County 
 were drawing nearly a million dollars a year in fees, 
 while discharging no duties whatever ; and all such offices 
 were subsequently placed on a moderate salary basis. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt also began an inquiry into the abuse 
 of police power in New York, and this continued until 
 better conditions were brought about. He secured an 
 amendment to the Constitution of the State, taking from 
 the aldermen of New York City the supreme executive 
 power and placing it where it rightfully belongs, in the 
 hands of the Mayor. This and other reforms in which he 
 aided brought home to the people of the State a better 
 realization of their power and ability to right wrongs and 
 abolish evils, if they would but exert themselves through 
 their representatives and the organization of public opin- 
 ion to influence legislative action. Right gallantly did 
 Theodore uphold the Roosevelt traditions in the Legis- 
 lature. 
 
 The Blaine Campaign in 1884 
 
 Republican State leaders who had grown gray in the 
 political turmoil while young Roosevelt still was a strip- 
 ling, suddenly began to look his way and take some 
 notice. In 1884, or in his twenty-sixth j^ear, they sent 
 the young Assemblyman as chairman of the New York 
 delegation to the Republican convention at Chicago which 
 nominated James G. Blaine, ''the Plumed Knight," idol 
 of the rank and file of Republicanism, as Cleveland's 
 opponent after a bitter scrinmiage. 
 
 The struggle over the Republican Presidential nomi- 
 nation of 1884 began in the choice of delegates to the 
 State convention. Mr. Roosevelt had to defeat his old 
 opponent, Jacob Iless, the district boss, before he himself 
 secured a place as delegate to the State convention at 
 
 112 
 
ENTRY INTO POLITICS 
 
 Utica. He had won the confidence of the reform element 
 of his party, as represented by such men as George Wil- 
 liam Curtis and Carl Schurz, who were united on George 
 F. Edmunds, of Vermont, as their candidate. Mr. Roose- 
 velt went to Utica an enthusiastic partisan of the Vermont 
 statesman. The convention was divided between sup- 
 porters of Arthur, Blaine, and Edmunds, and the dele- 
 gates to the National convention were uninstructed. But 
 Roosevelt and his friends held the balance of power, and 
 he himself was made one of the delegates-at-large and 
 chosen chairman of the delegation. 
 
 In the proceedings at the Chicago convention he took 
 a prominent part. He took part, at the opening session, 
 in the revolt against the National Committee's selection 
 of Powell Clayton, of Arkansas, as temporary chairman, 
 and gave his support to John R. Lynch, of Mississippi, 
 'a negro, who was elected. In the same spirit of revolt at 
 machine dictation he advocated a change in the plan of 
 selecting delegates to future conventions, which should 
 make the number of Republican votes cast in the last 
 previous election a basis of representation. The proposal 
 was defeated then, as it has been several times since. In 
 Ms role of reformer, the twenty-six-year-old delegate 
 opposed the nomination of Blaine to the extent of stand- 
 ing up in the convention and making a speech in which 
 he placed the name of United States Senator George F. 
 Edmunds in nomination. During the bitter struggle 
 which ensued over the balloting, he worked and voted 
 steadfastly for Edmunds, and w^as one of the nine New 
 York delegates who voted for him on the final ballot. 
 
 Went West to Think It Over 
 After the convention Roosevelt went West to the 
 ranch which he had bought in North Dakota to think the 
 
 113 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 situation over in quiet and make up his mind what course 
 to take. Many of his friends among the reform element 
 of the party had announced in advance of the convention 
 that they would not support Blaine if he were nominated. 
 Every day saw some close friend or associate declaring 
 his intention of supporting the Democratic nominees. He 
 was at a parting of the ways. 
 
 The idea of temporarily severing his connection with 
 the party did not appear to him as possible. With him 
 the question was simply whether he should stay in or stay 
 out. He decided to stay in, and having decided he gave 
 out the following public statement : ' ' I intend to vote the 
 Republican Presidential ticket. A man cannot act both 
 mthout and within the party; he can do either, but he 
 cannot possibly do both. I went in with my eyes open to 
 do what I could wdthin the party ; I did my best and got 
 beaten, and I propose to stand by the result. I am by 
 inheritance and by education a Republican; whatever 
 good I have been able to accomplish in public life has 
 been accomplished through the Republican party ; I have 
 acted with it in the past, and I wish to act with it in the 
 future." 
 
 Following this declaration he returned to the East, 
 where he took what was for him a rather inactive part in 
 the campaign. Many independent Republicans, however, 
 deserted Blaine and supported Cleveland. 
 
 114 
 
CHAPTER V 
 LIFE ON THE RANCH 
 
 Getting Acquainted with the Wild West — Thrilled by the 
 Plains — He Buys a Ranch — Gains by Western Life — 
 Fight with a Bully — His Moral Strength — Hunting 
 Big Game — The Roosevelt Ranch. 
 
 While he was a member of the New York Legislature, 
 Mr. Roosevelt, between legislative sessions, ''surren- 
 dered to his impulses" and determined to become 
 acquainted with the "Wild West." On his first western 
 trip, with buffalo-hunting as the primary object of his 
 quest, he left the train at the little town of Medora, North 
 Dakota, a typical frontier town of those days. It stood 
 then in the midst of the immense cattle country, long 
 believed to be fit for nothing but cattle raising. 
 
 The Marquis de Mores, a French nobleman, had a 
 ranch at Medora, and the town was named after the 
 Marchioness. It was the day of the "free range," and 
 the cattle barons usually owned only a small part of the 
 range over which their herds grazed. Here Mr. Roose- 
 velt saw the Wild West "in the last glow of its golden 
 age," soon to vanish before the advancing tide of settle- 
 ment. 
 
 The vast plains thrilled him with a new joy and gave 
 him glimpses of a new life. In his book, "The Wilder- 
 ness Hunter," he has described the impressions of one 
 who, like himself, felt the charm of the boundless plains : 
 
 115 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 **In after years there shall come forever to his mind the 
 memory of endless prairies shimmering in the bright 
 sun; of vast, snow-clad wastes, lying desolate under 
 gray skies; of the melancholy marshes; of the rush of 
 mighty rivers; of the breath of the evergreen forest in 
 summer; of the crooning of ice-armored pines at the 
 touch of the winds of ^\'inter; of cataracts roaring 
 between hoary mountain passes ; of all the innumerable 
 sights and sounds of the wilderness and of the silences 
 that brood in its still depths." 
 
 Before he left Medora he had purchased a ranch and 
 identified himself with the West. He had hunted and 
 camped vrith typical plainsmen and proved himself a 
 man among men. Inquiring how much money it would 
 take to go into the business of cattle-ranching, he was 
 told that it would take at least $45,000. The Chimney 
 Butte Ranch near Medora was available, and next morn- 
 ing Mr. Roosevelt drew a check for $10,000 as first pay- 
 ment on the ranch. 
 
 In February of 1884, his mother died and two days 
 later his first mfe, who was Miss Alice Hathaway Lee, 
 of Boston, whom he had married in 1880, shortly after 
 he left Harvard, passed away as her daughter, now Alice 
 Roosevelt Longworth, entered the world. These domes- 
 tic sorrows were followed by the defeat of his party with 
 Blaine at the polls in November, 1884, and he then turned 
 his face to the West and sou<i-ht solitude and distraction 
 on liis ranch on the banks of the Little IMissouri. 
 
 Sending for his old friend and guide. Bill Sewall of 
 the Maine woods, he entered earnestly and practically 
 into the business of ranching. Keeping his ranch at 
 Chimney Butte, a few miles below jNTedora, he acquired 
 another, many miles above that iovra. There, on a bluff 
 
 116 
 
Life on the ranch 
 
 above the Little Missouri, he found the skulls and inter- 
 locked antlers of two big, round-horned elk who had 
 fought until they died. He built a comfortable log-house 
 on the spot and called the place Elkhorn Ranch. Here he 
 spent the greater part of the next two years, living the 
 life of the typical cow-puncher and studying the wildest 
 West so thoroughly that the tang of it ever after was 
 with him. On his ranch he laid the foundation for a 
 series of books, "The Winning of the West," which were 
 published at intervals from 1889 to 1896. Undoubtedly 
 his Bad Lands experiences had much to do, years after, 
 with his organization of the Rough Riders. 
 
 Gains by Western Life 
 
 From ranching life he acquired skill with horse and 
 gun and the rugged constitution such as he had long 
 sought. At the same time he learned the lesson of valu- 
 ing associates on their individual worth as men. No 
 one has ever denied to Mr. Roosevelt an understanding 
 of the mind and temper of the man of the plains. His 
 sympathies with the North and the South were bred in 
 him, but "his intimate knowledge of the West was his 
 own achievement. ' ' 
 
 This rough and unconventional life, amid surround- 
 ings where a man's position was measured not by pedi- 
 gree or bank account, but by his own worth, had a power- 
 ful influence on the future President's career. It resulted 
 for him not only in an entire readjustment of values, but 
 gave him an object-lesson in democracy that he never 
 forgot. He entered into the life of the frontier region, 
 not as an outsider with the message of a more highly 
 developed civilization, but as one with the desire to enter 
 into the life about him and accept things as they were. 
 Yet through it all there ran an insistence on the recogni- 
 
 117 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 tion of the reign of law. More than once he taught by 
 example. On one occasion he organized and led a posse 
 in midwinter on a month's chase after cattle thieves, and 
 broke all precedents by bringing his prisoners safely back 
 to jail, instead of follo\^ang the usual custom of hanging 
 them where they were captured. 
 
 Fight With a Bully 
 
 He had not been long in the West before he discovered 
 that certain peculiar social conditions prevailed, and 
 commentators have observed that it was from adapting 
 himself to these circumstances that he learned that a man 
 stands or falls as he masters natural conditions and the 
 circumstances about him. How well he adapted himself 
 to circumstances, with instant decision and fearless 
 action, is illustrated by the oft-told story of his encounter 
 with a swaggering fellow who tried to force him to drink 
 when he did not care to do so. The drawn and smoking 
 gun of his assailant had no terrors for him and his 
 refusal to be bullied resulted in the downfall of the bully 
 and added respect for the young ranchman in the eyes 
 of his fellows. Details of the story will be found among 
 the ''Anecdotes of Roosevelt" later on. 
 
 Referring to this incident after he had ceased to be 
 a tenderfoot, Mr. Roosevelt himself made this comment : 
 ''I was never shot at maliciously but once. My assailant 
 was a broad-hatted ruffian of a cheap t^^pe. The fact 
 that I wore glasses, together ^vdth my evident desire to 
 avoid a fight, apparently gave him the impression — a, 
 mistaken one — that I would not resent an injury. " 
 
 Though at first the ranchers were disposed to laugh^ 
 at the "four-eyed dude," they changed their opinion 
 when they found that no work was too hard for him, no 
 hardship too severe, no peril too great. From that day 
 
 118 
 
LIFE ON THE RANCH 
 
 to this the cowpunchers and ranchmen have sworn by 
 Theodore Roosevelt, and it was due to this that he was 
 able to get such a fine class of frontiersmen in his regi- 
 ment of Rough Riders. 
 
 Showed His Moral Strength, Too 
 
 A characteristic incident showing Roosevelt's readi- 
 ness to thrown down the moral gauntlet occurred later at 
 Medora at a meeting of cattle men. The county had three 
 prisoners who were the last of a gang of outlaws, and it 
 was shown that a deputy sheriff, who was in his "unoffi- 
 cial moments" a cow thief, was in alliance with them. 
 The ranchmen hesitated to denounce the sheriff when he 
 strolled in to take part in the meeting of protest. He was 
 a '* two-gun" man with a nasty temper and ''wore a brace 
 of the most restless six shooters in the Kildeer region 
 of the Bad Lands." 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt was the one who explained to the sheriff 
 in no uncertain terms the evil of cow stealing. The disap- 
 pearance of the next cow, he said, might become the 
 signal for declaring the corrupt official's office vacant, 
 and it was not without the pale of possibility that cer- 
 tain of Roosevelt's friends, whom he might be unable to 
 restrain, might invoke the assistance of a rope or a Win- 
 chester in preventing their herds from depredations. 
 
 Contrary to expectations, the sheriff drew neither of 
 the guns projecting from his belt; gave no resentful 
 sign. His look at Roosevelt was one of startled under- 
 standing of an unpleasant determination. But that was 
 all — and the ranchmen of the Kildeer mountain region 
 came to have a serene feeling as they turned into their 
 blankets at night that their cows would not diminish in 
 number before morning. 
 
 119 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 From that time on Roosevelt's position in the West 
 was one of distinction among men. His real business 
 was raising cattle and caring for them on the plains, and 
 if anything could have raised him in their estimation 
 more than his determination to be a real ''cattle man" as 
 distinct from a "sheep man" it was the display of nerve, 
 which he never lacked. 
 
 Captured Boat Thieves 
 
 Once on returning from his ranch, says James Mor- 
 gan in "Theodore Roosevelt, the Boy and the Man," he 
 found that some horse thieves, in making their escape, 
 had taken his boat. They felt sure that this would make 
 them safe from pursuit because there was no other boat. 
 Bill Sewall, however, built a rude craft in great haste, 
 and on this he and Mr. Roosevelt and another man 
 started down the Little Missouri. They floated probably 
 for one hundred and fifty miles before thej' saw the camp 
 of the fugitives. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt, unseen, stole ashore and upon the 
 camp. When near enough he cried, with his weapon 
 pointed, "Hands up, or I will shoot!" The only man 
 about the place was asleep, so it chanced, and, thus rudely 
 awakened, he was in great alarm. He rolled over and 
 over on the ground in his anxiety not to be shot. He 
 proved to be no more than a poor tool of the robbers and 
 could hardly make himself understood in English. The 
 thieves, two in number, madr" their appearance towards 
 dark. They were in the stolen boat, Mr. Roosevelt and 
 one of his men crept down by the river, where they 
 sprang from their hiding as the outlaws drew near, and 
 covered them with their guns. There was nothing for the 
 men in the boat to do but to throw up their hands and 
 surrender. 
 
 120 
 
LIFE ON THE KANCH 
 
 Nearly a week was required to take the captives to 
 the county seat, a distance of two hundred miles. The 
 boats stuck in the ice-jams and were almost upset. Each 
 night a fire was built on the river bank and the two 
 culprits were compelled to lie on opposite sides of it, 
 while Mr. Roosevelt sat on watch until midnight and the 
 rest of the night was di^dded between his two assistants. 
 
 Lived the Hardest of Lives 
 
 During his two years in the West as a ranchman Mr. 
 Roosevelt lived the life of the hardiest plainsman. On 
 round-ups he endured all the hardships of his men. He 
 spent much of his time hunting, and killed specimens 
 of all the game to be found on the plains and in the 
 mountains. He was particularly fond of bear hunting, 
 which requires a nerve as steady and an aim as sure as 
 the pursuit of any game in the United States. 
 
 But Roosevelt was never a ''dead shot." He always 
 talked and wrote in a most dispassionate way about his 
 *' misses." He was called by guides a ''mighty good 
 game shot," his success being due to enacting faithfully 
 his own description of the hunter wiiich he wrote for 
 his ' ' Hunting Trips of a Ranchman ' ' : 
 
 "He [the hunter] must be persevering, watchful, 
 hardy, and with good judgment; and a little dash and 
 energy at the proper time often help immensely. I 
 myself am not and never mil be more than an ordinary- 
 shot ; for my eyes are bad and my hand not over steady ; 
 yet I have killed every Irind of game to be found on the 
 plains." 
 
 Hunted Big Game 
 
 Even earlier than his ranching experiences — in 1883 — 
 Mr. Roosevelt had attracted notice as a hunter of big 
 game in the Rockies and elsewhere. Characteristically 
 
 121 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 enough, small game had no attraction for him, and it is 
 doubtful whether he ever shot a rabbit. Only when the 
 beast had some chance against the hunter did sport 
 appeal to him, and, naturally enough, the game that 
 seemed most to his taste was the grizzly bear of the 
 Rockies, that incarnation of strength, fury, and cunning. 
 
 When Mr. Roosevelt arrived in the Rocky Mountain 
 country and announced his intention of tracking the 
 grizzly bear, the toughs of the region declared their 
 intention of "doing him up." He was a tenderfoot. One 
 of them w^ent so far as to send a message to Roosevelt to 
 the effect that if he proceeded to track the grizzlies there 
 "would be shooting. Upon receipt of the message Roose- 
 velt inquired where this person with the propensity for 
 shooting lived, and rode at once into his camp. The man, 
 however, had forgotten why he w^anted to shoot. 
 
 That incident put an end to any inclination to treat 
 Roosevelt as a tenderfoot, and before the hunting cam- 
 paign was ended he had won the respect of all those 
 rough men of the West, and when the time came many 
 of those who had been ready to '*do him up" as a tender- 
 foot were the most eager to follow him into the jungles 
 of Cuba. 
 
 Kills His First Buffalo 
 
 The first guide of Mr. Roosevelt in a buffalo hunt, 
 Ferris by name, has told us about it. On a September 
 day in 1883 the future President arrived at a lonely 
 railroad station, with the buffalo ranges fifty miles away 
 over a badly broken country. The guide describes Roose- 
 velt as a "thin young man, plainly dressed." 
 
 "It meant hard work to get a buffalo at that time," 
 says Ferris, "and whether the thin young man could 
 stand the trip was a question, but Roosevelt was on 
 
 122 
 
LIFE ON THE EANCH 
 
 horseback and he rode better than I did, and could stand 
 just as much knocking about as I could. 
 
 "In the first night out, when we were twenty-five or 
 thirty miles from a settlement, we went into camp on the 
 open prairie, with our saddle blankets over us, our horses 
 picketed, and the picket ropes tied about the horns of our 
 saddles, which we used for pillows. In the middle of the 
 night there was a rush, our pillows were swept from 
 under our heads and our horses went tearing off over the 
 prairie, frightened by wolves. 
 
 ''Roosevelt was up and off in a minute after the 
 horses. 
 
 "On the fourth or fifth day out, I think it was, our 
 horses pricked up their ears, and I told Roosevelt there 
 was a buffalo close at hand. We dismounted and 
 advanced to a big 'washout' near, peered over its edge, 
 and there stood a huge buffalo bull, calmly feeding and 
 unaware of our presence. 
 
 " 'Hit Mm where that patch of red shows on his side,' 
 said I, 'and you've got him.' 
 
 "Roosevelt was cool as a cucumber, took a careful 
 aim, and fired. Out came the buffalo from the washout, 
 with blood pouring from his mouth and nose. "You've 
 got him,' I shouted, and so it proved, for the buffalo 
 plunged a few steps and fell." 
 
 The Roosevelt Home Ranch 
 
 So much has been said of Mr. Roosevelt as a ranch- 
 man that one cannot refrain from quoting his own 
 description of the Elkhorn Ranch and its surroundings: 
 
 "My home ranch lies on both sides of the Little Mis- 
 souri, the nearest ranchman above me being about twelve, 
 and the nearest below me about ten miles distant. The 
 general course of the stream here is northerly, but, while 
 
 123 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 flowing through my ranch, it takes a great westerly reach 
 of some three miles, walled in, as always, between chains 
 of steep, high bluffs, half a mile or more apart. The 
 stream twists down through the valley in long sweeps, 
 leaving oval wooded bottoms, first on one side and then 
 on the other ; and in an open glade among the thick grow- 
 ing timber stands the long, low house, of hewm logs. 
 
 ''Just in front of the ranch veranda is a line of old 
 cottonwoods that shade it during the fierce heats of 
 summer, rendering it always cool and pleasant. But a 
 few feet beyond these trees comes the cut-off bank of 
 the river, through whose broad, sandy bed the shallow 
 stream winds as if lost, except when a freshet fills it from 
 brim to brim ^vith foaming yellow water. The bluffs that 
 wall in the river valley curve back in semi-circles, rising 
 from its alluvial bottom generally as abrupt cliffs, but 
 often as steep, grassy slopes that lead up to great level 
 plateaus ; and the line is broken every mile or two by the 
 entrance of a coulee; or dry creek, whose head branches 
 may be twenty miles back. Above us, where the river 
 comes round the bend, the valley is very narrow, and the 
 high buttes abounding rise sheer and barren, into scalped 
 hill peaks and naked knife-blade ridges. The other build- 
 ings stand in the same open glade with the ranch house, 
 the dense growth of cottonwoods and matted, thorny 
 underbrush making a wall all about through which we 
 have chopped our wagon roads and trodden out our own 
 bridle paths. The cattle have now trampled down this 
 brush a little, but deer still lie in it, only a couple of 
 hundred yards from the house ; and from the door some- 
 times in the evening one can see them peer out into the 
 open or make their way down, timidly and cautiously, to 
 drink at the river. The stable, sheds, and other out- 
 
 124 
 
LIFE ON THE RANCH 
 
 buildings, with the hayricks and the pens for such cattle 
 as we bring in during winter, are near the house; the 
 patch of fenced garden land is on the edge of the woods ; 
 and near the middle of the glade stands the high, circular 
 horse corral, with a snubbing-post in the center, and a 
 wing built from one side of the gate entrance, so that the 
 saddle band can be driven in without trouble. ' ' 
 
 Not a Broncho Buster 
 
 When Mr. Roosevelt went into the cattle business, he 
 started mth five hundred steers, and w^e are told: '*He 
 worked for a part of a season as a cowboy. He had his 
 own 'string' of horses and they were as ugly and ill-tem- 
 pered as the majority of cow-horses. He was not a 
 broncho-breaker, as he has been pictured to be, and he 
 took no unnecessary chances in mounting or endeavoring 
 to tame an especially ugly horse. But he did not shrink 
 from riding his own horses when they cut up the custo- 
 mary capers of mustangs, and although he was some- 
 times thrown and on one or two occasions pretty badly 
 bruised and hurt, he stuck to his mounts until he had 
 mastered them." 
 
 One of the early and useful friends of Mr. Roosevelt 
 in the Wild West was the late Colonel William F. Cody, 
 the famous Buffalo Bill, and many a wild ride they had. 
 Their friendship lasted to the day of Cody's death. 
 
 In his life on the ranch, Mr. Roosevelt realized all the 
 benefits he had anticipated, and it appealed to him because 
 ''the charm of ranch life comes in its freedom, and the 
 vigorous open-air existence it forces a man to lead." 
 
 On his own ranch he experienced the very hardest part 
 of the work. On one occasion he was for thirt5^-six hours 
 in the saddle, dismounting only to change horses or to eat. 
 
 125 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 At another time he was helping to bring a thousand 
 head of young cattle down to his lower range. At night 
 Ue and a cowboy stood guard. The cattle had been with- 
 out water that day, and in their thirst they tried to break 
 away. In the darkness Mr. Roosevelt could dimly see 
 the shadowy outlines of the frantic herd. With whip 
 and spurs he circled around the herd, turning back the 
 l^easts at one point just in time to wheel and keep them 
 in at another. After an hour of violent exertion, by 
 which time he was dripping \^ith sweat, he and his com- 
 panion finally quieted the herd. 
 
 On still another occasion he was out on the plains 
 when a regular blizzard came. The cattle began to drift 
 before the storm. They were frightened and maddened 
 by the quick, sharp flashes of lightning and the stinging 
 rain. The men darted to and fro before them and beside 
 them, heedless of danger, checking them at each point 
 where they threatened to break through. The thunder 
 was terrific. Peal followed peal. Each flash of lightning 
 Ishowed a dense ray of tossing horns and staring eyes. 
 At last, however, when the storm was raging in fury, 
 and when it seemed impossible to hold the herd together 
 any longer, the corrals were reached, and by desperate 
 efforts Mr. Roosevelt and his companions managed to 
 turn the herds into the barns. It was such work as this 
 that brought the future President self-reliance and hardi- 
 hood and made him in later life a firm advocate of horse- 
 manship. 
 
 126 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE 
 
 Candidate for Mayor of New York — Second Marriage — 
 Ideal Domestic Life — Civil Service Commissioner — 
 Police Commissioner of New York — His Unusual 
 Methods — Resigns to Become Secretary of the Navy. 
 
 Bronzed by the outdoor life, and teeming with hard- 
 won vitality, Mr. Roosevelt returned to New York from 
 his ranch in 1886 on the eve of a mayoralty campaign. 
 His return was in reality a recall, for in his absence he 
 had been nominated by an independent Committee of One 
 Hundred and by the Republican party as the Republican 
 candidate for Mayor of New York against Abram S. 
 Hewitt, who had been nominated by Tammany. Local 
 Republicanism had concluded that one known so widely 
 as a reformer, through his work in the Legislature, would 
 make an excellent candidate against the Democratic 
 choice. 
 
 But there was also in the race the noted apostle of 
 the single tax idea, Henry George, as the candidate of the 
 United Labor party, and a hot campaign resulted. 
 
 In accepting the nomination of the independent Com- 
 mittee of One Hundred, Mr. Roosevelt wrote : 
 
 ''The worst evils that affect our local government arise 
 from and are the inevitable results of the mixing up of 
 city affairs with the party politics of the nation and of 
 
 127 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 the State. The lines upon which national parties divide 
 have no necessary connection with the business of the 
 city. Such connection opens the way to countless schemes 
 of public pbinder and civic corruption. I earnestly depre- 
 cate all attempts to introduce any class or caste feeling 
 into the mayoralty contest." 
 
 Nevertheless, the appeal to these very feelings was 
 strongly made in this campaign. Something very much 
 like a panic was created among the business classes, with 
 the result that thousands of voters forsook party, and 
 doubtless influenced to some extent by the high qualifica- 
 tions of Mr. He^\4tt, cast their votes for the Tammany 
 nominee in their dread lest Plenry George be elected. The 
 result was that Mr. Hewitt was chosen and Roosevelt 
 sustained his first defeat as a candidate for public office. 
 He came out third in the fight, with a total of 60,435 votes, 
 against the 90,552 for Hewitt and 68,110 for Henry 
 George. Roosevelt and his cohorts got whatever happi- 
 ness they could out of the fact that his vote — in propor- 
 tion to the total number of votes cast — showed the big- 
 gest total ever before cast for a Republican mayoralty 
 candidate in Manhattan. 
 
 His Second Marriage 
 
 Soon after the election in 1886 Mr. Roosevelt sailed 
 for England, and there married Miss Edith Kermit 
 Carow. The ceremon}- took place in the famous St. 
 George's Church, Hanover Square, London, and the 
 officiating clergyman was a canon of the English church 
 who was a cousin of the bride. 
 
 Though married in London, Mrs. Roosevelt, who sur- 
 vives the Colonel, is an American and a New Yorker by 
 birth. Her great-grandfather, however, Benjamin Lee, 
 
 128 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 "-^ 
 
 
 President and Mrs. Roosevelt, with Kermit, Archie, Ethel, 
 Quentin and Theodore, Jr. 
 
o n 
 
 B 
 
 « e 
 
 b B 
 
 ^ s 
 to 
 
 E.S 
 
 Eo- 
 o 
 
 01 •J 
 
 Ei 
 
 10 o 
 
 to— o 
 
 2 5 S 
 
 ^ c c 
 
 < 01 o 
 
 ,., (y ** 
 ii C 
 
The Ride from Laramie to Cheyenne, Wyoming. From left to right — W. W. Daley, 
 
 Otto Gramm, Senator Warren, N. K. Boswell, Joseph Lefors, President 
 
 Roosevelt, Dr. Rixey, F. A. Hadsell, J. S. Atherly and Fred Porter. 
 
 Seth Bullock and W. L. Park are behind the others on the right. 
 
 At a Barbecue, Bismarck, North Dakota, Where President Roosevelt Enjoyed 
 Himself Among Men After His Own Heart. 
 
r 
 
 \^': 
 

ftETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE 
 
 was an Engiisliman who served in the British Navy dnr- 
 ing the War of the Revolution. At one time he was sen- 
 tenced to be shot for disobe}T.ng orders concerning prison- 
 ers in his care. He disobeyed them because he believed 
 the orders to be unjust and his life was saved through 
 the intercession of a brother-officer who afterwards 
 became William IV, the first sailor King of Great Britain. 
 Benjamin Lee came to America after the Revolution and 
 gained a commission as captain in the United States 
 Navy. 
 
 Another great-grandfather of Mrs. Roosevelt fought 
 at Bunker Hill under General Putnam. She is descended 
 from an old family of French Huguenots who settled in 
 New York about the time that the founder of the Roose- 
 velts came from Holland. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt and Miss Carow had known each other 
 since childhood, she and his sister being schoolmates. 
 Their union was a singularly fortunate and con- 
 genial one, blessed by happiness that was only ended 
 by death. Of their marriage four sons and a daugh- 
 ter were born, Theodore, Jr., Kermit, Archibald, 
 Quentin, and Ethel. Only the close friends of Colonel 
 Roosevelt comprehended his love of family, his adoration 
 of domestic simplicity and, indeed, what an immense part 
 Mrs. Roosevelt played in his career. She was very often 
 the restraining influence upon his characteristic impul- 
 siveness. 
 
 Ideal Domestic Life 
 
 No married couple ever lived a more happy, tranquil 
 life. Mrs. Roosevelt has been noted for her graceful 
 mastery of every social situation and few Presidential 
 ladies that ever adorned the White House had more suc- 
 cess than she in cultivating and preserving all of the 
 
 129 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 traditions of dignified hospitality that belonged to the 
 mansion of Presidents. 
 
 Up to the day of his sudden and lamented death, 
 Colonel Roosevelt never failed to pass the highest praise 
 and the most fragrant and enduring tributes to Mrs. 
 Roosevelt. "No woman in the history of the world," 
 said a recent writer, ''had so many opportunities to enjoy 
 the limelight of public applause and yet, with modesty, 
 refrained. In Mrs. Roosevelt we see the devoted, lo\'ing 
 wife and mother who illuminates in her graceful modesty 
 the highest type of genuine womanhood." 
 
 Ignored by the Bosses 
 
 On his return to America, some months after his mar- 
 riage, Mr. Roosevelt took up his literary work and 
 resumed his political connections in New York. But the 
 bosses, having learned to know him, and to know that he 
 could not be ''used," gave him no chance to get into a 
 position where he could make trouble for them. They did 
 their little best to ignore him. 
 
 Still owning the Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota, 
 Mr. Roosevelt passed most of his vacations on the great 
 plains for several years more, though his active ranching 
 days were done. The family life claimed him, but his 
 opportunities for public service were at hand. 
 
 In the Presidential campaign of 1888 he w^ent on the 
 stump for Benjamin Harrison. When Harrison was 
 elected he tendered his services to the new administra- 
 tion, and hoped to be appointed Assistant Secretary of 
 State. But James G. Blaine was the new Secretary of 
 State, and he had reason to remember his young New 
 York opponent in the Chicago convention of 1884. Mr. 
 Roosevelt therefore was not appointed to the State 
 Department. His destiny was already at work. 
 
 130 
 
RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE 
 
 Civil Service Commissioner 
 
 In May, 1889, President Harrison remembered Roose- 
 velt's fight in the New York State Assembly for Civil 
 Service reform, and appointed him a United States Civil 
 Service Commissioner. Immediately he jumped into a 
 programme of Civil Service uplift that met with instant 
 opposition from Congressmen, largely from the South 
 and Southwest, who saw their patronage privileges going 
 by the board if the Roosevelt programme was effected. 
 
 Thereupon Commissioner Roosevelt executed what 
 was considered a brilliant coup ; he instituted the practice 
 of having the examinations for positions in Washington 
 held in different states; and straightway many a Con- 
 gressman who knew by this plan pet constituents would 
 have to take examinations under the eyes of men who 
 often were not of the same political faith, became con- 
 verted on the spot to the beauties of civil service. 
 
 For six years his constant warfare with the spoilsmen 
 kept up an unending commotion among the politicians. 
 He thought nothing of antagonizing even the greatest 
 leaders in the Senate. 
 
 When he became president of the Civil Service Com- 
 mission 14,000 Government offices were under Civil Serv- 
 ice rules; when he left, in 1895, to run the New York 
 police, 40,000 offices were under Civil Service rules, and 
 the increase was due chiefly to his energy and persistence. 
 He served throughout Harrison's administration, and 
 was retained in office by President Cleveland, whom he 
 had helped, ten years before, to establish the Civil Service 
 on a firmer basis in New York State. 
 
 His six years spent at Washington as Civil Service 
 Commissioner proved a splendid training for Roose- 
 velt in a wider field than he had hitherto entered. He had 
 
 131 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 won the friendship and regard of public men from all 
 parts of the country; even those who were not in entire 
 sympathy ^vith the reforms which he represented recog- 
 nized his sincerity, fairness, and energy. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's attitude toward Ci\dl Seiwice and 
 the urgent need of it is succinctly set forth in the opening 
 of one of his essays on that subject. *'No question of 
 internal administration," he declared, "is so important 
 to the United States as the question of Civil Service 
 reform, because the spoils system, which can be sup- 
 planted only through the agencies which have found 
 expression in the act creating the Ci\^l Service Commis- 
 sion has been for seventy years the most potent of all the 
 forces tending to bring about the degradation of our 
 politics. No republic can permanently endure when its 
 politics are corrupt and base ; and the spoils system, the 
 application in political life of the degrading doctrine that 
 to the \dctor belong the spoils, produces corruption and 
 degradation. The man who is in politics for the offices 
 might just as well be in politics for the money he can get 
 for his vote, so far as the general good is concerned. 
 * * * The worst enemies of the republic are the dem- 
 agogue and the corruptionist. The spoils-monger and 
 the spoils-seeker invariably breed the bribe-taker and the 
 bribe-giver, the embezzler of public funds, and the cor- 
 rupter of voters. Ci"vil Service reform is not merely a 
 movement to better public service. It achieves this end 
 too; but its main purpose is to raise the tone of public 
 life, and it is in this direction that its effects have been of 
 incalculable good to the whole community. ' ' 
 
 Police Commissioner of New York 
 Mr. Roosevelt resigned as Civil Service Commissioner 
 May 5, 1895, and on May 24 accepted the appointment of 
 
 132 
 
RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE 
 
 Police Commissioner of New York City, tendered him 
 by Ma>or Strong. His associates on the board were 
 Andrew D. Parker, Frederick D. Grant, and Avery D. 
 Andrews. Mr. Roosevelt was chosen president of the 
 board, and from the first stamped his personality on the 
 department. 
 
 The election of Mayor Strong had been caused by the 
 Lexow exposures of police corruption in New York, and 
 the new Mayor realized that the problem of police man- 
 agement would be the crucial one of his administration. 
 He had therefore urged Mr. Roosevelt to take charge of 
 it, and the successful Civil Service Commissioner resigned 
 for that express purpose. 
 
 The new board found the force in a thoroughly demor- 
 alized and disorganized condition. Its first effort was to 
 bring order out of chaos by enforcing discipline and 
 substituting dismissals for the absurdly light penalties 
 heretofore imposed for insubordination and infraction 
 of the pohce regulations. In twenty months there were 
 169 dismissals, as compared with 76 in the four years 
 preceding. 
 
 A storm immediately burst about Mr. Roosevelt's 
 head, almost as great as that which he encountered in 
 reforming the Civil Service. He entered vigorously upon 
 the reorganization of the police force, and demanded the 
 rigid enforcement of all laws and ordinances. He was 
 warned by cautious friends that other commissioners had 
 tried the same thing and had failed; that the force was 
 so honeycombed with petty jealousies and favoritism and 
 blackmail that the board could never ascertain the truth 
 about what the men were doing. Roosevelt, though he 
 knew he had a Gibraltar of corruption to fight, smiled 
 and said : ''Well, we will see about that," and see about 
 
 133 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 it he did literally, for he personally sought the patrolmen 
 on their beats at unexpected hours of the night, inter- 
 viewed them as to their duties and whenever one was 
 found derelict he was promptly reprimanded or dis- 
 missed. The plan had a sudden and wholesome effect, 
 for no roundsman, no sergeant or police captain knew at 
 what hour the Commissioner might turn up and catch 
 him napping. 
 
 His Unusual Methods 
 
 The young Police Commissioner's unboanded genius 
 for the unusual immediately began to function. By 
 strolling Manhattan streets late into the night he got 
 evidence at tirst hand. He antagonized Jimmy Wakely, 
 then an all-powerful prize fight backer and saloon-keeper, 
 who had been led to believe the excise laws did not apply 
 to the Wakely ** place of business." He made police 
 station speeches to astonished bluecoats, who for the first 
 time heard a superior tell them that merit, not Tammany 
 pull, would result in promotion. 
 
 He had taken the job on the condition that he would 
 have free rein, and thereupon he drove headlong into the 
 work. As president of the board he started in to practice 
 what he preached, but the old Gibraltar reared a new 
 pinnacle in the form of local laws, which said that the 
 power of substantial reward was vested in the chief of 
 police, not in the Police Board. 
 
 Tom Byrnes, famed as a detective throughout the land, 
 was the chief of police. When Roosevelt went into the 
 Police Board and insisted on enforcing the excise laws 
 literally. Chief Byrnes said : *'It will break him. He will 
 have to yield in time. He is only human." With the 
 idea of beginning the reform at the top Roosevelt con- 
 vinced his board colleagues that the ** great" Tom Byrnes 
 
 134 
 
RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE 
 
 should go, and a whole city started at the audacity of the 
 idea. But into the Police Board rooms the mighty detec- 
 tive was summoned for an explosive interview. Ten min- 
 utes after the dust had settled Tom Byrnes, the mighty, 
 had sent in his resignation. 
 
 Peter Conlin, acting chief, was promoted to Byrnes' 
 job, the Commission figuring that Conlin, supposedly a 
 weak man, would take orders and carry them out. But, 
 unknown to Commissioner Roosevelt, Commissioner 
 Parker did not side altogether with the Roosevelt views of 
 police management, and Parker had great influence over 
 Chief Conlin. 
 
 Reform Plans Smashed 
 
 For a year Conlin did Roosevelt's bidding. Then the 
 chief grew headstrong to the point where Roosevelt found 
 himself unable to reward policemen as he had promised 
 or to punish where he had threatened. He faced about 
 and began to fight from a new angle ; he tried to get reme- 
 dial legislation passed that would solve his police diffi- 
 culties. He failed, and his reorganization work as 
 planned went to smash. 
 
 Policemen were growing rich, he knew, by protecting 
 saloon-keepers that steadily broke the Sunday excise law. 
 Out came the Roosevelt dictum — despite protests from 
 his friends that he was threatening the future success of 
 his own entire career — that every saloon in Manhattan 
 must obey the statute, which said saloons must close from 
 Saturday night to Monday. 
 
 Shrieks of anguish arose the length and breadth of the 
 island. Roosevelt's local popularity got a temporary set- 
 back. Chief Conlin seized the chance to be "^\ith the 
 crowd" and defied his Commissioner. The sum total of 
 the whole excise crusade demonstrated that there were 
 
 135 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 many honest policemen who would go straight if encour- 
 aged; that there were Police Commissioners who dared 
 do their duty; that traces of a rise in the morale of the 
 whole force were noticeable, and that — according to the 
 Eoosevelt figures — Sunday drinking had been cut do\\Ti 
 **40 per cent," while the wave lasted. 
 
 Scoffing Became Cheers 
 
 At the height of Commissioner Roosevelt's unpopu- 
 larity a monster parade was organized to show New 
 York's disgust with his policy. It paraded vdih such 
 signs as "Send the Police Czar to Russia." A perfunc- 
 tory in\dtation, or, perhaps, a sarcastic one, had been sent 
 to him, and to everybody's astonishment he arrived early 
 and took his seat on the reviewing stand. 
 
 Among the foremost of the paraders was a German, 
 who looked back with pride on the great host behind him. 
 Waving his hand, he shouted in a stentorian voice : 
 
 ' ' Nun, wo ist der Roosevelt ? " ( ' ' Where is Roosevelt 
 now?") 
 
 A beaming face, with a bulldog grin, looked dowm from 
 the stand. 
 
 **Hier bin ich. Was -wilst du, Kamerad?" ("Here I 
 am. What do you want, comrade?") 
 
 The German stopped, paralyzed with astonishment. 
 Then an answering grin overspread his o\\ti face. 
 
 "Hurrah for Roosevelt!" he shouted. His followers 
 took up the cry, and those who came to sc^ff remained 
 to cheer. 
 
 Under Commissioner Roosevelt a system of rewards 
 for bravery and meritorious conduct was inaugurated, 
 which had a salutaiy effect on the morale of the police 
 force. He abolished the annual police parade, declaring 
 "We'll parade when we need not be afraid to show our- 
 selves. ' ' 
 
 136 
 
RETURN TO PUBLIC LIFE 
 
 It is, however, ^^dth the enforcement of the excise law 
 that the name of Commissioner Roosevelt was always 
 most closely associated. When he went into office it was 
 almost a truism that the excise law could not be enforced 
 in New York City. The Roosevelt board made up their 
 minds to enforce it, with the result that for the first time 
 in its history the excise law was thoroughly and honestly 
 administered. 
 
 Of Roosevelt's time in the Police Department, Jacob 
 Riis significantly says, *'A much larger percentage of 
 policemen than many imagine look back to that time as 
 the golden age of the department, when every man had a 
 show on his merits, and many of their votes are quietly 
 cast on election day for the things 'Teddy' stands for." 
 
 His Attitude Toward Labor 
 
 With regard to Mr. Roosevelt's attitude toward labor 
 when Police Commissioner, Mr. Riis says: 
 
 '*! had watched police administration in Mulberry 
 Street for nearly twenty years, and I had seen many 
 sparring matches between workingmen and the Police 
 Board. Generally, there was bad faith on one side ; not 
 infrequently on both. It was human that some of the 
 labor men should misinterpret Mr. Roosevelt's motives 
 when, as President of the Board, he sent w^ord that he 
 wanted to meet them and talk strike troubles over with 
 them. They got it into their heads, I suppose, that he 
 had come to crawl; but they were speedily undeceived. 
 I can see his face now, as he checked the first one who 
 hinted at trouble. I fancy that man can see it, too — in 
 his dreams. 
 
 ^' 'Gentlemen,' said Mr. Roosevelt, 'I have come to 
 get your point of view, and see if we can't agree to help 
 
 137 
 
LIFE OF THEODOKE ROOSEVELT 
 
 each other out. But we want to make it clear to our- 
 selves at the start that the greatest damage any working- 
 man can do to his cause is to counsel violence. Order 
 must be maintained; and make no mistake, I will main- 
 tain it.'" 
 
 The men cheered him. There was perfect confidence 
 on both sides. Roosevelt said, ''We understand each 
 other, and will get along." 
 
 But the Gibraltar of corruption was too strong in 
 those days even for a Roosevelt. He resigned from the 
 department on April 17, 1897, to accept an appointment 
 from the McKinley administration as Assistant Secre- 
 tary of the Navy. Here was a job to his hking. 
 
 138 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 HIS WORK FOR THE NAVY 
 
 Assistant Secretary of the Navy Department — His 
 Record as a Naval Author — Cutting Red Tape — 
 Foresaw War with Spain — His Preparedness Order 
 to Dewey — Improved American Gunnery, 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt had always been interested in the 
 United States Navy, with the interest of a patriotic citi- 
 zen born on the seaboard and of a far-seeing young man 
 of affairs. That laudable interest, which he possessed in 
 full measure when he went to Washington in March, 
 1897, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he retained 
 throughout his subsequent career, and it was strongly 
 demonstrated in the public utterances of the closing years 
 of his life, when his beloved country was at war and the 
 Navy emerged triumphant from the test. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's interest in naval affairs was at first 
 that of an author and historian. In his college days at 
 Harvard he had written some chapters of his ''Naval 
 History of the War of 1812," which was published in 
 1882, two years after his graduation, when he was twen- 
 ty-four years old. The subject attracted him because he 
 believed that the existing histories, read by the American 
 people, were one-sided in their treatment of the facts. 
 
 His naval history was so impartial and so successful 
 that the critics of the greatest authority commended him, 
 declaring that ''the impartiality of the author's judg- 
 
 139 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 raent and the thoroughness with which the evidence is 
 sifted are remarkable and worthy of high praise." As 
 a result, when an English publisher was preparing a 
 history of the British Navy, Mr. Roosevelt was asked to 
 A\Tite the history of its exploits in the War of 1812. Thus 
 he made himself an authority on naval affairs at an age 
 when most young men are authorities only on sports, if 
 on amiihing at all. 
 
 It was therefore with alacrity, if not eagerness, that 
 Mr. Roosevelt accepted the appointment to the Na\^ 
 Department. He felt that it was urgently necessar>^ to 
 strengthen the naval arm as a means of national defense, 
 and he welcomed the opportunity to take part in its 
 upbuilding. 
 
 Cutting Red Tape 
 
 He had not been long at Washington before he discov- 
 ered that many e\'ils had grown up that would seriously 
 handicap the department if suddenly brought face to face 
 ^rith the problem of preparing for war. He at once set 
 under way a general overhauling of the various bureaus, 
 cutting red tape in every direction. The list of merchant 
 vessels that could be drafted for an auxiliary nav>^ was 
 incomplete and faulty, and he undertook to revise it. He 
 framed an important personnel bill. He started the navy 
 on a course of real gunneiy so ao to improve marksman- 
 ship. He distributed ships and supplies where they would 
 be of most help and use if a storm burst, particularly 
 remembering to place ships in Pacific waters, where they 
 might loaf expectantly in the general neighborhood of 
 the Philippines. 
 
 Scarcely had he got his feet under a Navy Department 
 desk when he asked for— and got— $800,000 for powder 
 and shell for the nav'A-. A few months later he wanted 
 
 140 
 
WOKK FOR THE NAVY 
 
 $500,000 more. The representatives of the people asked 
 him, aghast, what had become of the ammunition pur- 
 chased with the $800,000 handed to his department. 
 
 ** Great heavens !" he cried, equally aghast at the ques- 
 tion. *' What do you suppose we did mth it? We fired it. 
 And this new half-million dollars' worth of ammunition 
 will all be exploded thirty days after we get it. What 
 else do you want to know, gentlemen ? ' ' 
 
 Foresaw War With Spain 
 
 From the start he scented distant, and not so very 
 distant, trouble ^vith Spain. With all the thunder he used 
 a score of years later while booming for preparedness for 
 the greatest of all wars. Assistant Secretary of the Navy 
 Roosevelt, back in 1897, thundered for naval prepared- 
 ness for a Spanish war which he believed inevitable. He 
 gave all the vigor of his being to the repair and general 
 overhauling of what ships we then owned. With the 
 utmost ardor he began to assemble ammunition, supplies 
 of all kinds. 
 
 For command of the Asiatic fleet certain politicians 
 were pushing an officer of the respectable, commonplace 
 type. Roosevelt determined to get the appointment for 
 Commodore Dewey, who was that officer's junior and who 
 had no political backing, but whose career Roosevelt had 
 been watching. He enlisted the services of Senator Red- 
 field Proctor, whom he knew to be close to the President, 
 checkmated the politicians and secured the appointment 
 which resulted in so much glory for the American Navy. 
 
 AVhen at last the Spanish War actually came in 1898, 
 Roosevelt's tireless energy supplemented the work of 
 Secretary Long in an invaluable manner. Upon him 
 devolved the duty of organizing and refitting the auxil- 
 iaries and purchasing colliers. His quick decision and 
 
 141 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 prompt action in many matters of importance had an 
 important bearing on the subsequent naval successes of 
 Manila Bay and Santiago. It was he who urged success- 
 fully that Admiral Dewey be retained in command of the 
 Asiatic station when it was proposed to supplant him, and 
 one of his last official acts was to write the famous dis- 
 patch which sent Dewey to Manila. 
 
 When the last of the Spanish AVar smoke had settled, 
 and the experts began to check things up, it was generally 
 admitted that much of the navy's success had been due to 
 gunners who had gained their expertness while firing 
 Roosevelt's real ammunition in preparation for the scrim- 
 mage. The shooting was not good in that war, but had it 
 not been for Mr. Roosevelt's ideas, it w^ould have been 
 atrocious. 
 
 As it was, we proved to be better marksmen than the 
 Spaniards, but Mr. Roosevelt was not satisfied. He wrote 
 later in his autobiography : '*I grew uneasy when I stud- 
 ied the small portion of hits to shots made by our vessels 
 in battle. When I was President I took up the matter and 
 speedily became convinced that we needed to revolution- 
 ize our whole training in marksmanship. ' ' 
 
 He did revolutionize it and made the United States 
 fleet, gun for gun, at least three times as effective in point 
 of fighting efficiency in 1908 as it was in 1902. 
 
 Ordered Dev^ey to Prepare 
 
 In the records of the Navy Department, Theodore 
 Roosevelt has left many memorials, but none more strik- 
 ing than an order cabled to Admiral Dewey on February 
 25, 1898, nearly two months before war w^as declared on 
 Spain, in which the first step toward American occupa- 
 tion of the Philippine Islands was taken. 
 
 142 
 
WORK FOR THE NAVY 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt, as Assistant Secretary, issued the 
 order without the knowledge or approval of Secretary 
 Long, and in his autobiography he described this as one 
 of the times when he seized opportunities presented by 
 the absence of the Secretary to take steps toward prepar- 
 ation for war which he regarded as vital. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt had repeatedly urged that prompt 
 action be taken to make ready for war. He believed 
 Admiral, then Commodore Dewey, commanding the Asia- 
 tic fleet, should be given advance instructions. No 
 instructions were sent to Dewey, however, and when Mr. 
 Long departed from Washington on February 25, leaving 
 Roosevelt as Acting Secretary, this order in Roosevelt's 
 name went over the cables : 
 
 "Dewey, Hongkong: — Secret and confidential. Order the 
 squadron, except Monocacy, to Hongkong. Keep full of coal. 
 In event of declaration of war on Spain your duty will be to 
 see that Spanish squadron does not leave Asiatic coast, and 
 then offensive operations in Philippine Islands. Keep Olympia 
 (Dewey's flagship at Manila Bay, previously ordered home) 
 until further orders. (Signed) Roosevelt." 
 
 In discussing this and similar steps he took, Mr. 
 Roosevelt told, in his account of his own life, of what he 
 regarded as the greatest weakness of the navy at that 
 time, its poor gunnery. He recalled many letters written 
 on this subject by the American naval attache at Paris, 
 then Lieutenant, now Vice-Admiral Sims, and declared 
 that this young officer alone seemed to realize fully the 
 deplorable state of the navy in this regard on the eve of 
 war. 
 
 Improved American Gunnery 
 
 Subsequently, as President, Mr. Roosevelt singled out 
 Sims and placed him at the head of naval gunnery, which 
 
 143 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 resulted in development of the present high standards of 
 marksmanship in the United States Nav}'. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt then coined the phrase that '^only holes 
 mean hits, and the shots that hit are the shots that 
 count. ' ' 
 
 The keen study given to naval matters by Mr. Roose- 
 velt while Assistant Secretary was shown later in his first 
 message as President to Congress, which included more 
 than one hundred specific recommendations as to the 
 navy. Throughout the time he was President, Mr. Roose- 
 velt showed the keenest interest in the development of the 
 navy. Finally he sent the Atlantic fleet, under Rear 
 Admiral (Fighting Bob) Evans, on its memorable cruise 
 around the world, the first and last voyage of its kind 
 ever undertaken by any battle fleet. 
 
 The Navy Our Peacemaker 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's more recent views on the navy were 
 expressed in his volume on "America and the World 
 War," published in 1915 (Charles Scribner's Sons), in 
 which he said : 
 
 "Until an efficient world league for peace is in more 
 than mere process of formation the United States must 
 depend upon itself for protection where its vital interests 
 are concerned. All the youth of the nation should be 
 trained in warlike exercises and in the use of arms — as 
 well as in the indispensable virtues of courage, self- 
 restraint, and endurance — so as to be fit for national 
 defense. But the right arm of the nation must be its 
 navy. Our navy is our most efficient peacemaker. In 
 order to use the navy effectively we should clearly define 
 to ourselves the policy we intend to follow and the Umits 
 over which we expect our power to extend. Our own 
 coasts, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Panama Canal and its 
 
 144 
 

 
 
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 President Roosevelt in the Act of Leaping One of the Hedges at the Chevy 
 
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WORK FOR THE NAVY 
 
 approaches should represent the sphere in which we 
 should expect to be able, single-handed, to meet and mas- 
 ter any opponent from overseas. 
 
 The Philippine Question 
 
 "I exclude the PhiUppines. This is because I feel 
 that the present administration has definitely committed 
 us to a course of action which will make the early and 
 complete severance of the Philippines from us not merely 
 desirable but necessary. I have never felt that the Phil- 
 ippines were of any special use to us. But I have felt 
 that we had a great task to perform there, and that a 
 great nation is benefited by performing a great task. It 
 was our bounden duty to work primarily for the interests 
 of the Filipinos ; but it was also our bounden duty, inas- 
 much as the entire responsibility lay upon us, to consult 
 our own judgment and not theirs in finally deciding what 
 was to be done. It was our duty to govern the islands or 
 to get out of the islands. It was most certainly not our 
 duty to take the responsibility of staying in the islands 
 without governing them. Still less was it — or is it — our 
 duty to enter into joint arrangements with other powers 
 about the islands; arrangements of confused responsi- 
 bility and divided power of the kind are sure to cause 
 mischief. I had hoped that we would continue to govern 
 the islands until we were certain that they were able to 
 govern themselves in such fashion as to do justice to 
 other nations and to repel injustice committed on them 
 by other nations. To substitute for such government by 
 ourselves either a government by the Filipinos with us 
 guarantee!' g them against outsiders, or a joint guarantee 
 between us and outsiders, would be folly. 
 
 *'It is eminently desirable to guarantee the neutrality 
 of small civilized nations which have a high social and 
 
 145 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 cultural status and which are so advanced that they do 
 not fall into disorder or commit wrong-doing on others. 
 But it is eminently undesirable to guarantee the neutrah 
 ity or sovereignty of an inherently weak nation which is 
 impotent to preserve order at home, to repel assaults 
 from abroad, or to refrain from doing wrong to outsiders. 
 It is even more undesirable to give such a guarantee with 
 no intention of making it really effective. That this is 
 precisely what the present administration would be 
 delighted to do has been shown by its refusal to live up to 
 its Hague promises at the very time that it was making 
 similar new international promises by the batch. To 
 enter into a joint guarantee of neutrality which in emer- 
 gencies can only be rendered effective by force of arms, 
 is to incur a serious responsibility which ought to be 
 undertaken in a serious spirit. To enter into it \yit\i no 
 intention of using force, or of preparing force, in order 
 at need to make it effective, represents the kind of silli- 
 ness which is worse than wickedness. 
 
 Should Keep Our Promises 
 
 "Above all, we should keep our promises. The pres- 
 ent administration was elected on the outright pledge of 
 giving the Filipinos independence. Apparently its course 
 in the Philippines has proceeded upon the theory that the 
 Filipinos are now fit to govern themselves. Whatever 
 may be our personal and individual beliefs in this matter, 
 we ought not as a nation to break faith or even to seem 
 to break faith. I hope therefore that the Filipinos will 
 be given their independence at an early date, and without 
 any guarantee from us which might in any way hamper 
 our future action or commit us to staying on the Asiatic 
 coast. I do not believe we should keep any foothold what- 
 ever in the Philippines. Any kind of position by us in 
 
 146 
 
WORK FOR THE NAVY 
 
 the Philippines merely results in making them our heel of 
 Achilles if we are attacked by a foreign power. They can 
 be of no compensating benefit to us. If we were to retain 
 complete control over them and to continue the course of 
 action which in the past sixteen years has resulted in such 
 immeasurable benefit for them, then I should feel that it 
 was our duty to stay and work for them in spite of the 
 expense incurred by us and the risk we thereby ran. But 
 inasmuch as we have now promised to leave them and as 
 we are now abandoning our power to work efiiciently for 
 and in them, I do not feel that we are warranted in stay- 
 ing in the islands in an equivocal position, thereby incur- 
 ring great risk to ourselves without conferring any real 
 compensating advantage, of a kind which we are bound 
 to take into account, on the FiHpinos themselves. If the 
 Filipinos are entitled to independence, then we are enti- 
 tled to be freed from all the responsibility and risk which 
 our presence in the islands entails upon us. 
 
 ''The great nations of southernmost South America, 
 Brazil, the Argentine, and Chile, are now so far advanced 
 in stabihty and power that there is no longer any need of 
 applying the Monroe Doctrine as far as they are con- 
 cerned ; and this also relieves us as regards Uruguay and 
 Paraguay, the former of which is well advanced and 
 neither of which has any interests with which we need 
 particularly concern ourselves. As regards all these 
 powers, therefore, we now have no duty save that doubt- 
 less if they got into difficulties and desired our aid we 
 would gladly extend it, just as, for instance, we would to 
 Australia and Canada. But we can now proceed on the 
 assumption that they are able to help themselves and 
 that any help we should be required to give would be 
 given by us as an auxiliary rather than as a principal. 
 
 147 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 The Naval Problem 
 
 **Our naval problem, therefore, is primarily to pro- 
 vide for the protection and policing of Hawaii, Alaska, 
 and the Panama Canal and its approaches. This offers a 
 definite problem which should be solved by our naval men. 
 It is for them, having in view the lessons taught by this 
 war, to say what is the exact type of fleet we require, the 
 number and kind of submarines, of destroyers, of mines, 
 and of airships to be used against hostile fleets, in addi- 
 tion to the cruisers and great fighting craft which must 
 remain the backbone of the navy. Civilians may be com- 
 petent to pass on the merits of the plans suggested by the 
 naval men, but it is the naval men themselves who must 
 make and submit the plans in detail. Lay opinion, how- 
 ever, should keep certain elementary facts steadily in 
 mind. 
 
 **The navy must primarily be used for offensive pur- 
 poses. Forts, not the navy, are to be used for defense. 
 The only permanently efficient type of defensive is the 
 offensive. A portion, and a very important portion, of 
 our naval strength must be used with our own coast ordi- 
 narily as a base, its striking radius being only a few score 
 miles, or a couple of hundred at the outside. The events 
 of this war have shown that submarines can play a tre- 
 mendous part. We should develop our force of subma- 
 rines and train the officers and crews who have charge of 
 them to the highest pitch of efficiency — for they will be 
 useless in time of war unless those aboard them have been 
 trained in time of peace. These submarines, when used 
 in connection with destroyers and with airships, can 
 undoubtedly serve to minimize the danger of successful 
 attack on our own shores. But the prime lesson of the 
 war, as regards the navy, is that the nation A\dth a power- 
 
 148 
 
WORK FOR THE NAVY 
 
 ful seagoing navy, although it may suffer much annoy- 
 ance and loss, yet is able on the whole to take the offensive 
 and do great damage to a nation with a less powerful 
 navy. Great Britain's naval superiority over Germany 
 has enabled her completely to paralyze all Germany's sea 
 commerce and to prevent goods from entering her ports. 
 What is far more important, it has enabled the British to 
 land hundreds of thousands of men to aid the French, and 
 has enabled Canada and Australia to send a half -million 
 men from the opposite ends of the earth to Great Britain. 
 If Germany had had the more powerful navj, Great Brit- 
 lain would now have suffered the fate of Belgium. * * * 
 The Experience of 1898 
 
 **It has been said that the United States never learns 
 by experience but only by disaster. Such method of edu- 
 cation may at times prove costly. The slothful or short- 
 sighted citizens who are now misled by the cries of the 
 ultra-pacifists would do well to remember events con- 
 nected with the outbreak of the war with Spain. I was 
 then Assistant Secretary of the Navy. At one bound our 
 people passed from a condition of smug confidence that 
 war never could occur (a smug confidence just as great 
 as any we feel at present) to a condition of utterly unreas- 
 oning panic over what might be done to us by a very weak 
 antagonist. 
 
 ''One Governor of a seaboard State announced that 
 none of the National Guard regiments would be allowed 
 to respond to the call of the President, because they 
 would be needed to prevent a Spanish invasion of that 
 State— the Spaniards being about as likely to make such 
 an invasion as we were to invade Timbuctoo or Turke- 
 stan. One Congressman besought me to send a battleship 
 to protect Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia. 
 
 149 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Another Congressman asked me to send a battleship to 
 protect a summer colony which centered around a large 
 Atlantic-coast hotel in Connecticut. In my own neighbor- 
 hood on Long Island, clauses were gravely inserted into 
 the leases of property to the effect that if the Spaniards 
 destroyed the property the leases should terminate. 
 Chambers of commerce, boards of trade, municipal 
 authorities, leading business men, from one end of the 
 country to the other, hysterically demanded, each of them, 
 that a ship should be stationed to defend some particular 
 locality ; the theory being that our navy should be strung 
 along both seacoasts, each ship by itself, in a purely 
 defensive attitude — thereby making certain that even the 
 Spanish navy could pick them all up in detail. 
 
 ''One railway president came to protest to me against 
 the choice of Tampa as a point of embarkation for our 
 troops, on the ground that his railway was entitled to its 
 share of the profit of transporting troops and munitions 
 of war, and that his railway went to New Orleans. The 
 very Senators and Congressmen who had done everything 
 in their power to prevent the building up and the efficient 
 training of the navy screamed and shrieked loudest to 
 have the navy diverted from its proper purpose and used 
 to protect unimportant seaports. Surely our Congress- 
 men and, above all, our people, need to learn that in time 
 of crisis peace treaties are worthless, and the ultra-paci- 
 fists of both sexes merely a burden on and a detriment to 
 the country as a whole ; that the only permanently useful 
 defensive is the offensive, and that the navy is properly 
 the offensive weapon of the nation. 
 
 "The navy of the TTnited States is the right arm of 
 the United States and is emphatically the peacemaker. 
 Woe to our country if we permit that right arm to become 
 palsied or even to become flabby and inefficient!" 
 
 150 
 
CHAPTER Vin 
 THE ROUGH RIDERS 
 
 Destruction of the "Maine''— Roosevelt Resigns from 
 the Navy Department — Organizes the Rough Riders — 
 Leonard Wood as Colonel — Record of the Regiment^ 
 Las Guasimas and San Juan Hill — Praise from Gen- 
 eral Wheeler— The Famous "Round Rohin"— Return 
 to the United States. 
 
 As early as June, 1897, Mr. Roosevelt, addressing the 
 naval cadets at Annapolis, repeated Washington's warn- 
 ing: "To be prepared for war is the most effectual 
 means to promote peace," and with great emphasis he 
 uttered these words: ''All the great masterful races 
 have been fighting races. Cowardice in a race, as in an 
 individual, is the unpardonable sin." 
 
 Also about that time, a year before our clash of arms 
 with Spain, he said : ''The enemies we may have to face 
 will come from over the sea ; they may come from Europe, 
 or they may come from Asia. Events move fast in the 
 West ; but this generation has been forced to see that they 
 move even faster in the oldest East. Our interests are as 
 great in the Pacific as in the Atlantic, in the Hawaiian 
 Islands as in the West Indies. Merely for the protection 
 of our own shores we need a great navy; and what is 
 more, we need it to protect our interests in the islands 
 from which it is possible to command our shores, and to 
 protect our commerce on the high seas." 
 
 151 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 On the night of February 15, 1898, the United States 
 battleship Maine was treacherously destroyed with hesivy 
 loss of life, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, while on a 
 visit of courtesy to that "friendly" port. Captain Sigs- 
 bee, of the sunken craft, appealed to the American people 
 for the suspension of their judgment until an official 
 investigation had determined the exact cause. But the 
 case against the Spanish oppressors of Cuba had already 
 been tried by American common sense and they were 
 promptly deemed guilty of the fresh crime. 
 
 It meant war — the inevitable war, foreseen by Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt in the Navy Department. Thanks to his 
 foresight and persistence in preparation, the fleet was 
 ready. When on April 25, after a period of delay due to 
 unpreparedness of other departments of the ser\dce, 
 Congress declared war against Spain, Theodore Roose- 
 velt obeyed the impulse that started him toward a place 
 among the immortals of American history. He resigned 
 his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to seek more 
 active service in the war. The Secretary of the Navy, 
 John D. Long, urged him to withhold his resignation and 
 remain in the department where he was doing such valu- 
 able service; but he had determined his course of duty, 
 and proceeded to follow it. 
 
 The routine work of a department even in war time, 
 did not suit Mr. Roosevelt, and he determined to forsake 
 the desk for the field. "There is nothing more for me to 
 do here in Washington," he told the friends who expostu- 
 lated with him. "I've got to go into the fight myself." 
 
 At first he applied for a position on the staff of Gen- 
 eral Fitzhugh Lee, the famous Southerner who had been 
 detailed for service in Cuba. When he found out that he 
 could not obtain that, he turned his attention to a project 
 
 152 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS 
 
 that had long been a favorite with him. This project was 
 the recruiting of a regiment of trained horsemen, includ- 
 ing cowboys of the Western plains, polo players and fox- 
 hunters of the East, men who could ''ride well and shoot 
 straight" from every class and section of the country. 
 The plan was approved by the War Department and 
 thereupon the Roosevelt Rough Riders came into being. 
 
 The Rush of Recruits 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt threw himself enthusiastically into the 
 work of organization. His name acted as a talisman in 
 securing the right material, and the ranks of the regiment 
 were soon filled. The scene of mobilization was San 
 Antonio, Texas, and never was a regiment raised with 
 greater ease or more enthusiasm. 
 
 From all the West and all the East the Rough Riders 
 came — ''guns barking, cayuses bucking ecstatically. Into 
 San Anton' poured football halfbacks, college baseball 
 stars, daredevils all the way from cattle mining towns in 
 Montana to Sixth Avenue in New York; cow punchers 
 who had 'dropped their man' for good in the Bad Lands, 
 clubmen, seafarers, explorers, crack shots — adventurers 
 all and splendid young Americans." 
 
 Their mobilization had all the thrilling effect on the 
 imagination of a country going to war against Spain that 
 was lacking in the machinelike mobilization of the same 
 nation going to war with Germany twenty years later. 
 
 Leonard Wood Appointed Colonel 
 Very wisely and with characteristic good judgment 
 Theodore Roosevelt chose a secondary command, that of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel, in the regiment he had raised. His 
 influence secured the appointment as Colonel for his 
 friend, Leonard Wood, one of the best soldiers in the 
 
 153 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 service of the country — in those days forced to stand idly 
 on the side lines as a mere physician to the White House, 
 just as the same Leonard Wood was compelled to stand 
 to one side during the bigger conflict that came twenty 
 years later. 
 
 Leonard Wood had the advantage of Roosevelt in that 
 he had seen real fighting (which was rewarded with the 
 treasured Congressional Medal of Honor) against the 
 Apaches both as a medical and a line officer. He had also 
 made a recent personal survey of the military situation 
 and conditions in Cuba. 
 
 The Rough Riders' Record 
 
 When mobilization was completed and the Rough 
 Riders had been partially equipped, the regiment was 
 transferred from San Antonio to Tampa, Florida, to 
 await orders. Roosevelt and Wood were eager for active 
 service, and when Admiral Cervera's Spanish fleet locked 
 itself in Santiago harbor, Roosevelt became con^-inced 
 that the first land fighting was to take place at that point. 
 He thereupon secured the attachment of his regiment to 
 General Shafter's command, and when the latter was 
 transferred to Cuban soil it was Roosevelt's prompt 
 action that secured for his men the most coveted passage 
 on army transports, when other less fortunate regiments 
 were compelled to remain behind until all the fighting was 
 over. Several troops of the Rough Riders, with all their 
 horses, were also left behind. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt's conviction proved 
 right. Li the first conflict with the Spanish, at Las Guasi- 
 mas, near Santiago (June 24, 1898), the Rough Riders 
 saw severe fighting and conducted themselves well. 
 Before another engagement Colonel Wood was promoted 
 
 154 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS 
 
 to Brigadier-General, and Colonel Roosevelt became com- 
 mander of the regiment. 
 
 The Rough Riders took part in the assault on San- 
 tiago (July 1), Roosevelt displaj'ing great bravery and 
 leading his men in person. Before the fighting was over, 
 the death or wounding of the other commanding officers 
 left him the ranking officer of the brigade. The regiment 
 was under fire all the next day and night, but maintained 
 the position on San Juan hill which it had won. The 
 Rough Riders then lay in the trenches before the city 
 until its surrender, Roosevelt being in command of the 
 Second Brigade of the Cavalry Division, from the middle 
 of July. 
 
 Discipline and Fighting Ability 
 
 Tales came back of a lack of formal discipline in the 
 wild band under Colonel Roosevelt (now become ''The 
 Colonel" for all time), but never was there a tale indicat- 
 ing a lack of rough-and-tumble fighting ability. 
 
 A lack of knowledge that at least a "sir" should be 
 strung along the conversation occasionally when address- 
 ing one's Colonel, did not seem to impede the rapidity of 
 progress of the Rough Riders once they had got within 
 sight of the battle smoke in Cuba; nor did it prevent 
 them from giving a good account of themselves at Las 
 Guasimas and around Santiago. 
 
 Tales also sprang up, and still persist, that the Rough 
 Riders blundered into a Spanish ambush, at Kettle Hill, 
 and that only the opportune backing of the brave blacks 
 of the Tenth Cavalry saved the Rough Riders from being 
 smashed to smithereens; but all wars have inaccurate 
 traditions ; and there was never a doubt as to the excellent 
 record of the regiment the Colonel put into that war. 
 
 155 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Nicknames in the Regiment 
 
 In his book, "The Rough Riders," Colonel Roosevelt 
 has given us an intimate glimpse of some of the charac- 
 ters in the regiment, as follows : 
 
 ''The men generally gave one another nicknames, 
 largely conferred in a spirit of derision, their basis lying 
 in contrast. A brave but fastidious member of an East- 
 ern club, who was serving in the ranks, was christened 
 
 * Tough Ike'; and his bunMe, the man who shared his 
 shelter-tent, and who was a decidedly rough cow-puncher, 
 gradually acquired the name of *The Dude.' One 
 unlucky and simple-minded range-rider, who had never 
 been east of the great plains in his life, unwarily boasted 
 that he had an aunt in New York, and ever afterward 
 he went by the name of ' Metropolitan Bill. ' A huge red- 
 headed Irishman was named * Sheeny Solomon. ' A young 
 Jew who developed into one of the best fighters in the 
 regiment accepted with entire equanimity the name of 
 
 * Pork-chop. ' We had quite a number of professional 
 gamblers who, I am bound to say, usually made good sol- 
 diers. One who was almost abnormally quiet and gentle 
 was called 'Hell-roarer'; while another who, in point of 
 language and deportment, was his exact antithesis, was 
 known as 'Prayerful James.' " 
 
 The Famous "Round Robin" 
 
 When the Rough Riders went into camp in the hills 
 about El Caney, after the capture of the city of Santiago, 
 it was the season of rains and the men suffered a good 
 deal from exposure, while the food supplies were far 
 from satisfactory. Then occurred the incident of the 
 famous "round robin," or joint letter, addressed to Gen- 
 eral Shafter. 
 
 166 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS 
 
 The officers and men who had undergone the hard- 
 ships of the campaign were anxious to return north to 
 recuperate, now that the fighting was over for the time 
 being. The damp summer season mth its malaria and 
 yellow fever was affecting the health of the regiment, and 
 casualties were unavoidable so long as it remained in 
 Cuba. The men did not complain when there was fighting 
 to be done, but they objected to being sacrificed to no 
 good purpose. On August 4 all the general officers of 
 General Shafter's command therefore united in a letter 
 of protest asking that the troops be moved north, and 
 declaring that ''this army must be moved at once or 
 perish." 
 
 The letter was written by Colonel Roosevelt, and was 
 signed by Generals Chaffee, Bates, Sumner, Kent, Ames, 
 and Wood. Folio-wing its receipt, General Shafter con- 
 curred in its decision and officially transmitted to Wash- 
 ington a request for the removal of the troops. At the 
 same time the letter was made public, and public clamor 
 was added to the official recommendation. There was a 
 tendency in some quarters to criticize the method adopted 
 by the signers as unmilitary and subversive of good disci- 
 pline. War Secretary Alger declared that '4t would be 
 impossible to exaggerate the mischievous and wicked 
 effects" of it. But the end sought was accomplished, and 
 within three days the entire command w^as ordered north. 
 Colonel Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were ordered to 
 Camp Wyckoff (afterwards Camp Wheeler) at Montauk 
 Point, N. Y., where they arrived on August 15, 1898. 
 
 The official reports show that the casualties in Colonel 
 Roosevelt's regiment in Cuba were both more numerous 
 and more severe than those of any of the regular regi- 
 ments engaged. The Rough Riders lost more officers 
 
 157 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 than any other regiment ; they had more men killed, more 
 men wounded, and fewer missing. They nobly sustained 
 the honor and traditions of the American volunteer sol- 
 dier, though there was "glory enough for all." 
 Praised by General Wheeler 
 General Joseph Wheeler (the beloved '* Joe" Wheeler 
 of the South) was in command of the Cavalry Division 
 to which the Rough Riders (dismounted) were attached 
 in Cuba. He sailed from Port Tampa with them and 
 after the war he wrote of the campaign (and Colonel 
 Roosevelt's share therein) as follows : 
 
 "On June 20, 1898, we reached Daiquiri, Cuba. On 
 the morning of the 22nd the navy, with steam and naph- 
 tha launches to^^ing large strings of boats, commenced 
 landing our troops. General Shafter put Lawton's divi- 
 sion and Bates' brigade before us. We felt this keenly, 
 and knowing that the purpose was to get ashore promptly, 
 we commenced landing with our own ship's boats, rowed 
 by our men. Roosevelt's energy and push helped very 
 much in this effort, and before night we had landed 964 
 officers and men of the Cavalry Division. 
 
 "On the 22nd General Lawton was ordered with his 
 division, about five thousand strong, to march upon and 
 capture the enemy at Siboney, so that the remainder of 
 the troops and supplies could be landed at that place, 
 which is nine miles nearer Santiago than Daiquiri. 
 
 "Lawton reached Siboney on the 23rd, but found that 
 the enemy had already evacuated that place and had 
 taken the road toward Santiago. At noon on the 23rd 
 General Shafter had not heard from Lawton, and he 
 ordered the commander of the Cavalry Division (General 
 WHieeler), with the 964 men of his command, to proceed 
 to Siboney and put his advance close to the enemy. 
 
 158 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS 
 
 ''The division commander ordered Young, Wood, 
 and Roosevelt forward and hastened on in person, and 
 finally found the enemy stationed on the Santiago road 
 between two and three miles from Siboney. He recon- 
 noitered the Spanish position and after dark returned to 
 Siboney. Before daylight these 964 dismounted cavalry- 
 men were on the march, and a little after seven they 
 attacked, and after a severe fight defeated a large Span- 
 ish force under Lieutenant-General Linares. 
 
 ''This was Roosevelt's first experience under fire, and 
 his superb conduct immediately established him as a 
 brave and intrepid soldier. The official report of the 
 division commander said: 'The magnificent and brave 
 work done by the regiment, under the lead of Colonel 
 Wood, testifies to his courage and skill. The energy and 
 determination of this officer had been marked from the 
 moment he reported to me at Tampa, Florida, and I 
 recommended him for the consideration of the Govern- 
 ment. I must rely upon his report to do ju,stice to his 
 officers and men, but I desire personally to add that all 
 that I have said regarding Colonel Wood applies equally 
 to Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt.' 
 
 "On July 1, on account of the sickness of General 
 Young, his brigade fell under the command of Colonel 
 Wood, and the Rough Riders' regiment was commanded 
 by Colonel Roosevelt during the San Juan battle and in 
 all the engagements which terminated in the surrender 
 of the Spanish army. 
 
 "My endorsement upon Colonel Roosevelt's report 
 contained these words : ' Colonel Roosevelt and his entire 
 command deserve high commendation.' I also recom- 
 mended and requested that a gold medal be awarded him 
 for his gallantry at San Juan. 
 
 159 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 **The conduct of Colonel Roosevelt was brave and sol- 
 dierly. He was always at the front, always active, always 
 caring for his men, and always solicitous in attending to 
 his duty. 
 
 '*In August we sailed together upon the Miami for 
 Montauk Point. He had become Colonel of the regiment, 
 and his excellent discipline and administration upon ship- 
 board deserved high commendation. 
 
 ' ' I saw much of him on the voyage, which lasted some- 
 thing over a week. I many times repeated that his party 
 would immediately seek him as their candidate for Gov- 
 ernor of New York, and that his wonderful civil career, 
 supplemented by his short but very brilliant record as a 
 soldier, would cause the American people to finally elect 
 him to the highest office within their gift. This expres- 
 sion of mine was published very generally in the papers 
 just after we landed, and I think this view was very gen- 
 eral among those who had followed Colonel Roosevelt's 
 career from the time he entered public life, 
 
 "The first prediction was verified three days after we 
 landed by a formal tender of the nomination for Gover- 
 nor. His distinguished career in that high position is 
 familiar to the people of the entire country, and espe- 
 cially to those of the Empire State." 
 
 A Political Libel Refuted 
 
 One story of Colonel Roosevelt's Spanish War ser^'ice 
 was once almost a political issue, during his subsequent 
 campaign for Governor of New York. Traducers, or per- 
 sons trying to be such, charged him with having shot a 
 Spaniard in the back. His devoted friend, the late Jacob 
 A. Riis, tells how Riis was making a stump speech for the 
 Colonel, wlien a voice from a rear seat whined: "You say 
 
 160 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt was a brave man. How about bis 
 shooting a Spaniard in the back?" 
 
 Whereupon ire boiled out of Riis' honest beard, and 
 he retorted: ''The man who says that is either a liar or 
 a fool. Which of the two are you?" And in the ensuing 
 turmoil, a burly cabman came to the speaker's rescue 
 with : ''Let 'im alone ! Let Professor Riis alone ! Theo- 
 dore RoosVelt is the greatest man alive — and I druv him 
 once ! ' ' 
 
 But in the Colonel's book about the Rough Riders, the 
 shooting of the Spaniard is chronicled as an interesting 
 feat and a piece of luck. The Colonel did it just as he 
 topped the crest of San Juan Hill, and while the last 
 Spanish defenders were running away and turning to fire 
 as they ran. Naturally and properly, every American 
 soldier in the charge shot at these Spaniards till his mag- 
 azine was empty. Colonel Roosevelt, being right up with 
 the leaders of the charge, happened to get one of the 
 enemy \\ith his revolver. He notes that another officer 
 duplicated his performance. 
 
 That same day of his military glory, at the start of 
 that same charge, when a regiment of regulars, owing to 
 faulty staff work, was lagging at the foot of the slope 
 with the Rough Riders behind it, Richard Harding Davis 
 saw and heard what he afterward reported as one of 
 Theodore Roosevelt's most famous lightning strokes of 
 decision. "If you don't wish to advance, let my men 
 through, sir!" They were let through and the others 
 followed and the charge got going, and the biggest battle 
 of the little war was won. 
 
 The Voyage Home 
 
 On August 17, 1898, the Rough Riders embarked for 
 home at the Daiquiri iron mines, where they had landed 
 
 161 
 
'LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 in Cuba seven weeks before. They sailed on tlie trans- 
 port Miami and the voyage occupied nine days. Colonel 
 Roosevelt had charge of policing the ship and the man- 
 agement of the men. The ship was kept in good sanitary 
 condition, and in spite of fears in the United States of 
 the importation of Cuban yellow fever, the men were at 
 once permitted to land, after inspection. Many of the 
 men, however, were sick and needed the rest and recuper- 
 ation in camp at Montauk Point. The camp became a 
 Mecca for New Yorkers and was visited by President 
 McKinlej" and his cabinet before the Rough Riders were 
 mustered out. 
 
 Named for Governor 
 
 Love for reform had impelled him, even while a sol- 
 dier at war, to join in a protest while in Cuba against 
 mismanagement on the part of the War Department. He 
 took part in the well-founded complaints of the 
 ''embalmed" beef fed to the army and of insanitary camp 
 conditions. As a result hurried reforms were instituted ; 
 but the Republican Administration meanwhile was 
 ** embarrassed." 
 
 Here was a new reason among others that caused 
 Republican leaders to dislike Roosevelt. He wasn*t flex- 
 ible enough in the hands of bosses. But the people 
 acclaimed him the logical candidate for Governor of New 
 York. While he was still a soldier he refused to say 
 whether he would or would aot accept a nomination ; but 
 as soon as he had been mustered out he signified his will- 
 ingness to run. 
 
 ''Three rousing cheers," replied the State of New 
 York and America in general in answer to the carping 
 critics when the Colonel came clattering back all bedecked 
 
 162 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS 
 
 in khaki — a cloth of new and grave interest in those 
 (Jays — his sombrero tucked up at one side cockily. And 
 lovingly the people whacked the flanks of the steed of the 
 Man on Horseback, sending his charger immediately on 
 a gallop that began at Camp Wheeler down at the Mon- 
 tauk end of Long Island and never ended until the Gov- 
 ernor's chair at Albany had been reached. 
 
 The Regiment Mustered Out 
 
 When the Rough Riders were mustered out on Sep- 
 tember 15, 1898, Colonel Roosevelt gave them some 
 famous words of advice similar to those he frequently 
 gave in later months to the entire country. It was a 
 direct, personal, and forcefully typical speech, credited 
 with much potency in the lives of some of the men to 
 whom it was made. In substance it was as follows : 
 
 ''Get action; do things; be sane; don't fritter away 
 your time ; create ; act ; take a place wherever you are and 
 be somebody; get action — and don't get gay." 
 
 Many are the stories told of Colonel Roosevelt and his 
 relation to the members of that famous regiment in after 
 life. Senator Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois once discov- 
 ered the loyalty of the Colonel to his field comrades when 
 he was President. The Senator had called at the White 
 House and was told that the President was engaged. 
 
 "Who's there?" he asked of the doorkeeper. 
 
 ''Somebody who says he was in the Rough Riders," 
 was the reply. 
 
 "Well," observed the legislator, as he turned away, 
 what chance have I, then? I'm only a Senator." 
 
 163 
 
 a 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 *The Long, Long Trail" 
 
 — Harrisburg (Pa.) Telegraph, January, 1919. 
 
 164 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 Nominated at Saratoga — Chauncey M. Depew's Nominat- 
 ing Speech — Roosevelt and Piatt — A Reform Admin- 
 istration — Taxation of Corporations — Nominated and 
 Elected Vice-President of the United States, 
 
 The politics of New York State in the fall of 1898 
 were in a state of upheaval. The administration of Gov- 
 ernor Black had proved unpopular, and it was recognized 
 that unless a candidate could be found so popular on his 
 own account as to pull the Republican ticket through, 
 the chances were that the Democrats would carry the 
 State. 
 
 The fame of Roosevelt's Rough Riders had given 
 their organizer and leader an immense popularity in 
 the United States, and for some time before he returned 
 to New York he had been put forward prominently as the 
 Republican candidate for the governorship. Governor 
 Frank S. Black had been elected by an enormous plurality 
 two years previously and according to all traditions would 
 have been renominated. He was set aside, however, for 
 the new hero, and in the convention at Saratoga held 
 September 27, 1898, Colonel Roosevelt was nominated 
 with great enthusiasm. 
 
 The friends of Governor Black opposed his nomina- 
 tion bitterly as long as there seemed a chance for suc- 
 cess. The charge was made that Colonel Roosevelt was 
 ineligible for the nomination, as he had relinquished his 
 
 165 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 residence in New York when he went to Washington to 
 enter the Navy Department. The leading politicians of 
 the state were opposed to Colonel Roosevelt for other 
 reasons. They had not forgotten the ways of the young 
 man who pverturned so many precedents in the State 
 Assembly nearly twenty years before, the tenacity with 
 which he had held to his principles when in the Civil 
 Service Commission, and the quiet firmness with which 
 he had refused to obey the demands of party leaders 
 while he was president of the Police Board. He was not 
 the man the politicians would have sought. But the peo- 
 ple had decided to have Colonel Roosevelt for their next 
 Governor and the delegates to the convention did not dare 
 deny them. 
 
 Depevir's Nominating Speech 
 
 Senator Horace White, of Syracuse, was chairman of 
 the convention in which Colonel Roosevelt was nomi- 
 nated. Judge J. R. Cady, of Hudson, nominated Gover- 
 nor Black, and the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew presented 
 the name of Colonel Roosevelt in the following speech : 
 
 Gentlemen : Not since 1863 has the Republican party met in 
 convention when the conditions of the country were so interest- 
 ing or so critical. Then the Emancipation Proclamation of 
 President Lincoln, giving freedom and citizenship to four rail- 
 lions of slaves, brought about a revolution in the internal policy 
 of our government which seemed to multitudes of patriotic men 
 full of the gravest dangers to the Republic. The effect of the 
 situation was the sudden and violent sundering of the ties which 
 bound the present to the past and the future. New problems 
 were precipitated upon our statesmen to solve, which were not to 
 be found in the textbooks of the schools, nor in the manuals 
 or traditions of Congress. The one courageous, constructive 
 party which our politics has known for half a century solved 
 these problems so successfully that the regenerated and disen- 
 thralled Republic has growTi and prospered under its new birth 
 of liberty beyond all precedent and every prediction. 
 
 166 
 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 Now, as then, the unexpected has happened. The wildest 
 dream ever born of the imagination of the most optimistic 
 believer in our destiny could not foresee, when Mr. McKinley 
 was elected two years ago, the onrushing torrent of events of the 
 past few months. We are either to be submerged by this break 
 in the dikes erected by Washington about our government, or 
 we are to find by the wise utilization of the conditions forced 
 upon us how to be safer and stronger within our boundaries, and 
 to add incalculably to American enterprise and opportunity by 
 becoming master of the sea, and entering with the surplus of our 
 manufactures the markets of the world. We cannot retreat or 
 hide. We must * ' ride the waves and direct the storm. ' ' A war 
 had been fought and won, and vast possessions near and far 
 away have been acquired. In the short space of one hundred 
 and thirteen days (duration of the Spanish War) politicians and 
 parties have been forced to meet new questions and to take sides 
 upon startling issues. The face of the world bar- been changed. 
 The maps of yesterday are obsolete. Columbus, looking for the 
 Orient and its fabled treasures, sailed four hundred years ago 
 into the land-locked harbor of Santiago, and today his spirit 
 sees his bones resting under the flag of a new and great country, 
 which has found the way and conquered the outposts, and is 
 knocking at the door of the farthest East. * * 
 
 The wife of a cabinet officer told me that when Assistant 
 Secretary Roosevelt announced that he had determined to resign 
 and raise a regiment for the war, some of the ladies in the Admin- 
 istration thought it their duty to remonstrate with him. They 
 said: "Mr. Roosevelt, you have six children, the youngest a 
 few months old, and the eldest not yet in the teens. While the 
 country is full of young men that have no such responsibilities 
 and are eager to enlist, you have no right to leave the burden 
 upon your wife of the care, support and bringing up of that 
 family." Roosevelt's answer was a Roosevelt answer: "I have 
 done as much as anyone to bring on this war, because I believed 
 it must come, and the sooner the better, and now that the war 
 has come I have no right to let others do the fighting and stay 
 at home myself." 
 
 The regiment of Rough Riders was an original American sug- 
 gestion, and to demonstrate that patriotism and indomitable 
 courage are common to all conditions of American life. The 
 same great qualities are found under the slouch hat of the cow- 
 boy and the elegant imported tile of New York's gilded youth. 
 
 167 
 
LIFE OF THEODOKE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Their mannerisms are the veneers of the "West and East; their 
 manhood is the same. 
 
 In that hot and pest-cursed climate of Cuba, officers had 
 opportunities for protection from miasma and fever which were 
 not possible for the men. But the Rough Riders endured no 
 hardships nor dangers •which were not shared by their Colonel. 
 He helped them dig the ditches; he stood beside them in the 
 deadly dampness of the trenches. No floored tent for him if his 
 comrades must sleep on the ground and under the sky. In the 
 world-famed charge of the Rough Riders through the hail of shot 
 and up the hill of San Juan, their Colonel was a hundred feet 
 in advance. The bullets whistling by him are rapidly thinning 
 the ranks of those desperate fighters. The Colonel trips and 
 falls and the line wavers, but in a moment he is up again, waving 
 his sword, climbing and shouting. He bears a charmed life. He 
 climbs the barbed-wire fence and plunges through, yelling, 
 ' ' Come on, bo> s ! Come on, and we will lick hell out of them ! ' ' 
 The moral force of that daring cowed and awed the Spaniards, 
 and they fled from their fortified heights and Santiago was ours. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt is the typical citizen-soldier. The sanitary 
 condition of our army in Cuba may not have been known for 
 weeks through the regular channels of inspection and report to 
 the various departments. Here the citizen in the Colonel over- 
 came the official routine and reticence of the soldier. His 
 graphic letter to the government and the "round robin" he 
 initiated brought suddenly and sharply to our attention the 
 frightful dangers of disease and death, and resulted in our boys 
 being brought immediately home. He may have been subject to 
 court-martial for violating the Articles of War, but the humane 
 impulses of the people gave him gratitude and applause. 
 
 It is seldom in political conflicts, when new and unexpected 
 issues have to be met and decided, that a candidate can be found 
 who personifies the popular and progressive side of these issues. 
 Representative men move the masses to enthusiasm, and are more 
 easily understood than measures. Lincoln, with his immortal 
 declaration, made at a time when to make it assured his defeat 
 by Douglas for the United States Senate, that "a house divided 
 against itself cannot stand ; I believe this government cannot 
 endure permanently half-slave and half-free,"' embodied the 
 anti-slavery doctrine. Grant, with Appomattox and the parole 
 of honor to the Confederate army behind him, stood for the per- 
 petuity of union and liberty. McKinley, by his long and able 
 
 168 
 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 advocacy of its principles, is the leading spirit for the protection 
 of American industries. For this year, for this crisis, for the 
 voters of the Empire State, for the young men of the country, 
 and the upward, onward, and outward trend of the United 
 States, the candidate of candidates is the hero of Santiago, the 
 idol of the Rough Riders — Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
 A Hard Fight to Win 
 
 The roll-call of the convention showed 753 votes for 
 Roosevelt and 218 for Black. Judge Cady, who had placed 
 Governor Black in nomination, immediately moved to 
 make the nomination of Colonel Roosevelt unanimous, 
 and Senator Hobart Krum of Schoharie, who had been 
 one of Governor Black's chief advisers, promised har- 
 mony in the party by saying: *'0n behalf of Governor 
 Black and on behalf of every delegate who voted for him 
 in this convention, I say they will stand by the nomina- 
 tion of Colonel Roosevelt as he took the heights at San 
 Juan. ' ' 
 
 But after his nomination, Colonel Roosevelt had a 
 hard fight to win — a fight that included innumerable oppo- 
 nents \^ithin his own party, politicians and business men 
 who disliked his ever-present reform ideas. The cam- 
 paign was an exciting and at times boisterous one, in 
 which his ''Rough Rider" character was made to play 
 a prominent part. His Republican predecessor, Gover- 
 nor Frank S. Black, had been catapulted into Albany by 
 a plurality of 213,022. Colonel Roosevelt was elected 
 Governor by a bare plurality of 17,786 votes over Augus- 
 tus Van Wyck, the Democratic candidate. 
 
 Roosevelt and Piatt 
 
 Governor Roosevelt had accepted the Republican 
 nomination unconditionally, but he had taken pains to 
 announce several times during the campaign that on all 
 important questions of policy and legislation he should 
 
 169 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 consult with the Republican state leader, Senator Piatt. 
 He made it clear, however, that he would not bind himself 
 to act on the advice received if it were not in accordance 
 mth his own ideas of what was right. 
 
 Once installed in office, he carried out this policy to 
 the letter. The reproaches of the reformers with which 
 he was met when he breakfasted with Piatt were turned 
 to praise later when he refused to make the machine can- 
 didate, Francis Hendricks, Superintendent of Public 
 Works, and removed Piatt's man, Lou Payn, from the 
 post of Superintendent of Insurance. He formed the 
 habit of asking ad\dce of Elihu Root, with whom his rela- 
 tions were ever after close, and it was more often Mr. 
 Root's advice that was accepted than Piatt's. 
 
 Many Sw^eeping Reforms 
 
 He had hardly begun to get the gubernatorial chair 
 fairly warmed when he had the state bosses buzzing 
 angrily about his ears — as had been expected. Always 
 punching right and left, he waded in to establish reforms 
 in the administration of the state. 
 
 Governor Roosevelt's two years at Albany, in fact, 
 saw more constructive and reconstructive legislation 
 placed on the statute books than the entire decade that 
 preceded him. The Ci\^l Service law was amended and 
 enforced strictly — ''putting the starch into it," the Gov- 
 ernor called it. 
 
 The Governor personally investigated the tenement- 
 house problem of New York City, \\Tth which he had 
 pre\dously made himself familiar during his term as 
 Police Commissioner, and then secured the passage of a 
 radical act that went far toward its solution. 
 
 Among the laws enacted affecting the laboring classes 
 were an eight-hour law, a law providing for the licensing 
 
 170 
 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 of employment agencies, and stringent factory laws, 
 which, by the establishment of a licensing system, prac- 
 tically wiped out the worst abuses of the ** sweatshops." 
 
 Taxed the Corporations 
 
 No piece of legislation was more earnestly pressed by 
 Governor Roosevelt than the Corporation Franchise Tax 
 law. It was his first step in the development of a policy 
 which he afterward advocated in a wider field — namely, 
 the requirement that corporate wealth be made to pay 
 its just proportion of running the government. It was 
 not a new idea with him. For years he had insisted that 
 the state's willingness to give away valuable assets with- 
 out adequate return was one of the weak points in the 
 American practice of government. 
 
 It was in the franchise fight, so Colonel Roosevelt's 
 friends assert, that he first uncovered the closeness of the 
 relationship between boss legislation and big business ; an 
 abuse that he hammered at steadily in later years in a 
 larger way, once destiny had led him into the fields of 
 national affairs. Also he made it plain that he would like 
 to have a second terra as Governor to carry out still 
 weightier schemes of reform. 
 
 Last Message as Governor 
 
 Governor Roosevelt's last message to the State Legis- 
 lature in January, 1900, was of particular interest 
 because it foreshadowed to a remarkable degree his later 
 presidential programme. The germ or beginning of sev- 
 eral policies which experience and study developed, is 
 here clearly seen. In addition to advocacy of forest 
 ''preservation" and employers' liability, he took up the 
 question of the state and public utilities. Of the accumu- 
 lation of large fortunes, he said : ' * The point to be aimed 
 
 171 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 at is the protection of the individual against wrong, not 
 the attempt to limit and hamper the acquisition and out- 
 put of wealth." Of the trust problem he wrote: *'AVhen 
 a trust becomes a monopoly the state has an immediate 
 right to interfere. * * * Publicity is the one sure 
 and adequate remedy which we can now invoke. There 
 may be other remedies, but what these are we can only 
 find out by publicity." 
 
 The Gospel of Work 
 
 On Appomattox Day, April 10, 1899, (jovernor Roose- 
 velt was the guest of the Hamilton Club at a banquet in 
 Chicago. There and then he enunciated the gospel of 
 work — the doctrine of the strenuous life — with which his 
 name was ever after associated. The first part of his 
 address was as follows : 
 
 In speaking to you, men of the greatest city of the West, men 
 of the state which gave to the country Lincoln and Grant, men 
 who pre-eminently and distinctly embody all that is most Amer- 
 ican in the American character, I wish to preach, not the doc- 
 trine of ignoble ease, but tlie doctrine of the strenuous life ; the 
 life of toil and effort ; of labor and strife ; to preach that highest 
 form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere 
 easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, 
 from hardship^, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins 
 the splendid ultimate triumph. 
 
 A life of ignoble ease, a life of that peace which springs 
 merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive after great 
 things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an individual. I ask 
 only that what every self-respecting American demands from 
 himself, and from his sons, shall be demanded of the American 
 nation as a whole. Who among you would teach your boys that 
 ease, that peace, is to be the first consideration in their eyes — to 
 be the ultimate goal after which they strive? You men of Chi- 
 cago have made this city great; you men of Illinois have done 
 your share, and more than your share, in making America great, 
 because you neither preach nor practice such a doctrine. You 
 work yourselves, and you bring up your sons to work. If you 
 
 172 
 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 are rich and are worth your salt, you will teach your sons that 
 though they may have leisure, it is not to be spent in idleness; 
 for wisely used leisure merely means that those who possess it, 
 being free from the necessity of working for their livelihood, are 
 all the more bound to carry on some kind of non-remunerative 
 work in science, in letters, in art, in exploration, in historical 
 research — ^work of the type we most need in this country, the 
 successful carrying out of which reflects most honor upon the 
 nation. 
 
 We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the 
 man who embodies victorious effort ; the man who never wrongs 
 his neighbor ; who is prompt to help a friend ; but who has those 
 virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life. 
 It is hard to fail ; but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. 
 In this life we get nothing save by effort. Freedom from effort 
 in the present merely means that there has been stored up effort 
 in the past. A man can be freed from the necessity of work only 
 by the fact that he or his fathers before him have worked to good 
 purpose. If the freedom thus purchased is used aright, and the 
 man still does actual work, though of a different kind, whether 
 as a writer or a general, whether in the field of politics or in the 
 field of exploration and adventure, he shows he deserves his good 
 fortune. But if he treats this period of freedom from the need 
 of actual labor as a period not of preparation, but of mere enjoy- 
 ment, even though perhaps not of vicious enjoyment, he shows 
 that he is simply a cumberer of the earth's surface; and he 
 surely unfits himself to hold his own with his fellows, if the need 
 to do so should again arise. A mere life of ease is not in the end 
 a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ulti- 
 mately unfits those who follow it for serious work in the world. 
 
 As it is with the individual, so it is with the nation. It is a 
 base untruth to say that happy is the nation that has no history. 
 Thrice happy is the nation that has a glorious history. Far 
 better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even 
 though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor 
 spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they 
 live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. 
 If in 1861 the men who loved the Union had believed that peace 
 was the end of all things, and war and strife the worst of all 
 things, and had acted up to their belief, we would have saved 
 hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, besides saving all 
 the blood and treasure we then lavished, we would have prevented 
 
 173 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 the heart-break of many women, the dissolution of many homes ; 
 and we would have spared the country' those months of gloom 
 and shame, when it seemed as if our armies marched only to 
 defeat. We could have avoided all this suffering simply by 
 shrinking from strife. And if we had thus avoided it, we would 
 have shown that we were w^eaklings, and that we were unfit to 
 stand among the great nations of the earth. 
 
 Thank God for the iron in the blood of our fathers, the men 
 who upheld the wisdom of Lincoln and bore sword or rifle in 
 the armies of Grant ! Let us, the children of the men who prf^ ,'ed 
 themselves equal to the mighty days — let us, the children of the 
 men who carried the great Civil War to a triumphant conclusion, 
 praise the God of our fathers that the ignoble counsels of peace 
 were rejected ; that the suffering and loss, the blackness or sorrow 
 and despair, were unflinchingly faced, and the years of strife 
 endured ; for in the end the slave w'as freed, the Union restored, 
 and the mighty American Republic placed once more as a hel- 
 meted queen among nations. 
 
 Elected Vice President 
 
 As the time approached for the Kepubliean National 
 Convention of 1900, with the assurance of the renomina- 
 tion of William McKinley for President, speculation grew 
 rife as to the candidate for second place on the ticket. 
 Once more the people were heard from, and their voice 
 was for Theodore Roosevelt for Vice-President. As the 
 popular demand for his nomination grew in volume, it was 
 encouraged and echoed by the machine politicians of 
 New York State, headed by Senator Tom Piatt, the ''easy 
 boss," from whose domination the Governor had grad- 
 ually but surely freed himself. 
 
 There were, and always mil be, those who are inclined 
 to say that the seed of the demand for Theodore Roose- 
 velt's nomination to the Vice-Presidency was first delib- 
 erately planted by the Republican bosses who wished to 
 "promote" Theodore Roosevelt to an office where he 
 could do them no further harm. For two years he had 
 
 174 
 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 been a thorn in the side of Senator Piatt, and the New 
 York bosses were quoted as saying in effect: '* Let's 
 bury him. Let's make him Vice-President of the United 
 States. There's a Httle job, so the history of the coun- 
 try shows, that takes the intervention of the hand of God 
 to lift a man out of eternal oblivion, now and forever." 
 
 But whoever made the first suggestion of Governor 
 Roosevelt for the Vice-Presidency, it was caught up with 
 genuine enthusiasm by the people, in the East as well as 
 in the West. Whoever planted the seed soon saw it 
 sprout and become a plant of sturdy growth. The Gov- 
 ernor, anxious to go on with his work at Albany and 
 looking forward to a renomination, tried in vain to stop 
 the swelling movement. He endeavored to make it clear 
 that he would decline the proffered honor. As early as 
 February, 1900, months before the National Convention 
 was to assemble, he stated his attitude in einphatic terms. 
 ^' Under no circumstances," he said, ''could I or would I 
 accept the nomination for the Vice-Presidency." 
 
 Even this declaration, however, failed to stop the wave 
 of popular sentiment for him. No doubt it was then 
 encouraged and stimulated by the political elements desir- 
 ous of shelving him. 
 
 Nominated by Acclamation 
 
 When the Republican convention met in June, 1900, 
 in Philadelphia, his presence as a delegate-at-large from 
 New York was hailed with enthusiasm. It was his first 
 appearance in a National Convention since the Blaine 
 convention of 1884, sixteen years before, and the famous 
 Rough Rider, successful Governor of New York, was the 
 lion of the day. He made a nomination speech for Mr. 
 McKinley for President, but when he himself was nomi- 
 
 175 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 nated for Vice-President with a roar of acclamation, he 
 was absent from the scene. 
 
 In a room nearby, he was calmly reading a book by 
 one of his favorite Greek authors. 
 
 A Memorable Campaign 
 
 Accepting the nomination which had been thus thrust 
 upon him, the Colonel threw himself with all his bound- 
 less energy into the campaign which resulted in the 
 re-election of McKinley and his own election as Vice- 
 President. Little did the bosses who had smiled in their 
 sleeves at his nomination dream that an assassin's act 
 was soon to remove President McKinley and place the 
 Rough Rider in the cliief magistracy of the nation — to 
 make him in politics the indisputable chieftain and leader 
 of his party. 
 
 The campaign carried Governor Roosevelt all over 
 the land. For eight weeks he toured the country, visiting 
 twenty-four states, traveling more than 21,000 miles, and 
 delivering more than 700 speeches to audiences aggre- 
 gating 3,000,000 people. 
 
 How He Spent the Day 
 
 A record of the way Mr. Roosevelt employed his time 
 was made by a man who accompanied him on his tour of 
 the country as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency in 
 1900. It is the schedule of a day's occupations, and for 
 variety of interest it would be difficult to find it equaled 
 in the lives of any other two men. Here it is : 
 
 7 :00 A. M.— Breakfast. 
 7:30 A. M.— A speech. 
 8:00 A, M. — Reading: an historical work. 
 9 :00 A. M.— A speech. 
 10:00 A. M.— Dictating letters. 
 
 176 
 
GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK 
 
 11 :00 A. M. — Discussing Montana mines. 
 11 :30 A. M.— A speech. 
 12 :00 M. — Reading an ornithological work. 
 12 :30 P. M.— A speech. 
 
 1:00 P. M.— Lunch. 
 
 1 :30 P. M.— A speech. 
 
 2 :30 P. M.— Reading Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 3:00 P. M. — Answering telegrams. 
 
 3 :45 P. M.— A speech. 
 
 4 :00 P. M. — Meeting the press. 
 
 4:30 P. M.— Reading. 
 
 5 :00 P. M.— A speech. 
 
 6:00 P. M.— Reading. 
 
 7:00 P. M.— Supper. 
 
 8 :00 to 10 :00 P. M.— Speaking. . 
 11 :00 P. M. — Reading alone in his car. 
 12 :00 P. M.— To bed. 
 
 How He Met Opposition 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt was always happy where things 
 were happening. He said once that he liked to be where 
 something was going on, and he generally managed to 
 make something happen where he was. Danger aroused 
 in him a keen sense of enjojinent, as was illustrated 
 in a small way in Victor, Colorado, during the campaign 
 of 1900. The opposition in Colorado to the Republican 
 position on the coinage issue was bitter, and a mob tried 
 to prevent him from speaking in Victor. One man hit 
 him in the breast with a piece of scantling six feet long 
 from which an insulting banner had been torn. Another 
 man tried to strike him in the face, but w^as prevented by 
 a miner. The same observer who recorded the routine of 
 a day's work on the tour said afterward: 
 
 ''When the storm of the mob swept up to him I stood 
 on the lower step of the Pullman sleeper with George W. 
 Ogden. Ogden exclaimed: 
 
 '"See the Colonel's face!' 
 
 177 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 **I looked. Rocks were flying over him and the scant- 
 ling waved savagely. And he? He was smiling and his 
 eyes were dancing; and he was coming ahead to safety as 
 composedly as though he were approaching the entrance 
 to his own home among friends." 
 
 When it was all over he exclaimed enthusiastically : 
 
 ''This is magnificent. Why, it's the best time I've 
 had since I started. I wouldn't have missed it for any- 
 thing." 
 
 He seemed to enjoy everything in the same enthus- 
 iastic way, and he had ''a bully time" throughout the 
 campaign, which resulted in the triumphant election of 
 McElnley and Roosevelt. 
 
 178 
 
CHAPTER X 
 HE SUCCEEDS McKINLEY 
 
 Inaugurated as Vice-President — Relations with McKin- 
 ley Pleasant — Assassination of the President — Roose- 
 velt in the AdirondacJcs — He Becomes President — 
 Followed McKinley's Policies — An International 
 Peacemaker. 
 
 When President McKinley and Vice-President Roose- 
 velt were inaugurated at Washington on March 4, 1901, 
 an interested spectator was Senator Thomas C. Piatt of 
 New York. When he started for the inauguration he 
 said, "I am going down to see Roosevelt put on the veil," 
 thereby expressing the attitude and hopes of the machine 
 politicians of the new Vice-President's home state. 
 
 But Roosevelt's term as Vice-President was destined 
 to be of short duration. He presided over the Senate at 
 the week's extra session which followed the inauguration, 
 and followed unconventional methods which promised to 
 prove interesting for the grave and reverend seigniors 
 of the Senate at subsequent sessions. 
 
 His relations with President McKinley and his cabinet 
 were close and cordial. Unlike many former Vice-Presi- 
 dents, he was in full agreement with the administration 
 policy, and he was beginning to enjoy life in Washington, 
 with definite plans for the useful occupation of his time, 
 when the vacation season of 1901 opened and the mem- 
 bers of the administration scattered in various directions 
 for the summer. 
 
 179 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 September found the Vice-President with his family 
 camping in the Adirondacks, and it was there that he 
 received the news of the shooting of President McKinloy, 
 ' who was the victim of an assassin's (Czolgosz's) bullet 
 at Buffalo on September 6, ''President's Day" at the 
 Pan-American Exposition. Mr. Roosevelt hurried at 
 once to Buffalo, but at the end of three days, being 
 assured by the attending physicians that the President 
 would probably recover, he returned to the mountains. 
 When the fatal complications set in, he was again sent 
 for, but President McKinley died on September 13, seven 
 days after he was shot, before Mr. Roosevelt again 
 reached his bedside. 
 
 Notified by a Reporter 
 
 How Colonel Roosevelt received the news of the pass- 
 ing of the President has been told as follows : 
 
 ''One day a reporter, throwing himself off a fagged 
 horse in front of a camp in the fastnesses of the Adiron- 
 dack woods, blurted the news to Roosevelt that McKin- 
 ley was dead. 
 
 "The Colonel started violently. He didn't speak for 
 minutes, gazing the while silently toward a distant moun- 
 tain peak. Then he went into his camp, hastily threw his 
 belongings together, and drove off at a hair-raising speed 
 through the autumnal woods toward a railway station 
 many miles away. 
 
 "Arrived at Buffalo he strode nervously, with fixed 
 gaze, into a darkened room in the Milburn residence, a 
 room adjoining the one in which the body of the martyred 
 McKinloy lay. Distinguished old men, their white heads 
 bowed, sat about the darkened room as the youthful-look- 
 ing Roosevelt entered with quick, alert step. 
 
 180 
 
HE SUCCEEDS McKINLEY 
 
 * * * The President ! ' someone whispered suddenly ; and 
 the elder statesmen sprang to their feet. ' ' 
 
 Thus Theodore Roosevelt became Chief Magistrate of 
 the United States and succeeded to the chair of Wash- 
 ington, Lincoln, and McKinley. 
 
 One crack of a madman's revolver had ended the 
 machine-made plans. And as the dying McKinley was 
 carried from the scenes of hysteria in Buffalo on that 
 September day, Wall Street stocks on the instant went 
 tumbling ; big business for the moment halted its might- 
 iest plans; a whole nation, despite its shock and grief, 
 took a frightened look into the future. 
 
 "Stocks went lower and lower. Teddy Eoosevelt! 
 The hot-headed Unterrified! The broncho-busting boy 
 reformer — this heated, uncontrollable flake of dynamite. 
 President of the United States for almost a full term!" 
 
 But Theodore Roosevelt soon mastered the situation. 
 Continues McKinley Policy 
 
 He took the oath of office as President at Buffalo on 
 the afternoon of September 14, in the presence of the 
 Cabinet. Then, addressing the late President's advisers, 
 he said: *'In this hour of deep and terrible national 
 bereavement, I wish it to be known that it shall be my 
 intention and endeavor to continue absolutely unbroken 
 the policy of President McKinley for the peace and 
 prosperity and honor of our beloved country." He then 
 asked the members of the Cabinet to continue in office, 
 insisting that he could not consider the withdrawal of any 
 one of them. 
 
 The people, even big business, took cheer and confi- 
 dence. Stocks slowly began to recover. And by the time 
 President Roosevelt had sent his first message to Con- 
 gress in the following December, it was a reassured peo- 
 
 181 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 pie, still doubting, a bit, perhaps, but wholly recovered 
 from the first fears. 
 
 Policy Toward the South 
 
 Early in his administration he let it be known that he 
 would appoint good Democrats to office rather than bad 
 Republicans in the South. He said he did not beUeve in 
 the South 's non-participation in the work of the Federal 
 Government whenever a Republican administration hap- 
 pened to be installed at Washington. As for the Negro, 
 he declared that he must take his chances with the rest, 
 and that no favor would be shown a bad Negro, just 
 because he was a Negro, or because he was a Republican. 
 He began by making appointments wiiich electrified the 
 South, and brought words of praise from those who had 
 never before been known to praise anything Republican. 
 
 It was at this point ^at the Booker T. Washington 
 incident took place. The President invited the Negro 
 educator to discuss a special subject with him, and then 
 asked him to stay to lunch. It was clearly not intended 
 as an affront to the South, and apparently the President 
 had not considered its possible consequences one way or 
 the other. His position was to ignore the criticism 
 entirely. He went on appointing ''good Democrats" to 
 office, and found no difficulty in getting men to serve; 
 later he made an extended tour of the Southern States, 
 and was everywhere received with cordiality. 
 
 His First Message 
 
 President Roosevelt's first message to Congress in 
 December, 1901, was awaited with unusual interest as the 
 first extended statement of his policy. Written while the 
 horror of President McKinley's assassination was still 
 fresh in the public mind, it naturally devoted considerable 
 
 182 
 
HE SUCCEEDS McKINLEY 
 
 attention to the suppression of anarchy and the exclusion 
 of anarchists from entering the country. 
 
 Turning to the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt laid 
 particular emphasis on its application to commercial as 
 distinguished from political relations. *'It is really," he 
 wrote, ''a guarantee of the commercial independence of 
 the Americas. We do not ask under this doctrine for any 
 exclusive dealings with any other American State. We 
 do not guarantee any state against punishment if it mis- 
 conducts itself, provided that punishment does not take 
 the form of the acquisition of territory by any non-Amer- 
 ican power. ' ' 
 
 Congratulating the country on the ''timely and judi- 
 cious" Gold Standard Act, the President turned his atten- 
 tion to the trust problem, and proclaimed the first step 
 in the policy which, with its later developments, is so 
 closely associated with his nam^ ''In the interest of the 
 public," he declared, "the government should have the 
 right to inspect and examine the workings of the great 
 corporations engaged in interstate business. Publicity 
 is the only sure remedy which we can now evoke." 
 
 In that first message President Roosevelt insisted 
 upon the passage of a Cuban reciprocity measure. The 
 House backed him, but the Senate did not; whereupon 
 the President appealed to the people with the plea that 
 the United States was under obligation to keep its pledge 
 to make Cuba a free nation. On May 20, 1902, President 
 Roosevelt turned over to a Cuban President and Cuban 
 Congress a truly republican government for Cuba and the 
 Stars and Stripes were hauled down on the island. 
 The Great Coal Strike 
 
 In the autumn of 1902 a great strike in the anthracite 
 coal regions of Pennsylvania threatened to cripple the 
 
 183 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 country. "With characteristic fighting spirit — called 
 "meddling" by his opponents — the President started to 
 untie the tangle into which coal operators and labor had 
 got themselves. But in the matter of the coal strike, 
 President Roosevelt thought long and carefully before he 
 acted. Then with the exclamation, ''I suppose this '11 end 
 me, but I'll do it," he appointed an arbitrating commis- 
 sion — and the miners w^ent back to work. The report of 
 the commission, which was not completed until 'v\'inter, 
 settled, not only this particular strike, but fixed a point 
 of departure for the settlement of labor disputes in the 
 future. 
 
 The Venezuelan Affair 
 
 It w^as during the end of the same year, 1902, that 
 Mr. Roosevelt w^as called upon to act in the role of inter- 
 national peacemaker, when our affairs dangerously 
 shifted to a part of the world, Venezuela, which had 
 almost led us into a European war during the Cleveland 
 administration. A fleet of German and British warships 
 came to anchor off La Guayra in December — first having 
 obtained United States permission to do so — and told 
 President Castro that if certain debts due Germans and 
 Englishmen were not paid, the fleet would seize certain 
 Venezuelan ports and custom-houses and hold them until 
 the amounts in dispute had been obtained. 
 
 Castro's answer was immediate preparation for armed 
 defense. The Europeans opened fire, ports were bom- 
 barded, and Venezuelans were killed. 
 
 Then ensued one of the momentous episodes of Amer- 
 ica's foreign relations in modern times, one of the bravest 
 and most dramatic moves ever made by an American 
 President on his own responsibility, and certainly Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt's most forcible act in assertion of the 
 
 184 
 
HE SUCCEEDS McKINLEY 
 
 Monroe Doctrine. In his first message to Congress the 
 President had stated clearly his idea of what the Monroe 
 Doctrine meant to the South American States, that the 
 United States would defend these nations against terri- 
 torial encroachments of European powers, but would not 
 prevent measures merely intended to enforce the pay- 
 ment of just debts. 
 
 Used Navy as "the Big Stick'' 
 
 Quietly, consulting nobody, he used the navy, with 
 complete success, as his Big Stick, over the swollen heads 
 of the Kaiser and the Pan-Germans, eager to make their 
 claims a pretext for a characteristic rape of Venezuelan 
 territory. The episode never was known to the public 
 until a few years ago, when an account of it authorized 
 by Colonel Roosevelt, appeared in "The Life of John 
 Hay," by Prof. William Roscoe Thayer. Here is that 
 account : 
 
 ' ' President Roosevelt did not shirk the test. Although 
 his action has never been described, there is no reason 
 now for not describing it. 
 
 "One day, when the crisis was at its height, he sum- 
 moned to the White House Dr. Holleben, the German 
 Ambassador, and told him that unless Germany consented 
 to arbitrate, the American squadron under Admiral 
 Dewey would be given orders, by noon ten days later, to 
 proceed to the Venezuelan coast and prevent any taking 
 possession of Venezuelan territory. 
 
 "Dr. Holleben began to protest that his imperial mas- 
 ter, having once refused to arbitrate, could not change 
 his mind. The President said that he was not arguing 
 the question, because arguments had already been gone 
 over until no useful purpose would be served by repeating 
 them; he was simply giving information which the 
 
 185 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Ambassador might think it important to transmit to 
 Berlin. 
 
 *'A week passed in silence. Then Dr. Holleben again 
 called on the President, but said nothing of the Vene- 
 zuelan matter. When he rose to go, the President asked 
 him about it, and when he stated that he had received 
 nothing from his government, the President informed 
 him in substance that, in view of this fact. Admiral Dewey 
 would be instructed to sail a day earlier than the day he, 
 the President, had originally mentioned. 
 Kaiser Finally Yields 
 
 ''Much perturbed, the Ambassador protested. The 
 President informed him that not a stroke of a pen had 
 been put on paper; that if the Emperor would agree to 
 arbitrate, he, the President, would heartily praise him for 
 such action and would treat it as taken on German ini- 
 tiative; but that within forty-eight hours there must be 
 an offer to arbitrate, or Dewey would sail with the orders 
 indicated. Within thirty-six hours Dr. Holleben returned 
 to the White House and announced to President Roose- 
 velt that a dispatch had just come from Berlin saying 
 that the Kaiser would arbitrate. 
 
 ''Neither Admiral Dewey (who with an American 
 fleet was then manoeuvering in the West Indies) nor any- 
 one else knew of the step that was to be taken ; the naval 
 authorities were merely required to be in readiness, but 
 were not told what for. 
 
 "On the announcement that Germany had consented 
 to arbitrate, the President publicly complimented the 
 Kaiser on being so stanch an advocate of arbitration. 
 The humor of this was probably more relished in the 
 White House than in Berlin. The Kaiser suggested that 
 the President should act as arbitrator, and Mr. Roosevelt 
 
 186 
 
HE SUCCEEDS McKINLEY 
 
 was ready to serve, but Mr. Hay (then Secretary of 
 State) dissuaded him. Venezuela's claims went to The 
 Hague for arbitration. 
 
 ' ' England and Italy, Germany 's partners in the naval 
 expedition, gladly complied, England, we presume, had 
 never intended that her half-alliance with Germany 
 should bring her into open rupture with the United 
 States. Although her pact was kept as secretly as pos- 
 sible at home inklings of it leaked out. AVhether Lord 
 Salisbury or Mr. Balfour originated it, the friends of 
 neither have cared to extol it, or indeed to let its details 
 be generally known." 
 
 It was seven years and five months later that Colonel 
 Eoosevelt, duly visiting Berlin in the course of his tri- 
 umphal tour of Europe at the end of the African hunt, 
 and reviewing German troops at manoeuvers in the 
 Kaiser's company, was fulsomely addressed by the mon- 
 arch he had thwarted: "My friend Roosevelt, I am glad 
 to welcome you, the most distinguished American. You 
 are the first civilian who has ever reviewed German sol- 
 diers!" 
 
 In 1903 the old Alaska boundary dispute between 
 Great Britain and the United States began to erupt again. 
 At Mr. Roosevelt's suggestion, the matter was settled 
 once and for all by a joint commission that met in Lon- 
 don — the commission deciding in favor of the American 
 contentions. 
 
 The President's action in securing a reference of the 
 Venezuelan difficulties to The Hague tribunal, it has been 
 well said, saved the life of that court. In the fall of 1904 
 he took the first step toward the convening of a second 
 peace conference of the nations. 
 
 187 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Antagonizes Senator Tillman 
 
 In 1902 President Roosevelt made an enemy of Sena- 
 tor Tillman in a characteristic way. Prince Henry of 
 Prussia was the nation's guest, and when he was in Wash- 
 ington an official dinner was given in his honor at the 
 White House. As the Prince was an Admiral, the mem- 
 bers of the Naval Affairs Committee were invited. 
 
 Just then Senator McLaurin called Tillman a liar in 
 the Senate, and Tillman responded with a full-arm swing 
 on McLaurin 's jaw. President Roosevelt expressed his 
 opinion of the proceedings by publicly rescinding his 
 invitation to Tillman. Tillman never forgave him, and 
 when five years later a woman named Mrs. Minor Harris 
 was forcibly removed from the White House, when she 
 was trj^ing to get an interview with the President, Till- 
 man took up the case in the Senate and made an issue of 
 it. Mr. Roosevelt retaliated later by making charges 
 against Tillman's personal probity, but they were not 
 sustained. 
 
 A Doctrine That Failed 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt met one of the first real defeats of 
 his life when the Federal Courts refused to accede to a 
 new and extraordinary doctrine he attempted to set up — 
 that an editor anywhere in the country might be crimi- 
 nally proceeded against in the District of Columbia for a 
 libel against the United States Government, pro\'ided 
 that it could be shown that copies of his newspaper were 
 circulated in that District. It was really one of the most 
 audacious attempts that Mr. Roosevelt ever made, but he 
 believed he was right in his contention. 
 
 He never did agree very well with the courts and in 
 private conversation he often complained humorously 
 that whenever he appointed a judge to the bench that 
 
 188 
 
HE SUCCEEDS McKINLEY 
 
 judge immediately began rendering decisions adverse to 
 his policies. One such case was said to be that of Justice 
 Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the United States Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 "Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead" 
 
 As Mr. Roosevelt's ''first term" drew to a close the 
 eyes of the administration were suddenly turned upon 
 Morocco. An American, Ion Perdicaris, and his Enghsh 
 son-in-law were kidnapped from their home near Tan- 
 gier by the notorious Moorish bandit, Raisuh, on May 18, 
 1904. Raisuli demanded a ransom and other favors from 
 the Sultan of Morocco before he would release his pris- 
 oners. Nine days later, on orders from President Roose- 
 velt, the United States cruiser Brooklyn with Rear 
 Admiral Chadwick's flag flying was headed toward Tan- 
 gier, Rear Admiral Jewell following with three more 
 warships. British warships joined the fleet in African 
 waters. 
 
 ''Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!" Mr. Roosevelt 
 fu^as quoted as sajdng, and whether he said it or not, the 
 'slogan blazed around the world. And a month later the 
 American and the Englishman had been released, 
 although Raisuli in the meantime had obtained from the 
 Sultan almost all that the bandit had demanded. 
 
 Long before the meeting of the Republican National 
 Convention, at Chicago, on June 24, 1904, it was certain 
 that if he lived. President Roosevelt would be renomi- 
 nated to succeed himself. He had never made any secret 
 of his desire for an active election to the office to which 
 he had succeeded on President McKinley's death. 
 
 Roosevelt in 1904 
 The personality of Theodore Roosevelt had made a 
 wonderful impression upon the country by the end of 
 
 189 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 his partial term in the White House. Frank A. Munsey 
 described it in Munsey 's Magazine for November, 1904, 
 writing from intimate knowledge, as follows : 
 
 Train a pine sapling till you grow old and gray, and you will 
 never make of it a hickory tree. It will not have the fiber, the 
 character, the strength. It will be a pine stick all its days, and 
 nothing more. And so with human life. Training and associa- 
 tion can polish the brain and groom the body, and stimulate 
 ambition and energy to their limits, but it cannot create new 
 limits or fashion a new brain or a new body. 
 
 Character has a deeper foundation than that of training and 
 association. It comes somewhere out of the dim and unknown 
 past. The man who stands head and shoulders above his fellow 
 men is bigger because he was born bigger. The size of a man 
 is God's work. It was never anything else, and never will be 
 anything else so long as the world stands. No man has ever done 
 great things who wasn 't created great in the fineness of his brain, 
 the intensity of his nature, the clearness of his perception and 
 the force of his application. 
 
 But why should genius favor one man more than another ? It 
 may be because his ancestors, perhaps a thousand years before 
 his advent, suffered more, endured more, fought a better fight 
 than others of their time. It may be this or that or something 
 else. It's all a great, impenetrable mystery. If not, account for 
 Lincoln, if you can — Lincoln and Jackson and Webster and 
 Grant and Napoleon. 
 
 From a countless army of ancestors, known and unknown; 
 from the sailor, the soldier, the herdsman, the farmer, the me- 
 chanic, the lawyer, the doctor, the man of letters, the aristo- 
 crat ; from women folk of all these classes and degrees ; through 
 toil and industry, poverty and affluence ; through joy and sorrow, 
 tenderness and affection, devotion to family, country and religion 
 — from all these and through all these sprang the Roosevelt of 
 today. 
 
 Roosevelt hasn't all the virtues. He has his faults. He is 
 intensely human. He isn't immune from error of judgment. 
 He makes mistakes. If he didn't he wouldn't be human and 
 wouldn't be good for anything. He makes mistakes, but he like- 
 wise makes successes. In determining a man's mental stature, 
 the question is not 'Does he make mistakes?' but, rather, 'Does 
 he make more successes than mistakes?' 
 
 190 
 
HE SUCCEEDS McKINLEY 
 
 The Catling gun doesn 't strike home its individual shots with 
 the accuracy of the carefully, deliberately aimed rifle, but in 
 battle, nevertheless, it does the deadly work. It brings results. 
 
 Of all Roosevelt's characteristics that one which is most 
 marked and which has contributed most to his achievements is 
 his intensity. 
 
 Without this quality no man, however brilliantly endowed in 
 other respects, ever accomplishes much. With Roosevelt intensity 
 is his power, his strenuosity, his life. It is a passion with him 
 — the very soul of his genius. 
 
 Roosevelt, however, is not merely a man of intensity and 
 action, but is a scholar as well. His books show thought and 
 sound analysis. His style in writing, as in speaking, is forceful 
 and convincing. His oratory, like himself, is rugged and intense. 
 
 He is a close student of men and affairs and of political his- 
 tory both at home and abroad. He is keen to discover merit in 
 others, and is equally keen to retain and encourage it whether it 
 be of his own political faith or that opposed to him, and for dis- 
 honesty and incompetence he has no place in the great business 
 over which he presides. 
 
 Roosevelt's bravery is double barreled. It is both moral and 
 physical. This is assuredly a rare combination — rare indeed 
 when so highly developed. 
 
 We have many men whose courage in physical combat, in the 
 hell of battle, is so fine, so grand, so supreme, that we can only 
 feel our admiration with a thrill that sweeps us from head to 
 foot. But apply to these same fearless men the test of moral 
 bravery and our hearts will sink for pity of them. On the other 
 hand, some men with the frailest of bodies and the most timid 
 natures are giants — great, grand, heroic figures in the fiercer 
 warfare of moral courage. 
 
 The combination, I repeat, is most rare, but in Roosevelt we 
 have both. He can lead an army in the teeth of battle and never 
 flinch, and with equal courage he can say, and say with terrible 
 emphasis, 'Yes,' or 'No!' He daresto do right as he under- 
 stands the right, and he dares to defy wrong as he sees the 
 wrong. 
 
 193 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 Roosevelt as a Politician and Leader — His Success Pre- 
 dicted — Nominated for a Full Term and Triumph- 
 antly Elected — Many Reforms Urged — Briyigs Peace 
 Between Russia and Japan — The Panic of 1907 — For- 
 eign Relations. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt was only forty-two years of age 
 when he was first called to the Presidency, on the death 
 of William McKinley. He was the youngest man who had 
 ever occupied that high office, and yet long before the 
 time came for his election to succeed himself he was 
 recognized, not as the rash young man political enemies 
 had seen in him, but as a statesman, "steadied by experi- 
 ence, quick of thought but slow to act, who was always 
 open to ad^dce and never above taking it." From the 
 outset he proved his right to leadership and the politi- 
 cians found to their great surprise that they had a far- 
 sighted, keen, and astute politician to deal with in the 
 White House. No better or wiser politician, in the best 
 sense of the term, ever occupied the Executive chair. 
 
 Years before he succeeded McKinley those who knew 
 him had prophesied that he would become President of 
 the United States. President Harrison wrote in 1898: 
 ''Mr. Roosevelt is today one of the best examples of 
 Presidential timber in the country. His varied life as a 
 ranchman, hunter, soldier, and politician has placed him 
 
 192 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 in such close proximity with so many different men that 
 they have had ample opportunity to judge of his qualities 
 and to understand him when he says or does a thing." 
 
 President Cleveland's Prediction 
 
 Before that, President Cleveland had recognized the 
 coming man. In refusing to displace him as Civil Service 
 Commissioner, he had said : * ' You do not know Theodore 
 Roosevelt. I do, and I tell you that he is one of the 
 ablest politicians either party ever had, and the ablest 
 Republican politician in this generation. The country 
 will find this out in time. If I keep him where he is, he 
 can't do us any harm ; if I remove him and make a martyr 
 of him, he has political ability enough to do us serious 
 damage. I shan't remove him." 
 
 Thomas B. Reed, Speaker of the House of Representa- 
 tives, was also among the prophets. Speaking of the 
 Civil Service Commission, when Roosevelt was a mem- 
 ber of it, Mr. Reed said of him: '^ We've got an Amer- 
 ican of blood and iron — a coming man — on that Commis- 
 sion. I tell you, you want to watch that man, for he is a 
 new-world Bismarck and Cromwell combined, and you 
 will see him President yet. 
 
 President Andrew D. White, of Cornell University, at 
 an early stage of Roosevelt's career, is quoted as saying 
 to his students: *' Young gentlemen, some of you may 
 enter public life. I wish to call your attention to Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt, now in our Legislature. He is on the 
 right road to success. It is dangerous to predict a future 
 for a young man, but let me say that if any man of his 
 age ever was pointed straight for the Presidency, that 
 man is Theodore Roosevelt." 
 
 Even a German, Baron Speck von Sternberg, an 
 attache of the Legation (afterwards Ambassador) in 
 
 193 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Washington when Mr. Roosevelt was Civil Service Com- 
 missioner, was reported as saj-ing: "When I first met 
 Mr. Roosevelt I was deeply impressed with his powerful 
 personality, his untiring energy, and essential sincerity 
 of purpose. It was this combination which convinced me 
 that some day I should see him at the head of this great 
 nation." And on three separate occasions, when Roose- 
 velt was appointed Police Commissioner of New York, 
 Avhen he became Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and 
 when he was elected Governor of New York, Baron von 
 Sternberg congratulated him on these successive steps 
 "nearer the Presidency." 
 
 And yet there were men in those days, and long there- 
 after, who regarded Theodore Roosevelt's success in 
 national politics as "an accident"! Blinded by enmity, 
 jealousy, or party rancor, they totally failed to recognize 
 the sterling character and political genius of the man 
 whose reputation was founded on sincerity and service, 
 as upon a rock. 
 
 Nominated for a Full Term 
 
 As the time drew near for the Republican National 
 Convention of 1904, when Mr. Roosevelt had served three 
 and one-half years of McKinley's term, and had stamped 
 his individuality upon the Presidency, the demand for 
 his nomination and election to a full term was country- 
 ^^dde and undeniable. On his part, he made no secret of 
 his desire for an election by the people. Politicians rec- 
 ognized that his nomination and election were assured. 
 
 The Republican Convention met in Chicago, and Pres- 
 ident Roosevelt was nominated by acclamation to succeed 
 himself. Charles Warren Fairbanks, of Indiana, was 
 named for Vice-President. 
 
 194 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 Governor Black's Nominating Speech 
 The speech placing Mr. Roosevelt's name before the 
 Convention was made by former Governor Frank S. 
 Black of New York, and gave a striking picture of the 
 Roosevelt of those days and his strength among the peo- 
 ple. Governor Black spoke in part as follows : 
 
 Mr, President and Gentlemen of the Convention : We are 
 here to inaugurate a campaign which seems already to be nearly 
 closed. So wisely have the people sowed and watched and 
 tended, there seems little now to do but to measure up the grain. 
 They are ranging themselves not for battle, but for harvest. In 
 one column, reaching from the Maine woods to the Puget Sound, 
 are those people and those States which have stood so long 
 together that when great emergencies arise the nation turns 
 instinctively to them. In this column, vast and solid, is a major- 
 ity so overwhelming that the scattered squads in opposition can 
 hardly raise another army. * * * 
 
 AN EXAMPLE OF UNITY 
 
 In politics as in other fields, the most impressive arguments 
 spring from contrast. Never has there been a more striking 
 example of unity than is now afforded by this assemblage. You 
 are gathered here not as factions torn by discordant views, but 
 moved by one desire and intent ; you have come as the chosen 
 representatives of the most enlightened party in the world. You 
 meet not as strangers, for no men are strangers who hold the 
 same beliefs and espouse the same cause. You may separate two 
 bodies of water for a thousand years, but when once the barrier 
 is removed they mingle instantly and are one. The same tradi- 
 tions inspire and the same purposes actuate us all. Never in our 
 lives did these purposes stand with deeper root than now. At 
 least two generations have passed away since the origin of that 
 great movement from which sprang the spirit which has been the 
 leading impulse in American politics for half a century. In that 
 movement, which was both a creation and an example, were those 
 great characters which endowed the Republican party at its birth 
 with the attributes of justice, equality, and progress, which have 
 held it to this hour in line with the highest sentiments of man- 
 kind. From these men we have inherited the desire, and to their 
 memory we owe the resolution, that those great schemes of gov- 
 ernment and humanity, inspired by their patriotism, and estab- 
 
 195 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 lished by their blood, shall remain as the fixed and permanent 
 emblem of their labors, and the abiding signal of the liberty and 
 progress of the race. * * * 
 
 The public mind is awake both to its opportunities and its 
 dangers. Nowhere in the world, in any era, did citizenship mean 
 more than it means today in America, Men of courage and 
 sturdy character are ranging themselves together with a unanim- 
 ity seldom seen. There is no excuse for groping in the dark, for 
 the light is plain to him who will but raise his eyes. The Ameri- 
 can people believe in a man or party that has convictions and 
 knows why. They believe that what experience has proved it is 
 idle to resist. A wise man is any fool about to die. But there 
 is a wisdom which, with good fortune, may guide the living and 
 the strong. That wisdom springs from reason, observation, and 
 experience. Guided by these this thing is plain, and young men 
 may rely upon it, that the history and purposes I have described, 
 rising even to the essence and aspirations of patriotism, find their 
 best concrete example in the career and doctrines of the Repub- 
 lican party. 
 
 A COMMON PURPOSE 
 
 But not alone upon the principles of that party are its mem- 
 bers in accord. With the same devotion which has marked their 
 adherence to those principles, magnificent and enduring as they 
 are, they have already singled out the man to bear their standard 
 and to lead the way. No higher badge was ever yet conferred. 
 But, great as the honor is, the circumstances which surround it 
 make the honor even more profound. You have come from every 
 State and Territory in this vast domain. The country and the 
 town have vied with each other in sending here their contribu- 
 tions to this splendid throng. Every highway in the land is 
 leading here and crowded with the members of that great party 
 which sees in this splendid city the symbol of its rise and power. 
 Within this unexampled multitude is every rank and condition 
 of free men, every creed and occupation. But today a common 
 purpose and desire have engaged us all, and from every nook and 
 corner of the country rises but a single choice to fill the most 
 exalted office in the world. 
 
 ROOSEVELT IN PEACE AND WAR 
 
 He is no stranger waiting in the shade, to be called suddenly 
 into public light. The American people have seen him for many 
 years, and always where the fight was thickest and the greatest 
 need was felt. He has been alike conspicuous in the pursuits of 
 
 196 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 peace and in the arduous stress of war. No man now living will 
 forget the spring of '98, when the American mind was so inflamed 
 and American patriotism so aroused; when among all the eager 
 citizens surging to the front as soldiers, the man whom this con- 
 vention has already in its heart was among the first to hear the 
 call and answer to his name. 
 
 Preferring peace, but not afraid of war, faithful to every 
 private obligation, yet first to volunteer at the sign of national 
 peril ; a leader in civil life, and yet so quick to comprehend the 
 arts of war that he grew almost in a day to meet the high exac- 
 tions of command. There is nothing which so tests a man as 
 great and unexpected danger. He may pass his life among ordi- 
 nary scenes, and what he is or does but few will ever know. But 
 when the crash comes or the flames break out, a moment's time 
 will single out the hero in the crowd. A flash of lightning in 
 the night will reveal what years of daylight have not discovered 
 to the eye. 
 
 And so the flash of the Spanish war revealed that lofty cour- 
 age and devotion which the American heart so loves, and which 
 you have met again to decorate and recognize. His qualities do 
 not need to be retold, for no other man in that exalted place since 
 Lincoln has been so well known in every household in the land. 
 He is not conservative, if conservatism means waiting till it is 
 too late. He is not wise, if wisdom is to count a thing a hundred 
 times if once will do. There is no regret so keen in man or coun- 
 try as that which follows an opportunity unembraced. Fortune 
 soars with high and rapid wing, and whoever brings it down 
 must shoot with accuracy and speed. Only the man with steady 
 eye and nerve, and the courage to pull the trigger brings the 
 largest opportunities to the ground. He does not always listen 
 while all the sages speak, but every day at nightfall beholds 
 some record which, if not complete, has been at least pursued 
 with conscience and intrepid resolution. 
 
 ONE MAN ONLY — ROOSEVELT 
 
 He is no slender flower swaying in the wind, but of that heroic 
 fiber which is best nurtured by the mountains and the snow. He 
 spends little time in review, for that, he knows, can be done by 
 the schools. A statesman grappling with the living problems of 
 the hour, he gropes but little in the past. He believes in going 
 ahead. He believes that in shaping the destinies of this great 
 Republic hope is a higher impulse than regret. He believes that 
 preparation for future triumphs is a more important duty than 
 
 197 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 an inventory of past mistakes, A profound student of history, 
 he is today the greatest history-maker in the world. Witli tlie 
 instincts of the scholar, he is yet forced from the scholar's pur- 
 suits by those superb qualities which fit him to the last degree for 
 those great world currents now rushing past with larger volume 
 and more portentous aspect than for many years before. The 
 fate of nations is still decided by their wars. You may talk of 
 orderly tribunals and learned referees ; you may sing in your 
 schools the gentle praises of the quiet life ; you may strike from 
 your books the last note of every martial anthem, and yet out in 
 the smoke and thunder will always be the tramp of horses and 
 the silent, rigid, upturned face. Men may prophesy and women 
 pray, but peace will come here to abide forever on this earth 
 only when the dreams of childhood are the accepted charts to 
 guide the destinies of men. Events are numberless and mighty, 
 and no man can tell which wire runs around the world. The 
 nation basking today in the quiet of contentment and repose may 
 still be on the deadly circuit and tomorrow writhing in the toils 
 of war. 
 
 GREAT FIGURES IN FRONT 
 
 This is the time when great figures must be kept in front. If 
 the pressure is great, the material to resist it must be granite and 
 iron. Whether we wish it or not, America is abroad in this 
 world. Her interests are in every street, her name is on every 
 tongue. Those interests, so sacred and stupendous, should be 
 trusted only to the care of those whose power, skill, and courage 
 have been tested and approved. And in the man whom you will 
 choose the highest sense of every nation in the world beholds a 
 man who typifies as no other living American does the spirit and 
 the purposes of the twentieth century. He does not claim to be 
 the Solomon of his time. There are many things he may not 
 know, but this is sure, thaf above all things else he stands for 
 progress, courage, and fair play, which are the synonyms of the 
 American name. 
 
 There are times when great fitness is hardly less than destiny, 
 when the elements so come together that they select the agent 
 they will use. Events sometimes select the strongest man, as 
 lightning goes down the highest rod. And so it is with those events 
 which for many months with unerring sight have led you to a 
 single name which I am chosen only to pronounce. Gentlemen, 
 I nominate for President of the United States the highest living 
 type of the youth, the vigor, and the promise of a great country 
 and a great age, Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, 
 
 198 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 A Triumphant Election 
 
 On the opposing Democratic ticket were Alton B. 
 Parker, of New York, for President, and Henry G. Davis, 
 of West Virginia, for Vice-President. President Roose- 
 velt made no political speeches, but practically managed 
 his campaign through George B. Cortelyou, his former 
 secretary, who resigned his post as Secretary of Com- 
 merce and Labor to become chairman of the Republican 
 National Committee. 
 
 The campaign was without great interest, save in New 
 York and several other states, where a determined effort 
 was made to bring out a large Democratic vote. Perhaps 
 the most interesting episode of the canvass was the charge 
 made by Judge Parker on the eve of election that great 
 corporations were contributing to the Republican fund 
 with the knowledge of the President, and because of the 
 great power wielded over them by Secretary Cortelyou as 
 Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The charge was for- 
 mally denied by Secretary Root in a speech, and towards 
 the close of the campaign the President issued a state- 
 ment putting Alton B. Parker in the Ananias Club. It 
 was then that he employed his famous "square deal" 
 term, saying: 
 
 "All I ask is a square deal. Give every man a fair 
 chance; don't let anyone harm him, and don't let him 
 do harm to anyone. ' ' 
 
 In the election that year Mr. Roosevelt received the 
 largest popular and electoral vote ever given to a Presi- 
 dent up to that time, receiving a popular majority over 
 all opposing candidates of 1,729,809 votes (a plurality of 
 2,541,635 votes over Parker), and in the Electoral College 
 336 votes to 140 for Parker. 
 
 He now entered upon what he considered his first real 
 term. 
 
 m 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Annual Message of 1904 
 
 At the meeting of Congress following the election, 
 President Roosevelt outlined in his annual message a 
 series of far-reaching reforms, which w^ere heralded as 
 making a distinct and complete break with the McKIinley 
 policies which he had inherited. His proposals included 
 a railway rate bill, Federal pure food regulation, a meat 
 inspection measure, the removal of the tariff from dena- 
 tured alcohol as a possible means of counteracting the oil 
 monopoly, a thorough-going reform of the Consular Serv- 
 ice, a reform in naturalization laws, and the admission 
 of the remaining territories to statehood. All of these 
 reforms w^ere subsequently enacted into law. 
 
 Most Famous Diplomatic Triumph 
 
 The war betw^een Japan and Russia which had begun 
 in February, 1904, was to result eventually in one of the 
 most famous diplomatic triumphs of Roosevelt's seven 
 and a half years in the White House. While the terrific 
 land and sea fights in the Orient were holding the atten- 
 tion of the w^orld Roosevelt and his remarkable Secretary 
 of State, the late John Hay, sent forth first the famous 
 **Hay Note," asking that the two warring countries 
 respect the neutrality of China lest a greater catas- 
 trophe be precipitated. 
 
 Russia and Japan agreed to the American request. In 
 the meantime came Mr, Roosevelt's election to succeed 
 himself for a full term in the White House; and some 
 measure of the way America had lost its fear of a "man 
 on horseback" in the Presidential chair may be gathered 
 from the unprecedented size of the Colonel's plurality. 
 
 The Russian-Japanese war w^as constantly in his 
 thoughts. The beginning of his full term seemed to the 
 
 200 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 President the psychological moment to propose to Japan 
 and Russia that they get together peacefully and thresh 
 out their differences in conference. On June 7, 1905, the 
 President sent a note to the Czar and another to the 
 Mikado asking them if they did not think it would be 
 best for all mankind if they met to arrange terms for 
 peace. Following a long discussion as to the exact spot 
 where they should meet, the peace envoys from Japan 
 and Russia began to confer at Portsmouth, N. H., on 
 August 10, 1905 — Washington being too hot at that time 
 of the year. 
 
 Within eight days the delegates had come to a dead- 
 lock. President Roosevelt then induced the German 
 Kaiser to join him in an appeal to the rulers of Russia and 
 Japan. The joint appeal succeeded in inducing the 
 Mikado to forego his demand for money indemnity, and 
 caused the Czar to give to Japan much of the island of 
 Saghalien. 
 
 The peace treaty was signed on September 5, 1905. 
 Promptly and unanimously the world arose and acclaimed 
 Roosevelt the fighter as the greatest peacemaker of the 
 age. The following year he received the Nobel Peace 
 Prize of $40,000 for that great service. This prize is 
 given annually to the person who shall have done most 
 during the year to promote the peace of the world. But 
 Mr. Roosevelt himself always said that his greatest con- 
 tribution to the cause of peace was not the negotiation 
 of the Portsmouth treaty, but his act in sending the Amer- 
 ican fleet to the Pacific in 1907. He believed all his life 
 that that act averted war between Japan and the United 
 States, and Admiral Evans, the commander of the fleet, 
 was one of those who agreed with him. 
 
 201 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 The Panama Canal 
 
 One of the greatest, if not the greatest, achievement 
 of Mr. Roosevelt's full term was the clearing away of 
 difficulties and the inauguration of actual work on the 
 long-discussed plan to join the Atlantic and the Pacific by 
 means of the Panama Canal. It is not too much to say 
 that the world owes the Canal to the initiative and energy 
 of Theodore Roosevelt. 
 
 In 1906 the Spooner bill was passed, giving the Presi- 
 dent authority to buy the old French Panama Canal Com- 
 pany, lay out a water route across the isthmus, reorganize 
 a canal commission, and begin to build. The work meant 
 not only a battle against mountainous engineering prob- 
 lems, but notable medical and sanitary problems that till 
 then had defied the world. 
 
 How well the work was done is fresh in the public 
 mind, but it will be referred to again later in these pages. 
 
 While Mr. Roosevelt was tackling his canal problems 
 he put through far-reaching legislative and diplomatic 
 coups that included the momentous passage of a bill giv- 
 ing Federal control, or at least direction, of the business 
 of interstate commerce carriers; the suppression in the 
 same year, 1906, of a Cuban insurrection against Presi- 
 dent Estrada Palma; and the inception of a wide-spread- 
 ing conservation of America's natural resources. 
 
 Regulating Railroad Rates 
 
 It was in 1905 that President Roosevelt began fighting 
 for the regulation of railroad rates. The Esch-Townsend 
 bill, his first essay in that line, was beaten, as he had 
 expected it to be ; but in 1906 he forced the Hepburn bill 
 through Congress in the face of such bitter opposition 
 from his own party that he was obliged to form at one 
 
 202 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 time an alliance with the Democrats. The latter charged 
 bitterly that he threw them aside like a squeezed lemon 
 when they had served his purpose, and the air was full 
 of criminations and recriminations. 
 
 But whatever he may have done with the Democrats, 
 he had no hesitation in breaking with the leaders of his 
 own party, such as Aldrich, and putting in the forefront 
 one of the younger Senators, Dolliver, of Iowa, and had 
 the satisfaction of putting his bill through. 
 
 On April 14, 1906, he publicly expressed his advocacy 
 of a national inheritance tax, sajdng: "We shall ulti- 
 mately have to consider the adoption of some such scheme 
 as that of a progressive tax on all fortunes," and subse- 
 quently he declared himself in favor of an income tax. 
 
 Loved for Enemies He Made 
 
 It was late in 1905 that the Wall Street Journal alpha- 
 betically called the roll of Mr. Roosevelt's enemies as 
 follows : 
 
 A lot of people who are afraid of a foreign policy. 
 
 Bribers and corruptionists of all kinds. 
 
 Corporations that fear publicity. 
 
 Disappointed office seekers. 
 
 Every person who still thinks that the President ought not 
 
 to have received John Mitchell or Booker Washington. 
 Financial interests that have been or are being investigated. 
 Great men who find that Roosevelt is in their way. 
 .High finance that puts itself above the law. 
 Interests that want to kill or delay the Panama Canal. 
 Jacobins who are ready for anything that will serve to turn 
 
 the ''ins" out. 
 Kangaroo politicians strong in their capacity to kick. 
 **Law honesty." 
 Men who squirmed under the enforcement of the Sherman 
 
 Anti-Trust Law. 
 Nicaragua Canal advocates. 
 Odell (governor of New York). 
 
 203 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Opponents of government regulation, especially railways. 
 
 Pennsylvania's corrupt machine, recently rebuked at the 
 polls. 
 
 Railroads that have violated the law. 
 
 Sugar lobbyists who don't want fair play given to the Phil- 
 ippines. 
 
 Shippers who want rebates. 
 
 Trusts that have become monopolies. 
 
 Usurers and others who don't like the doctrine of the square 
 deal. 
 
 Voters, now few in number, who want us to give up the Phil- 
 ippines. 
 
 Washington correspondents who feel that they have the right 
 to run the White House. 
 
 Xanthospermous journalism eager for a new sensation. 
 
 You may perhaps find a few more by inquiring at 26 Broad- 
 way (Standard Oil headquarters). 
 
 Zealots who think it right to destroy even a reputation to 
 benefit their party. 
 
 The Brownsville Incident 
 
 On December 19, 1906, he gave his official sanction to 
 the discharge of Negro soldiers for a murderous attack 
 which at least some of them had made on citizens of 
 Brownsville, Texas, withholding his approval of the dis- 
 charge of the Negroes, however, until his Secretary of 
 War, William 11. Taft, had judicially reviewed all the 
 facts. 
 
 And straightway a large part of the Negroes of the 
 country began to attack him again and a large part of the 
 South again began to sing his praises. As always. 
 Colonel Roosevelt was continuing his frank, courageous 
 way. 
 
 The Panic of 1907 
 
 The staggering financial panic of 1907 held his whole 
 mind during the dark days in which the money troubles 
 of that year sent banks and large business affairs crash- 
 
 204 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 ing down like rows of cards. To meet the catastrophe the 
 Roosevelt administration went to the relief of money 
 markets by issuing Panama construction bonds up to 
 $50,000,000, and the President and the Treasury Depart- 
 ment also entered upon a plan whereby short-term notes 
 at 3 per cent were issued. The upheaval soon ended and 
 business returned to normal again. 
 
 Voyage of the Battle Fleet 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt as President was always preaching 
 preparedness, paraphrasing George Washington's maxim 
 to the effect that the way to preserve peace is constantly 
 to be ready for war. With something of this thought in 
 mind. President Roosevelt in 1908 sent a great American 
 battle fleet under Admiral Evans ('* Fighting Bob") on 
 a 42,000-mile trip around the world — an idea which, as 
 usual, was sharply criticized by his enemies. But when 
 the fleet had circled the globe, amid great acclaim from 
 rulers and subjects of nations near and remote, Mr. 
 Roosevelt declared that the voyage had ''exercised a 
 greater influence for peace than all the peace conferences 
 of the last fifty years. ' ' 
 
 In line with his peace theories he championed the 
 cause of international arbitration of world differences of 
 opinion and claims; he practiced what he preached by 
 submitting the Pious Fund case, over which his own 
 country and Mexico long had been at loggerheads, to The 
 Hague tribunal. He never laid claim to signing so many 
 peace treaties as William Jennings Bryan did later; but 
 he kept a great part of the world peaceful during his 
 regime, whereas when Secretary Bryan had about con- 
 cluded the last of his peace treaties, the whole world went 
 to war. 
 
 205 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Foreign Relations 
 
 The most important measures of the second Roosevelt 
 administration, viewed after a period of years, seem to 
 have been those concerning the foreign relations of the 
 United States. Important as were the happenings in 
 internal affairs in the four years from March 4, 1905, to 
 March 4, 1909, the final effect of the foreign policy must 
 be taken to be the greater. To review, without too much 
 regard for a strict chronological sequence, the course of 
 events with reference to foreign relations, it may be noted 
 first, that the two Secretaries of State who held office for 
 the longest time under President Roosevelt were John 
 Hay and Elihu Root. Hay died ^\ithin four months of 
 Roosevelt's inauguration, on June 30, 1905, and Root was 
 appointed on July 25. 
 
 One of the questions which President Roosevelt inher- 
 ited on coming into office was the New^foundland fisheries 
 controversy, over the rights of American fishermen in 
 Newfoundland waters. In 1907, through negotiations 
 conducted in London, the President caused the signing of 
 la protocol providing that the controversy be submitted to 
 The Hague for arbitration. 
 
 Secretary Root labored especially to improve the rela- 
 tions of the United States with South America, and in 
 1907 the President invited the representatives of the five 
 republics of Central America to an international peace 
 conference in Washington. A joint tribunal was estab- 
 lished for arbitration. 
 
 Earlier in that year Secretary Root had made a trip 
 around South America, visiting the capital of each coun- 
 try, and assuring the people that the purposes of the 
 United States in this hemisphere were unselfish. His 
 
 206 
 
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT 
 
 visit did much to better the standing of this country in 
 the eyes of the South Americans. 
 
 In 1908 Mr. Roosevelt's popularity was at its greatest 
 height, and by merely saying the word he could have had 
 a third term, or rather, a second full term. In fact, it took 
 his utmost efforts to prevent the party from forcing 
 another term upon him. But on the night of his election 
 in 1904 he had announced that he would under no circum- 
 stances accept another nomination. Such a nomination 
 it was, however, later to be his lot to receive under cir- 
 cumstances that are^historic. 
 
 207 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 The Panama Canl Problem Solved — Mr. Roosevelt's Con- 
 servation Policy — Praise from an Impartial Source — 
 His Colonial Policy — The Standard Oil Fight — Consu- 
 lar Service Reformed — Appointed General Wood as 
 Chief of Staff — Secret of Roosevelt's Success — Get- 
 ting Close to the People. 
 
 No triumph of Theodore Roosevelt's strenuous and 
 useful life was greater than that which he achieved in 
 connection with the construction of the Panama Canal. 
 When he set himself in earnest at the task, he laughed at 
 obstacles and simply wiped them away. His approval 
 of the purchase by the United States of the property of 
 the old French Panama Canal Company, and his recog- 
 nition of the new Republic of Panama and the creation 
 of a Canal Zone under United States jurisdiction, were 
 the important steps that started the great project on its 
 way and led to its successful consummation. It took his 
 powers of initiative, his energy, his farsightedness, and 
 his knowledge and wise choice of the right men for the 
 job, to put through the gigantic undertaking and bring 
 our Atlantic and Pacific coasts \vithin closer reach of 
 each other, besides shortening the ocean routes for the 
 commerce of the world. 
 
 In reviewing his administration of the Presidency for 
 seven and one-half years, an authority of the greatest 
 
 208 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 impartiality finds that the taking over of the Panama 
 Canal project was Mr. Roosevelt's greatest single 
 achievement, and adds: 
 
 *'His critics said that his course in this matter was 
 unconstitutional, although the question of constitution- 
 ality has never been raised before any national or inter- 
 national tribunal. The fact remains that the construc- 
 tion of the Panama Canal was undertaken to the practical 
 satisfaction of the civilized world. But for Mr. Roose- 
 velt's vigorous official action and his characteristic ability 
 to inspire associates with enthusiasm, the canal would 
 still be a subject of diplomatic discussion instead of a 
 physical actuality." 
 
 Progress of the work on the Panama Canal was one 
 of the great events of Roosevelt's second term, as the 
 beginning of that project had been of his first term. Con- 
 gress decided finally upon the lock type of canal in June, 
 1906, and work was pushed from that time. 
 
 His Conservation Policy 
 
 Another great achievement of President Roosevelt 
 was the development of a national policy looking to the 
 conservation of all the natural resources of the country. 
 Of this policy and his intimate connection with it, the 
 Encyclopedia Britannica takes the following unbiased 
 view: 
 
 ''If Mr. Roosevdt did not invent the term 'conserva- 
 tion,' he literally created as well as led the movement 
 which made conservation in 1910 the foremost political 
 and social question in the United States. The old theory 
 was that the general prosperity of the country depends 
 upon the development of its natural resources, a devel- 
 opment which can best be achieved by private capital 
 acting under the natural incentive of financial profits. 
 
 209 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Upon this theory public land was either given away or 
 sold for a trifle by the nation to individual holders. 
 
 "While it is true that the building of railways, the 
 opening of mines, the growth of the lumber industry and 
 the settlement of frontier lands by hardy pioneers were 
 rapidly promoted by this policy, it also resulted naturally 
 in the accumulation of great wealth in the hands of a 
 comparatively few men who were controlling lumber, 
 coal, oil and railway transportation in a way that was 
 believed to be a menace to the public welfare. Nor w^as 
 the concentration of wealth the only danger of this pol- 
 icy; it led to the destruction of forests, the exhaustion 
 of farming soils and the wasteful mining of coal and min- 
 erals, since the desire for quick profits, even when they 
 entail risk to permanency of capital, is always a power- 
 ful human motive. 
 
 "Mr. Roosevelt not only framed legislation to regu- 
 late this concentration of wealth and to preserve forests, 
 water power, mines and arable soil, but organized depart- 
 ments in his administration for carrying his legislation 
 into effect. His official acts and the influence of his 
 speeches and messages led to the adoption by both citi- 
 zens and Government of a new theory regarding natural 
 resources. 
 
 "His theory is that the Government, acting for the 
 people, who are the real owners of all public property, 
 shall permanently retain the fee in public lands, leaving 
 their products to be developed by private capital under 
 leases w^hich are limited in their duration and which give 
 the Government complete power to regulate the indus- 
 trial operations of the lessees." 
 
 In May, 1908, Mr. Roosevelt called a conference of the 
 governors of all the States for the purpose of securing 
 
 210 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 their support and co-operation in the conservation of 
 natural resources, and succeeded in creating a strong 
 public opinion to that desirable end. He thus laid the 
 foundation for a vast amount of useful work which has 
 since been accomplished by legislation and otherwise. 
 
 His Colonial Policy 
 
 In August, 1905, an insurrection broke out in Cuba 
 which the existing Cuban government was powerless to 
 quell. This Government was repeatedly asked by the 
 then Cuban government to intervene, and finally was noti- 
 fied by the President of Cuba that he intended to resign. 
 President Eoosevelt sent ships to the island, and dis- 
 patched the Secretary of War, William H. Taft, and the 
 Assistant Secretary of State to deal with the situation on 
 the ground. The United States Government remained in 
 the island longer than it had expected, but was replaced 
 by a new native government, under President Gomez, in 
 January, 1909. 
 
 A policy of giving to the Filipinos a larger share of 
 self-government was put through in 1906, and in 1907 the 
 first Philippine Assembly was called to order by Secre- 
 tary Taft. 
 
 ''Strictly speaking, the United States has no colonial 
 policy," according to the impartial authority already 
 quoted in this chapter, ''for the Philippine Islands and 
 Porto Rico can scarcely be called colonies. It has, how- 
 ever, a policy of territorial expansion. Although this 
 policy was entered upon at the conclusion of the Spanish 
 war under the Presidency of Mr. McKinley, it has been 
 very largely shaped by Mr. Roosevelt. He determined 
 that Cuba should not be taken over by the United States, 
 as all Europe expected it Would be, and an influential sec- 
 tion of his own party hoped it would be, but should be 
 
 211 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 given every opportunity to govern itself as an independ- 
 ent republic; by assuming supervision of the finances of 
 Santo Domingo he put an end to controversies in that 
 unstable republic, which threatened to disturb the peace 
 of Europe, and he personally inspired the body of admin- 
 istrative officials in the Philippines, in Porto Rico and 
 (during the American occupancy) in Cuba, who for effi- 
 ciency and unselfish devotion to duty compare favorably 
 with any similar body in the world. 
 
 ''In numerous speeches and addresses he expressed 
 his belief in a strong colonial government, but a govern- 
 ment administered for the benefit of the people under its 
 control and not for the profit of the people at home. In 
 this respect for the seven years of his administration at 
 Washington he developed a policy of statesmanship quite 
 new in the history of the L^nited States." 
 
 The Standard Oil Fight 
 
 The suit for the dissolution of the Standard Oil Com- 
 pany was one of the most significant acts of the Roosevelt 
 Administration; and, although this suit was not brought 
 to a successful conclusion until 1911, the credit is due 
 mainly to him. But more important in his own estima- 
 tion, and from the standpoint of personal credit, was his 
 work for the conservation of the natural resources of the 
 countrj'. 
 
 The culmination of a long series of addresses and 
 messages on the railroads cam.e in 1906 ^^ith the enact- 
 ment of the Hepburn Rate law, which was supplementary 
 to the Anti-Rebate law of 1903. The passage of this bill 
 was largely due to popular indignation over the abuses 
 of rebates, as was also the passage of the Pure Food law 
 and the Meat Inspection act. An Employers' Liability 
 law was passed at this session, but was deckred uncon- 
 stitutional and was replaced by a modified law^ in 1908. 
 
 212 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 An important step in respect to foreign relations was 
 the reform of the diplomatic and consular services. An 
 executive order of November 10, 1905, appHed the merit 
 system to promotions in both branches of the foreign 
 service. 
 
 Diplomatic negotiations were begun and concluded 
 whereby the Japanese immigration was restricted by the 
 action of that country. With other nations, with Ger- 
 many, and w^th England, minor disputes over the tariff 
 and Niagara Falls were satisfactorily settled. 
 
 Another feature of the President's second Adminis- 
 tration was the signing of the Oklahoma and Arizona 
 statehood bills. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt's interest in national preparedness 
 was not confined to the naval service alone. During his 
 first administration he succeeded in having Congress 
 enact the first General Staff Act, and he promptly 
 appointed as organizer and first chief of staff Major Gen- 
 eral Leonard Wood. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt had laid the foundation for the staff by 
 securing the removal of General Wood, then an army 
 surgeon, from the medical service, and his appointment 
 as commander of the famous regiment of ''Rough Rid- 
 ers," which the former President organized at the out- 
 break of the war mth Spain. 
 
 Some army officers have expressed the opinion that 
 the importance of this first, though incomplete, victory 
 over the bureaucratic system that had always ruled the 
 War Department, was shown by the fact that it was not 
 tmtil 1919, with all the experience of the Great War as 
 a foundation, that the Department was preparing with 
 hopes of success to submit to Congress a bill providing 
 for full General Staff control and responsibility for all 
 army matters. 
 
 213 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Achievements as President 
 President Eoosevelt's elected term ended in 1909 
 after achievements of which the following are historical : 
 
 1. Dolliver-Hepburn railroad act. 
 
 2. Extension of forest reserve. 
 
 3. National irrigation act. 
 
 4. Improvement of waterways and reservation of 
 water power sites. 
 
 5. Employers' habihty act. 
 
 6. Safety appliance act. 
 
 7. Regulation of railroad employees' hours of labor. 
 
 8. Establishment of Department of Commerce and 
 Labor. 
 
 9. Pure food and drugs act. 
 
 10. Federal meat inspection. 
 
 11. Na\y doubled in tonnage and greatly increased in 
 efficiency. 
 
 12. Battleship fleet sent around the world. 
 
 13. State militia brought into co-ordination vrith. the 
 army. 
 
 14. Canal zone acquired and work of excavation 
 pushed with increased energy. 
 
 15. Development of civil self-government in insular 
 possessions. 
 
 16. Second intervention in Cuba; Cuba restored to 
 the Cubans. 
 
 17. Finances of Santo Domingo adjusted. 
 
 18. Alaska boundary disputes settled. 
 
 19. Reorganization of the consular service. 
 
 20. Settlement of the coal strike of 1902. 
 
 214 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 21. The Government upheld in the Northern Securi- 
 ties decision. 
 
 22. Conviction of post office grafters and public land 
 thieves. 
 
 23. Investigation of the sugar trust customs frauds 
 and resulting prosecutions. 
 
 24. Suits begun against the Standard Oil and tobacco 
 companies and other corporations for violation of the 
 Sherman anti-trust act. 
 
 25. Corporations forbidden to contribute to political 
 campaign funds. 
 
 26. The door of China kept open to American com- 
 merce. 
 
 27. The settlement of the Eusso-Japanese war by the 
 treaty of Portsmouth. 
 
 28. Diplomatic entanglements created by the Pacific 
 Coast prejudice against Japanese immigration avoided. 
 
 29. Twenty-four treaties of general arbitration 
 negotiated. 
 
 30. Interest bearing debt reduced by more than 
 $90,000,000. 
 
 31. Annual conference of governors of states 
 inaugurated. 
 
 32. Movement for conservation of natural resources 
 inaugurated. 
 
 33. Movement for the improvement of conditions of 
 country life inaugurated. 
 
 In addition, President Roosevelt recommended 
 reforms and policies subsequently obtained by his suc- 
 cessor, among them being : 
 
 1. Reform of the banking and currency system. 
 
 215 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 3. Income tax. 
 
 4. Passage of a new employers' liability act to meet 
 objections raised by the Supreme Court. 
 
 5. Postal savings banks, 
 
 6. Parcel post. 
 
 7. Revision of the Sherman anti-trust act. 
 
 8. Legislation to prevent overcapitalization, stock 
 watering and manipulations by common carriers. 
 
 9. Legislation compelling incorporation under Fed- 
 eral laws of corporations engaged in interstate commerce. 
 
 Met All Manner of Men 
 
 During his Presidency Mr. Roosevelt was democratic 
 in his relations wdth not only men who had ideas to give 
 him, but with men who were of service to him in living 
 the strenuous life. ''Professor" Mike Donovan at the 
 White House boxed with him, and a jiu-jitsu artist taught 
 the President the secrets of that science. 
 
 In explaining why he had "as a practical man of high 
 ideals, who had always endeavored to put his ideals in 
 practice," conferred with Mr. Harriman, the railroad 
 magnate, and Mr. Archbold of the Standard Oil Com- 
 pany, the former President made those assertions: 
 
 ''I have always acted and shall always act upon the 
 theory that if, while in public office, there is any man 
 from whom I think I can gain anything of value to the 
 Government, I vdW send for him and talk it over with 
 him, no matter how widely I differ from him on other 
 points. 
 
 ''I actually sent for, while I was President, trust mag- 
 nates, labor leaders. Socialists, John L. Sullivan, 'Bat- 
 tling' Nelson, Dr. Lyman Abbott. I could go on indefi- 
 nitely ^^^th a list of people whom at various times I have 
 
 216 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 seen or sent for. And if I am elected President again I 
 shall continue exactly the same course of conduct, with- 
 out the deviation of a hair's breadth. And if ever I find 
 that my virtue is so frail that it won't stand being 
 brought into contact with either trust magnates or a 
 Socialist or a labor leader, I will get out of public life." 
 
 Secret of His Success 
 
 The secret of Mr. Roosevelt's tremendous power, as 
 explained by himself, is given in the following quotation, 
 from which it is probable that the custom grew up of 
 explaining him as an average man highly developed in all 
 his faculties and of denying him rather sweepingly any 
 decided endowment of genius : 
 
 *'It has always seemed to me that in life there are 
 two ways of achieving success, or, for that matter, of 
 achieving what is commonly called greatness. One is to 
 do that which can be done by the man of exceptional and 
 extraordinary abilities. Of course this means that only 
 one man can do it, and it is a very rare kind of success or 
 greatness. The other is to do that which many men could 
 do, but which, as a matter of fact, none of them actually 
 does. This is the ordinary kind of greatness. 
 
 ''Nobody but one of the world's rare geniuses could 
 have written the Gettysburg Speech, or the Second Inaug- 
 ural, or met as Lincoln did the awful crises of the Civil 
 War. But most of us can do the ordinary things which, 
 however, most of us do not do. Any hardy, healthy man, 
 fond of outdoor life, but not in the least an athlete, could 
 lead the life I have led if he chose — and by 'choosing' I 
 of course mean choosing to exercise the requisite indus- 
 try, judgment and foresight, none of a very marked 
 type." 
 
 217 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 It was due to the ''vague passion for a new righte- 
 ousness" perhaps that Mr. Roosevelt at times, instead of 
 treating the tariff and currency legislation and economic 
 government with his thought and pen, preached the 
 *'duty of mothers to bear large families, the need for big 
 business to be honest, the advantage of correct spelling, 
 the desirability of making life simple, strenuous and suc- 
 cessful." 
 
 All topics "on which he could safely generalize he 
 treated with assiduity," and in "no other case has the 
 Executive pen dwelt so extensively upon matters gener- 
 ally confined for discussion to the home, the schoolroom 
 and the church." 
 
 Idealist and Opportunist 
 
 Roosevelt the man was both an idealist and an oppor- 
 tunist — an idealist in his ends and an opportunist in his 
 methods. How to adjust idealism and opportunism, how 
 to live for a future ideal but in the actual present, how 
 to face the facts as they are and not lose the ambition to 
 make them better, is a perpetually shifting problem which 
 no man can perfectly solve. 
 
 It is true that he was criticized on the one hand by 
 the practical politician for not being practical and on the 
 other hand by the reformer and the scholar for sacrific- 
 ing ideals to practical politics. 
 
 The attitude of Mr. Roosevelt toward the governing 
 of men has been said to be that of "a strong man rejoic- 
 ing," as leadership ^^^th him was instinctive. The hurly- 
 burly of conflict impending and actual "was to him a 
 great gladness." Joy in work — the elation and exulta- 
 tion of strong competition — was often the motive power 
 of his accomplishment. 
 
 21F 
 
KECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 The seven and a half years of his Presidency were rife 
 with struggle and conflict, and having come through the 
 years of contention and having revelled in every minute 
 of them, he was '' deterred from entering no fight because 
 the contest was likely to be hot. ' ' When he left the Presi- 
 dency he said, '^I have had a corking time." 
 
 The description of one of his adherents during the 
 years of his Presidency stands in contrast with other 
 words of Roosevelt's own, as follows: 
 
 **In Washington, during the crises of his Presidency, 
 when he was being badgered and thwarted beyond endur- 
 ance, when schemes on which his whole heart were set 
 were in peril, he sometimes exploded with anger, scorn, 
 and denunciation, and the outburst was always one of 
 exhilaration. It was tonic to him to be in a fight and 
 hitting the hardest, and his vehemence was that of the 
 natural, pugnacious, elemental man with his back to the 
 walk" 
 
 Getting Close to the People 
 
 President Roosevelt's popularity throughout the coun- 
 try was attested by the enthusiastic receptions extended 
 to him by the people of the United States during the 
 various trips he made. Even President McKinley, 
 warmly as he was held in esteem by the people of the 
 country, received no more cordial welcomes than Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt in his tours over the United States. Both 
 Presidents came in contact with the people directly; 
 talked to them from the rear end of their cars ; from the 
 platforms in crowded houses and halls ; and looking into 
 the faces of those in front of him President Roosevelt 
 seldom indeed had reason to suppose that there was any 
 feeling against him anywhere. He believed that there 
 was no better way of getting close to the people than by 
 
 219 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 going around among them, talking to them, and shaking 
 their hands. 
 
 During his first term of office the President made 
 about thirty-five trips out of Washington. Most of these 
 were very short, being for the purpose of making speeches 
 at various points in response to the wishes of conven- 
 tions, societies, etc. ; going to his home in Oyster Bay to 
 vote or spend the summer; visiting his alma mater and 
 friends at Harvard ; inspecting affairs at Annapolis and 
 West Point; presentfng medals for marksmanship at 
 Seagirt, N. J., and short hunting trips into Virginia. The 
 President's love for his eldest son, Theodore, Junior, and 
 the natural anxiety of a father, induced him to spend five 
 days at Groton, Massachusetts, in February, 1902, when 
 Theodore, Jr., lay at the point of death from pneumonia. 
 The faithful father remained at the bedside of his son 
 until the crisis had passed. 
 
 At the Charleston Exposition 
 
 The first tour of prominence taken by the President 
 was to the Charleston, S. C, Exposition, in April, 1902. 
 The President spent some time in Charleston, and was 
 most cordially received there. His next trip was to Pitts- 
 burgh on the 4th of July, 1902, at which time he delivered 
 a speech to 50,000 people and received an ovation. His 
 speech was significant, in connection with his attitude 
 on the trust question and his intention to have the Attor- 
 ney-General proceed against those that were beUevod to 
 be violating the Sherman and other anti-trust laws. Mr. 
 Roosevelt at that time plainly indicated that the laws of 
 the country must be obeyed by individuals and corpora- 
 tions; that there would be no discriminations against 
 one or the other, but that no matter how tremendously 
 wealthy a corporation might be, it could not exist if it 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 was operating in \iolation of the laws of the United 
 States. It was about this time that he directed Attorney- 
 General Knox to begin an investigation of the operations 
 of some of the big trusts, and these investigations led 
 to proceedings which have become famous in the legal 
 annals of the United States. 
 
 Three important trips were made by the President in 
 the late summer and fall of 1902. One was to the New 
 England States, and lasted from August 2 to September 
 3. The President visited a number of cities in the dif- 
 ferent States, and everywhere was received in the most 
 generous manner. It was at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 
 while on this journey, that he came near losing his life. 
 While driving across the country his carriage was struck 
 by a trolley car and overturned, killing Secret Service 
 Detective Craig, and seriously injuring the President, 
 former Governor Crane of Massachusetts, and Secretary 
 Cortelyou. Despite the severity of his own wounds 
 and the seriousness of the shock, the President's first 
 thoughts were for the Secret Service officer, who had 
 been knocked from the box where he had been riding with 
 the driver. He was very much shocked when he learned 
 that Craig had been killed. 
 
 Everywhere on this journey the President made 
 speeches which showed the variety of subjects with which 
 he was acquainted, and the depth of his information on 
 these subjects. The speeches were conservative, thought- 
 ful, and tactful, and went far toward establishing him in 
 the confidence of the people. 
 
 Attends Firemen's Convention 
 
 After the New England trip. President Roosevelt 
 made a journey to Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the pur- 
 pose of attending the biennial convention of the Brother- 
 
 221 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 hood of Locomotive Firemen. On his way to Chatta- 
 nooga, he went through West Virginia, Ohio, and Ken- 
 tucky, speaking at Wheehng and several points in Ohio. 
 At every one of these places he was received with great 
 cordiahty, and the people freely applauded his speeches. 
 In Chattanooga the locomotive firemen received him vdih 
 great warmth, and the people of the city entertained him 
 in the most hospitable manner. The firemen elected the 
 President an honorary member of their Brotherhood, and 
 the speech he made to them won for him the lasting 
 friendship of the members of this organization, and of 
 all railroad organizations in the United States. He com- 
 pared the hazardous duties of the engineer, fireman, con- 
 ductor, and other railroad employees to those of a sol- 
 dier, and said that he had often declared that there was 
 no class of men in the world braver or more noble than 
 railroad men, who took their lives in their hands daily, 
 and whose courage, endurance, and manhood frequently 
 saved hundreds of lives, often at the sacrifice of their 
 own. 
 
 Recalled the Days of Chickamauga 
 
 While in Chattanooga, Mr. Roosevelt went over the 
 battlefields of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, and 
 Chickamauga, having the various points of interest 
 pointed out to him by officers in the army stationed in the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 It was upon his arrival at the battlefield of Chicka- 
 mauga that those with the President and the thousands 
 that were assembled there got an exhibition of the Presi- 
 dent's splendid horsemanship. The finest troop of cav- 
 alry stationed at Chickamauga rode up to the President 's 
 carriage, and a splendid cavalry charger was put at his 
 disposal. He vaulted into the saddle with the ease of the 
 
 222 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 most experienced and graceful cavalryman, and then gal- 
 loped away at a pace which unsaddled several of the 
 troopers, caused others to lose their caps, and still others 
 to lose their places in the ranks. The President outrode 
 every trooper in the company, and after that there was 
 not a soldier among them who would not have given his 
 life for the Chief Executive. No word or act could have 
 done more to enshrine Theodore Roosevelt in the hearts 
 of the soldiers than his daring ride across the dusty bat- 
 tlefields of Chickamauga that day. And he evidently 
 enjoyed every moment of the experience. 
 Trip Over the Northwest 
 
 Returning from Chattanooga, the President stopped 
 at Knoxville and other points in Tennessee, visited Ashe- 
 ville. North Carolina, and made talks at other points in 
 that State and Virginia on his way back. 
 
 Ten days after the return from this tour the President 
 started on a five days' trip over the Northwest, visiting 
 Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and other States. On this 
 trip the great respect and esteem of the people were 
 shown in their reception of his speeches and other joyous 
 greetings. 
 
 In 1903 Mr. Roosevelt made a notable fourteen-thou- 
 sand-mile journey across the country from ocean to ocean 
 and through the Southwest. He revisited the scenes in 
 North Dakota of his ranching days and was everywhere 
 received with enthusiastic acclaim. Interesting details 
 of this trip, with summaries of the numerous addresses 
 made by the President en route, have been given by Mr. 
 Addison C. Thomas in his excellent work entitled ** Roose- 
 velt Among the People" (The L. W. Walter Company, 
 Chicago) — a work which received the personal endorse- 
 ment of Colonel Roosevelt. 
 
 223 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Scandalized the Senators 
 
 President Roosevelt probably was the only occupant 
 of the \Miite House who ever had boxing matches within 
 its sacred precincts. Mike Donovan used to go there fre- 
 quently to meet the President. Mr. Roosevelt also used 
 to fence with his old commander, General Leonard Wood, 
 and once nearly disabled the General, it is said. He also 
 staged a motion-picture play in the White House, show- 
 ing his old Oklahoma friend. Jack Abernathy, killing 
 wolves with his bare hands. Jack was among those pres- 
 ent, and so were General Wood and several ambassadors. 
 
 It gave great scandal to many reverend senators to 
 see the w^ay in which such successors of Leatherstocking 
 as Abernathy and Bill Sewall went to the White House 
 and got the President's ear for hours at a time. Before 
 Senator Hoar had come to know Mr. Roosevelt as he 
 afterwards did, he went to the \Vhite House to remon- 
 strate with him for appointing Ben Daniels marshal of 
 Arizona. Mr. Hoar was one of the most dignified and 
 sedate men in the Senate. 
 
 '*Mr. President," said Mr. Hoar in horrified accents, 
 '*do you know anything about the character of this man 
 Daniels you have appointed to be marshal of Arizona?" 
 
 ''Why, yes, I think so," said Mr. Roosevelt, ''he was 
 a member of my regiment." 
 
 "Do you know," said Mr. Hoar, impressively, "that 
 he has killed three men!" 
 
 The President was scandalized. "You don't mean 
 it," he said. 
 
 "It is a fact," said Mr. Hoar. 
 
 The President was thoroughly indignant. He pounded 
 his fist on the table. "When I get hold of Daniels," he 
 
 224 
 
RECORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 said, ' ' I will read him the riot act. He told me he 'd only 
 killed two." 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt had a vigorous vocabulary and was 
 never bactward about using it in a fight. He branded so 
 many men as liars that a newspaper humorist coined the 
 name "Ananias Club" and used it to include most of 
 those who had incurred Mr. Roosevelt's enmity. The 
 name stuck and the laugh lasted, but it did not deter Mr. 
 Roosevelt from continuing to call people liars, in plain 
 language, when the occasion and the circumstances 
 seemed to justify him in doing so. 
 
 Blinded by a Blow 
 
 In all his athletic training and contests Mr. Roosevelt 
 asked no favors of an opponent. He liked to give and 
 take the hardest blows in boxing, as in politics, and no 
 opponent was expected to "go easy" with him, when he 
 was in the WTiite House or at any other time. Nothing 
 illustrates this rule better than an episode which the 
 Colonel himself made public, only after the lapse of 
 twelve years. In October, 1917, in the course of an inter- 
 view with newspaper men, he told this story in explana- 
 tion of his relinquishing the practice of boxing: 
 
 "When I was President I used to box with one of my 
 aides, a young captain in the artillery. One day he cross- 
 countered me and broke a blood vessel in my left eye. I 
 don't know whether this is known, but I never have been 
 able to see out of that eye since. I thought, as only one 
 good eye was left me, I would not box any longer." 
 
 This story was too promising for the newspaper men 
 to let drop without endeavoring to have it amplified by 
 the soldier who delivered the blow. 
 
 225 
 
LIFE 01 THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 A few days later, in the New York Times, appeared 
 this interview witii Colonel Dan T. Moore, of the United 
 States Army : 
 
 Camp Meade, Md., Oct. 27, 1917.— Colonel Dan T. 
 Moore of the 310th Field Artillery Regiment, 79th Di- 
 vision, National Army, admits he struck the blow that 
 destroyed the sight of Colonel Roosevelt's eye. He said: 
 
 ''I am sorry I struck the blow. I'm sorry the Colonel 
 told about it, and I'm sorry my identity has been so 
 quickly uncovered. I give you my word I never knew I 
 had bhnded the Colonel in one eye until I read his state- 
 ment in the paper a few days ago. I instantly knew, 
 however, that I was the man referred to, because there 
 was no other answering the description he gave who could 
 have done it. I shall write the Colonel a letter expressing 
 my regrets at the serious results of the blow. 
 
 ''I was a military aide at the White House in 1905. 
 The boxers in the White House gym were the President, 
 Kermit Roosevelt, and myself. The President went 
 farther afield for his opponents in other sports, but w^hen 
 he wanted to don the boxing gloves he chose Kermit or 
 myself. ' ' 
 
 ''Tell about the blow that blinded the President." 
 
 ''I might as well try to tell about the shell that killed 
 any particular soldier in this war. When you put on 
 gloves with President Roosevelt it was a case of fight all 
 the way, and no man in the ring with him had a chance 
 to keep track of particular blows. A good fast referee 
 might have known, but nobody else. The Colonel wanted 
 plenty of action, and he usually got it. He had no use 
 for a quitter or one who gave ground, and nobody but a 
 man willing to fight all the time and all the way had a 
 chance \\dth him. That's my only excuse for the fact that 
 
 226 
 
RECOED IN THE WHITE HOUSE 
 
 I seriously injured him. There was no chance to be care- 
 ful of the blows. He simply wouldn't have stood for it." 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt, when informed of Colonel Moore's 
 statement, said: "There is nothing more to say about 
 the matter." 
 
 There was Roosevelt the Man all over. What other 
 man, in public or in private life, would have suffered 
 such an injury in silence, and concealed it from even his 
 intimate friends, for a period of twelve years'? 
 
 Helps Taft to a Nomination 
 
 In accordance with his assertion that he would not run 
 for the Presidency again, the President, throughout the 
 year 1908, worked strenuously for the nomination and 
 election of his personal candidate, William H. Taft, then 
 Secretary of War. The Republican Convention met in 
 Chicago on June 18. Mr. Taft was nominated on the first 
 ballot, and the following day James S. Sherman was 
 named for Vice-President. 
 
 227 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 IN AFRICA AND EUROPE 
 
 Departure for Big-Game Hunting in the African Jungle 
 — Description of a Buffalo Hunt — The Colonel's Vigor 
 and Endurance — Return to Civilization — Travels in 
 Europe — Honored by Potentates a/nd People — The 
 Incident in Rome — His Return Home — Roosevelt and 
 Taft. 
 
 President Eoosevelt's elected term in the White 
 House ended on March 4, 1909, when William H. Taft 
 was inaugurated as his successor. On that day Mr. 
 Roosevelt left Washington. His plans were already made 
 for a prolonged hunting trip, in search of big game, in 
 the wilds of Africa. 
 
 The nomination and election of Mr. Taft had been 
 undoubtedly due to the initiative and influence of the 
 retiring President. Mr. Taft was his Secretary of War, 
 his friend, and his personal choice for the Presidency. 
 Into the campaign for his election the Colonel had thro\vn 
 all the weight of his great prestige and popularity, and 
 Mr. Taft was elected by a plurality of 1,269,900 over his 
 Democratic opponent, William J. Bryan. The common 
 expectation therefore was that President Taft would con- 
 tinue Mr. Roosevelt's well-defined policies, particularly in 
 the matter of the conservation of natural resources, and 
 would also retain in office such friends and appointees of 
 Mr. Roosevelt as were especially identified ^^ith those 
 policies. 
 
 228 
 
iM AFRICA AND EUROPE 
 
 But whether or not any definite agreement existed 
 between the two men as regards the course Mr. Taft 
 should pursue generally in domestic and foreign policies, 
 no person surely knows or knew except the late Colonel 
 Eoosevelt and the living ex-President Taft. 
 
 It is measurably certain, however, from events that 
 soon developed, that the Colonel was not merely disap- 
 pointed but actually incensed at Mr. Taft's failure to fol- 
 low certain Rooseveltian conceptions of policy. It may 
 have been for that reason that Colonel Roosevelt precipi- 
 tated himself, or was precipitated, into the sensational 
 campaign of the Progressive party in 1912. 
 
 Much, however, was to take place in his interesting 
 life before that political explosion shook the forty-eight 
 States. What to do with his abounding energy after 
 leaving the Presidency had been in Colonel Roosevelt's 
 mind for many months. He had talked it over with his 
 famous '^Tennis Cabinet," all good friends and good 
 sportsmen, and had come to the decision that his yearn- 
 ing for the relaxation of outdoor adventure and big-game 
 shooting would find its heartiest expression in Africa. 
 
 Departure for Africa 
 
 After a short period of comparative quiet in prepara- 
 tion for his African trip, he sailed for the Mediterranean 
 on March 23, 1909. 
 
 He went to Africa as most men would go on an ordi- 
 nary vacation hunting trip. Accompanied by his son, 
 Kermit, and a modest entourage, he aimed at the acquisi- 
 tion of specimens of the fauna and flora of the little- 
 known regions of the Dark Continent, as well as the 
 thrills of big-game shooting. Kermit was to act as the 
 photographer of the party. 
 
 No time was lost en route to the hunting grounds, the 
 
 229 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 party being joined before going into the interior of 
 Africa by II. J. Cuniughame, the famous hunter of big 
 game. 
 
 The expedition was in the wilderness until the middle 
 of the following March, during which time it was almost 
 completely cut off from communication with the outer 
 world. One result was a collection which scientists have 
 said was of unusual value to students of natural history. 
 His experiences have been described by Colonel Roosevelt 
 in his ''African Game Trails," published by Charles 
 Scribner's Sons. 
 
 Hunting the African Buffalo 
 
 One of the experiences he had long been anticipating 
 was the shooting of buffalo. The former President hunted 
 buffalo to his heart's content on Heatley's Ranch, which 
 comprised some 20,000 acres between the Rewero and 
 Kamiti rivers, and was seventeen miles long and four 
 miles wide. The Kamiti was described as a queer little 
 stream, running through a dense, broad swamp of tall 
 papyrus, the home of a buffalo herd numbering one hun- 
 dred individuals, and was all but impenetrable. 
 
 ''There is no doubt," Colonel Roosevelt wrote, "that 
 under certain circumstances buffalo, in addition to show- 
 ing themselves exceedingly dangerous opponents when 
 wounded by hunters, become truculent and inclined to 
 take the offensive themselves. There are places in East 
 Africa where as regards at least certain herds this seems 
 to be the case; and in Uganda the buffalo have caused 
 such loss of life and such damage to the native plantations 
 that they are now ranked as vermin and not as game, and 
 their killing is encouraged in every possible way." 
 
 Continuing with his description of a hunt in Heatley's 
 swamp the hunter-naturalist goes on : 
 
 230 
 
IN AFBICA AND EUROPE 
 
 * * Cautiously threa :ling our way along the edge of the 
 swamp we got within 150 yards of the buffalo before we 
 were perceived. There were four bulls, grazing close by 
 the edge of the swamp, their black bodies glistening in the 
 early sun rays, their massive horns showing white, and 
 the cow herons perched on their backs. They stared sul- 
 lenly at us with outstretched heads from under their 
 great frontlets of horn. 
 
 ''The biggest of the four stood a little out from the 
 other three, and at him I fired, the bullet ttUing with a 
 smack on the tough hide and going through the lungs. We 
 had been afraid they would at once turn into the papyrus, 
 but instead of this they started straight across our front, 
 directly for the open country. 
 
 "This was a piece of huge good luck. Kermit put his 
 first barrel into the second bull and I my second barrel 
 into one of the others, after which it became impossible 
 to say which bullet struck which animal, as the firing 
 became general. They ran a quarter of a mile into the 
 open, and then the big bull I had first shot, and which had 
 no other bullet in him, dropped dead, while the other 
 three, all of which were wounded, halted beside him. 
 Dropped One at Long Range 
 
 *'We walked toward them rather expecting a charge, 
 but when we were still over 200 yards away they started 
 back for the swamp and we began firing. The distance 
 being long, I used my Winchester. Aiming well before 
 one bull he dropped to the shot as if poleaxed, faUing 
 straight on his back with his legs kicking, but in a moment 
 he was up again and after the others. Later I found 
 that the bullet, a full metal patch, had struck him in the 
 head but did not penetrate the brain, and merely stunned 
 him for the moment. 
 
 231 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE EOOSEVELT 
 
 "All the time we kept running diagonally to their line 
 of flight. They were all three badly wounded, and when 
 they reached the tall rank grass, high as a man's head, 
 which fringed the papyrus swamp, the two foremost lay 
 down, while the last one, the one I had floored with the 
 Winchester, turned, and with nose outstretched began to 
 come toward us. He was badly crippled, however, and 
 with a soft-nosed bullet from my heavy Holland I knocked 
 him down, this time for good. The other two then rose, 
 and though each was again hit they reached the swamp, 
 one of them to our right, the other to the left, where the 
 papyrus came out in a point. ' ' 
 
 With Roosevelt in Africa 
 
 As well qualified, perhaps, as any other man to give 
 personal reminiscences of Theodore Roosevelt as a hunter 
 is E. M. Newman, the travel-lecturer. He was with the 
 Colonel on the famous hunting trip. 
 
 For seven months they were together in Africa. That 
 meant that they were leaders of a large hunting party, 
 consisting of eight white men and 375 savages. Colonel 
 Roosevelt was under contract to his publishers for a 
 series of articles, and Mr. Newman was, of course, seek- 
 ing material for his subsequent lectures, 
 
 "We met," said Mr. Newman, "at Juja farm as the 
 guests of William Northrup Macmillan of St. Louis. The 
 farm was near Nairobi — and by near I mean a ride of two 
 days by horseback. Nairobi is the capital of British 
 East Africa. 
 
 "The Macmillan bungalow was a comfortable place, 
 roughly built, but furnished much as an American home 
 would be, and lighted by its own electric plant. From the 
 porch of that bungalow it was possible to see many 
 
 232 
 
 I 
 
IN AFRICA AND EUROPE 
 
 scores of wild animals near at hand, but no hunting was 
 permitted in the immediate vicinity. 
 
 **Our long trips took us into the wilds and together 
 we penetrated the jungles, the Colonel outwalking all the 
 rest and often wearing out the men in attendance. Tired 
 as the other members of the party were at night after one 
 of the arduous days, Colonel Eoosevelt was never too 
 weary to sit up far into the night reading or writing. I 
 mention this to show the vigor and endurance of the 
 man. He carried with him to Africa a large number of 
 books, for his reading was extensive and varied. 
 
 "In our long talks, continued Mr. Newman, ** around 
 the camp fire or on our walks there were some outstand- 
 ing characteristics that I noted particularly. These were 
 the man's Americanism — his belief in and hope for 
 American ideals and principles ; and next to that his joy 
 and pride in his family. I should have called him the 
 ideal father. BQs views on matrimony and the duty of 
 bringing up children are well known, and these were fre- 
 quent subjects of conversation between us, the Colonel 
 always maintaining that an unmarried man or woman 
 was an abomination in the sight of the Lord." 
 
 "What of the truth of the statement that Colonel 
 Roosevelt was fond of killing and wantonly destroyed 
 life?" 
 
 "I should say there was no truth in it," stoutly 
 declared Mr. Newman. "He hunted only in the interest 
 of science, collecting rare animals, and with the exception 
 of lions, which are considered vermin in South Africa, 
 detested by the farmer, he killed only such animals as 
 were needed for his collection. In fact, when I asked him 
 at the beginning of our hunt whether he was a good shot, 
 he answered *I shoot often.' 
 
 233 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''His one stipulation when he formed our party was 
 that the subject of politics should be taboo. The Colonel 
 had just finished his second term as President, and was 
 in need of a complete change. That was the reason he 
 chose lion hunting in Africa. We adhered strictly to our 
 agreement, but sometimes the Colonel would tell of some 
 experience. 
 
 ''No fight was ever too hot for him, and he admired 
 nothing more than a man who was a good fighter. He 
 had no use for a 'mollycoddle' or a 'quitter.' Many a 
 time he has said of some opponent, 'My! Didn't he give 
 me a bully fight?' 
 
 "His versatility was remarkable, and on nearly every 
 subject he was not only at home, but an authority. This 
 I gathered from the respect with which experts treated 
 his statements. Whether it was banking, farming or 
 advising the British in the treatment of the natives, his 
 opinions were seriously considered." 
 
 Summing up Colonel Roosevelt's virtues, Mr. New- 
 man called him "positive in his views, decided in his 
 principles, but yet tolerant of religious beliefs different 
 from his own ; loyal to friends, gentle in his affections, a 
 great companion, a great man." 
 
 Travels in Europe 
 
 At the close of the African expedition. Colonel Roose- 
 velt spent the spring and early summer months of 1910 
 in traveling through Egypt, Continental Europe, and 
 England, accepting many invitations to make public 
 addresses in those countries. Everywhere he was wel- 
 comed with popular and official ovations suggestive of 
 royal distinction. He received honorary degrees from the 
 universities of Cairo, Christiania, Berlin, Cambridge and 
 Oxford. 
 
 234 
 
 1 
 
IN AFRICA AND EUROPE 
 
 Hobnobbed with the Kaiser 
 
 As a former President, his tour through Europe was 
 both triumphant and sensational. He hobnobbed ^ ith 
 the German Kaiser, lectured at the Sorbonne and at 
 Oxford University, was received with high honors in 
 Sweden and Holland, and roused a storm in London by 
 his speech at the Guildhall. It was in this speech that 
 he lectured England on her duty in Egypt. He displayed 
 an extraordinary famiUarity with Egyptian affairs, but 
 brought down upon himself a tempest of criticism by 
 saying : 
 
 ' ' Now, either you have the right to be in Egypt or you 
 have not. Either it is or is not your duty to establish and 
 keep order. If you feel you have not the right to be in 
 Egypt, if you do not wish to establish and keep order 
 there, why, then, by all means get out. 
 
 ''As I hope you feel that your duty to civilized man- 
 kind and your fealty to your own great traditions alike 
 bid you to stay, then make the fact and name agree ; and 
 show that you are ready to meet in very deed the respon- 
 sibility which is yours." 
 
 The criticism which this speech brought down on 
 Roosevelt, to do the English justice, did not come from 
 them; it came chiefly from scandalized Americans, who 
 were horrified at the idea of a fellow-American under- 
 taking to lecture a friendly power on its problems. The 
 English took it very well and seemed to like it. France 
 criticized it and Germany was bitter. 
 
 Fought on Enemy's Ground 
 In France, Roosevelt followed his usual policy of 
 intrepidly attacking what he believed to be local evils in 
 their home. It was not in London nor in Berlin that he 
 
 235 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 preached his anti-race suicide doctrine ; it was in Paris. 
 It was from the same motive that impelled him when dur- 
 ing Ms campaign for the Presidency in 1912 he refrained 
 fro^n attacking the Democratic party until he got into 
 the South, the home and birthplace of the Democratic 
 party, and delivered his blast against it. If there had 
 been anything timorous about him he would have made 
 his attack in Minnesota, where it would have been safe. 
 Instead, he picked out Atlanta, where it is almost treason 
 to say a word against Democracy, and where his audience 
 was made up entirely of Democrats. 
 
 His defiant challenge was met by a roar from the 
 audience. Their intention of howling him down and 
 keeping him from having a hearing was manifest from 
 the moment he began his assault. For five minutes the 
 tumult went on. It seemed as if his speaking were at an 
 end. Eoosevelt suddenly adopted one of the most 
 unusual weapons ever employed by a stump speaker. 
 There was a table near him, and he leaped upon it. The 
 riotous mob was startled into stillness ; they had no idea 
 of his purpose, and they waited to see what he would do. 
 Before they could recover from their surprise he had 
 shot half a dozen sentences at them, and by that time they 
 had come imder the spell and were willing to give him a 
 hearing. 
 
 This story had nothing to do with Roosevelt's Euro- 
 pean tour and is told out of its regular order, but it is a 
 good illustration of the way in which the Colonel always 
 showed his courage by picking out the places where he 
 knew any particular doctrine of his would be particularly 
 unpalatable. When ho had a message, he tried to deliver 
 it where it would do most good. 
 
 236 
 
IN AFRICA AND EUROPE 
 
 Stirred Widespread Comment 
 
 The demonstrations of the European countries, the 
 appearance of an American before learned bodies of for- 
 eign countries whom he addressed frequently in their own 
 languages, his advice to the young Egyptians, and his 
 Guildhall speech in England awakened a severe analysis 
 of Roosevelt not so much as a statesman, for his adminis- 
 trative achievements were reasonably well known, but as 
 a scholar, reader, student and author. 
 
 His knowledge of general linguistic law was masterly 
 and he was a scholar of the first rank in the classics. The 
 savants of the Sorbonne heard him address them in as 
 flawless French as they themselves could employ, and he 
 spoke German with all the fluency of a highly-educated 
 native. His knowledge of Spanish made interpreters 
 superfluous on his South American travels, and he was 
 equally familiar with Italian and other tongues. 
 
 How the Colonel, in his crowded years, had ever found 
 time to equip himself thus thoroughly in this direction 
 was always a matter of wonderment to his friends. 
 
 The Incident in Rome 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt's progress through Europe on his 
 return from the jungle was indeed a triumph such as 
 never before had been accorded to an American citizen. 
 He was everywhere t gated as if he were the ruler of a 
 nation making a toui Even General Grant's journey 
 around the world did n t compare with it. 
 
 In Rome occurred one of the most sensational inci- 
 dents of Mr. Roosevelt's career, and there have been few 
 which so well illustrate his character. An audience had 
 been arranged for him with the Pope. Some time before 
 the Pope had refused to see former Vice President Fair- 
 
 237 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 banks because that gentleman had made an address to the 
 Methodists in Rome. 
 
 A message was conveyed to Colonel Roosevelt through 
 the American Ambassador in the f ollo^^^ng terms : 
 
 ''The Holy Father will be delighted to grant audience 
 to Mr. Roosevelt on April 5 and hopes nothing will arise 
 to prevent, such as the much-regretted incident which 
 made the reception of Mr. Fairbanks impossible." 
 
 The Colonel immediately sent the following to Ambas- 
 sador Leishman : 
 
 ''It would be a real pleasure to me to be presented to 
 the Holy Father, for whom I entertain a high respect, 
 both personally and as the head of a great Church. I fully 
 recognize his entire right to receive or not to receive_ 
 whomsoever he chooses, for any reason that seems good 
 to him, and if he does not receive me I shall not for one 
 moment question the propriety of his action. 
 
 "On the other hand, I, in my turn, must decline to' 
 make any conditions which in any way limit my freedom. 
 I trust on April 5 he will find it convenient to receive me. '* 
 
 The answer was conveyed through the Ambassador 
 that "the audience could not take place except on the 
 understanding expressed in the former message." 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt instantly replied: "Proposed pre- 
 sentation is, of course, now impossible." 
 
 The Methodists of Rome undertook to make capital 
 out of the incident and issued a statement attacking the 
 Pope. Colonel Roosevelt immediately rebuked them by 
 cancelling an appointment he had made to meet them at a 
 reception at Mr. Leishniari's home. He wanted it made 
 clear that he had no sectarian prejudices and had stood 
 simply on his rights as an American citizen. 
 
 238 
 
IN AFRICA AND EUROPE 
 
 His Return Home 
 
 He came back to his own country, having had a ''bully 
 time," almost at the outset of the campaign for Governor 
 in New York State in 1910, and the recaption he got from 
 New York City and the nation still stands as the most 
 spontaneous outburst of admiration and respect for a 
 citizen that the country ever showed. No man who par- 
 ticipated in it that brilliant day upon the North River, 
 when the former President's yacht passed up a li^ie of 
 saluting warships, when he himsell stc od upon the bridge, 
 his eyes filled with tears ; when all tho whistles were blast- 
 ing a merry salute, and when thousands were weeping 
 from the sheer emotion of a great moment, can ever 
 forget the day. 
 
 Becoming at once ''contributing editcr" of The Out- 
 look, he wrote essays on politics, economics, and social 
 matters until he threw himself with characteristic energy 
 into the campaign in behalf of his old friand and associate 
 in government, Henry L. Stimson, the Republican candi- 
 date for Governor. He beat the Republican Old Guard in 
 the convention fight at Syracuse, carr^dng everything 
 before his electric energy, but he could i st elect k^ timson, 
 the State turning to the Democracy vhat /ear. 
 
 Roosevelt and Taft 
 
 A coolness that had sprung up between the Colonel 
 and Mr. Taft in the period between the election and the 
 inauguration of the latter, was increased by the reports 
 that reached Colonel Roosevelt as he emerged from the 
 African jungle ; and when he reached the United States 
 in June, 1910, he was already an opponent of Taft. The 
 coolness probably had its origin in little things, but was 
 intensified when it became evident that President Taft 
 
 239 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 intended to change the Roosevelt policies in important 
 respects and to remove Colonel Roosevelt's friends from 
 office. 
 
 The results of the breach between the two were impor- 
 tant and far-reaching, and it was not until they shook 
 hands with each other at a Union League dinner in New 
 York in 1916 that the breach was publicly healed. But 
 many things happened to both Roosevelt and Taft before 
 that day of reconciliation arrived. 
 
 The Colonel becarie once more an active factor in 
 politics in the fall o"' 1910, after his return from Europe. 
 As Mr. Taft's administration drew toward its close, from 
 every part of the (ountry there came in 1912 a strong 
 demand that Theodore Ro )sevelt be again a candidate 
 for the Presid m 3y. For a long time the Colonel was 
 silent; then a lefinite opportunity was afforded him to 
 decide an 1 speak. 
 
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Theodore Roosevelt at Six Stages of His Ufe. 
 TOP: The Boy — The Harvard Man — The Assemblyman. 
 BOTTOM: The Governor — The President — The Explorer. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY 
 
 Roosevelt Chosen at the Primaries for President, hut 
 Denied a Nomination by the Bosses — Birth of the 
 ''Bull Moose" Party— He Is Nominated as Its Stand- 
 ard Bearer — Shot by a Crank in Milwaukee — His 
 Courage and Endurance — Results of the Campaign — 
 Taft Defeated and Wilson Elected. 
 
 As the time approached for the Presidential nomina- 
 tions in 1912, President Taft, relying on precedent, was 
 an avowed candidate to succeed himself. But the people 
 at large were more concerned with the attitude of Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt. His friends, through the press and on 
 the public platform, had been for some time attacking 
 President Taft's policies, and the result was a factional 
 fight within the Republican party all over the land. 
 
 The insurgent or progressive element in the Repub- 
 lican party planned early in 1911 to defeat the renomina- 
 tion of President Taft, and after several conferences 
 among leading progressive Senators it was decided to put 
 forward Robert M. La Follette as the candidate. A 
 La Follette boom was started and carried on all through 
 that year. But a large element among the Progressives 
 was dissatisfied and wanted the nomination of Roosevelt. 
 
 The Roosevelt talk would not down. The Colonel him- 
 self was noncommittal, but it was evident that he was 
 not displeased with the situation. The Roosevelt talk 
 steadily waxed and the La Follette boom as steadily 
 waned. 
 
 241 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Popular opinion in favor of another nomination for 
 the Colonel finally crystallized into a formal request by 
 the Governors of seven states that he give a definite 
 answer to the question, ''Will you run for the Presidency 
 in this campaign ? ' ' 
 
 In an open letter to the Governors, Colonel Roosevelt 
 then announced his candidacy and began a characteristic 
 campaign of speeches to win the Republican nomination 
 at Chicago by the votes of the people in the Presidential 
 primaries which were to be held for the first time, under 
 a new law. He was criticized for his candidacy in view of 
 what was regarded as his pledge when he said just after 
 his election in 1904 that he would not again seek the Pres- 
 idency, out of respect for the two-term tradition. But he 
 believed his candidacy to be justified by the popular 
 demand and the fact that he had had only one elected 
 term in the White House. In characteristic terms he 
 said: ''My hat is in the ring," and his friends rallied to 
 that slogan. 
 
 The Progressive Party Born 
 
 The stirring events of the Presidential primary, the 
 conventions, and the campaign of 1912 will be long remem- 
 bered. Out of the conflict of clasliing claims ^nthin the 
 Republican party, Colonel Roosevelt emerged with a very 
 large majority over Mr. Taft of the votes cast in the 
 primary election. Then, chosen by the people to be their 
 standard bearer, he was denied the regular nomination of 
 the Republican party when the National Convention met 
 in June at Chicago, because of the action of the Repub- 
 lican National Committee in unseating Roosevelt dele- 
 gates and qualifying Taft delegates in their stead. 
 
 Pennsylvania Republicans had given Roosevelt 130,000 
 majority over Taft in the preferential primary; IlHuois 
 
 242 
 
THE PROGRESSIVE PAitTY 
 
 had given hiin 150,000 majority ; Ohio, 47,000 ; California, 
 77,000. Wisconsin, Maine, Maryland, North Dakota, 
 South Dakota, Nebraska, Oregon, Minnesota, Kansas, 
 Oklahoma, West Virginia, North Carolina, and other 
 states, had also elected Roosevelt delegates by large 
 majorities — but these delegates were refused seats in the 
 National Convention by autocratic, steam-roller action 
 of the party bosses that was as intolerable as it was 
 unprecedented. The convention as finally organized 
 stood 564 for Taft and 510 for Roosevelt. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt publicly declared that he was being 
 robbed of the nomination, and before the Republican con- 
 vention had completed its cut-and-dried v/ork of renomi- 
 nating Mr. Taft, the Roosevelt partisans, already called 
 Progressives, left the convention in a body and reassem- 
 bled in Orchestra Hall, Chicago, where the Progressive 
 party was officially formed as a protest against the action 
 of the Republican National Committee. 
 
 Then followed feverish days with plans being hur- 
 riedly made for the calling of a convention of all Progres- 
 sives. It was finally determined to hold a convention at 
 Chicago on August 5, and there and at that time Theodore 
 Roosevelt was nominated by a gathering which seemed 
 actuated by a deeply religious inspiration. Against Taft 
 and Roosevelt, the Democratic party nominated Woodrow 
 Wilson, then Governor of the State of New Jersey and 
 before that president of Princeton University. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's running mate on the ticket was Hiram 
 A. Johnson of California, while Mr. Taft's was James S. 
 Sherman of New York. 
 
 The national platform of the new Progressive party 
 was a remarkable declaration of its objects and aims. It 
 declared for social and industrial justice in ringing terms, 
 
 243 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 and for many political reforms that appealed strongly 
 to the popular mind. 
 
 The Colonel plunged into the ensuing campaign with 
 all his wonted energy, and soon uttered a phrase that 
 nicknamed the new party. ''I feel like a bull moose," he 
 said, and *'Bull Moose" the Progressive party was called 
 thereafter. 
 
 Shot by a Maniac 
 
 On October 14, 1912, when the Presidential campaign 
 was at its height. Colonel Roosevelt had arrived in Mil- 
 waukee when he was shot by Jolm Schrank, a New Yorker 
 who was found to be a maniac. The Colonel was just 
 seating himself in an automobile for the drive to the hall 
 where he was to deliver an important address, when 
 Schrank sent the bullet into his chest at short range. 
 
 On the instant there was a movement to deal sum- 
 marily with Schrank, but Colonel Roosevelt was cool, and 
 himself restrained the crowd until Schrank was taken 
 properly into custody. 
 
 The bullet, having passed through the candidate's 
 heavy overcoat and his other clothing, pages of manu- 
 script and his spectacle case, had penetrated only two 
 inches into the right breast. He was able to proceed to 
 the Auditorium, and against the advice of friends and 
 physicians made a speech lasting fifty-three minutes. 
 
 This feat, which drew the applause of the world and 
 caused all Americans, irrespective of their political 
 beliefs, to glory in such an indomitable will and such forti- 
 tude, seemed to produce no ill effects. The candidate 
 went to his home in Oyster Bay M^thin a fortnight after 
 being taken to a hospital in Chicago, and there continued 
 his campaign by statements and messages to his followers 
 through prominent Progressive political leaders. 
 
 244 
 
THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY 
 ^tory of the Shooting 
 
 At the time of the shooting one of Colonel Roosevelt's 
 companions was Charles E. Merriam of Chicago, after- 
 ward Captain Merriam. At a memorial meeting in Jan- 
 uary, 1919, after the Colonel's death. Captain Merriam 
 told the story of the assassin's attempt and Roosevelt's 
 fortitude, as follows : 
 
 I had the honor to be with him on the fateful day when his 
 life was attempted in Milwaukee. I had gone with him on a 
 special train to Milwaukee that day and was to help in the 
 speaking in Milwaukee. I went down in the automobile ahead 
 of Colonel Roosevelt and did not hear the §hot. I was to address 
 an overflow meeting in an adjoining building, but having some 
 trouble in finding my way I walked back again toward the stage. 
 There came rushing down the aisle the chairman of the meeting, 
 wringing his hands and saying, ''My God, they have shot him; 
 he is killed." I said, "Whom do you mean?" "Why," he said, 
 "the Colonel, they've killed him." 
 
 I rushed back to the stage, back of the wings and there was 
 Colonel Roosevelt standing with a group of men around him, only 
 he was trying to throw them off and they apparently were 
 endeavoring to hold him and he was throwing their hands aside ; 
 they were struggling to stop him from speaking and he was 
 fighting to go on the stage and make what he thought his last 
 public address. He would not permit anyone to examine his 
 wounds ; he insisted on going before the people and making his 
 speech. 
 
 It occurred to me that the wise thing to do would be to 
 adjourn the meeting by telling the people that the speaker had 
 been shot and suggesting that they go home. I am sure I would 
 have incurred his everlasting enmity if I had done so, and it 
 was decided the best policy to pursue was to allow him to appear 
 before the people and say probably a few words, hoping that 
 would satisfy him. We agreed upon this course and he 
 advanced to make his speech. But I will never forget, as I stood 
 back in the hall thinking he would speak a few words and then 
 I would go on. I can hear him again in his high-keyed voice 
 say, "Ladies and gentlemen, you will pardon me if I cut my 
 remarks somewhat short, but the fact is I have just been shot." 
 
 24C 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Well, some people laughed and some jeered and most of them 
 were startled beyond measure. 
 
 It was probably the most dramatic speech, certainly the most 
 dramatic opening ever made by a great public leader in Amer- 
 ica. I stood there for a few minutes until I saw he was going 
 to make his whole talk. I went out and addressed my overflow 
 meeting of perhaps a thousand people in the neighboring hall. 
 I spoke hurriedly, perhaps twenty or twenty-five minutes, and 
 then came dashing back. 
 
 When I returned the Colonel was still standing, still speak- 
 ing. His voice, however, was much feebler than normal. He 
 was swaying from side to side as if he might at any moment 
 collapse or fall. They had stationed a man in front of him, one 
 in back of him and one on each side to catch him in case he 
 would fall, but he went on and concluded the address that he 
 had marked out for himself to make, and at the end of the speech 
 which he successfully completed he was taken to the hospital. 
 
 I went with some of the other parties to the police station, 
 where we examined or helped to examine the unfortunate crea- 
 ture who had fired the bullet, Schrank was his name. This indi- 
 vidual told the reasons why he had fired the shot, that you will 
 remember. He had been influenced by the heated campaign to 
 believe that Colonel Roosevelt was a menace to the American 
 Republic. He said he had two visions in which McKinley had 
 appeared to him, and McKinley had told him to go and avenge 
 his death by assassinating Roosevelt, and on the strength of 
 these two visions (evidence of a crazy man) he had followed 
 Roosevelt from one end of the country to the other. He had 
 followed him to Atlanta, Ga., where he almost fired the shot; 
 he followed him to Chicago, where a reception was given to him 
 at the Hotel LaSalle in 1912, and there he stated he stood outside 
 the door of the Hotel LaSalle when Colonel Roosevelt was as 
 near to him as that chair is to me (pointing), and he could have 
 killed him. We asked him why he did not shoot, and he said 
 that they were giving a reception to him and it would not have 
 been polite to kill a man at a reception. 
 
 He then waited until that night when he was Ij-ing in ambush 
 at the Coliseum, but as some of you recall, the crowd assembled 
 at the Coliseum was so large that they filled the streets for 
 blocks and blocks; ten thousand people stood there unable to 
 gain admission. So we brought the Colonel around the back 
 alley, in through the rear entrance and the intention of the 
 assassin was foiled. 
 
 246 
 
THE PROGRESSIVE PAJRTY 
 
 Then he learned that Colonel Roosevelt was to speak in Mil- 
 waukee. He took the regular train and got there earlier, while 
 we went up by special train. He waited outside the train until 
 Colonel Roosevelt finished his dinner, and there only by the 
 slightest chance did he accomplish the fulfillment of his purpose. 
 He stood on the curb, close to the automobile in which Colonel 
 Roosevelt was, standing with his revolver pointed at Colonel 
 Roosevelt's heart. As he was about to fire, it happened that 
 someone in the crowd raised that familiar shout, "Hello, 
 Teddy!" and Teddy had turned with his familiar gesture like 
 that (indicating) and threw up his hand, and as he put up his 
 hand Schrank fired, and instead of striking the heart it struck 
 him in the right hand and thereby by a combination of circum- 
 stances the bullet hit Roosevelt's spectacle case, and some two 
 or three speeches that he had in his pocket folded up and the 
 web of his suspenders had glanced it off to one side ; otherwise 
 the bullet, penetrating the heart, probably would have succeeded 
 in destroying his victim. 
 
 We came down with Colonel Roosevelt in his car to Chicago, 
 and of all the men upon the train Colonel Roosevelt was by all 
 odds the calmest and the coolest. About 11 o'clock at night he 
 asked for his shaving apparatus and for a glass of milk, and 
 after drinking the milk he slept calmly during the night. He 
 was the only man that did sleep. That shows the iron courage 
 and his tremendous physical vitality and tenacity upon life. 
 
 How He Felt After Being Shot 
 Here ^s a part of the speech Colonel Roosevelt made 
 in Milwaukee on October 14, 1912, just after the bullet of 
 erratic John Schrank had lodged in his chest. It was 
 declaratory in that dramatic moment of his joy in life and 
 leadership : 
 
 *'I do not care a rap about being shot, not a rap. The 
 bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long 
 speech. But I will try my best. First of all I want to 
 say this about myself. I have altogether too many impor- 
 tant things to think of to pay any heed or feel any concern 
 over my own death. Now I would not speak to you insin- 
 cerely within five minutes of being shot. I am telling you 
 
 247 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 the literal truth when I say that my concern is for many 
 other things. 
 
 "I want you to understand that I am ahead of the 
 game anyway. No man has had a happier life than I have 
 had, a happy life in every way. I have been able to do 
 certain things that I greatly wished to do, and I am inter- 
 ested in doing other things." 
 
 Wilson Is Elected 
 
 As had been quite generally foreseen, the campaign 
 of 1912 resulted in the defeat of both Taft and Roosevelt, 
 and the election, without a popular majority, of Woodrow 
 Wilson. But Colonel Roosevelt made a wonderful race 
 against the Democratic candidate and received more votes 
 than the nominee of the Republican machine. The popu- 
 lar vote stood: Wilson, 6,286,214; Roosevelt, 4,126,020; 
 Taft, 3,483,922. Of the votes in the Electoral College, 
 Colonel Roosevelt obtained 88 and Mr. Taft 8. Thus 
 ended the famous fight of 1912, \vith the Republican party 
 apparently hopelessly divided. The election proved abso- 
 lutely that the Colonel had a hold upon a vast section of 
 the American people that nothing whatsoever could 
 break. Against his personal popularity the political 
 bosses and all other antagonists exerted themselves in 
 
 vain. 
 
 Proved Cleanness of Life 
 
 While the campaign was in progress stories were 
 
 spread \videly by word of mouth that Colonel Roosevelt 
 
 was a drunkard. He determined that as soon as this 
 
 slander appeared in any responsible newspaper, he would 
 
 settle it for all time by a libel suit. Similar stories, he 
 
 said, were circulated to this day about other public men 
 
 equally guiltless and now dead, because they never 
 
 deemed them worthy of contradiction in their lifetime. 
 
 248 
 
THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY 
 
 Presently the charge appeared in a newspaper called 
 Iron Ore, published in Ishpeming, Mich., and Colonel 
 Roosevelt promptly sued for libel. The suit was tried in 
 May, 1913, and the array of witnesses that the plaintiff 
 produced never was equaled in any suit in recent times. 
 Admirals, generals. Cabinet officers. Senators, Governors, 
 authors, newspaper men, and, in fact, all the men who had 
 been intimately associated with the Colonel, appeared to 
 give their testimony, and they testified not only to his 
 temperance in drinking, but to his cleanness of life and 
 speech. It was a tribute to be proud of, and the testimony 
 completely exonerated him from the loose and unfounded 
 charge. 
 
 249 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 
 
 Trip to South America — Lectures in Principal Cities 
 Followed by Exploration of the Brazilian Jungle — 
 The ''River of Doubt" — Visits to England and Spain 
 — The Barnes Libel Suit — Outbreak of the Great 
 War — The Campaign of 1916 — He Declines Another 
 Nomination. 
 
 Those who expected Theodore Roosevelt to be down- 
 cast over the result of the election of 1912 little knew the 
 man. He believed that he had been in the right, that his 
 candidacy had been fully justified, and he accepted the 
 result mth perfect equanimity. He was always a good 
 loser, and resumed his literary labors as a private citizen 
 without undue regrets. 
 
 In the summer of 1913, Colonel Roosevelt was in\ited 
 to go to Argentina and deliver lectures on economic prob- 
 lems. He accepted the invitation, and then decided that, 
 while he was about it, he would seize the opportunity to 
 go into the interior of South America for exploration and 
 hunting. He sailed on October 4, 1913. 
 
 After filling his lecture engagements he plunged into 
 the unknown primeval forests of Brazil, hunting, explor- 
 ing, scientifically probing, enduring dreadful hardships, 
 and coming several times within an ace of losing his life. 
 
 He nearly starved to death. He contracted a fever 
 which possibly undermined his constitution. Some doc- 
 tors have said so. But he gained the glory of putting a 
 
 250 
 
THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 
 
 new river upon the map, the Rio da Duvia, ' ' The River of 
 Doubt. ' ' The Government of Brazil officially, after inves- 
 tigation had proved the explorer's claims, recognized the 
 achievement, and further to honor a man greatly 
 respected in Pan-American countries, renamed the river 
 *'Rio Teodoro." 
 
 During the South American trip the former President 
 was given ovations in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and 
 other cities where he made addresses. 
 
 Returning to the United States late in May, 1914, he 
 sailed almost immediately for England and paid a visit 
 to Spain. From this trip he returned late in June, a few 
 weeks before the outbreak of the Great War. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt was a sick man when he returned 
 to New York from South America. Fever was burning 
 him and sores acquired in the jungle marked his body. 
 It was a fairly long time, for him, before he could resume 
 his usual aggressive activities. 
 
 The Barnes Libel Suit 
 
 In April of 1915, however, when William Barnes of 
 Albany, then the so-called boss of the Republican party of 
 the State, essayed to destroy Colonel Roosevelt's prestige 
 by a libel suit, alleging that the Colonel had called him a 
 corrupt boss, he was fit and ready for one of the greatest 
 fights in his career, for fight it was, though staged in the 
 dignified precincts of the Supreme Court of the State. 
 
 It stands, and will stand, as one of the great cases at 
 law concerning libel. Colonel Roosevelt's chief counsel 
 was the late John R. Bowers, no courtroom orator, but 
 one of the shrewdest planners within the strategy of the 
 law that ever bowed before the bench. 
 
 Mr. Barnes' chief counsel was the late William M. 
 Ivins, a true orator, though scarcely less skillful than 
 
 251 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Mr. Bowers at legal strategy. But Mr. Ivins was hope- 
 lessly handicapped in that he had no Colonel Roosevelt 
 for a chief witness. 
 
 From the moment the trial began until it ended with a 
 complete victory for him and a virtual ruling by the jury 
 (since that was the issue presented) in favor of Colonel 
 Roosevelt's opinion of Mr. Barnes, the Colonel dominated 
 the courtroom. He dominated it and electrified it. 
 
 His intensely magnetic and interest-compelling quali- 
 ties were so strongly provoked during the six days and a 
 half that he was under cross-examination by Mr. Ivins 
 that even the judge on the bench found himself laughing 
 aloud or half applauding. 
 
 At times the courtroom broke into a storm of cheering 
 when Colonel Roosevelt was able to refute by his own 
 extraordinary memory or out of an immensely competent 
 filing-case of letters and documents (he seemed to have 
 preserved everything in the way of correspondence 
 received and copies of correspondence sent), statements 
 made against his honor, his sincerity, his good faith, and 
 his devotion to democracy. 
 
 On the witness stand he poured out of his active brain, 
 words that filled a dozen columns of every big newspaper 
 in the country for days on end. At the conclusion of the 
 trial, the jury stood first 11 to 1 for Roosevelt, the one 
 being Edward Burns, a Democrat. When the jury was 
 sent back to ponder, the one came around and the verdict 
 was solidly for Roosevelt. 
 
 Meeting With Chancellor Day 
 
 "It is too bad," says a chronicler of the period, "that 
 no dictaphone was installed one night during the Barnes 
 libel trial session, when Colonel Roosevelt was a guest at 
 
 252 
 
THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 
 
 the home of Chancellor Day of Syracuse University, with 
 whom in earlier years he had had more than one contro- 
 versy, Dr. Day being the stanch friend and defender of 
 the late John D. Archbold, whom the Colonel had once 
 had occasion to put in the Ananias Club. 
 
 ' ' Their meeting was a little formal for three minutes, 
 at the end of w^hich the Colonel found out that the Chan- 
 cellor too had once lived in the still wild West. From 
 then till past midnight they sat close together, roaring 
 and chuckling and slapping one another on the knee as 
 they matched good frontier stories. The rest of the com- 
 pany listened in a kind of awed delight. ' ' 
 The Colonel and a Boy 
 
 During that same visit of the Colonel to Syracuse he 
 kept up his horseback exercise, riding about the residence 
 streets on a mount which a local admirer had loaned. One 
 afternoon a prominent Syracusan looked up from his 
 newspaper on the front porch and called to his wife 
 upstairs: "There goes Theodore Koosevelt on horse- 
 back." 
 
 At the moment the six-year-old son of the house was 
 in the bathtub and in nothing else. He heard his father, 
 rushed scampering and pattering downstairs, out the 
 front door, and right down the walk to the middle of the 
 street, hoping for a glimpse of his great idol. That night 
 at a reception the father told the Colonel of it. 
 
 ''By George — by George!" — and the chuckle. ''You 
 bring that boy to me — I want to see him!" He was 
 brought, duly clad, and was mounted for half an hour 
 on the Roosevelt knee, and told stories about Injuns and 
 lions and giraffes and grizzlies and "my grandchildren"; 
 when taken home, in a trance state, and measured, was 
 found, it is solemnly asserted, to have grown an inch ! 
 
 253 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 The Campaign of 1916 
 
 As the Republican National Convention of 1916 
 approached, it was obvdous that Colonel Roosevelt desired 
 the nomination for the Presidency, not only from his own 
 newly created party, the Progressives, but if he could get 
 it, from the old-line Republican organization. There is 
 no doubt also, that throughout the country there was a 
 strong popular sentiment for the Colonel. People were 
 weary of partisan strife. They would no doubt have 
 supported Colonel Roosevelt in far larger numbers than 
 his opponents estimated. 
 
 But the sentiment of the regular Republican leaders 
 was unalterably opposed to his selection. They could not 
 forget 1912. They went to Chicago with delegations 
 described as ''handpicked," delegations that nothing 
 could sway or stampede from a coldly resolved upon 
 course. At the same time the Progressive party met in 
 Chicago with one candidate — Roosevelt, though it delayed 
 naming him until it could see what the Republicans would 
 do. They were eventful, thrilling days, though the out- 
 come was another disappointment for the man from 
 Oyster Bay. 
 
 The Republicans named Charles E. Hughes, taking 
 him from the bench of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, after it had declined to listen to Colonel Roose- 
 velt's suggestion to nominate either Senator Henry Cabot 
 Lodge or General Leonard Wood. At Colonel Roose- 
 velt's own insistence, w^hich virtually dissolved the Pro- 
 gressive party then and there, his name was eliminated 
 by them and they named a candidate for Vice-President 
 only. 
 
 The result, of course, is well-known recent history. 
 Mr. Wilson again being successful, though by the narrow- 
 
 254 
 
THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 
 
 est margin and largely on the score of his persistent 
 promise to keep the country out of the European war that 
 had been raging for two years. 
 
 Opposed by Pacifists 
 
 Perhaps a certain knowledge of how Colonel Roose- 
 velt would conduct himself and his country, were he to be 
 elected, arrayed against him all of the pacifists, the timid, 
 the non-understanding, that feared the mere mention of 
 American participation. Except for a few weeks at the 
 outset of the great conflict, when he held himself in check 
 because of the President's pronouncement for perfect 
 neutrality, he was never at a loss as to the real meaning 
 of the conflict, as to the brutal ambition of the Central 
 Powers, as to the peril not only to Europe but to America 
 herself if the Germans should win. 
 
 He arose in all of the energy and might of his intellect 
 and called upon America to awake to a realization of her 
 peril. He burned with anger at the injustice of the inva- 
 sion of Belgium, at the enormities practiced there and in 
 France or wherever the German foot trod. He spoke in 
 blasting anger against the U-boat warfare that destroyed 
 American ships and lives as nonchalantly as it destroyed 
 the ships and the lives of the then belligerent Powers. 
 He had no patience with President Wilson's slow-going, 
 tolerant attitude toward the war. 
 
 In May, 1915, Colonel Roosevelt was thrown from his 
 horse while riding near his Oyster Bay home and suffered 
 a broken rib; and he disclosed late in 1917, as already 
 stated, that while boxing in the White House in 1905 
 he received a blow which had destroyed the sight of one 
 of his eyes. 
 
 During the trouble on the Mexican border in 1915 
 Colonel Roosevelt was a critic of President Wilson's Mex- 
 
 255 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ican policy, and from the beginning of the European War 
 in 1914 he urged that this country join the conflict on 
 the side of the Allies. AVhen, in April, 1917, the United 
 States did declare war on Germany, Colonel Roosevelt 
 offered himself and a division of troops to be recruited 
 from 285,000 volunteers for active service in France. 
 This offer was refused by the War Department, and Col- 
 onel Roosevelt did not engage personally in war work, 
 except in a civilian capacity, although his four sons, Theo- 
 dore, Jr., Kermit, Archibald, and Quentin, and Dr. Rich- 
 ard Derby, the husband of his daughter Ethel, all volun- 
 teered for active service and were assigned to duty in 
 Europe. 
 
 In the New York gubernatorial campaign of 1918 
 Colonel Roosevelt followed a neutral course and backed 
 the organization candidate for Governor. 
 
 Leader of Public Opinion 
 Recurrent illnesses vexed him in the last years of his 
 life, all signif}dng the breaking down of a wonderful con- 
 stitution and of a body that had lived— what shall one 
 say?— a century, no doubt, of the life of ordinary men. 
 But to the day of his death he remained the leader of a 
 tremendous section of the American people— of all, 
 indeed, who maintained hard-headed views about the 
 proper terms of peace as they maintained hard-headed 
 views about the way the war should be waged, and as to 
 when America should have entered the conflict. 
 
 Upon this tremendous mass of public opinion Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt never lost his grip. He was the leader, 
 and so he remained till the breath was out of his body. 
 His courage of mind and heart was never better displayed 
 than when men who had been his own friends rebuked 
 
 256 
 

 
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 Colonel Roosevelt Opening the Fourth Liberty Loan Drive in the City of Baltimore, 
 September 28, 1918. 
 
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THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 
 
 him for assailing the President's courses, which to Colo- 
 nel Roosevelt seemed to lack the force, decision, and vis- 
 ion necessary in the leader of the whole people. Though 
 the criticism touched him, he never flinched from what he 
 considered his duty to America. When he hit, he hit 
 very hard, and Theodore Roosevelt the private citizen 
 \rielded an influence greater than that of any other indi- 
 \ddual in American history. 
 
 Views on Various Topics 
 
 Following are some quotations from addresses by 
 Colonel Roosevelt, which show his versatility and his 
 views on many subjects : 
 
 From Sorbonne, Paris, lecture, April 23, 1910 : 
 
 ''The greatest of all curses is the curse of sterility and 
 the severest of all condemnations should be visited upon 
 the willful sterile. The first essential in any civilization 
 is that the man and the woman shall be father and 
 mother of healthy children, so that the race shall increase 
 and not decrease. 
 
 ''It is not the critic that counts; not the man who 
 points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the 
 doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit 
 belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose 
 face is marred by dust and sweat and blood ; who strives 
 valiantly, who errs, and comes short again and again, 
 because there is no effort without error and shortcoming ; 
 but who does actually strive to do the deeds. Shame on 
 the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to 
 develop in a fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the 
 rough work of a workaday world. ' ' 
 
 257 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 From address at Detroit, Mich., May 18, 1916 : 
 
 *'The pacifists of today, the peace-at-any-price men, 
 are the spiritual and moral heirs of the men who 
 denounced and opposed Washington; of the men who 
 denounced and voted against Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 "The working man, like the farmer and the business 
 man, must be a patriot first or he is unfit to live in 
 America; and the first duty of all patriots is to see that 
 we are able to prevent alien conquerors from dictating 
 our home policies. 
 
 "I believe in a thoroughly efficient navy, the second 
 in size in the world. 
 
 **No nation vnW ever attack a unified and prepared 
 America.'* 
 
 From a statement as President on November 8, 1904 : 
 "I am deeply sensible of the honor done me by the 
 American people in thus expressing their confidence in 
 what I have done and have tried to do. I appreciate to 
 the full the solemn responsibility this confidence imposes 
 upon me, and I shall do all that in my power lies not to 
 forfeit it." 
 
 From speech delivered at Auditorium, Chicago, Sep- 
 tember 3, 1903 : 
 
 ''There is a homely old adage which runs: 'Speak 
 softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.' If the 
 American nation will speak softly, and yet build and 
 keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoroughly effi- 
 cient navy, the Monroe doctrine vriW go far." 
 
THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 
 
 From address at Logansport, Ind., September 24, 
 1902: 
 
 **It is the merest truism to say that in the modern 
 world industrialism is the great factor in the growth of 
 nations. Material prosperity is the foundation upon 
 which a very mighty national structure must be built. Of 
 course there must be more than this. There must be a 
 highly moral purpose, a hfe of the spirit which finds its 
 expression in many different ways ; but unless material 
 prosperity exists also there is scant room in which to 
 develop the higher life." 
 
 From lecture on "The World Movement" at the Uni- 
 versity of Berlin, May 12, 1910: 
 
 ''It is no impossible dream to build up a civilization 
 in which morality, ethical development, and a true feeling 
 of brotherhood shall all alike be divorced from false senti- 
 mentality, and from the rancorous and evil passions 
 which, curiously enough, so often accompany professions 
 of sentimental attachment to the rights of man." 
 
 "This world movement of civilization which is now 
 felt throbbing in every corner of the globe, should bind 
 the nations of the world together while yet leaving unim- 
 paired that love of country in the individual citizen which 
 in the present stage of the world's progress is essential 
 to the world's w^ell being." 
 
 "Unjust war is to be abhorred; but woe to the nation 
 that does not make ready to hold its own in time of need 
 against all who would harm it; and woe thrice to the 
 nation in which the average man loses the fighting edge, 
 loses the power to serve as a soldier if the day of need 
 should arise." 
 
 259 
 
LIFE OP THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 Famous Epigrams Uttered by Roosevelt 
 
 Theodore Koosevelt was a great maker of epigrams. 
 The short and pithy phrases of his coinage now are part 
 of the language of the country. It will be long before 
 anyone who sees or hears the words "Bully!" and "Dee- 
 lighted!" or the phrase, "the strenuous life," will not 
 think at once of Colonel Roosevelt. 
 
 Some of the striking expressions of Colonel Roose- 
 velt's making, or of such pointed use by him that, 
 although he did not originate them, they always will be 
 associated with him instead of the author, follow : 
 
 "Speak softly, hut carry a Big Stick." This was his 
 early definition of his political creed. And for years 
 thereafter no cartoon of the Colonel was considered com- 
 plete unless it contained the artist's conception of the 
 Big Stick. 
 
 "My hat is in the ring/' was the way he announced 
 he was a candidate for President. 
 
 "My spear Jc7ioivs no brother," was a quotation that 
 he used so effectively that it generally is associated with 
 him. 
 
 "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead," was the Roosevelt 
 answer when the Moorish bandit Raisuli captured and 
 held for ransom Perdicaris, an American citizen. 
 
 "I have teeth and I can use them." So said Roose- 
 velt when he was arguing ^vith General Miles over the 
 case of Rear Admiral Schley. 
 
 "The short and ugly word," became a popular phrase 
 throughout the country just as soon as Roosevelt used it 
 in his verbal brush with the late E. H, Harriman. 
 
 "Malefactors of great wealth," was a phrase made 
 famous by Roosevelt. 
 
 260 
 
THE PRIVATE CITIZEN 
 
 ''Damn the law! BuUd the canal!" That is what 
 Eoosevelt is reported to have said when his advisors 
 started to tell him the legal obstacles in the way of link- 
 ing the Atlantic and the Pacific at Panama. 
 
 "1 am for the square deal," was one of the expres- 
 sions in an early speech that gave the country a popular 
 catchword. 
 
 "The police hoard does not make nor repeal laws. It 
 enforces them." So said Roosevelt when he was Police 
 Commissioner of New York City. And those were \videly 
 quoted words at the time. 
 
 ''IVe stand at Armageddon and we battle for the 
 Lord." When Roosevelt used that phrase to describe 
 the political fight he and his followers made in the 
 so-called Bull Moose campaign there was great business 
 of looking up Armageddon, which was found in the Bible. 
 
 "I feel like a Bull Moose," was an expression that 
 gave that name to the Progressive wing of the Republican 
 party. 
 
 ''Better faithful than famous," was the aphorism he 
 evolved for himself when he entered politics. 
 
 "I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate," was 
 another widely quoted sentence. 
 
 "Never strike soft. If you must hit a man, put him to 
 sleep." That was a sentiment frequently expressed by 
 Roosevelt in his latter-day speeches. 
 
 "If you ever print anything without my permission, 
 I shall deny it," he said when newly inaugurated as Gov- 
 ernor to newspaper reporters. And they remembered it. 
 
 "Weasel words," was the phrase he applied to words 
 of President Wilson. 
 
 "Mollycoddles!" "Ananias!" "Traitor!" "Pussy- 
 footer!" "Cravens and Weaklings!" "Muckrakers!" 
 
 261 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 were among the superlatives that Colonel Roosevelt put 
 with verbs and names in public attacks on those ^\'ith 
 whom he was displeased. 
 
 **I do not number party loyalty among my command- 
 ments." This was one of his most famous expressions, 
 made when he declared war on political bosses. 
 
 "Someone asked me why I did not get an agreement 
 with Colombia," he said on another occasion. "They 
 might just as well ask me ivhy I do not nail cranberry 
 jelly to the wall." 
 
 262 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 APOSTLE OF PREPAREDNESS 
 
 Twenty Years of Warning to the United States — He 
 Practiced What He Preached — Urged Universal 
 Training in 1914 — Roused the A^nerican Spirit — 
 Offers of Personal Service Rejected — Statement by 
 Roosevelt and Taft — The Colonel's Attitude on the 
 Great War. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt preached the gospel of prepared- 
 ness to the American people for more than twenty years. 
 Even when the effect was indeed little more than that of 
 *'a voice crying in the wilderness," he urged the nation 
 to prepare for eventualities that all human history 
 pointed to as inevitable. That his advice and urgent 
 warnings were received with apathy by successive Con- 
 gresses that refused to take them seriously was no fault 
 of his. He did his duty as he saw it, and carried into 
 practice, so far as he could, the principles of prepared- 
 ness which he preached, whenever official opportunity was 
 given him to do so. 
 
 Within that period of twenty years, two foreign wars 
 were thrust upon the United States— and both found the 
 nation unprepared in a military sense. Only the Navy- 
 was ready when the war with Spain came in 1898 — and 
 its preparedness is admitted to have been due to the 
 patriotic work of Theodore Roosevelt, then in the Navy 
 Department as Assistant Secretary. Sensing the coming 
 conflict, he had insisted on naval preparation, and the 
 
 263 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 gunnery practice for which he had almost begged ammu- 
 nition from Congress bore fruit in the battles of Manila 
 Bay and Santiago. It was preparedness of a kind that 
 saved American lives. 
 
 May it not then be justifiably suggested in the light of 
 what has happened since, that the lives of many Ameri- 
 cans — and many Europeans too — might have been saved 
 in the years just gone, had the nation followed the urgent 
 ad\dce of Theodore Roosevelt and put itself in a position 
 to protest against the breach of treaties and the atrocities 
 of militarism in Europe — \sdth a strong right arm ready 
 to back up its protests and enforce respect for them? 
 
 If such protests as we did make were disregarded, 
 why was it? Because the autocratic arch-enemies of 
 human democracy knew that we were in no position to 
 enforce them, and believed we could not do so. Hence the 
 slaughter and the suffering and the terrific cost of a 
 prolonged war, 
 
 ^^^len Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the Presi- 
 dency on the death of McKinley, those who were alarmed 
 about what he might do also suggested that with his com- 
 bative propensities he was likely to involve the country in 
 war. Yet there never has been an administration, as aft- 
 erwards appeared, when we were more perfectly at peace 
 with all the world, nor were our foreign relations ever in 
 danger of producing hostilities. But this was not due in 
 the least to the adoption of a timid or yielding foreign 
 policy; on the contrary, it was owdng to the firmness of 
 the President in all foreign questions and the knowledge 
 which other nations soon acquired that President Roose- 
 velt was a man who never threatened unless he meant to 
 carry out the threat, the result being that he was not 
 obliged to threaten at all. 
 
 264 
 
 I 
 
APOSTLE OF PREPAREDNESS 
 Urged Preparedness in 1914 
 
 The European war came, and there were times when 
 Colonel Roosevelt assailed the Wilson administration bit- 
 terly, when he called for proper preparation against the 
 looming peril, when he called for universal military serv- 
 ice and a great Navy, when he demanded that we do some- 
 thing more than pretend a neutrality that more than nine- 
 tenths of the country abominated. 
 
 He was busy with the trial at Syracuse the day the 
 Lusitania was sunk, on May 7, 1915, and that night he 
 dictated a statement that rang through America as to 
 what America's plain duty had become. He would have 
 sent Von Bernstorff out of the country, seized the German 
 merchant marine, and got ready for the stern business 
 of protecting American honor. 
 
 All of these things eventuated, but it can never be 
 forgotten that Colonel Roosevelt sensed thus early the 
 morality and the practicality of their immediate opera- 
 tion. 
 
 He Denounced Germany 
 
 From the very outset of the European war Colonel 
 Roosevelt's denunciations of Germany's militaristic pol- 
 icy began. German newspapers, remembering his eulo- 
 gies of the Kaiser, bitterly attacked him. With renewed 
 energy, day in and day out, in speeches, editorials and 
 interviews, he pleaded for ''preparedness" on the part 
 of the United States, flayed the pacifists and excoriated 
 the sentiments of those who sang ''I Didn't Raise My Boy 
 to Be a Soldier." 
 
 In December, 1915, he wrote to Progressive leaders in 
 Oregon, again saying that he would not again be a can- 
 
 265 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 didate for the presidency. ' ' Perhaps the public is a little 
 tired of me," he added. 
 
 Nevertheless, when the Progressives convened in 
 June, 1916, eighteen months later, the mention of his 
 name brought forth cheering which lasted for ninety- 
 three consecutive minutes. He dechned to accept the 
 nomination. An effort had been made to nominate him 
 at the Republican national convention, and although he 
 withheld his consent to this, his refusal to parley with the 
 old wing of the party cast a gloom over Hughes' support- 
 ers. After Hughes' nomination he gave him his indorse- 
 ment, much to the disgust of the Progressives, who saw 
 themselves left adrift without their idolized leader, but 
 the damage had then been done to the hopes of both 
 Republicans and Progressives. Again, as in 1911, Roose- 
 velt's attitude, this time because of his aloofness, con- 
 tributed largely to the election of Woodrow Wilson. 
 
 Criticized the Administration 
 From the beginning of the European war until the 
 day when he was silenced by death. Colonel Roosevelt 
 made America's concern in the struggle his constant 
 theme. Beginning with his intense feeling over the sink- 
 ing of the Lusitania, he insisted on the immediate 
 entrance of the L^nited States into the war and criticized 
 the administration with vitriolic fire until war was 
 declared. 
 
 To the end he maintained his dynamic denunciations 
 of lack of military preparedness, calling daily for a larger 
 army and navy, universal military training in time of 
 peace and governmental ownership of munitions plants. 
 He bitterly criticized the War Department, alleging its 
 
 266 
 
APOSTLE OF PREPAREDNESS 
 
 failure to provide sufficient equipment for American 
 troops, and, only two weeks before the operation per- 
 formed upon him in New York, went to Washington and 
 delivered a sensational philippic before the National 
 Press Club. 
 
 Months before the United States entered the war he 
 set about organizing a brigade, which he hoped he might 
 be given permission to lead against Germany, recruiting 
 it from his old-time associates in the Rough Riders, and 
 from young officers, college men, engineers and athletes. 
 It was one of his bitterest disappointments that the War 
 Department could not see its way clear to permit the use 
 of such an organization, and he relinquished the project 
 only after a lengthy correspondence with Secretary 
 Baker. 
 
 Roused the American Spirit 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt would have had the United States 
 protest and take action at the very beginning in 1914, 
 when Belgium was invaded, declared his friend. Senator 
 Lodge, in his memorial address to Congress after the 
 Colonel's death. **He would have had us go to war when 
 the murders of the Lusitania were perpetrated. He tried 
 to stir the soul and rouse the spirit of the American peo- 
 ple, and despite every obstacle he did awaken them, so 
 that when the hour came, in April, 1917, a large propor- 
 tion of the American people were even then ready in 
 spirit and in hope. 
 
 ''How telling his work has been was proved by the 
 confession of his country's enemies, for when he died the 
 only discordant note, the only harsh words, came from the 
 German press. Germany knew whose voice it was that 
 had more powerfully than any other called Americans to 
 the battle in behalf of freedom and civilization. ' ' 
 
 267 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Offers of Service Rejected 
 
 When the United States at length entered the World 
 War, Colonel Roosevelt did his best to go into the active 
 ser\dce of his coutnry. He tried so earnestly indeed that 
 there was a never-to-be-forgotten pathos in his endeavors 
 — to see this strong, eager man balked at every turn of his 
 enthusiastic patriotism by a hostile administration. 
 
 His friends, and they were legion, wanted him to raise 
 a division, not necessarily to be commanded by him. They 
 were willing to endure all of the preliminary expense to 
 train themselves. The groundwork was all laid. But the 
 administration would have none of Colonel Roosevelt's 
 participation. 
 
 Again and again after his sons had gone to France to 
 join General Pershing he referred to the war as "exclu- 
 sive," but always he declared that the nation must con- 
 duct the war to a victorious finish. He opposed indiffer- 
 ence to haste in combating Germany, and any tendency 
 to "let others do it." 
 
 Because he was not permitted to go to Europe at the 
 head of a body of soldiers. Colonel Roosevelt was denied 
 the reward which his friend. Senator Lodge, declared he 
 would have ranked above all others, the great prize of 
 death in battle. 
 
 "But he was a patriot in every fibre of his being, and 
 personal disappointment in no manner slackened or 
 cooled his zeal. Everything that he could do to forward 
 the war, to quicken preparation, to stimulate patriotism, 
 to urge on efficient action, was done. Day and night, in 
 season and out of season, he never ceased his labors." 
 
 In such war work Colonel Roosevelt was indeed very 
 active, speaking with his full power in support of the 
 Liberty Loans, in arraignment of sedition and pacifism, 
 
 268 
 
APOSTLE OF PREPAREDNESS 
 
 and in urging liberal contributions for the Red Cross. 
 He gave largely out of bis own means, and not long 
 before bis death he turned his Nobel Peace Prize cash, 
 which had grown considerably from its original $40,000, 
 over to the seven-branched War Work Service of the 
 United States. 
 
 Roosevelt and Taft Ask Fair Play 
 
 In view of President Wilson's public demand in the 
 fall of 1918 for the election of a Democratic Congress, ex- 
 President Roosevelt and Taft in New York made public 
 the following joint statement through the Republican na- 
 tional committee ; 
 
 We approach this subject as Americans and only as Amer- 
 icans. When this war broke out we would have welcomed action 
 by the President which would have eliminated all questions of 
 party politics. It would have enabled us all to stand behind him 
 to the end without regard to anything except national considera- 
 tions. Instead of this, partisan lines have been strictly drawn 
 from the first, and now the President announces that only Demo- 
 crats can be intrusted with future power, and only those Demo- 
 crats who do his will. Because of this reflection on other 
 patriotic Americans we appeal for fair play. 
 
 The next Congress will serve from March 4, 1919, to March 
 4, 1921. In that period— 
 
 First — The war must be fought to unconditional success 
 unless this is achieved before. 
 
 Second — The terms of world peace must be settled. 
 
 Third — The Democratic administration, after expending bil- 
 lions of treasure and exercising more absolute power than any 
 administration in our history, must give an account of its stew- 
 ardship. 
 
 Fourth — The change from war conditions to peace must be 
 brought about with the least disturbance and the work of recon- 
 struction must be broadly begun. 
 
 A Republican Congress will be much better qualified than 
 one controlled by Democrats to aid the country in adopting the 
 measures needed for these four great tasks, and for the follow- 
 ing reasons : 
 
 269 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 First — Even as a minority party the Republicans made the 
 winning of the war possible by passing the original draft bill. 
 Without this we could not have trained and landed the two mil- 
 lions of men now in France. As a minority party the Republicans 
 forced upon a reluctant President and Secretary of War, after 
 an injurious delay of four months, the amended draft act with- 
 out which we could not have put two more millions at the front 
 by next July. The Speaker, the leader and the chairman of the 
 military committee of the Democratic House opposed the original 
 draft with all the vigor possible. It was saved, and so our 
 country's cause was saved by the Republican minority. 
 
 Second — The new Senate must approve, by two-thirds vote, 
 the terms of peace. Those terms should be settled not by one 
 man only. It is one-man control we are fighting in this war to 
 suppress. If the peace treaty is to be useful in the future, it 
 must be approved by the great body of the American people. 
 The President has indicated a willingness to make a peace by 
 negotiation. He has not demanded, as he might have done in 
 three lines, that which the American people demand — an uncon- 
 ditional surrender. His exchange of notes with Germany has 
 caused a deep concern among our people lest he may, by his 
 parleying with her, concede her a peace around a council table 
 instead of a sentence from a court. The fourteen points which 
 the President and Germany assume that they have already agreed 
 upon are so general and vague that such a peace would be no 
 treaty at all, but only a protocol to an interminable discussion. 
 The President is without final power to bind the United States to 
 those fourteen points, although his language does not suggest it. 
 
 Still less has he the power to bind our noble allies. We do 
 not know that these points include all that our allies may justly 
 demand, or do not concede something they ma}" justly withhold. 
 For what they have done for us we owe our allies the highest 
 good faith. It is of capital importance, therefore, that we should 
 now elect a Senate which shall be independent to interpret and 
 enforce the will of the American people in the matter of this 
 world peace and not merely submit to the uncontrolled will of 
 Mr. Wilson. 
 
 Nor can the attitude of the House of Representatives be 
 ignored in this peace. Every affirmative obligation binding the 
 United States in that treaty must be performed by the House as 
 part of the Congress. The present Democratic majority in the 
 House has been subser\'ient to the will of the President in every 
 
 270 
 
APOSTLE OF PREPAREDNESS 
 
 
 
 
 Part of the original joint statement, in the Colonel's own handwriting, issued 
 by Roosevelt and Taft in their reunion at the Union League Club in New York 
 just before the congressional election, 1918. The upper section is in Roosevelt's 
 handwriting, the lower in Taft's. Roosevelt generously put Taft's name first 
 in the introduction; note how Taft courteously amended it so that Roosevelt, tha 
 earlier President, who made Taft his successor, came first as it was given to th« 
 public. 
 
 271 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 respect except when critical issues in the conduct of the war 
 have been involved. The President has not hesitated publicly to 
 discipline those of his party who have disagreed with him and 
 the lesson has had its effect. A new Democratic Confess, with 
 its old leaders thus chastened, will offer no opposition to his 
 will. They will not be consulted in the future more than in the 
 past. In a Democratic Congress the American people will not 
 have the service of an independent, courageous, co-ordinate 
 branch of the government to moderate his uncontrolled will. It 
 is not safe to intrust to one man such unlimited power. It is not 
 in accord with the traditions of the republic. 
 
 Third — The Republicans vot^ without objection billions to 
 be expended by this administration. Six hundred and forty 
 millions for aviation were given to the executive to build aero- 
 planes without a single limitation as to the manner or method 
 of its expenditure. A Senate committee has deplored the waste 
 and failure in the use of that money. The debts which have been 
 created by this war the people will be paying to the third and 
 fourth generation. They have a right to know how these enor- 
 mous sums have been expended. Only a Republican Congress 
 will have the courage to exact a detailed and accurate story of 
 that stewardship. 
 
 Fourth — The work of reconstruction must not be done by 
 one man, or finally formulated according to his academic theories 
 and ideals. The President was not elected when such issues 
 were before the people. His mandate of power was not given in 
 the light of the momentous questions which will soon force them- 
 selves for solution. He was elected as a peace President and 
 because he had kept us out of war. The American people should 
 therefore place in the branch of the government charged consti- 
 tutionally with adopting policies of reconstruction a Congress 
 which will not register the will of one man, but, fresh from the 
 people, will enact the will of the people. 
 
 We earnestly deprecate extending the unified uncontrolled 
 leadership of a commander-in-chief to the making of a perma- 
 nent treaty of peace or to the framing of those measures of 
 reconstruction which must seriously affect the happiness and 
 prosperity of the American people for a century. We urge all 
 Americans, who are Americans first, to vote for a Republican 
 Congress. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt, 
 William H. Taft. 
 
 272 
 
APOSTLE OF PREPAREDNESS 
 
 Attitude on the Great War 
 In a speech at Carnegie Hall, New York, October 28, 
 1918, two weeks before the armistice ended hostilities in 
 the Great War, Colonel Roosevelt said: 
 
 ^'I beUeve in putting this war through to our last 
 man and to our last dollar rather than to fail in beating 
 Germany to her knees. That is the spirit of our wonder- 
 ful fighting men that our soldiers at the front have. The 
 world has never seen finer fighting men than our soldiers 
 at the front. But let this people never forget that in the 
 bitter weather of last winter we left our small army over- 
 seas without a sufficient number of overcoats or shoes; 
 we got uniforms from the British ; we got our cannon and 
 our machine guns from the hard-pressed French, the 
 tanks from the British and French ; we had practically no 
 airplanes at the front until seventeen months after we 
 went to war — in short, our governmental shortcomings 
 were so lamentable that even now we can fight at all only 
 because of the weapons our allies give us. 
 
 **I hold that it was a foolish and evil thing to have 
 failed to prepare during the two years and a half after 
 the World AYar began, and a foolish thing and evil thing 
 to have shown the hesitation and delay and incompetency 
 displayed in making our strength effective, which we 
 showed for over a year after we had finally helplessly 
 drifted stern foremost into the war. I hold that it is 
 upon efficiency and upon an absolute disregard of all 
 political considerations that we must rely in speeding up 
 the war. Let us try to mn it at once ; but let us set our- 
 selves resolutely to mn it, no matter what the cost and no 
 matter how long it takes. I hold that it is necessary 
 clearly to face the dreadful blunders and worse than blun- 
 ders that have been made, in order to avoid repeating 
 
 273 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 them in the future. But I hold with even greater tenacity 
 that it is our duty to treat these blunders, not in any way 
 as an excuse for failure to do our duty, but as an addi- 
 tional incentive to devoting every ounce of strength we 
 have to winning the war. If we had prepared in advance, 
 the war would have been over ninety days after we 
 entered it. If the administration had used with moderate 
 efficiency the results of the lavish generosity of Congress 
 our armies and the Allied armies would have been doing 
 long ago what they are doing now in October. I trust our 
 people will keep well in mind, as a lesson concerning the 
 mere money cost of unpreparedness, that the enormous 
 sums we have had to raise by taxation and by borrowing 
 are at the very least twice as great as if wo had begun 
 to prepare in advance, without hurry and confusion and 
 vdthout the attendant waste and extravagance and prof- 
 iteering, and with the patriotic and businesslike refusal 
 to consider politics or anything else except winning the 
 war. 
 
 Unconditional Surrender, but a Just Peace 
 *'We should accept no peace not based on the uncon- 
 ditional surrender of Germany and her vassal allies, Aus- 
 tria and Turkey, and upon the freeing of the subject races 
 of Austria and Turkey from the yoke of the Austrian, 
 the Magyar, and the Turk. Therefore, it is inexcusable 
 in us, and is a reflection upon our good faith, to have 
 remained so long without declaring war on Turkey, for 
 it is mere hypocrisy to talk of making the world safe for 
 democracy so long as we are not at war \nth Turkey, and 
 have not insisted upon putting the Turk out of Europe 
 and freeing the Armenians and the Syrians of all creeds 
 from his yoke, and gi^^ng Palestine to be made a Jewish 
 state. 
 
APOSTLE OF PREPAREDNESS 
 
 **I would not subject the German or the Magyar to 
 the dominion of anyone else. But neither would I permit 
 them to lord it over anyone else. The true way to put a 
 stop to Germany's ability again to convulse the world 
 by an effort to secure world dominion is to give, not 
 autonomy, but freedom to all the nations that now cower 
 under the tyranny of Germany and her allies, Belgium, 
 of course, must be restored and amply indemnified, and 
 all the gold that Germany has cannot repay Belgium for 
 the frightful wrongs so wantonly committed against her 
 by Germany during the last four years. France must 
 receive back Alsace and Lorraine, and Germany must be 
 forced to carry out her broken promise to the Danes of 
 North Schleswig. All of Poland must be a separate com- 
 monwealth, with a seafront on the Baltic; Finland, the 
 Baltic provinces, Lithuania, and Ukrainia, must be made 
 as absolutely independent of Germany as of Russia ; the 
 Czecho-Slovaks and the Jugo-Slavs must be made into 
 independent commonwealths; the Roumanians in East 
 Hungary restored to Roumania; the Italians of South- 
 western Austria joined to Italy ; the Greeks safeguarded 
 in their rights ; Constantinople made a free city, and all 
 other injustices remedied in so far as it is humanly pos- 
 sible to do so. The German strangle-hold must be 
 removed from Russia, and we should ourselves help Rus- 
 sia so far as she will permit us to do so, and we cannot 
 efficiently do so unless our government acts with infinitely 
 greater wisdom, forethought, insight, and resolution than 
 it has shown in its handling of the Siberian matters for 
 the last six months. 
 
 The Work of Reconstruction 
 
 ''Then, when the end of the war is come and we have 
 obtained the peace of complete \'ictory, a peace obtained 
 
 275 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 by machine guns and not typewriters, we shall have to 
 turn to the affairs of our own household and undertake 
 the work of reconstruction with cool intelligence and reso- 
 lution, with firm determination not to be misled by the 
 visionaries and fanatics who, under the plea of helping 
 the average man, would bring our whole civilization to 
 ruin. ' ' 
 
 In the fight for Americanism there must be no sagging 
 back. 
 
 — Roosevelt's Last Message. 
 
 278 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 A FAMILY OF PATRIOTS 
 
 Four Sons in Active Service — One Killed, Two Wounded, 
 All Distinguished — Quentin's Grave Visited hy His 
 Mother— War Records of the Roosevelts—The Colo- 
 neVs Family — Ideal Family Life — Love of the Out- 
 doors — Oyster Bay a Mecca for Distinguished 
 Visitors. 
 
 True American patriotism was inherent and heredi- 
 tary in the Roosevelt family. In Theodore Roosevelt is 
 found constant and practical expression. He lived and 
 died the typical patriot of his country and his time. And 
 his patriotism was transmitted in unstinted measure to 
 his children. 
 
 Though he was not permitted to engage in the World 
 War himself, with the division of volunteers which he had 
 taken steps to recruit among his admirers, he was repre- 
 sented in the great conflict by his four sons — volunteers 
 all — one of whom sealed his patriotism with his life, and 
 by a son-in-law, Dr. Richard Derby, a Major in the Army 
 Medical Corps. Two of his sons were wounded, all distin- 
 guished themselves in service. 
 
 His youngest son. Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, was 
 killed in France in an air battle on the western front, in 
 July, 1918. His machine was shot down by a German 
 aviator, experienced and skilled, with a record of thirty- 
 two planes downed to his credit. Young Roosevelt, 
 though skilled, was inexperienced, his adversary said 
 
 277 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 after he and brother officers had buried and marked the 
 grave of Quentin, The victor paid tribute to him in say- 
 ing that he had fought courageously and gallantly. Colo- 
 nel Roosevelt -wished that his son's body remain in the 
 soil that he had fought to free. ''Let the tree lie where 
 it falls," he said when asked if Quentin 's body would be 
 brought home. 
 
 In February, 1919, after the Colonel's death, Mrs. 
 Theodore Roosevelt carried out the intention which she 
 and her husband had formed, of visiting their son's grave 
 in France. Landing at Brest, she was met and welcomed 
 by officials of the French Government, who placed at her 
 disposal every possible facility and convenience for car- 
 rying out her sad mission. In the quietest and least osten- 
 tatious manner possible, the sorrowing and widowed 
 mother was escorted to the spot in the battle-torn terri- 
 tory where lay the remains of her youngest son, a martyr 
 in the cause of human liberty, interred by enemy hands 
 in a grave that will be kept green for generations to come 
 by the grateful tears of the French people, whom he 
 crossed an ocean to aid. The heartfelt sympathies of 
 the American people accompanied Mrs. Roosevelt on her 
 sorrowful trip, and the deepest regrets that Quentin 's 
 father was not spared to stand by her side over that 
 lonely but glorious grave. The parent oak fell soon after 
 the sturdy sapling, and both lie where they fell. 
 
 Archie Wounded and Cited 
 
 Two of Colonel Roosevelt's other sons, Archie and 
 Theodore, Jr., were cited for bravery in action with the 
 United States Army and Kermit distinguished himself 
 while fighting with the British forces in Mesopotamia. 
 At his own retjuest, when the United States got into the 
 war, Kermit was transferred to our army. 
 
 278 
 
A FAMILY OF PATRIOTS 
 
 In the fighting before Toul in 1918, Archie was 
 wounded. He so distinguished himself that General Per- 
 shing personally recommended him for promotion to a 
 captaincy, which he subsequently got, and he was also 
 cited for gallantry in action. He was a Second Lieuten- 
 ant when he first went into action. While leading his men 
 he was hit by shrapnel that injured both a leg and an arm. 
 He was taken to a Paris hospital, and while there learned 
 that he had been awarded the French War Cross. When 
 told of his son's gallant action and its recognition by two 
 nations, the Colonel was ' klelighted. " 
 
 '*! am proud of my boys," he said. 
 
 Theodore, Jr., a Lieutenant-Colonel 
 
 Theodore, Jr., was also wounded while he and his 
 detachment were wiping out machine-gun nests near 
 Plerigy, in the Soissons sector, in July, 1918. Shrapnel 
 was imbedded in Major Roosevelt's knee, but he would 
 not allow himself to be moved until the nests were cleaned 
 out. He was taken to a hospital back of the lines and 
 then transferred to a Paris hospital, where an operation 
 was performed. He afterward was promoted to Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel and was cited for gallantry. His wife, one of 
 the few who managed to get to their husbands fighting in 
 France, reached him there. She was engaged in war 
 work. During the same month, July, Quentin was killed. 
 
 Kermit Cited by the British 
 
 When America started preparing for the war, Kermit 
 Roosevelt and his wife had just returned from Argentina, 
 where he had gone to help establish a branch of the 
 National City Bank. He immediately enlisted in the 
 Officers' Training Camp at Plattsburg. While there he 
 was offered a commission with the British forces. He 
 
 279 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 accepted and later was cited in British dispatches. He 
 had himself transferred to the American forces later, to 
 ** fight under his own flag." 
 
 Archie Roosevelt abandoned his business in a carpet 
 factory in Connecticut, where Theodore, Jr., had started 
 his career years before, and also went to Plattsburg. 
 Archie won a Second Lieutenancy. Both Archie and 
 Theodore, Jr., were among the first to go to France. 
 Theodore, Jr., was prospering in the oil well business 
 when he abandoned it for his country's ser\dce. 
 
 The Coloners Family. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt was twice married. His first wife was 
 Alice Hathaway Lee, daughter of George Cabot Lee of 
 Boston. She died February 14, 1884. On December 2, 
 1886, he married in London Edith Kermit Carow, daugh- 
 ter of Charles Carow, who was his boyhood friend. 
 
 The only child of his first marriage was his daughter 
 Alice, the clever and attractive girl who became the wife 
 of Congressman Nicholas Longworth. The children by 
 his second marriage were Ethel Roosevelt, who became 
 the wife of Dr. Richard T. Derby; Theodore Roosevelt, 
 Jr., Kermit, Archie, and Quentin. 
 
 Ideal Family Life 
 
 The warmth of the affection shown within the Roose- 
 velt household was a notable part of the life at the home- 
 stead. Sagamore Hill, near Oyster Bay, N. Y. 
 
 When a Western visitor was at the hospital in New 
 York just before Christmas, 1918, Captain Archie Roose- 
 velt, who was wounded in France and invalided home, 
 came in to bid the Colonel good-by — a slight, bo\-ish fig- 
 ure, with the arm paralyzed by shrapnel still supported 
 by its metal brace. They talked a few minutes about a 
 
 280 
 
A FAMILY OF PATRIOTS 
 
 trip they planned to harpoon tarpon in Southern waters 
 in March, the Colonel explaining with enthusiasm that 
 harpooning was particularly adapted to such cripples 
 because it could be done with one arm. And then the 
 Captain crossed the room and kissed his father good-by. 
 
 It was the same with all the members of the family. 
 When his children saw their father after a separation 
 they would pat him on the shoulder as they passed him in 
 the room, and he would detain them a moment to hold 
 their hands. 
 
 '*I must talk that over with Edith (Mrs. Roosevelt) 
 and Alice" (his daughter), was his frequent reply when 
 some personal matter was up for his consideration. 
 "They have such good judgment." 
 
 Family All Outdoor Folk 
 
 The whole family was devoted to outdoor life. During 
 the Colonel's terms as President, the White House stables 
 contained excellent riding horses. There was a horse or 
 pony for every member of the family. There were two 
 mounts for the President, one being Eusty, a bay heavy- 
 weight hunter on which the President frequently jumped 
 fences in the country to remind him of the time when he 
 once rode to hounds on Long Island. 
 
 Because of the President's example there was prob- 
 ably more good healthful exercise taken in Washington 
 during his administration than has been known there 
 before or since. Americans are not generally credited 
 vdth being anemic, but the official and social duties of the 
 capital never before were so crowded in between sets of 
 tennis, riding and walking expeditions. 
 
 His contests President Roosevelt held not only with 
 his boys and other members of his family, but with Cabi- 
 net officers and foreign diplomats. Capitals of Europe 
 
 281 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 were sometimes highly entertained by accounts of their 
 representatives following the President, who had in\dted 
 them for afternoon walks, across fences, ditches, and 
 through mud ankle deep. Pouring rain never prevented 
 the President from taking his walks with members of the 
 foreign embassies, and he was always delighted with 
 credit given him for inaugurating the strenuous life in 
 Washington. And the outdoor life lived in Washington 
 was but a repetition of that enjoyed at Sagamore Hill, 
 typical haven of domestic bliss and always a scene of 
 rational pleasures. Whether the Colonel was in or out 
 of office, his delightful country home was always his 
 favorite abode. 
 
 Mecca of Distinguished Men 
 
 Distinguished guests were nearly always to be found 
 at the Roosevelt table at Sagamore Hill. Jacob Riis 
 tells of his going there during the Colonel's Presidency, 
 to complain that a rule had been adopted by the War 
 Department, discontinuing the custom of having the 
 names of private soldiers who were killed in the Philip- 
 pines cabled home. The reports merely dismissed the 
 matter by saying that so many unnamed privates had 
 fallen. Mr. Riis' chance to speak of the matter did not 
 come until he had luncheon. Adjutant-General Corbin 
 was present, and the President at once turned to him and 
 asked, ''General, is there such a rule?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President," he answered. 
 
 ''^Vhy?" 
 
 **The department adopted it, I believe, from motives 
 of economy. ' ' 
 
 ''General, can you telegraph from here to the Philip- 
 pines?" 
 
 282 
 
A FAMILY OF PATRIOTS 
 
 General Corbin thought that if the order were to be 
 repealed, it could better be done from Washington. But 
 the President said: 
 
 ' ' No ! No ! We \^ill not wait. The mothers who gave 
 the best they had to the country should not be breaking 
 their hearts, that the Government may save twenty-five 
 or fifty dollars. Save the money somewhere else." 
 
 Forthwith from the table at Sagamore Hill went the 
 new ruling that the names of the privates as well as those 
 of the officers falling in the Philippines, should be sent 
 home by cable. 
 
 An English guest of world-wide experience pro- 
 nounced the table-talk at Oyster Bay as brilliant as any 
 he ever had heard. The variety of the President's topics, 
 his grasp of subjects, his out-of-the-way knowledge, and 
 his marvelous memory reminded him of the conversation 
 of Gladstone. A British army officer, with a long experi- 
 ence in India, declared, after his visit, that President 
 Roosevelt knew more than he did about the history and 
 the administration of the Indian government. 
 
 An Ambassador, lunching at Oyster Bay, made some 
 remark about a buffalo head on the wall. This led Colonel 
 Roosevelt to express his regret that we in this country 
 should have exterminated the American bison in a dozen 
 years, where Europe was a thousand years in killing off 
 the auroch. Then he talked of the migration of the fauna 
 of South America across the isthmus and of the fauna 
 of Asia across Behring Strait, with the resultant inter- 
 mingling of the species in North America. 
 
 The Ambassador was amazed at the extent of the 
 President's information on such subjects, but those who 
 knew how truly great a naturalist he was had ceased to 
 be surprised at any outcropping from his marvelous fund 
 of special knowledge. 
 
 283 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Until the last days of the Colonel's life, his home 
 continued to be a Mecca for distinguished men and women 
 of all nationalities and opinions. There they found a 
 private forum for the free expression of all beliefs, but 
 all who came left with the same impression stamped upon 
 their memories — that it was the home of a live, practical 
 American patriotism, the abode of a family of patriots. 
 
 3an Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1919. 
 
 284 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 THE YOUNG MAN'S HKRO 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt the Idol of American Youth — His 
 Strong, Lovable Character Appealed to Its Imagina- 
 tion — One Secret of His Power a^ a Citizen — A Peren- 
 nial Boy — Mourned by the Boys of America — The 
 Colonel Among Children — How He Raised His Sons. 
 
 No man ever lived who enjoyed in so remarkable a 
 degree as Theodore Roosevelt the love and respect of 
 Young America. No other citizen of the world was ever 
 so deeply enshrined in the hearts of the boys and girls of 
 his own country, or was so cheerfully accepted by them 
 as their ideal and exemplar. 
 
 To the young men of the country he was indeed a hero. 
 He appealed to their imagination, and filled it with a sat- 
 isfaction that knew no flaw. The wonderful combination 
 in his personality of a King Arthur, a Chevalier Bayard, 
 and a Buffalo Bill, with the added qualities of great 
 statesmanship and intense patriotism, made an appeal 
 that was irresistible, so that for two generations the liv- 
 ing ''Teddy" was the idol of the young. And the dead 
 Roosevelt will remain their ideal for generations to come. 
 
 The love and hero-worship of the young men of 
 America was ever a source of tremendous strength to 
 Roosevelt the statesman and Roosevelt the influential citi- 
 zen. The public recognized it, the politicians felt its 
 power, the parents knew its influence. There is an 
 instinct or an intuition — call it what you please — in the 
 
 285 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 personal judgments of the young that cannot be gainsaid. 
 Good men, strong men, sincere men, lovable men, are 
 intuitively recognized by the youthful mind, and are 
 respected and trusted accordingly. They attract youth 
 and gain its confidence, while men of a different character 
 are repellent to it and arouse its suspicion. Theodore 
 Roosevelt was always attractive to youth. He gained the 
 affection of the young without effort, because of his 
 abounding love for humanity, which found constant 
 expression in his daily life. From his earliest days he 
 was the teacher, guide, and counsellor of the young; and 
 as his great career unfolded he gave to the boys and girls 
 of America that service of usefulness which he lavished 
 upon all his fellow-countrymen in such unstinted measure. 
 In this he was but following in the footsteps of his father, 
 the elder Theodore, whose work for the j^oung of New 
 York City was one of the greatest achievements of his 
 useful life. 
 
 A Perennial Boy 
 Colonel Roosevelt was a perennial boy. In some 
 respects he never "grew up." His abounding vitality, 
 his love of constant action — *' something doing all the 
 time," — his enthusiasm in every cause he espoused, his 
 quick perceptions and rapid decisions, his fondness for 
 sports, his love of a "scrap," his sense of fair play, his 
 keen interest in football, — all these characteristics were 
 those of a regular American boy, and the boys of America 
 recognized in him a kindred spirit, one of themselves. He 
 was never happier than when he was "playing the boy," 
 and he could be a boy in the company of staid Senators, 
 dignified Ambassadors, and prim politicians, as well as 
 with boxers and football players and wrestlers and cow- 
 boys and children. 
 
 286 
 
THE YOUNG MAN'S HERO 
 
 When he died a great New York newspaper recognized 
 the truth of his hold upon the boys when it said, under 
 the heading of "Teddy": 
 
 "Millions who have no spokesmen to make articulate 
 their emotions, who lack words to express their grief, 
 mourn Theodore Roosevelt surely quite as sincerely as 
 those who fill papers with their tributes and draw up 
 resolutions of regret. 
 
 "These mute mourners are the boys of America. In 
 their Pantheon, Theodore Roosevelt, hero of San Juan, 
 mighty hunter, slayer of lion, bear, wolf, and panther, 
 explorer, occupied a throne more exalted even than Frank 
 Merriwell's and Nick Carter's, far above the history- 
 embedded heroes of Gr, A. Henty. 
 
 "He was the eternal boy. His were the boy's enthus- 
 iasms and unlimited capacity for swift movement of body 
 and brain. And the boys shall mourn the passing of this 
 full-colored, \drile man long after grief has faded from 
 older and colder hearts and minds, untouched by the eter- 
 nal dawn." 
 
 Why Boys Loved "Teddy" 
 
 When Mr. Roosevelt was President, his great friend, 
 Jacob A. Riis, who had accompanied him in earlier days 
 on many a midnight expedition through the slums of New 
 York City, seeking to do good, said of him : 
 
 "Boys admire President Roosevelt because he himself 
 'is a good deal of a boy.' Some men have claimed that 
 Mr. Roosevelt never has matured; but this is saying no 
 more than that he has not stopped grooving, that he is not 
 yet imprisoned in the crust of age. To him the world is 
 still young and unfinished. He has a boy's fresh faith 
 that the things that ought to be done can be done. His 
 eyes are on the future rather than on the past. 
 
 287 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''Young America never drew so near to any other 
 public man as to Theodore Roosevelt. All the boys in the 
 land feel that there is a kindred spirit in the White 
 House. Every one of them knows ' Teddy ' and the ' Teddy 
 bear' and the 'Teddy hat.' But it is doubtful if the 
 President ever was called 'Teddy' when he was a boy. 
 He used to be 'Teedy' in the family circle and at Harvard 
 he was 'Ted,' while among the intimates of his manhood 
 he is always called 'Theodore.' He is 'Teddy,' however, 
 to millions of boys who delight in their comradeship vdih 
 tlie President which this nickname implies. It does not 
 mean that they are lacking in respect for him ; it simply 
 means that they are not afraid of him, and that they feel 
 they know him and he knows them." 
 
 The Colonel Among Children 
 The Colonel had a way with 5'oungsters. All too little 
 to know how to admire him loved him on sight. The older 
 ones did both. The stories about him with children here 
 and there are innumerable. His animosity toward race 
 suicide was no cold, abstract, sociological tenet. There 
 was the little invalid in Portland, Oregon, carried to the 
 curb on a stretcher to see him go by, when he was pass- 
 ing through in 1903. He noticed her, stopped the car- 
 riage, jumped out and kissed her. 
 
 One day in February, 1911, when walking back to 
 the office of The Outlook in New York after luncheon, the 
 Colonel found a lost nine-year-old, newly arrived with 
 his parents via Ellis Island, crying in the streets, and 
 dried the child's eyes and took him to the East Twentj'- 
 third street police station, where he turned him over to 
 the matron, and then swapped old memories with the 
 bluecoats behind the desk, one or two of whom had been 
 on the force when he was Commissioner. 
 
 288 
 
THE YOUNG MAN'S HERO 
 
 There are countless stories of his own, the Roosevelt 
 children, in and out of the White House and at Sagamore 
 Hill, and latterly there were the photographs of him hold- 
 ing the grandbabies. Of these stories, a favorite in its 
 day was about his little boating and sleeping-out-in-blan- 
 kets expedition to a remote sand beach on the Sound, his 
 companions being Kermit, Archie and their cousin Philip. 
 The date was August 9, 1902. 
 
 The President and the three kids quietly stole off to 
 the bay, eluding all eyes but Secretary Loeb's, and that 
 was the evening when the Pacific cables rumpus broke 
 like a bombshell, and telegrams and emissaries and mag- 
 nates and reporters poured in vainly upon the Roosevelt 
 home. Mr. Loeb could not say where the President was 
 and seemed embarrassed by it. The four simple-lifers 
 returned in the morning after a bully time, and the busi- 
 ness of a President on vacation was resumed. Subse- 
 quently such sleeping-out excursions were a feature of 
 every summer. 
 
 Then there was the autumn day in 1917 when the 
 Colonel sat for two hours at the elbow of Justice Hoyt 
 in Children's Court, New York, heard the cases, and acted 
 as unofficial consulting Justice. Once, leaning over, he 
 whispered to a youngster, "It's all right this time, sonny. 
 You're all right. But remember, don't do it again, or 
 he '11 send you away ! He '11 send you away ! ' ' And again, 
 after hearing how some other juvenile malefactor of 
 little wealth had made full restitution to the pushcart 
 man or somebody, the Roosevelt fist thumped the arm 
 of the chair, with "That's a fine boy! That kind make 
 first-rate citizens!" 
 
 Soon after the Roosevelts took up their residence at 
 the White House a fawning society woman asked one of 
 
 289 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 the younger boys if be did not dislike tbe "common boys" 
 be met at tbe public scbools. Tbe boy looked at her in 
 wonderment for a moment and tben replied : 
 
 ''My papa says tbere are only tall boys and sbort boys 
 and good boys and bad boys, and that's all the kind of 
 boys there are." 
 
 When the leader of the Rough Riders returned from 
 the Spanish-American war he found all his children con- 
 gregated near a pole from which floated a large flag 
 of their o^^ti manufacture, inscribed: 
 
 ''To Colonel Roosevelt." 
 
 He said that the tribute touched him more deeply than 
 any of the pretentious demonstrations accorded him. 
 
 Several years ago Judge Ben Lindsey of Denver 
 asked Colonel Roosevelt to send his son Quentin out 
 West. A few- months before his death the Colonel was 
 talking to the Judge, and tears came into his eyes as he 
 said: "Judge, you remember what you said about that 
 boy? Well, he went west, he went west" (in France). 
 Then he added: 
 
 "It is pretty hard. His mother, of course, like all 
 mothers, feels it, but by George — by George, it's all 
 right; and I tell you. Judge, if this war lasts another 
 year I won't have a son left. Not one! I tell you, they 
 are bears; they are bears for a fight when there ought 
 to be a fight. I am proud of them." 
 
 Roosevelt's Kind of Eoy 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt was fond of telling the boys what their 
 country expects of them. He was a great friend and 
 supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, who wore offi- 
 cial mourning crepe on their arms for him after his death, 
 and mourned him most sincerely. Here is what he once 
 said about the American boy — and every boy should paste 
 it in his hat : 
 
 290 
 
THE YOUNG MAN'S HERO 
 
 ^'Wliat we have a right to expect of the American boy 
 is that he shall turn out to be a good American man. Now 
 the chances are that he won't be much of a man unless he 
 is a good deal of a boy. He must not be a coward or a 
 weakling, a bully, a shirk, or a prig. He must work hard 
 and play hard. He must be clean-minded and clean-lived, 
 and able to hold his own under all circumstances and 
 against all comers. It is only on these conditions that he 
 will grow into the kind of man of whom America can 
 really be proud. In life, as in a football game, the prin- 
 ciple to follow is to hit the line hard: don't foul and don't 
 shirk, but hit the line hard. ' ' 
 
 — Theodoee Roosevelt. 
 
 There is a splendid platform of principles for a regu- 
 lar boy. And no one who was not "a good deal of a boy" 
 himself would have put so much sound sense in so 
 few words. They ring true — and millions of American 
 boys are trying to live up to ''Teddy's" standard. That 
 was the kind of boy he was himself, and the kind of man 
 he made himself. 
 
 His Own Children 
 
 Young America was also drawn to the former Presi- 
 dent through his delight in his own children. He was 
 prouder to be the father of a family of six than to be the 
 head of the nation. His sons and daughters were born as 
 follows : 
 
 Alice Lee (named for her mother, the first Mrs. Roose- 
 velt), born in New York City, February 12, 1884; married 
 Nicholas Longworth of Cincinnati, at the White House, 
 February 17, 1906. 
 
 Theodore, Jr. (named for his father), born at Oyster 
 Bay, September 13, 1887. 
 
 291 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Kermit (this is the middle name of his mother), born 
 at Oyster Bay, October 10, 1889. 
 
 Ethel Carow (named for her mother's family), born 
 at Oyster Bay, August 13, 1891. 
 
 Archibald Bulloch (named for a paternal ancestor, the 
 first Governor of the State of Georgia), born in Wash- 
 ington, April 9, 1894 
 
 Quentin (named for a maternal ancestor), born in 
 Washington, November 19, 1897 ; died in action in France, 
 July, 1918. 
 
 ''The chief ambition of Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt," said 
 one of their closest friends, 'Svas not to rear a brilliant 
 family, but to keep their children like other children, 
 unspoiled by their father's distinction, and to bring them 
 up simply and to fit them to be womanly women and 
 manly men. They all had the same nurse, but their 
 mother trusted no one to tuck them iu at night, and she 
 herself attended to this duty even when there was a great 
 reception or state dinner to be given. 
 
 ''The President wished his daughters as well as his 
 sons to be brave and hardy. 'I must confess,' he said, 
 'that when girls are small I like them to be tomboys.' Of 
 his eldest child he once remarked: 'Alice is a girl who 
 does not stay in the house and sit in a rocking-chair. She 
 can walk as far as I can. She can ride, drive, and shoot ; 
 although she doesn't care much for the shooting. I don't 
 mind that; it is not necessary for health, but outdoor exer- 
 cise is, and she has plenty of that.' 
 
 "Coming to womanhood while her father was Presi- 
 dent, Alice was obliged to pay the penalty of his fame. 
 Her every step was published to the world and her name 
 was made a favorite subject of gossip and rumor. It was 
 a trying ordeal for a young woman, but it must be granted 
 
 292 
 
THE YOUNG MAN'S HERO 
 
 by all that she passed through this trial with a careless 
 indifference, worthy of her father 's spirit of courage and 
 independence. The German Emperor selected her to 
 christen his yacht, when it was launched in an American 
 shipyard, and she complied with the imperial request 
 simply and modestly. After the launching she sent this 
 message by cable : 
 
 'His Majesty, the Emperor, 
 'Berlin, Germany: 
 'The Meteor has been successfully launched. I con- 
 gratulate you, and I thank you for your courtesy to me, 
 and I send my best wishes. 
 
 'Alice Lee Roosevelt.^ 
 
 "Some guardians of royal etiquette in Europe seemed 
 to be a little shocked by the lack of formality, by the 
 directness of that greeting from an American girl to an 
 august sovereign. Doubtless the Kaiser liked this girlish 
 frankness. He knew we had no court manners over here. 
 Miss Roosevelt again became involved in court etiquette 
 when she planned to attend the coronation of King 
 Edward in London. The American Ambassador had 
 invited her to join him on that occasion and she was as 
 ready as any other girl to see so grand a pageant. When, 
 however, a debate arose as to whether the daughter of 
 the President should be received as a Princess, she and 
 her father lost their patience, and the journey was aban- 
 doned in disgust." 
 
 The Colonel and His Sons 
 
 In his relations with his four sons, Colonel Roosevelt 
 was always more like a brother than a father. Once he 
 made a little speech at a school near Washington, where 
 his daughter, Ethel, was a pupil, and said : 
 
 2n 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''Life in the family circle is usually shaped predomi- 
 nantly for good or evil by the mother, even more than 
 by the father." 
 
 So in his own family circle he ''took his place in the 
 ranks" as an equal comrade of his sons. They used to 
 play, read, tramp, and ride together. AVe even heard of 
 pillow-fights between the august President and his sons 
 in the White House, as in any other happy American 
 home. And it is said that the Roosevelt boys have seen a 
 real live President of the United States down on his hands 
 and knees, playing bear — "a real, live Teddy-bear, with 
 a table or a bush for his den." Undignified, eh? Maybe 
 so, but that Teddy-bear was an ideal American father 
 and raised the right kind of American boys. 
 
 The Colonel taught his sons to box and to shoot, to 
 swim and row and sail and ride. He tried to teach them 
 not to be afraid of anything. Their home at Sagamore 
 Hill was a regular menagerie of strange pets. At various 
 times the Roosevelt children had such playfellows as a 
 lion, a hyena, a wild-cat, a coyote, two parrots, five bears, 
 an eagle, a barn owl, several snakes and lizards, a zebra 
 which the Emperor of Abyssinia sent them, kangaroo- 
 rats and flying squirrels, rabbits, and guinea-pigs. 
 
 Many of these animals and reptiles were sent to the 
 family as gifts, and after a time were added to the public 
 zoological collection in New York. The kangaroo-rats 
 and flying squirrels slept in the pockets and blouses of 
 the children, whence they sometimes made unexpected 
 appearances at the breakfast and dinner table or in 
 school. Many an American family has had similar experi- 
 ences, as its boys were gro\ving up, but in few families is 
 the study of natural history through live specimens so 
 liberally encouraged by the parents as it v/as in the fam- 
 ily at Sagamore Hill. 
 
 294 
 
THE YOUNG MAN'S HERO 
 
 While a strict disciplinarian in his home, Mr. Roose- 
 velt mingled comradeship with exercise of authority in a 
 manner that made a successful father. It is said of him 
 that while he might postpone important affairs of state 
 to "play bear" mth his children, he was also known to 
 excuse himself to a company of friends who were spend- 
 ing the evening at his home while he went upstairs to 
 spank one of the children who had disregarded repeated 
 admonitions to make less noise. He was a chum of all 
 the members of his household. He repeatedly expressed 
 disapproval of the ''goody-goody boy." He said on one 
 occasion : 
 
 " I do not want any one to beheve that my little ones 
 are brought up to be cowards in this house. If they are 
 struck they are not taught to turn the other cheek. I 
 haven't any use for weaklings. I commend gentleness 
 and manliness. I want my boys to be strong and gentle. 
 For all my children I pray they may be healthy and 
 natural. ' ' 
 
 A Faithful Old Nurse 
 
 In the home of Mrs. Mary Ledwith, 89 years old, of 
 336 East Thirty-first Street, for more than fifty years 
 governess and nurse in the Roosevelt family, the portrait 
 of Colonel Roosevelt was draped in black on the day of 
 his funeral. Mrs. Ledwith was employed by the family 
 of Mrs. Roosevelt before she took up her employ in the 
 family of the Colonel, where she remained until his 
 second term in the White House. 
 
 Her room is filled with portraits of the members of 
 the Roosevelt family, and Mrs. Ledwith proudly told of 
 the frequent visits made by Colonel Roosevelt to her 
 home. The last visit, Mrs. Ledwith said, was made ijy 
 
 295 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 him in April, 1918, when he came bounding up the stairs 
 to her apartment on the second floor, knocked on the 
 door, and burst into the room \\dth a hearty greeting. 
 
 "Well, I'll probably be arrested as a burglar," were 
 his first words on that occasion to Mrs. Ledwith. * * I have 
 entered three apartments already in search of you and 
 the tenants seemed badly scared." 
 
 Mrs. Ledwith said she was with Mrs. Eoosevelt's 
 family long before the Colonel's wife was born and put 
 her first baby dress on her. 'When Theodore Roosevelt 
 married Miss Carow, Mrs. Ledwith accompanied them to 
 London. She entered the employ of the Carows during 
 Buchanan's presidency when the Carow homestead was 
 at Fourteenth Street and Broadway, which in those days 
 was well out in the country. 
 
 296 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt' s High Standard in Sports — A Lover 
 of Clean Sport — Himself an Athlete — Sports in the 
 White House — A Close Follower of Football — A 
 Great Hwtiter — His Fondness for Boxing — Friends 
 Among the Experts — Wrestling at Albany — Roose- 
 velt as an Outdoor Man — A Really Great Naturalist. 
 
 When Theodore Roosevelt died there passed away the 
 best beloved sportsman in America — and the squarest. 
 He set a standard in sports that may well be regarded 
 as ideal for universal emulation, and he had an honest 
 hatred for the shady methods of the ''sport" and the 
 gambler. Himself an athlete of no mean rank, he num- 
 bered among his personal friends more experts in all 
 branches of clean sport than any man in public life in the 
 world has ever had, and he thoroughly enjoyed their 
 acquaintance. 
 
 The late Martin J. Sheridan, all-round athlete incom- 
 parable, often declared Theodore Roosevelt was the 
 greatest man in the world. With a twinkle in his eye 
 Martin would remark: 
 
 ''I arrived at that conclusion on the September day in 
 1908 when the President received the American Olym- 
 pians at Sagamore Hill. Two incidents then took place 
 that led me to realize what a wonderful man Theodore 
 Roosevelt is. One of them was Mel Sheppard's presenta- 
 tion to the President of the medal he had won in the 800- 
 meter event at the London Olympics. The other was the 
 
 297 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 declaration of Pat Conway, president of the Irish-Ameri- 
 can Athletic Club, that, although he was a Democrat, ho 
 was sorry he had but one vote he could cast for Roosevelt. 
 
 ''Any man," declared Sheridan, "that can make Mel 
 Sheppard give us a medal and make Pat Conway forget 
 all about Tammany Hall is the greatest man in the 
 world. ' ' 
 
 A Lover of Clean Sport 
 
 Then Martin would go on to state his true reasons for 
 his great admiration of Roosevelt — the man's red- 
 blooded Americanism, his love for clean, honest, manly 
 sport, and his open hatred for the milksop and the 
 crooked and unfair in athletics. Perhaps it can be said 
 ^vithout exaggeration that nine-tenths of the sporting 
 world felt the same sentiments toward the famous sports- 
 man who on January 6, 1919, breasted the tape in the 
 race of life. 
 
 No President, no man high in public life, ever had as 
 great love for manly sports as Theodore Roosevelt, says 
 George B. Underwood, the well-known sporting writer. 
 Few professionals even had so many acquaintances in 
 sport, amateur and professional, as the former President. 
 He knew intimately and openly expressed his friendship 
 for John L. Sullivan, Bob Fitzsinmions, Terry McGovern, 
 and Prof. Mike Donovan, among the boxers; Billy Mul- 
 doon, Ernest Roeber, and Bill Brown, among the 
 wrestlers. 
 
 The American athletes who, upon President Roose- 
 velt's invitation, visited him at Oyster Bay in 1908 were 
 surprised at his knowledge of athletics and his familiar- 
 ity with their doings. 
 
 The veteran trainer, Mike Murphy, was the first in 
 line when the introductions were being made. ' ' No need 
 
 298 
 
THE SQUAKE SPORTSMAN 
 
 of introducing Murphy," broke in Mr. Roosevelt as the 
 late James E. Sullivan was introducing the athlete. 
 *'Mike and I are old friends." 
 
 *'Ah, Mr. Sheppard, glad to meet you," President 
 Roosevelt exclaimed. '"That was a bully race you ran 
 in the 800-meter event. 
 
 ''Well, if here isn't Martin Sheridan, the greatest 
 athlete of them all. Martin, you and I must have a little 
 talk as soon as I meet the rest of the boys and we get a 
 chance to get together. 
 
 "And little Johnny Hayes — the little man wdth the 
 big, stout heart ! Johnny, you showed the British some- 
 thing about Yankee grit and gameness, I reckon. Now 
 tell me, weren't the middle stages of the Marathon harder 
 on you than the last mile? Yes, I thought so. Once we 
 get past the middle part of any difficult undertaking the 
 worst is over. And how much weight did you lose! Six- 
 teen pounds ! My word, I guess I'll have to go out and do 
 a Marathon if it will take weight off that way." 
 
 What Athletics Did for Him 
 Through athletics Theodore Roosevelt developed from 
 a puny, sickly child into a strong, robust man. Realizing 
 the benefits accruing from indulgence in athletics, he con- 
 tinued to exercise regularly as long as he was able to. 
 Just before his last sickness he spent a fortnight at a 
 physical culture farm at Stamford, Conn. 
 
 When he became President Colonel Roosevelt gave a 
 mild shock to the advocates of Jeffersonian simplicity 
 and the worshipers of historic association by converting 
 the Cabinet room of the White House into what he play- 
 fully declared the "Administration's Department of 
 Physical Culture." 
 
 299 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 The well-known Cabinet table, bookcases, maps, 
 globes, clocks, chairs, rugs, bronze, and marble busts gave 
 way to wrestling mats, shields, boxing gloves, foils, sin- 
 gle-sticks, wire masks, and punching bags. 
 
 There Colonel Koosevelt used to box with the late Pro- 
 fessor Mike Donovan, wrestle w^ith Professor J, J. 
 O'Brien of Boston, and joust with single-sticks with Gen- 
 eral Leonard Wood. It was there, also, that President 
 Roosevelt took jiu-jitsu lessons from Hitachuyami, the 
 famous master of the ancient art of the Samurai. On 
 the tennis court outside the President daily would engage 
 in matches, with Ambassador Jusserand of France gen- 
 erally as his partner. Across the Potomac was an open 
 hilly section in which Colonel Roosevelt and Senator 
 Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts occasionally took 
 cross-country runs. 
 
 Followed Football Closely 
 
 President Roosevelt always was a familiar figure at 
 Harvard- Yale football games and at the boat races in 
 New London. He especially was fond of football and 
 watched the sport closely. Just how closely can be seen 
 by the following incident : 
 
 On December 4, 1905, the committee to notify Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt that the House was organized and ready 
 for business, including Representatives McCleary of 
 Minnesota, Littauer of New York, and Williams of Mis- 
 sissippi, called Secretary Loeb to ask when the Presi- 
 dent could see them. It then was approaching 3 o'clock. 
 
 ''The President cannot see you between 3 and 6 
 o'clock," Mr. Loeb telephoned after a consultation with 
 Colonel Roosevelt. 
 
 ''Why not?" asked the committee. 
 
 300 
 
THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 ''He is busy," said Loeb, and hung up the telephone. 
 
 The President was busy talking football with Walter 
 Camp and Jack Owsley of Yale, Bill Reid and Dr. D. H. 
 Nicholas of Harvard, Arthur T. Hillebrand and John B. 
 Fine of Princeton. The previous football season had re- 
 sulted in many more accidents than usual, and the Presi- 
 dent was of the opinion that for the good of the game the 
 rules should be revised. It was for that purpose he had 
 called Mr. Camp and his associates to Washington. 
 
 Letter to Harvard Fullback 
 
 Ernest Ver Weibe, the Harvard fullback, whose splen- 
 did rushes were largely responsible for Harvard getting 
 within kicking distance for Vic Kennard to boot the drop 
 kick that beat Yale in 1908, has a letter he will ever cher- 
 ish. It is from President Roosevelt, who took time from 
 a busy day, November 24, 1908, shortly after the game, 
 to write Ver Weibe and tell him of the admiration he and 
 every other Harvard man had for him. 
 
 Another Washington incident shows that the interest 
 Mr. Roosevelt displayed in boxing while he was Police 
 Commissioner in New York did not abate after he became 
 President. 
 
 Near the completion of the Olympic Games in Athens 
 in 1906, after America had piled up an unbeatable lead, 
 James E. Sullivan, the American Olympic Commissioner, 
 was found on the field and handed a cablegram. It read : 
 
 ''Hearty congratulations to you and the American 
 contestants. Uncle Sam is all right. 
 
 "(Signed) Theodoee Roosevelt." 
 
 Vice-President of P. S. A. L. 
 
 President Roosevelt w^as intensely interested in ath- 
 letics for the young and was one of the sponsors of the 
 
 301 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Public Schools Athletic League. Up to his death he 
 served as honorary \4ce-president of the League. Sev- 
 eral times he turned down other engagements to attend 
 P. S. A. L. meetings or to address the boys. 
 
 At a meeting of the State Mothers' Association in 
 Albany, when Colonel Roosevelt was Governor, he told 
 the mothers to '*let the boys fight their battles, for it 
 means better and stronger men." 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt always was on the firing line for 
 all that is good in sport and all that makes for better and 
 truer Americans. He exercised the same good influence 
 on honest, manly sports that he did in American politics, 
 and his influence mil live after him. 
 
 His Interest in Boxing 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt's interest in boxing developed 
 when he was 14, and rose out of the primitive need of 
 being able to protect himself against boys who sought to 
 impose on him. At that time he ventured forth by him- 
 self on a trip to Moosehead Lake and on the stage coach 
 that bore him there he met two mischievous boys of his 
 own age who proceeded to make life miserable for him. 
 Made desperate by their persecutions, he decided to lick 
 them, but found that either one singly was more than a 
 match for him. 
 
 Bitterly determined that he would not be again hu- 
 miliated in this way, he resolved to learn how to defend 
 himself, and, with his father's approval, started to learn 
 boxing. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt himself relates how, under the training 
 of John Lee, an ox-prizefighter, whose rooms were orna- 
 mented with \'ivid pictures of ring champions and battles, 
 he first put on the gloves. For a long period he was 
 
 302 
 
THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 knocked around the ring with no other fighting quality 
 in evidence but the ability to take punishment. But then, 
 when his boxing master arranged a series of matches, he 
 was entered in a hghtweight contest and left to the care 
 of his guardian angel. 
 
 Luckily his opponents chanced to be two youths whose 
 ambitions greatly exceeded their science and muscular 
 development, and, to the surprise of all concerned, he 
 emerged the possessor of the prize cup for his class — 
 a pewter mug that, though it would have been dear at 50 
 cents, was nevertheless a rich compensation for the 
 knockdowns and bruises he had endured during his 
 training. 
 
 A Harvard Contest 
 
 It is not until young Roosevelt entered Harvard that 
 we again hear of his putting on the gloves. 
 
 In spite of his battle for health, Roosevelt was far 
 from being a robust man when he entered college. A 
 friend described him as appearing to be ''physically un- 
 developed." Some such remark may have reached his 
 ears, for, although he was engrossed in his studies and 
 more than ever interested in natural history, he resumed 
 vigorously the sport of boxing. 
 
 His near-sightedness had shut him out from basebaU 
 and football and he was too light for an oarsman. Good 
 sight and full weight are major assets to a boxer, yet, 
 lacking them, Roosevelt doggedly went ahead. 
 
 In the middle of a college bout time was called. He 
 stopped boxing, but his opponent kept on, and the sur- 
 prised Roosevelt found himself reeling from a blow on 
 the nose. A cry of "Foul!" arose from the spectators. 
 
 Roosevelt, bleeding, protested to his friends to stop 
 their protests. Above the clamor he could be heard cry- 
 
 303 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ing to the referee: "Stop! Stop! He didn't hear!" 
 Whether or not his opponent really had heard is a mat- 
 ter of conjecture. However, the hubbub ceased; Roose- 
 velt shook hands with his opponent; the bout was re- 
 sumed, and Roosevelt fell on his adversary and gave him 
 a beating that went down in the annals of college history. 
 
 A Championship Bout 
 
 In his account of Roosevelt as an outdoor man, Henry 
 Beech Xeedham furnishes this interesting picture of 
 Theodore in his college days : 
 
 "It was a bout to decide the lightweight champion- 
 sliip of Harvard. The heavyweight and middleweight 
 championships had been awarded. The contest for the 
 men under 140 pounds was on. Roosevelt, then a junior, 
 had defeated seven men. A senior had as many victories 
 to his credit. They were pitted against each other in the 
 finals. The senior was quite a bit taller than Roosevelt 
 and his reach was longer. He also weighed more by six 
 pounds, but Roosevelt was the quicker man on his feet 
 and knew more of the science of boxing. The first round 
 was vigorously contested. Roosevelt closed in at the very 
 outset. Because of his bad eyes he realized that in-fight- 
 ing gave him his only chance to win. Blows were ex- 
 changed with lightning rapidity, and they were hard 
 blows. Roosevelt drew first blood, but soon his own nose 
 was bleeding. At the call of time, however, he got the 
 decision for the round. 
 
 "The senior had learned his lesson. Thereafter he 
 would not permit Roosevelt to close in on him. With his 
 longer reach, and aided by his antagonist's near-sighted- 
 ness, he succeeded in landing frequent blovrs. Roosevelt 
 worked hard, but to no avail. The round was awarded 
 
 304 
 
THE SQUAEE SPORTSMAN 
 
 to the senior. In the third round the senior endeavored 
 to pursue the same tactics, but \\4th less success. The 
 result of this round was a draw, and an extra round had 
 to be sparred. Here superior weight and longer reach 
 began to tell, but Roosevelt boxed gamely to the end. Said 
 his antagonist : *I can see him now as he came in fiercely 
 to the attack. But I kept him off, taking no chances, and 
 landing at long reach. I got the decision, but Roosevelt 
 was far more scientific. Given good eyes, he would have 
 defeated me easily." 
 
 The Wrestling Governor 
 When Mr. Roosevelt entered upon his public career 
 heavy burdens were laid upon him, and to keep in condi- 
 tion to meet the hard physical and mental strain, he again 
 turned to boxing and wrestling for exercise. When Gov- 
 ernor of New York the champion middleweight wrestler 
 of America came several evenings a week to wrestle with 
 him. The news of the purchase of a wrestling mat for the 
 Governor's mansion at Albany created consternation on 
 the part of the State Comptroller, but was greeted with 
 great enthusiasm by the red-blooded men to whom the 
 Governor had become an idol. Many of these would have 
 given all they possessed to have been able to stand at the 
 edge of the mat and cheer their champion in his strenuous 
 amusement. To the middleweight champion the job vras 
 a hard one. Not because he experienced any difficulty in 
 downing the Governor, but because he was so awed by 
 the Governor's position and responsibilities that he was 
 always in dire anxiety lest the Governor should break an 
 arm or crack a rib. This gingerly attitude of his oppo- 
 nent exasperated the Colonel. He didn't feel that it was 
 fair for him to be straining like a tiger to get a half- 
 
 305 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Nelson hold on the champion, while the latter seemed to 
 feel that he must play the nurse to him. After repeated 
 urgings, he managed to get the champion to throw him 
 about in real earnest — then he was satisfied. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt relates in his reminiscences that, 
 while he was in the New York Legislature, he had as a 
 sparring partner a second-rate prizefighter who used to 
 come to his rooms every morning and put on Ihe gloves 
 for a half -hour. One morning he failed to arrive, but a 
 few days later there came a letter from him. It devel- 
 oped that he was then in jail ; that boxing had been simply 
 an avocation with him, and that his principal business 
 was that of a burglar. 
 
 Roosevelt was fond of boxing Arith ''Mike" Dono- 
 van, trainer at the New York Athletic Club, as well 
 as with William Muldoon, the wrestler and trainer. His 
 opponents testify that the Colonel was handicapped by 
 his poor sight. He wanted to see his adversary's eyes — 
 to catch the gleam that comes before a blow. Roosevelt 
 always maneuvered to see his opponent's face, and he 
 liked to "mix in" when boxing. 
 
 Hard and heavy was the Colonel's method, and his 
 opponents forced him to adapt his plan of fighting to 
 theirs. It did not matter to Roosevelt. It was the striv- 
 ing, not the result, that interested him. 
 
 Boxing in the White House 
 
 Lieutenant Fortescue, a distant relative of the Roose- 
 velt family, sometimes put on the gloves with the Colonel 
 in the White House. One day, feeling in fighting trim, 
 Fortescue asked the Colonel to box with him. Finally the 
 latter agreed to go four rounds. According to Joseph 
 Grant, detective sergeant of the Washington police de- 
 
 306 
 
THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 partment, detailed to the AVliite House to "guard" the 
 President, it was the fastest bout he ever saw. 
 
 **The Colonel began to knock Lieutenant Fortescue 
 right and left in the second round," said the detective. 
 ''His right and left got to the army officer's jaw time 
 after time, and the bout was stopped in the third round 
 to prevent the army man from getting knocked out. Then 
 the Colonel turned to me and said : 'I think I can do the 
 same to you. Put on the gloves!' 
 
 "I drew them on reluctantly, and I put up the fight 
 of my life. The best I could do was to prevent a decision 
 and get a draw." 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt numbered among his treasures a pen- 
 holder Bob Fitzsimmons made for him out of a horseshoe, 
 and a gold-mounted rabbit's foot which John L, Sulhvan 
 gave to him for a talisman when he went on his African 
 trip. 
 
 He championed the cause of prizefighters on many 
 occasions, though never hesitating to denounce the crook- 
 edness that has attended the commercializing of the ring. 
 He held that powerful, \'igorous men of strong animal 
 development must have some way in which their spirits 
 can find vent. His acts while Police Commissioner of 
 New York show clearly how he distinguished between 
 the art of boxing itself and the men who try to make 
 money out of it. On one hand, he promoted the estab- 
 lishment of boxing clubs in bad neighborhoods in order 
 to draw the attention of street gangs from knifing and 
 gun-fighting. On the other hand, finding that the prize 
 ring had become hopelessly debased and was run for the 
 benefit of hangers-on who permitted brutality, in order 
 to make money out of it, he aided, as Governor, in the 
 passage of a bill putting a stop to professional boxing f jr 
 money. 
 
 307 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 It was a sporting rule of the Colonel's not only to give 
 as good a blow as he could, but also to take without 
 squirming the hardest blow his opponent could deliver. 
 The wrestler who hesitated to stand him on his head 
 because he was Governor of New York exasperated him, 
 nor would he have permitted a man to spar with him who 
 held back his blows. 
 
 In recent years boxing and wrestling have been recog- 
 nized and practiced by our army officers as valuable 
 adjuncts to military training. Uncle Sam encouraged the 
 science of fisticuffs on shipboard and in the training 
 camps, under a committee headed by the famous ex- 
 champion, James J. Corbett, because the positions and 
 motions used in boxing are almost the same as those used 
 in bayonet practice. The development of gameness in 
 the recruit is another important benefit derived from the 
 sport. 
 
 If Theodore Roosevelt had realized his desire to serve 
 with the colors during the world war, he would undoubt- 
 edly have been an enthusiastic spectator at such of the 
 army's ring battles as were within reach of him. Indeed, 
 say the authors of ''The Fighting Roosevelts," had he 
 been still occupant of the White House it would not have 
 been surprising to have heard of his inviting cliampions 
 from the various cantonments to test their skill under the 
 White House roof. Mr. Roosevelt was first drawn to two 
 naval chaplains, Fathers Chidwick and Rainey, through 
 his discovery that each of them had bought sets of boxing 
 gloves and encouraged tlieir crews in boxing. He was 
 also intensely interested in jiu-jitsu, the ''muscleless art.'* 
 After taking a course of twenty lessons from his Japan- 
 ese instructor, his enthusiasm over it led him to introduce 
 jiu-jitsu instruction at Annapolis and West Point. 
 
 308 
 
THE SQUAKE SPORTSMAN 
 
 Fondness for Fisticuffs 
 
 A characteristic anecdote of Colonel Eoosevelt's 
 fondness for fisticuffs was related after Ms death by Mr. 
 Eobert J. Mooney, formerly associate publisher of the 
 Chicago Inter Ocean. The scene was the President's 
 office in the White House during the presidential cam- 
 paign of 1904. Mr. Mooney said : 
 
 ''I was in Washington August 18, 1904, being then on 
 the editorial staff of the New York Tribune. A boyhood 
 chum of mine — I do not care to mention his name, as he 
 is still in the Government service — met me and asked if 
 I knew the President and could get him an interview. 
 
 ''I repUed 1 knew William Loeb, the President's sec- 
 retary, and would do my best. I called up Mr. Loeb, who 
 told me to bring my friend to the White House. We 
 went. There was a line of more than 100 people waiting. 
 I sent my card in to Mr. Loeb, who came out in a few 
 minutes and beckoned us to come in. 
 
 *'In his private office the President hurried to greet us 
 and said to my friend — who was amateur boxing and 
 wrestling champion of the District of Columbia : 
 
 *' 'You are the finest looking man in boxing togs I 
 ever saw. Now tell me — how did you knock out Blank 
 that night I saw you at the clubT 
 
 << <Why, Mr. President, it was a punch like this,* he 
 replied. He illustrated it in the air. 
 
 *' 'Show it to me! Show it to me! Hit me on the 
 chin as you hit him. ' 
 
 "My friend did it, but softly. 
 
 " 'No, no ; that won't do. Hit me hard. Hit me the 
 way you hit him. * 
 
 My friend did it. He gave the President an awful 
 punch in the jaw. 
 
 309 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 " * That's it, that's it. I've got it now,' exclaimed the 
 President delightedly. ' Now let me try it on you. ' 
 
 * * He did. He hit my friend and sent him reeling. 
 
 '* 'I've sure got it,' the Colonel said. 'I'm going to 
 try it tomorrow on Lodge and Garfield. Won't they 
 squirm?' And the President laughed like a boy. 
 
 ''I said to him: 'Mr. President, you've got the 
 strongest back I ever saw. ' 
 
 " 'Yes, it is quite strong,' he replied, immensely 
 pleased. 
 
 ' ' Then I told him our errand. 
 
 " 'Yes, I know all about you,' he said to my friend. 
 'No man in the service is more entitled to promotion than 
 you. You shall have it tomorrow. ' 
 
 "We had been there an heur, talking and scuffling. I 
 was scared for fear some secret service man might see us 
 from the T\indow. 
 
 "I learned afterward that among the waiting crowd 
 were W. C. Beer, a member of the firm of J. P. Morgan 
 & Co. ; General Boynton, one of the managers of the Asso- 
 ciated Press, and several politicians of national fame, 
 who wished to see the President about his campaign. ' ' 
 
 Roosevelt as a Hunter 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt's fame as a hunter of big game is 
 well founded. It was characteristic of him that he always 
 obeyed his guides, and did his full part in every expedi- 
 tion. By the unanimous assertion of every man who ever 
 went on a hunting trip that involved camp life for a con- 
 siderable length of time, there is nothing like participa- 
 tion in such an expedition for bringing out and making 
 clear the fundamental realities of character. It reveals 
 both virtues and vices, strengths and weaknesses, and 
 
 310 
 
THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 emphasizes them all. Not only are many of the restric- 
 tions and inhibitions created an-d enforced in ordinary 
 community intercourse suddenly removed or weakened, 
 but new demands are made for the endurance of incon- 
 veniences and the performance of hard and distasteful 
 work. 
 
 For these reasons it is important to know what the 
 celebrated hunter of big game in Africa, R. J. Cuning- 
 hame, says about Colonel Roosevelt as a companion on a 
 hunting trip that was as long, as hard, and dangerous as 
 a hunting trip could well be. 
 
 Mr. Cuninghame is a man not at all likely to give 
 undeserved praise, and when he declares that the Colonel, 
 on his famous African trip, met with extraordinary suc- 
 cess all the requirements of an ideal associate in the 
 mlds, he speaks with high authority and his verdict is 
 decisive. It is to be noted, too, that among the virtues 
 ascribed to the man so often accused of rash impulsive- 
 ness, of indocility to discipline, and disregard for the 
 judgment of others, was that of scrupulous, cheerful, 
 prompt obedience to the orders given and regulations 
 laid down by the leader of the expedition. He submitted 
 even when he did not understand, and though he some- 
 times questioned, it was after, not before, he obeyed. 
 Hardships did not discourage him, troubles did not make 
 him lose his temper, and dangers attracted him instead 
 of dismaying him. This was the spirit of the true sports- 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Cuninghame makes it quite clear that there sur- 
 vived in the Colonel most strongly, the joy in the chase 
 and its triumphant ending that in the innumerable gener- 
 ations of the past was the hunter's reward for the labor 
 on which, more than on any other, depended the welfare 
 of the tribe. 
 
 311 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt danced and shouted with glee after 
 shooting his first "tusker." But he was not a game 
 butcher, and, though his killing usually lacked as excuse 
 the primordial need for food, it was as far as possible 
 from being an indiscriminate and brutal slaughter. 
 
 The Lover of Nature 
 
 John Burroughs, the great naturalist, declared that he 
 did not know a man with a keener and more comprehen- 
 sive interest in Nature and wild life, an interest both 
 scientific and human. Speaking of President Roosevelt's 
 trip to the Yellowstone Park in April, 1903, Burroughs 
 said he was struck with the extent of his natural history- 
 knowledge and his trained powers of observation. On 
 that occasion the naturalist was able to help the President 
 identify only one bird. All the others the President rec- 
 ognized as quickly as Burroughs himself. 
 
 It was while the President's party was in the Yellow- 
 stone that he remarked : 
 
 **I heard a Bullock's oriole a little while ago." 
 
 *'You may have heard one," w^as the polite objection 
 of a man familiar with the country, ''but I doubt it. 
 Those birds won't come for two weeks yet." 
 
 **I caught two bird notes which could not be those of 
 any bird except an oriole," the President insisted. 
 
 "You may have the song twisted," observed a friend. 
 
 As the members of the party were seated at supper in 
 the cabin that evening Mr. Roosevelt suddenly laid down 
 his knife and fork, exclaiming, "Look! Look!" 
 
 On a shrub before the window was a Bullock's oriole. 
 Nothing that happened on the whole trip seemed to please 
 the President so much as that verification of his bird 
 knowledge. 
 
 i{12 
 
THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 After a visit to the President at Sagamore Hill in 
 1907, John Burroughs wrote that the one passion of 
 Roosevelt's life seemed to be natural history, for a new 
 warbler that had appeared in the woods "seemed an 
 event that threw the affairs of state and the Presidential 
 succession into the background." He told a political vis- 
 itor at that time that it would be impossible for him to 
 discuss politics then, as he wanted to talk and hunt birds, 
 and for that purpose he took his visitors with him. 
 
 'TPancy," suggests Burroughs, "a President of the 
 United States stalking rapidly across bushy fields to the 
 woods, eager as a boy and filled with the one idea of 
 showing to his visitors the black-throated green war- 
 bler!" 
 
 On this walk the party passed a large and wide- 
 spreading oak. The naturalist pointed to it and observed 
 that it was a remarkable example of the noble tree. 
 
 ^* Yes, and you see by the branching of that oak," said 
 the President, ''that when it grew up this wood was an 
 open field, and maybe under the plough; it is only in 
 fields that oaks take that form." 
 
 "That is true," agreed the naturalist, "but for the 
 minute when I first observed the tree my mind didn't take 
 in that fact." 
 
 Knew Animals and Birds 
 
 "Do you see anything wrong with the head of that 
 pronghorn?" asked Eoosevelt as he handed Burroughs a 
 copy of his "Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail." 
 
 It was a picture of a hunter bringing in an animal on 
 the saddle behind him. Burroughs saw nothing wrong 
 with the picture. The President took the naturalist into 
 one of his rooms, where the mounted head of a pronghorn 
 hung over the mantel, and pointed out that the eye was 
 
 313 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 '* close under the root of the horn," whereas the artist, 
 Remington, had placed the eye in the picture two inches 
 too low. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's interest in birds and natural history 
 of course dated from his boyhood. Early in his teens he 
 published a list of the birds in Franklin County, New 
 York. He kept a bird journal at the age of 14, when he 
 was in Egypt, and on that tour with his father up the 
 Nile to Luxor his success as a naturalist w^as foreshad- 
 OM^ed, for he made a collection of Eg}'ptian birds found 
 in the Nile Valley which is now in the Smithsonian Mu- 
 seum in Washington, D. C. 
 
 "V\Tien he went to Harvard, it was his ambition to be 
 a naturalist, but there he became convinced, it is said, that 
 all the out-of-door worlds of natural history had been 
 conquered and that the only worlds remaining were to 
 be conquered through the laboratory, the microscope, and 
 the scalpel. 
 
 A Really Great Naturalist 
 
 In his natural history studies, as in all his other un- 
 dertakings, Colonel Roosevelt was most painstaking and 
 accurate and on more than one occasion he emerged tri- 
 umphant from a dispute with professional naturalists 
 over some rare specimen. 
 
 Scientists generally acknowledged the Colonel an au- 
 thority in this field. Carl Akeley, head of the elephant- 
 hunting expedition in Africa for the American Museum 
 of Natural History, and now connected with the Elephant 
 Hall of the museum, paid tribute after the Colonel's death 
 to this phase of his accomplishments. Mr. Akeley, while 
 hunting elephants in the African ^\dlds, encountered the 
 Roosevelt expedition there and hunted with the party for 
 some days. 
 
 314 
 
THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 '* Colonel Roosevelt was an amateur naturalist, and 
 yet he was a naturalist of splendid training," said Mr. 
 Akeley. ''He had the keen eye and mind of the ideal 
 naturalist and he was further aided by a phenomenal 
 memory such as few men profess. He found infinite joy 
 in studying wild animal life in its native haunts, and the 
 least of his pleasure in Mlhng it. His greatest pleasures 
 lay in seeing and learning, thereby proving him an ideal 
 naturalist. 
 
 *'Many of his statements on the subject of his explo- 
 rations and discoveries were twisted and ridiculed by 
 hostile and ignorant critics. His enemies made great 
 fun of the River of Doubt, the uncharted stream he traced 
 to its source in the South American wilds. But the facts 
 remain that he rendered a great service to the science of 
 geography by locating it exactly, and that the Brazilian 
 Government named it after him, 'Rio Teodoro.' 
 
 "Incidentally, I believe that his exposure and trials 
 on that Brazilian trip led to his death." 
 
 As a nature-lover at all times the President seems to 
 have stood the test of being able to see little things as 
 well as big things, and of seeing without effort and pre- 
 meditation. Yet a degree of patience was required for 
 the accumulation of his knowledge in these fields. The 
 warblers, both in color and song, are bewildering to the 
 experienced ornithologist. Nevertheless, John Bur- 
 roughs says, the President had mastered every one of 
 them. 
 
 He wrote Burroughs one day that he had just come 
 in from walking with Mrs. Roosevelt about the White 
 House grounds looking up the arriving warblers. 
 
 "Most of the warblers," he said, "were up in the tops 
 of the trees, and I could not get a glimpse of them, but 
 
 315 
 
LIFE OF THEODOEE ROOSEVELT 
 
 there was one with chestnut cheeks, with bright yellow 
 behind the cheeks, and a yellow breast thickly streaked 
 with black, which has puzzled me. I saw the black bur- 
 rian, the summer yellow bird, and the black-throated 
 green. ' ' 
 
 But he did not let his yellow-breasted visitor go away 
 without learning his name. A few days later he wrote ; 
 **I have identified the warbler. It is the Cape May." 
 
 His Love of Song Birds 
 
 The ordinary hunter or ranchman would hardly inter- 
 rupt his story of cattle and game to write such a passage 
 as this about song birds, as Mr. Roosevelt did in one of 
 his hunting books : 
 
 ''The meadow-lark is a singer of a higher order (than 
 the plain skj^lark), deserving to rank with the best. Its 
 song has length, variety, power, and rich melody; and 
 there is in it sometimes a cadence of wild sadness inex- 
 pressibly touching. Yet I cannot say that either song 
 would appeal to others as it appeals to me, for to me it 
 comes forever laden with a hundred memories and asso- 
 ciations; with the sight of dim hills reddening in the 
 dawn, with the breath of the cold morning winds blowing 
 across lonely plains, with the scent of flowers on the sun- 
 light prairie, with the motion of fiery horses, with all the 
 strong thrill of eager and buoyant life. I doubt if any 
 man can judge dispassionately of the bird songs of his 
 own country ; he cannot disassociate them from the sights 
 and sounds of the land that is so dear to him.'* 
 
 Tale of a Shrew- 
 Mr. Roosevelt's eyes were continually alert for the 
 unusual when on hunting excursions. Once while in the 
 Selkirks after caribou, with a hunter and an Indian guide, 
 
 316 
 
THE SQUARE SPORTSMAN 
 
 he amused himself while resting after lunch by getting 
 a specimen of rare animal life for a friend. He says : 
 
 ''I was sitting on a great stone by the edge of the 
 brook, idly gazing at a water-wren which had come up 
 from a short flight — I can call it nothing else — under- 
 neath the water, and was singing sweetly from a spray- 
 splashed log. Suddenly a small animal swam across the 
 little pool at my feet. It was less in size than a mouse, 
 and as it paddled rapidly underneath the water its body 
 seemed flattened like a disk and was spangled with 
 tiny bubbles like specks of silver. It was a water-shrew, 
 a rare little beast. I sat motionless and watched both the 
 shrew and the water-wren — water-ousel, as it should 
 rightly be named. The latter, emboldened by my quiet, 
 presently flew by me to a little rapids close at hand, light- 
 ing on a round stone and then slipping unconcernedly 
 into the swift water. Anon he emerged, stood on another 
 stone, and trilled a few bars, though it was late in the 
 season for singing, and then dived into the stream again. 
 * * * In a minute or two the shrew caught my eye 
 again. It got into a little shallow eddy and caught a 
 minute fish, which it carried to a half-sunken stone and 
 greedily devoured, tugging voraciously at it as it held it 
 down with its paws. Then its evil genius drove it into a 
 small puddle alongside the brook, where I instantly 
 pounced on it and slew it, for I knew a friend in the 
 Smithsonian at Washington who would have coveted it 
 greatly." 
 
 317 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 A MAN! 
 
 About his brow the laurel and the bay 
 
 Was often wreathed, — on this our memory dwells, — 
 Upon whose bier in reverence today 
 
 We lay these immortelles. 
 
 His was a vital, virile, warrior soul ; 
 
 If force were needed, he exalted force ; 
 Unswerving as the pole star to the pole, 
 
 He held his righteous course. 
 
 He smote at Wrong, if he believed it Wrong, 
 As did the Knight, with stainless accolade; 
 
 He stood for Right, unfalteringly strong, 
 Forever unafraid. 
 
 With somewhat of the savant and the sage, 
 He was, when all is said and sung, a man, 
 
 The flower imperishable of this valiant age, — 
 A true American ! 
 
 Clinton Scollard, in N. Y. Sun. 
 
 318 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 ROOSEVELT THE AUTHOR 
 
 Literature His Profession — A Prolific Writer of History, 
 Politics, Biography, Travel and Essays — Regular 
 Contributor to the Magazines — His Versatility and 
 Remarkable Output — A Master of Concise and Vigor- 
 ous English — List of His Works. 
 
 In private life the vocation of Theodore Roosevelt 
 was authorship. Literature was his profession from 
 parly days, and he practised it wdth the greatest success. 
 He had many avocations, and entered with zeal into them 
 all, but he w^as at all times essentially a writing man; and 
 he has left his imprint indelibly on American literature. 
 
 Very early Mr. Roosevelt decided to use his pen. 
 Though his fortune was enough to make it unnecessary 
 to work merely for a living, he did tell friends when his 
 family began to increase that he would have to write for 
 money if he was to give his children the education he 
 desired for them. 
 
 Almost from the time when he left college, and even 
 during his Presidential term, essays, histories, biogra- 
 phies, and books of a narrative or descriptive character 
 came from his facile pen with the regularity of the sea- 
 sons, while numerous contributions to the magazines and 
 reviews further attested to his literary activity. Within 
 two years of his graduation from Harvard he published 
 his first book, on the naval operations of the war between 
 Great Britain and the United States, 1812-1815, which 
 became at once, and still remains, the recognized author- 
 
 319 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ity for this period. His subsequent writings brought the 
 American spirit before the world in its true light, for his 
 pen was ever patriotic. 
 
 When in 1884 he turned his back upon politics, shook 
 the dust of New York from his feet, and buried himself 
 in the North Dakota wilderness, he spent his evenings in 
 his ranchhouse writing books. His "Hunting Trips of 
 a Ranchman" and his "Life of Thomas Hart Benton" 
 were both written in North Dakota. 
 
 "Systemized His Mind" 
 
 During his first twenty years of worldly adventure his 
 mind had become filled with a vast store of ideas — some 
 of his very own and some not his own. At the age of 40 
 he began to reduce them to order — to edit them, as it 
 were, for publication, casting out the dubious and out- 
 worn and reducing the rest to a connected system. The 
 result was his famous address on "The Strenuous Life," 
 delivered before the Hamilton Club in Chicago, April 10, 
 1899 (see Chapter IX). 
 
 The principles of this philosophy of strenuosity may 
 be reduced for brevity's sake, to four cardinal proposi- 
 tions, which have been stated as follows : 
 
 1. The goal of the human race is the complete mas- 
 tery of the natural forces which work toward its destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 2. The only way a man can earn the right to life is 
 by taking part in that battle to the limit of his skill and 
 strength. 
 
 3. The only way a woman can earn the right to life- 
 is by furnishing warriors for the fray. 
 
 4. The man who shirks that fray and seeks to live 
 by preying upon the warriors or who opposes them in 
 
 320 
 
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At Pocatello, Idaho. "What American stands for more than 
 
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 worth as a man." 
 
ROOSEVELT THE AUTHOR 
 
 the field or seeks to turn them aside from the main bat- 
 tle by setting them at one another, is an enemy to the 
 human race. 
 
 In 1897 Mr. Eoosevelt said: "Literature is my pro- 
 fession. Any usefulness that I may have depends, in my 
 view, upon my willingness to quit politics at any time." 
 
 His style was direct. He had not at all cultivated the 
 flowers of rhetoric. He never appeared in his work to 
 have written only for his own amusement. 
 
 And Roosevelt the author did for the sports of the 
 \^ilds what John Burroughs has done for the life of the 
 fields and woodlands — made them into intimate pictures 
 of American life. 
 
 Roosevelt on Reading 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt was a voracious reader. Where and 
 how he found the time to keep up his reading, no one pre- 
 tends to know. Almost every time he met an author, 
 either well-known or obscure, he proved in two minutes ' 
 conversation that he was familiar with the latter 's lit- 
 erary output. This pleased the author, of course, who 
 was ''delighted" to send him copies of everything he had 
 written. Being ''one of them literary fellers" himself, 
 every author who had come within range of Roosevelt 
 insisted upon an introduction and attempted to bind the 
 friendship by forwarding a copy of everything he had 
 ever written. 
 
 "A book must be interesting to the particular reader 
 at that particular time," said the Colonel in his autobi- 
 ography, "but there are tens of thousands of interesting 
 books and some of them are sealed to some men and some 
 to others ; and some stir the soul at some given point of 
 a man's life and yet convey no message at other times. 
 
 321 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 The reader, the book lover, must meet his own needs with- 
 out paying too much attention to what his neighbors say 
 those needs should be. He must not hypocritically pre- 
 tend to like what he does not like. Yet at the same time 
 he must avoid that most unpleasant of all the indications 
 of puffed-up vanity which consists in treating mere indi- 
 vidual, and perhaps unfortunate, idiosyncrasy as a mat- 
 ter of pride. I happen to be devoted to 'Macbeth,' 
 whereas I very seldom read 'Hamlet' (though I like parts 
 of it). Now I am humbly and sincerely conscious that 
 this is a demerit in me and not in 'Hamlet'; and yet it 
 would not do me any good to pretend that I like * Hamlet' 
 as much as 'Macbeth' when, as a matter of fact, I don't. 
 . . . I enjoy the ballad and I don't enjoy the drama; 
 and therefore the ballad is better for me, and this fact is 
 not altered by the other fact that my o^m shortcomings 
 are to blame in the matter. ' ' 
 
 Diversity of Reading 
 
 When he was President he economized his time so 
 that he could get some reading. Lawrence Alibott, presi- 
 dent of The Outlook, once called on him at the White 
 House. The President laid down the volume he was 
 reading, face down, so he could pick it up without loss of 
 time. 
 
 "What is it, Mr. President?" Mr. Abbott asked. 
 
 ' ' Ferrero 's ' Rome. ' Of course, you have read it ? " 
 
 "No, I don't know about it." 
 
 'Well, you ought to. I got it because of a favorable 
 review I saw in The Outlook." 
 
 Wlien the Colonel was campaigning in 1912 a corre- 
 spondent for the Kansas City Star was on his train in 
 Kansas. Between speeches, he says, the Colonel was 
 
 322 
 
ROOSEVELT THE AUTHOR 
 
 busy with a bulky volume. It was Sutherland's ''The 
 Origin and Growth of the Moral Instinct. ' ' 
 
 His Work as a Critic 
 
 The words of Lord Morley were often applied to Mr. 
 Roosevelt when he entered an active pohtical life: "A 
 man of letters temporarily called to other duties." 
 
 Allan F. Westcott speaks of him as follows : "Among 
 his ventures in literature, his work as a critic is of course 
 subordinate to his historical writings and his chronicles 
 of the chase. Even the term 'critic of literature' is no 
 doubt larger than his writings of the type would war- 
 rant, for review-writing does not always lift itself into 
 criticism, and the material Mr. Roosevelt has considered 
 has not always been literature in the stricter sense. 
 Gathered together, however, Ms critical papers, signed 
 and unsigned, which have appeared in the magazines 
 during the last twenty years, are more numerous than 
 one might suppose, and, in the light of their authorship, 
 of more than ephemeral value." 
 
 Wrote on Many Subjects 
 A list of his works shows his versatile mind and wide 
 range of literary interests, for an examination of the 
 appended hst, ^rith descriptions, shows that history, poli- 
 tics, biography, sociology, economics, and criticism have 
 occupied his attention and time. And, in spite of the 
 Hberahty of this showing there are plentiful evidences 
 that he worked carefully and conscientiously. There are 
 few marks of haste or unpreparedness in his writings, 
 while all that has come to us from his pen is stamped by 
 the personahty of the man — his aggressiveness, positive- 
 ness, honesty, determination and "gO." 
 
 323 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 His Published Works 
 
 The published works of Theodore Roosevelt were, in 
 the order of their appearance, as follows : 
 
 "The Naval War of 1812" (1882). 
 
 "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman" (1885). 
 
 "Life of Thomas Hart Benton" (1887). 
 
 "Life of Gouverneur Morris" (1887). 
 
 "Ranch Life and Hunting Trails" (1888). 
 
 ♦ ' Essays on Practical Politics " ( 1888 ) . 
 
 "New York" in "Historic Towns" (1890). 
 
 "American Big Game Hunting" (1893). 
 
 "The Wilderness Hunter" (1893). 
 
 "Hero Tales from American History" with Henry Cabot 
 Lodge, (1895). 
 
 "Winning of the West," four volumes (1889-1896), the most 
 important of his works. 
 
 "American Ideals and Other Essays (1897), a collection of 
 magazine articles. 
 
 "Trail and Campfire" (1897). 
 
 "Big Game Hunting in the Rockies and on the Great Plains" 
 (1899). 
 
 "The Rough Riders" (1899). 
 
 "Life of Oliver Cromwell" (1899). 
 
 "The Strenuous Life" (1900), a collection of essays and 
 addresses. 
 
 "Good Hunting of Big Game in the West" (1907). 
 
 "Addresses and Presidential Messages, 1902-190-4" (1904). 
 
 "Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter" (1906), besides 
 portions of works like Volume VI in " History of the Royal Navy 
 of England," and the "Deer and Antelope of North America" 
 (1902), in "The Deer Family." 
 
 "African Game Trails" (1910). 
 
 "The Now Nationalism" (1910). 
 
 "Realizable Ideals" (the Earl Lectures), (1912). 
 
 "Conservation of Womanhood and Childhood" (1912). 
 
 "History as Literature, and Other Essays" (1913). 
 
 "Theodore Roosevelt: an Autobiography" (1913). 
 
 "Life History of African Game Animals," two volumes 
 (1914). 
 
 "Through the Brazilian Wilderness" (1914). 
 
 "America and the World War" (1915). 
 
 324 
 
ROOSEVELT THE AUTHOR 
 
 "A Booklover's Holidays in the Open" (1916). 
 
 "Fear God and Take Your Own Part" (1916). 
 
 "Foes of Our Own Household" (1917). 
 
 "National Strength and International Duty," Stafford Little 
 Lectures, Princeton University (1917). 
 
 "The Great Adventure," his last book, published just before 
 Christmas, 1918, by Scribner's. 
 
 Among his many popular magazine articles and addresses 
 are: "American Ideals," "True Americanism," "The Many 
 Virtues and Practical Politics," "The College Graduate and 
 Public Life," "Phases of State Legislation," "How Not to Help 
 Our Poorer Brother," "The Monroe Doctrine," "Washington's 
 Forgotten Maxim," "National Life and Character," "Social 
 Evolution," "The Law of Civilization and Decay," "Expansion 
 and Peace," "Latitude and Longitude of Reform," "Fellow 
 Feeling a Political Factor," "Civic Helpfulness," "Character 
 and Success." 
 
 "Winning of the West" 
 
 The first two volumes of "Winning of the West," Mr. 
 Roosevelt's historical work of the greatest dignity and 
 value, appeared in 1889. The third volume was pub- 
 lished in 1894. Thus it appeared that for many years 
 before he became active in national affairs he had been 
 a student of the development and expansion of the United 
 States. The fourth volume of this history was published 
 in 1896, and in 1898 he planned to complete a fifth vol- 
 ume if he had not been elected Governor of New York. 
 
 The historical subjects he dealt with were American, 
 each in some peculiar way, treating either of the absorp- 
 tion of territory into the national domain or, as in the 
 "History of New York City," describing the making of 
 a metropolis out of many and diversified peoples seeking 
 freedom of opportunity within the gates of the "prom- 
 ised land." 
 
 He published a volume of essays in 1897, ten years 
 after his first, calling it "American Ideals; and Other 
 
 325 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSE^^LT 
 
 Essays, Social and Political." The book dealt with the 
 problems of that hour and sounded the keynote of his 
 moral preaching. He told the story of the raising of the 
 Rough Riders and of their part in Cuba in 1899. The 
 ''Life of Oliver Cromwell" followed, and the world could 
 read of one man of action through the eyes of another 
 man of action. Then came the ''Strenuous Life," "The 
 Deer Family," "Outdoor Pastimes of an American 
 Hunter" and other volumes, followed by "African Game 
 Trails," many scenes of which were written in camp 
 just after the hunting excursions described. 
 
 High Praise from Authority 
 
 This volume, which has since become well known, was 
 described by a writer for the National Geographic Society 
 as an "unusual contribution to science, geography, litera- 
 ture and adventure. Naturahsts will prize the accurate 
 descriptions of the huge beasts by a hunter naturaUst. 
 He is the first naturalist of much experience with Ameri- 
 can big game to study all the large species of Africa, so 
 that his comparisons and observations form a particu- 
 larly valuable contribution to knov.dedge. " 
 
 There was in general in all that Mr. Roosevelt wrote 
 a certain metallic conciseness of style and effect. This 
 was particularly noticeable in his long messages to Con- 
 gress. But the ' ' effect of plain statements often repeated 
 and enlivened by striking phrases here and there which 
 came about by accident or design was never absent in his 
 many messages and speeches." 
 
 It was in describing experiences out-of-doors or in 
 referring to mid animal or bird life that he gave his best 
 e\Tdences of a keenly emotional nature. Yet during hi": 
 Icaddrship of the Progressives in 1912 his public speak- 
 
 326 
 
ROOSEVELT THE AUTHOR 
 
 ing' took on an emotional character of such a nature that 
 some of his speeches will hardly be found to be surpassed 
 for sheer eloquence in the history of American oratory. 
 The peroration of his Carnegie Hall address, for 
 instance, stands unique, surcharged by all the circum- 
 stances attending it and through its literary form with 
 emotion electric in its nature and effect. 
 
 Great Gift of Phrase-Making 
 
 His gift of phrase making was an essential part in his 
 picturesque Americanism. His phrases frequently be- 
 came a common part of the common speech, and few of 
 those accepted have as yet become obsolete. Without 
 effort apparently he made famous *'the strenuous life," 
 the ^'larger good," ''the square deal," ''the predatory 
 rich," "mollycoddles and weaklings," "undesirable citi- 
 zens," "beaten to a frazzle," "ci\dc righteousness," 
 "deliberate and infamous mendacity," "the big stick" 
 nnd "the hat in the ring." 
 
 "His many-sidedness was literally indescribable. It 
 defied observ^ation and the power of anecdote. There 
 can be little question of the rank to which history will 
 assign him. That he was a tremendous force neither his 
 personal nor his political friends or enemies ever denied. 
 
 "B}^ Americans he was considered to be essentially 
 xA^merican whether in his relations mth men, in his con- 
 tact ■\Wth all sides of life, in his f orcefulness, in his readi- 
 ness to meet emergencies, in his commonplaces and epi- 
 i^rams, in his criticism of his times, whether artistic or 
 literary. His literary observations always revealed him 
 as an American first and foremost." 
 
 327 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 A Favorite Poem 
 
 This poem by Hamlin Garland was one of Colonel 
 Roosevelt 's favorites : 
 
 wild woods and rivers and untrod sweeps of sod, 
 
 1 exult that I know you, 
 
 I have felt j^ou and worshipped you. 
 
 I cannot be robbed of the memory 
 
 Of horse and plain, 
 
 Of bird and flower. 
 
 Nor the song of the illimitable West Wind. 
 
 328 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 Interesting Little Stories that Will Long Survive the 
 Beloved Colonel, Illustrating His Fearlessness, 
 Energy, Versatility, Patriotism and Other Outstand- 
 ing Traits of His Many-Sided Character. 
 
 The life of Theodore Roosevelt was a succession of 
 dynamic events, and he put action into everything with 
 which he came into contact. As President he fought red 
 tape continually, was always impatient mth the slow 
 functioning of Congress, and spoke his mind freely. 
 There were besides so many novel events in his career 
 that good stories about him are told in abundance. Many 
 of these anecdotes are reproduced in this chapter, includ- 
 ing a large number that illustrate his amazing energy 
 and versatility. 
 
 On every occasion the elemental human feelings of 
 Colonel Roosevelt were apparent. When America got 
 into the war he applied, not for command of the first 
 expeditionary force, but for command of a brigade in 
 that force — the lowest rank open to a man of his age. 
 President Wilson refused his request. A Western news- 
 paper man saw him in New York the next day. But he 
 hardly mentioned the incident, although it was naturally 
 a bitter disappointment to him. 
 
 S29 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 The thing that was engrossing his thoughts was the 
 word that his two oldest sons, who had obtained commis- 
 sions at the Plattsburg training camp, had thrown up 
 their commissions to enlist in the expeditionary force 
 under Pershing. 
 
 *'I wouldn't have it otherwise for the world," he 
 said. ''And yet I can't bring myself to think of it. I 
 have lived my life. My work is probably done. It 
 wouldn't make the slightest difference if I were killed. 
 But it's different \\'ith boys with their lives before them. 
 Of course I know in reason that if all my boys go over 
 early in the war, they won't all come back. We can't talk 
 about it yet at home. ' ' 
 
 A few wrecks later he remarked to a friend that for 
 the first time in his life he couldn't sleep. He had always 
 been able to throw off any worries while he was Presi- 
 dent. ''But now," he said, "I wake up in the middle of 
 the night wondering if the boys are all right, and think- 
 ing how I could tell their mother if anything happened." 
 
 Then came Quentin's death in France. A friend saw 
 the Colonel at the Harvard Club a few minutes after the 
 news had come. 
 
 "I know what you want to say," the Colonel said, "I 
 know what is in your heart. But we mustn't think about 
 that. The only thing to think of now is how to win the 
 war." 
 
 The Roosevelt impulse to "speak right out in meet- 
 ing" was indelibly impressed on the minds of a number 
 of Denver citizens a few years ago. The innocent cause 
 of the frank outburst was Judge Ben Lindsey of juvenile 
 court fame, who was a friend of Colonel Roosevelt for 
 years. 
 
 330 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 The incident was staged at one of the side entrances 
 of the Denver Auditorium, where Colonel Roosevelt was 
 scheduled to deliver an address. The time was in early 
 September, 1910. The late Mayor Speed headed the com- 
 mittee w^hich had charge of the day's ceremonies. Inas- 
 much as Judge Lindsey and the ''powers" controlling 
 Denver at that time were very much at outs, Judge Lind- 
 sey was not invited to serve on the committee. 
 
 Desiring to at least say "How-do" to his distin- 
 guished friend, the judge stationed himself at the side 
 entrance which the Colonel would use to reach the speak- 
 er's stand. As Colonel Roosevelt stepped from the motor 
 car preparatory to entering the building he saw Judge 
 Lindsey. "Hello, there, Ben; where have you been keep- 
 ing yourself? Come on in!" was the Roosevelt greeting. 
 
 "I have not been imdted," replied Judge Lindsey, 
 shaking hands. At once fire showed in the Colonel's eyes 
 and, turning to the committee, he said: 
 
 "Gentlemen, haven't you made arrangements for 
 Judge Lindsey to sit on the stage with us?" 
 
 ' ' One of the party spoke up : " No, Mr. Roosevelt, we 
 did not make any arrangements for the judge to be with 
 us." 
 
 * ' Well, ' ' snapped the Colonel, "he is going to be one 
 of the party just the same — come along, Ben ! ' ' 
 
 Grabbing the astounded judge by the arm, Colonel 
 Roosevelt piloted him to the stage and placed Mm in a 
 front seat close to the speaker's stand. 
 
 The committee gasped a few times, but had not a 
 word to say. 
 
 The general public saw Colonel Roosevelt chiefly as 
 a first-class fighting man, stern, energetic, dealing and 
 taking heavy Blorws. To his frienids, indutling journal- 
 
 S31 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ists in all parts of the country, he was altogether a dif- 
 ferent personality — '* buoyant, exuberant, witty, full of 
 boyish enthusiasm to the very end, and human to the last 
 degree." 
 
 A visitor from the Kansas City Star, for which the 
 Colonel wrote a daily editorial, saw him at the Roosevelt 
 Hospital in New York a fortnight before his death. He 
 had been laid up for several weeks with rheumatism and 
 was sitting in his dressing gown beside the bed. He lis- 
 tened with the greatest interest to the gossip that the 
 \dsitor brought from Washington and commented on it 
 with keen insight. 
 
 The subject of international relations came up, and 
 he discussed other nations and leading foreign statesmen 
 with the quaint humor that was characteristic of him. 
 
 '*In dealing with the Japanese," he said, ''we ought 
 to do absolutely the reverse of what Hearst is doing. He 
 is constantly denouncing and attacking them. We ought 
 to treat the Japanese with the utmost politeness and con- 
 sideration. When they join with us in patrolling the 
 Mediterranean or in a Red Cross drive, we ought to give 
 them the most generous recognition. And then we ought 
 to send the fleet around once in a while so they can look 
 at it." 
 
 Then he added this general principle of diplomacy. 
 ''In dealing with other nations we ought always to get on 
 beautifully unless we are prepared to protest about some- 
 thing and go to the mat over it. We should never take 
 the middle course in wrangling over matters that wo 
 don't intend to see through. That simply produces irri- 
 tation and gets nowhere." 
 
 Of course this was simply another way of putting his 
 famous maxim: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." 
 
 332 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 A leading Republican Senator had asked the Kansas 
 City man to deliver a message to the Colonel. 
 
 * ' Tell him for me, ' ' the Senator had said, ' ' that I think 
 he is getting in bad with the people by talking so favor- 
 ably about England. His saying that we ought to have a 
 treaty for universal arbitration ^\ith England, and that 
 we don't need a navy as big as England's — that sort of 
 thing doesn't sit well." 
 
 The message was duly delivered with the comment 
 that the visitor didn't agree with it. *'Nor do I," 
 exclaimed the Colonel. '^I alienated the entire German 
 vote in 1916 because I thought it was necessary to speak 
 out against Germany in the war. Does anybody suppose 
 I am going to keep from saj^ng what I think ought to be 
 said about England now, in order not to alienate the anti- 
 English vote? I don't do business that way." 
 
 The talk drifted to President Wilson's latest address 
 to Congress and his insistence on Tatiijing the Colombian 
 treaty. 
 
 **It seems to me," he said, ''that I merely applied the 
 famous principle of 'self-determination for small peo- 
 ples' to the state of Panama." 
 
 The League of Nations was mentioned, and the Colo- 
 nel remarked that of course he was as anxious as any- 
 body possibly could be to make the peace settlement as 
 lasting as possible. "But I have had enough experience 
 in affairs to know the danger of attempting to bind the 
 American nation in a permanent alliance w^th the conti- 
 nent, ' ' he added. ' ' A friend of mine has been up arguing 
 with me about it. He insisted that the people of Europe 
 had had a change of heart on account of the war. 'Yes,' 
 
 333 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 I said, 'about as much as the people of New York vrould 
 have if they all got together in a mass meeting and 
 adopted resolutions that there should be no more vice in 
 New York City.' " 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt had a host of friends in Philadel- 
 phia. His last words there were spoken at the Broad 
 Street Station on the morning of January 10, 1917 : 
 
 ''I've had a bully time." 
 
 He used the same words in describing his whole life. 
 They might sei-ve for his epitaph. 
 
 In 1902 the Colonel spoke at the dedication of the new 
 Central High School building, Philadelphia. 
 
 He gave the boys the famous advice which he said he 
 had heard on the football field : ' ' Don 't flinch, don 't foul, 
 and hit the line hard." 
 
 A Philadelphia friend wrote him only a few days 
 before his death, reminding him of an occasion on which 
 he had uttered the same doctrine at Harvard when he 
 talked to a small audience of undergraduates on "Play 
 ing for Harvard." Those were the days when lie was 
 Police Commissioner in New York. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt's answer was dated January 1, 
 1919. In it he paid a warm tribute to "Dave" Goodrich, 
 a leading athlete, who was his right-hand man in Cuba. 
 
 He said at Harvard, with his teeth set, as he rest- 
 lessly paced the platform : 
 
 "If I had a son who refused to play polo for fear of 
 breaking his neck — I'd disinherit him." 
 
 When the time came, none of his sons was found 
 
 wanting. 
 
 334 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 At the beginning of Mr. Roosevelt's first administra- 
 tion as President he insisted on frequent target practice 
 for the navy. He requested and received one very large 
 appropriation for ammunition, and Congress expressed 
 amazement when he demanded almost immediately more 
 money. Asked what had happened to the first fund, he 
 said: 
 
 ''Every cent has been spent for powder and shot, and 
 every bit of powder and shot has been fired." 
 
 When he was asked what he intended doing with the 
 additional sum, he said; 
 
 "I shall use every dollar of that, too, within the next 
 thirty days in practice shooting. That's w^hat ammuni- 
 tion is made for — to burn." 
 
 Soon after that, Mr. Roosevelt, as President, pre- 
 scribed that officers of the army, navy, and marine corps 
 should ride ninety miles in three days as an endurance 
 test. He rode ninety-eight miles himself in a driving- 
 storm of rain, snow, and sleet in one day. He left the 
 White House at 3 :40 a. m., rode to Warrenton, Va., and 
 got back to the ^Hiite House at 8 :30 p. m. 
 
 James Bliss Townsend, who was born in Oyster Bay 
 and had been a friend of Roosevelt from boyhood, told 
 at a dinner after his death that he went to Colonel Roose- 
 velt in 1916 and asked him what he would have done in 
 the Lusitania case. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt, according to Mr. Townsend, said 
 that hindsight, of course, was easier to show than fore- 
 sight, but that if he had been President he would have 
 sent for Ambassador von Bernstorff immediately after 
 the advertisements warning passengers not to travel on 
 the Lusitania were printed in the newspapers. He said he 
 
 335 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 would have asked if the advertisements were official, and 
 if he had been told they were he would have given the 
 German Ambassador and all of his staff two hours to get 
 out and would have forced them to take passage on the 
 Lusitania on ^vhat turned out to be her last voyage. 
 Colonel Roosevelt added: 
 
 ^'I am sure the Lusitania would not have been sunk 
 had I been the President then. ' ' 
 
 A year as physician at the TVhite House enables Cap- 
 tain George A. Lung, Medical Corps, U. S. N., command- 
 ing the New York Naval Hospital, Brooklyn, to recount 
 many anecdotes of Colonel Roosevelt. Dr. Lung was 
 detailed to the White House in August, 1902, and 
 remained with the President a year. 
 
 ** President Roosevelt was always a good patient," 
 said Captain Lung. ''He obeyed orders, though some- 
 times impatient about being kept in bed. He used to 
 say : * If I live long enough I wall get well. ' 
 
 "On our trips he used to thnist his head out of the 
 car windows to wave at folk at railroad stations. We 
 cautioned him against the danger of being shot or 
 bombed and he would reply, 'Better put me in a conning 
 tower.' 
 
 "In New Hampshire we were going up a steep hill. 
 The Colonel got out and said he would hike it. I fol- 
 lowed suit. The others remained in the carriage. He 
 started up the hill at breakneck speed. I had on light 
 patent leather shoes. For three miles we plodded on at 
 a high pace. I panted and gasped. IVfy collar wilted. I 
 perspired. It was a pace of four miles an hour. 
 
 "At the end the Colonel was all in. So was I. But 
 the President exclaimed, 'Great, bully!' I said, 'This 
 
 336 
 
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 in America, He Went Through a New Experience in Egypt — Like the 
 
 Game Sportsman That He Was, He Mounted the Camel and Soon Was 
 
 at Hi» E^ase. They Were on Their Way to Visit a Famous Battlefield. 
 
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At Ogden, Utah. Secretary of A«rriculture Wilson, President 
 Reosovelt and S«nator Smoot. 
 
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 ■J 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 exercise ought to be made a test for promotion.' The 
 Colonel thumped his hands together and shouted, "By 
 George, I'll do it!' And I have an idea that is what 
 inspired his order that army officers go through severe 
 physical tests." 
 
 Captain Lung was with him when the Colonel's car- 
 riage was run into by a trolley outside Pittsfield, Mass., 
 September 3, 1902, and a secret service man in the car- 
 riage was killed. 
 
 ''The car was filled with people," said the Captain, 
 ''who were on their way to the country club, to give the 
 President a farewell cheer as he left the town. The Presi- 
 dent was thrown out and landed on his knees. I helped 
 him to rise and gently squeezed his chest to see if any 
 ribs were broken. He resented the action and asked to 
 be left alone. 
 
 ' ' Then he walked over to the motorman who had run 
 him down and told him that if the collision was an acci- 
 dent it was excusable, but that if it were due to careless- 
 ness it was damnable. That was the only time I ever 
 heard him utter a profane word. ' ' 
 
 When the American fleet went to Kiel the Kaiser 
 
 visited the flagship Louisiana and saw the President's 
 
 photograph hanging in a conspicuous place and, upon 
 
 leaving, he grandly presented a photograph of himself 
 
 and said that if he had any preference as to where it 
 
 should be hung he would select the spot President Koose- 
 
 velt's picture adorned. The substitution, it is hardly 
 
 necessary to state, was not made. Colonel Eoosevelt used 
 
 to tell that story with a great deal of relish and laughed 
 
 heartily at the idea of the Kaiser wanting to take his 
 
 place. 
 
 337 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Half a dozen Senators and Representatives were in 
 the waiting room at the President's office one morning. 
 None of them could get in to see the President, however. 
 Finally a Senator said to Captain Loeffler : ' ' Go in and 
 see what's holding us up." 
 
 Loeffler came back and reported: ''The President is 
 gi\dng a reception to the Harvard baseball team." 
 
 ''Well," said another Senator, "tell him there are a lot 
 of Senators and Representatives here." Loeffler went 
 back and returned. 
 
 "What did he sayl" chorused the waiting statesmen. 
 
 "He said he knew it," replied Loeffler, "but he told 
 me that Senators and Representatives must be taught 
 their places when a Harvard delegation is about." 
 
 Here is a story that Colonel Roosevelt told in the 
 White House after Old Bill Sewall, his Maine guide, had 
 called on liim. They were on a moose hunt and were 
 camped out in the woods. 
 
 One morning while Roosevelt was trying to keep warm 
 and Bill was chopping wood a moose walked into the 
 clearing. The President grabbed his rifle and fired. 
 
 The moose ran a short distance and then fell. Bill 
 laid down his ax and dashed over to the moose. 
 
 "You've got him!" he yelled after a short inspection. 
 "How did it happen?" 
 
 "Why, I aimed for his breast," the President said. 
 
 "First class!" shouted Bill, "first class! You done 
 well. You Lit him in the eye." 
 
 The very house where the Colonel was born used to 
 figure in anecdotage. It was an old brick front, 28 East 
 Twentieth street. New York. Li 1903 a detective squad 
 
 S.38 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 raiding gamblers' places went through it. All the gam- 
 bling evidence they could find was a pile of ashes in a 
 fireplace, and a quaint gathering of sportive and furtive 
 gentry busily playing checkers. But on a mantelpiece 
 they discovered a hand-painted card, with the truthful 
 legend: ''President Roosevelt Was Born in This 
 House. ' ' 
 
 This story has been vouched for by members of the 
 Colonel's family: On the east side of Madison Square, 
 when he used to play there as a little shaver, stood a 
 Presbyterian church, and the sexton one day noticed the 
 little 'un timidly peeping in. But he wouldn't come in 
 for a look around; nothing could induce him. **I know 
 what you've got in there," he explained. And later he 
 confided to his mother that what the sexton had in there 
 which was terrible was ''the zeal," probably something 
 like a dragon or an alligator. This reduced itself to his 
 memory of Psalm Ixix, 9 : " For the zeal of thine house 
 hath eaten me up." 
 
 The Colonel liked to draw his illustrations from famil- 
 iar and homely scenes. ' ' Every now and then, ' ' he once 
 said, "I have to remind myself that there are a lot of 
 Jim Jimpsons in the world. I employ two men at Saga- 
 more Hill. Jim always has been second man. On several 
 occasions I tried to promote him to first place. But he 
 could never hold the job. It was beyond his capacity. 
 He was born at Oyster Bay and has never been to New 
 York. Once he got as far as Mineola, but the magnifi- 
 cence of that metropolis overwhelmed him and he hurried 
 back to Oyster Bay." 
 
 339 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 It was known of Colonel Roosevelt that he had a quick 
 temper. He could use mighty harsh words in the heat 
 of passion. But his strongest expressions when he was 
 not excited were "By Godfrey!" and *'By Jove!" 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt liked to pick out someone in his 
 audience and talk straight to one person when making a 
 speech in public. This often embarrassed the person 
 selected. Formerly he always began with, "Ladies and 
 gentlemen, and you" filling in the name of the par- 
 ticular body he was addressing. Of late years, however, 
 "My fellow citizens" was his favorite introduction. 
 
 Roosevelt's fondness for his Rough Riders was 
 proverbial. Many stories are told of his custom of neglect- 
 ing others for them. Thus Senator Bard of CaUfornia 
 took a constituent to see Roosevelt when he was Presi- 
 dent. The friend had served in the Rough Riders. 
 
 "Mr. President," began Bard, "I want to present my 
 
 friend ' ' 
 
 "Why, hollo, Jim!" the President broke in. "How 
 are you?" 
 
 And for ten minutes the President and Jim talked 
 while Bard stood neglected. As the two were lea\dng 
 Roosevelt said: "By the way, Jim, come up to dinner 
 tonight and bring Bard with you." 
 
 Jacob A. Riis wrote of Colonel Roosevelt once: "His 
 love for children, especially for those who have not so 
 good a time as some others, is as instinctive as his cham- 
 pionship of all that needs a life. I doubt if he is aware 
 of it himself. He does not recognize as real sympathy 
 what he feels rather as a sense of duty. 
 
 340 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 *'Yet I have seen him, when school children crowded 
 around the rear platform of the train from which he was 
 making campaign speeches to shake hands, catch the eye 
 of a poor little crippled, girl in a patched frock, who was 
 making frantic but hopeless efforts to reach him in the 
 outskirts of the crowd, and, pushing aside all the rest, 
 make a way for her, to the great amusement of the curled 
 darhngs in the front row." 
 
 President Roosevelt's impatience of red tape was 
 proverbial. The story is told of one committee that had 
 been meeting him daily for a week in Washington, always 
 to adjourn without perceptible progress. When the com- 
 mittee left on this occasion one of them said they would 
 do something ** tomorrow." 
 
 ''Tomorrow!" the President exploded. ''Gentlemen, 
 if Noah had had to consult such a committee as this about 
 building the ark, it wouldn 't have been built yet. ' ' 
 
 There is one New York man to whom the Colonel 
 owed a small financial debt — United States Marshal 
 Thomas D. McCarthy. 
 
 "Yes, the Colonel was my debtor to the extent of 
 one penny," said the Marshal. "Here's how it came 
 about: On March 3, 1909, just as President Roosevelt 
 was to retire in favor of President Taft, I was sent to 
 Washington to present to him a handsome hunting knife, 
 the gift of Justice, later Ambassador, James W. Gerard, 
 with whose court I was associated at the time. 
 
 " ' Be sure to get a coin, a penny, from the President 
 when you give him the knife,' the Justice told me. 
 'Remember the old superstition that a gift of that sort 
 cuts friendship unless a small payment is made for it. ' 
 
 341 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 **"When I gave Colonel Roosevelt the knife I asked him 
 for the penny. He didn't have one in his pocket. Neither 
 did his secretary, Mr. Loeb. Neither did Senator Cham- 
 berlain, who was present. So I volunteered: 'Here, Mr. 
 President, I'll lend you a cent.' He took it and put it in 
 his vest pocket. 
 
 ''After ten minutes of conversation, during which 
 time he gave me an autographed photograph for myself 
 and a book for my father, who always admired him, the 
 President suddenly reached into his pocket, withdrew the 
 coin and said : 'Mr. McCarthy, it gives me great pleasure 
 to hand you, in return for Judge Gerard's gift, this one- 
 cent coin. ' Ever since then I have prized the photograph 
 and the book Mr. Roosevelt gave me as one of the most 
 cherished possessions of my father. And I always have 
 been proud of the fact that a President of the United 
 States owed me a penny." 
 
 George William Douglas, in his book, "The Many- 
 Sided Roosevelt," tells the following story of his life as 
 a young man in the "West : 
 
 "One evening after supper he was reading at a table 
 in the public room of a frontier hotel, where he was pass- 
 ing the night. The room was office, dining room, bar- 
 room, and everything else. A man, half-drunk, came into 
 the hotel with a swagger, marched up to the bar, and \vith 
 a flourish of his arm, commanded everybody to drink. 
 Everybody was ^\^lling to obey; that is, everybody but 
 Mr. Roosevelt. He still sat at the table busy with his 
 book. 
 
 " 'Who's that fellow?' the man asked, pointing in 
 Roosevelt's direction. 
 
 ** 'Oh, he's a tenderfoot, just arrived,' someone said. 
 
 342 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 *' 'Humph,' lie grunted. Then he turned square 
 around and called out: 'Say, Mr. Four-eyes, I asked 
 this house to drink. Did you hear me?' 
 
 ''Mr. Roosevelt made no reply. The man swaggered 
 over to him, pulling out his pistol and firing as he crossed 
 the room. 
 
 " 'I want you to understand that when I ask a man 
 to drink with me, that man's got to drink,' he threatened, 
 fondling his still-smoking pistol. 
 
 " 'You must excuse me tonight. I do not care for 
 anything to drink,' said Roosevelt. 
 
 " 'That don't go here. You just order your drink or 
 there'll be more trouble.' 
 
 " 'Very well, sir,' Roosevelt replied, rising slowly to 
 his feet and waiting till he was firmly poised on them 
 before completing his remark. 'I do not care for any- 
 thing, but if I must' 
 
 "With the word 'must' he let his fist fly, striking the 
 bully a terrific blow on the jaw and knocking him on the 
 floor. In an instant Roosevelt was astride of him, with 
 his knees holding down the man's arms. After taking 
 away all the weapons he could find, he let the man up. 
 
 ' ' ' Now, I hope you understand, sir, that I do not care 
 to drink with you,' said the young tenderfoot, who had 
 hardened his muscle to some purpose before he went 
 V^est. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt himself was authority for the story 
 about the time when, riding the ranges alone, reports of 
 hostile Indians about notwithstanding, he noticed three 
 mounted braves converging in his direction. As they 
 were where friendly Indians had no business to be, he 
 slid off his pony, set the sights of his Winchester for long 
 
 343 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 range and showed himself aiming carefully, but did not 
 pull the trigger. The trio talked it over and sheered off. 
 Colonel Roosevelt said it was the nearest he ever had 
 come to actual Indian fighting. 
 
 Probably no man of his time had more pictures taken 
 of him than Colonel Roosevelt. They were stacked up in 
 every new^spaper office. Many stories are told of his 
 experiences with photographers and here is one. 
 
 On his trip to South America, where he discovered 
 the ''River of Doubt," he was accompanied by several 
 motion picture photographers. One was a free lance who 
 was a trifle sensitive about his standing on board. 
 
 During the celebration of the Feast of Neptune, when 
 the ship crossed the Equator, there ^vas a pillow fight on 
 a rail over a tank of water. The photographers lined up 
 to get the picture of the struggle, with the Colonel in the 
 background. One of the regular photographers slipped 
 a cap over the free lance's camera. 
 
 One of the contestants had just been knocked off the 
 pole into the water and Colonel Roosevelt, laughing and 
 applauding, turned to the free lance, who was grinding 
 away at his useless machine, and said: 
 
 ' ' Take otT your cap, young man ! ' ' 
 
 The free lance frowned at the Colonel, thinking he was 
 being joshed, and said : 
 
 ''I am an Austro-Hungarian subject and have never 
 become an American citizen. I don't see why I should." 
 
 The Colonel, continuing to smile, said: 
 
 *'I was merely going to say that if you will take the 
 cap off the lens of your camera, we will have the bout 
 fought over again so you can obtain a good picture." 
 
 The free lance sheepishly took off the cap from the 
 camera, and then bared his head to Colonel Roosevelt. 
 
 344 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''Better faithful than famous," used to be one of his 
 characteristic sayings, wrote Jacob Riis in his life of the 
 former President. "It has been his rule all his life. A 
 classmate of Roosevelt told me recently of being present 
 at a Harvard reunion where a professor told of asking 
 a graduate what would be his work in life. 
 
 " ' 0, ' said he, ' really, you know, nothing seems to me 
 much worth while.' Roosevelt got up and said to the 
 professor: 
 
 '* 'That fellow ought to have been knocked on the 
 head. I would take my chances with a blackmailing 
 policeman sooner than with him.' " 
 
 An old story about Mr. Roosevelt dates from his term 
 as president of the old New York City Board of Police 
 Commissioners, in 1896. Commissioner Roosevelt had 
 been giving a little dinner to postoffice officials from 
 Washington whom he had kno^\Ti there while United 
 States Civil Service Commissioner. 
 
 "I gave it," he told a newspaper man, "because of 
 their hearty co-operation with me in civil service 
 reform,." 
 
 "Was Fourth Assistant Robert Maxwell there?"— 
 Maxwell being one official who notoriously hadn't "co-op- 
 erated" to any alarming extent. 
 
 "No, no," came back with the Roosevelt snap, "and 
 yon mustn't be such a wag, either!" 
 
 The great courage of Mr. Roosevelt and his lack ot 
 fear were shown after he was shot in Milwaukee on Octo- 
 ber 14, 1912. When he had recovered from his wound he 
 was told that he was foolhardy to make a speech after 
 he had been shot. 
 
 345 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 *'Why," said Roosevelt in reply, ''you know I didn't 
 think I had been mortally wounded. If I had been mor- 
 tally wounded I would have bled from the lungs. When 
 I got into the motor I coughed hard three times and put 
 my hand up to my mouth ; as I did not find any blood I 
 thought I was not seriously hurt and went on with my 
 speech." 
 
 It is remembered that when his physician on this 
 occasion urged him to return to the hotel and not go to 
 the Auditorium to speak, the Colonel replied, '*! will 
 deliver this speech or die, one or the other. ' ' 
 
 When he completed this memorable address his shoes 
 were filled with blood that had rushed from his gaping 
 chest wound. The Colonel displayed heroic courage of 
 the highest type. 
 
 Along with his marvelous memory of people he had 
 ever met anywhere, and of all the associations of the 
 meetings, went a memory of each standing joke he had 
 enjoyed with them. His reference to one of these jokes, 
 in a telegram to a Western friend immediately after he 
 was shot, in 1912, mystified so many people, who took it 
 for anything from delirium to a private wire code, that 
 he had to explain it. 
 
 ''Probably a .38 on a .45 frame," he had telegraphed. 
 The allusion was to revolvers and their calibres and had 
 been a stock phrase of some old plainsman whom he and 
 his friend had known. 
 
 R. J. Cunningham, the famous African hunter, who 
 was in charge of Colonel Roosevelt's hunting expedition 
 in East Africa, said he had never found "any other so 
 easy to get along with, and no other man who, by his 
 
 346 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 character, made every man in his service so anxious to 
 do the best possible for him." He told the following 
 story- of ''one very near squeak" the Colonel had. Said 
 he: 
 
 ' ' The Colonel was determined to get an elephant, and 
 a tusker at that. I told him what that meant, and how 
 much risk there was, but he said he was willing to face 
 it. That was the Colonel all over. Tell him the risks and 
 he would size them up quietly. If he decided they were 
 worth while, that was all there v>^as to it. He just went 
 ahead and took them mthout saying another word. 
 
 "Well, we found an elephant in a forest on Genia 
 Mountain. We had been hunting for three days, and it 
 was really hard work for a man of the Colonel's bulk in 
 that heat and at that altitude, 11,000 feet. At last I 
 caught sight through a thick bush of elephant hide and a 
 tusk, about thirty-five feet away, just enough to tell me 
 it was a fine specimen. I pointed it out to the Colonel, 
 and he fired mtli complete coolness and got the elephant 
 in the ear and dropped him. 
 
 "As the shot went off the forest all around roared 
 with trumpetings. We were in the midst of a herd of 
 cows and young bulls, and one of the latter thrust his 
 head through the bushes right over the Colonel's head. 
 I was right behind him and fired at once and bowled it 
 over. Then I rushed up to the Colonel and said: 'Are 
 you all right, sir ? ' But I could see he was before I spoke. 
 He hadn't turned a hair. At any moment the cows might 
 liave blundered through the bush over us, but he never 
 thought of that. He went up to the old chap he had killed 
 and gave it the coup-de-grace and then let himself loose. 
 I never saw a man so boyishly jubilant." 
 
 347 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 For a long time after Roosevelt's return from Africa 
 he was often referred to throughout the world as "Bwana 
 Tumbo. ' ' That was the name given to him by the natives 
 of Africa, and meant ' ' Big Chief. ' ' 
 
 While Colonel Roosevelt was President he talked with 
 the greatest freedom to the newspaper correspondents, 
 always relying on their discretion to put what he said 
 in diplomatic language. It was in these conversations 
 that some of his famous epithets were first used. 
 
 *' Senator So-and-So," he remarked, ''seems to have 
 sweetbreads for brains." 
 
 Of a somewhat effeminate public man he said : "Molly- 
 coddle is too harsh a term to apply to Freddie." 
 
 *'Yes, So-and-So is a loyal friend," he remarked on 
 another occasion, "there is always in the back of his head 
 the feeling that if we were cast away on a desert island I 
 would kill and eat him." 
 
 In the last few^ weeks before his death, the question 
 of the presidential nominee for 1920 was much in the 
 minds of Republican congressional leaders in "Washing- 
 ton. The feeling was general that Colonel Roosevelt had 
 been the man who had been right on preparedness and on 
 the Great War long in advance of anybody else ; that he 
 had blazed the way and made the issues, and that he 
 had earned the party leadership. The Colonel himself 
 was absolutely indifferent. He told his friends he would 
 not turn his hand over for the nomination. 
 
 "So far as I am concerned," he said, "my position is 
 exactly what it was in 1916. I am not at all concerned 
 whether the party nominates me or not. What I am con- 
 cerned in is that it nominates a man and adopts princi- 
 ples that I can support." 
 
 348 
 
ANECDOTES OP ROOSEVELT 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's passion for study and his purpose 
 always to improve the time was displayed by his plan 
 made soon after becoming Vice-President and following 
 his realization that he would have much leisure, as the 
 duties of the office were not onerous. He asked Justice 
 White of the Supreme Court whether it would be digni- 
 fied and becoming were he to attend a course of law at 
 one of the Washington universities, to prepare himself 
 for the bar. The Justice thought it would not be and 
 suggested that he should give the Vice-President some 
 law books for study and once a week ''quiz" him. This 
 plan w^as approved by Mr. Roosevelt, but the assassina- 
 tion of President McKinley interrupted its execution. 
 
 Just before the expiration of his last term Mr. Roose- 
 velt was discussing the advisability of a pension for 
 ex-Presidents. He himself didn't need one, he said, 
 because he would be able to earn his living by writing. 
 But Mr. Cleveland had been in extremely straitened cir- 
 cumstances until Mr. Ryan made him a trustee of the 
 Equitable Life at $25,000 a year. 
 
 '*A President who entertains much," he said, ''can't 
 save much money on $50,000 a year. The last time I 
 entertained a distinguished foreign visitor mth a state 
 dinner I said to Mrs. Roosevelt: 'There goes another 
 child's schooling for a year.' " 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt's sense of humor is illustrated in 
 remarks he made in 1896 when speaking of the Southern 
 Populists. He said : 
 
 "Refinement and comfort they are apt to consider 
 quite as objectionable as immorality. That a man should 
 change his clothes in the evening, that he should dine at 
 
 349 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 any other lioiir than noon, impress these good people as 
 being sj'mptoms of depravity instead of merely trivial. 
 A taste for learning and cultivated friends, and a ten- 
 dency to bathe frequently, cause them the deepest sus- 
 picion. Senator Tillman's brother has been frequently 
 elected to Congress upon the issue that he never wore 
 either an overcoat or an undershirt." 
 
 A few days before the inauguration of Mr. Taft a 
 party of insurgent Congressmen called at the White 
 House to get help from the President in dealing -with 
 Speaker Cannon. Already the disposition of the former 
 Secretary of War to ignore the man who made him Pres- 
 ident was noticeable. 
 
 "I'd like to help you witli the new President," said 
 Mr. Roosevelt, ''but you remember the skipper of the 
 Gloucester fisherman who said to his mate, 'AH I want 
 out of you, Mr. Jones, is ci-vility — and damn little of 
 that.'" _ 
 
 On leaving the A^^iite House President Roosevelt 
 declined an offer of the presidency of a large corporation 
 at a salary of $100,000 a year. He did this because he 
 had determined to make no commercial use of his name. 
 He accepted the office of associate editor of The Outlook 
 at a salary of $12,000, because he believed it offered him 
 the means to reach the people. 
 
 The people of Philadelphia still remember the Colonel 
 as — waving his black Stetson — he swept into the fray 
 there in October, 1914, in behalf of Pinchot and Vance 
 McCormick versus Penrose. 
 
 He styled Penrose "one of a gang of political gim- 
 men. ' ' 
 
 350 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 Crammed up against the wheel of his taxicab outside 
 the First Regiment Armory while he made an out-of-door 
 speech, his audience could fairly see his eyes flash and 
 hear his teeth click. What a splendid physical energy it 
 was that burned itself out prematurely ! 
 
 Bishop Biermans, Vicar Apostolic of the Upper Nile, 
 said in June of 1915, just after visiting Colonel Roosevelt 
 at Oyster Bay : 
 
 ' ' He told me he would never again be the same man — 
 that his trip to South Africa was too much for him." 
 
 On June 10, 1917, the Colonel went to speak for a 
 memorial meeting of the railway brotherhoods at the 
 Metropolitan Opera House, Philadelphia. 
 
 He was as chock-a-block with vital electricity as Billy 
 Sunday at the top of his form, said one of his hearers. 
 
 When he w^ent to the Bellevue-Stratford for lunch, the 
 elevator boy in his agitation passed the floor of the Blue 
 Room. 
 
 * ' Don 't be hard on him ! ' ' exclaimed the Colonel. ' ' He 
 probably thinks there is something of value in the Blue 
 Room that I might carry off with me, but he might know 
 I am surrounded by detectives." 
 
 A few years ago the Colonel was visiting at the home 
 of W. R. Nelson in Kansas City. Looking about the 
 library, he said to a member of the family : ' ' Where does 
 your father keep his Greek dramatists? You can always 
 tell a man of real literary instincts by his Greek dra- 
 matists. ' ' Happily the Greek dramatists were in a fitting 
 place on the book shelves. 
 
 351 
 
LVyE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 The .paper cover that publishers put on books is 
 always a hotly disputed matter with readers. Those who 
 detest it detest it. A visitor from the West who saw 
 the Colonel not long before his death carried him a book 
 on international affairs. The Colonel expressed his 
 pleasure while remo\4ng the wrapper, crumpling it into 
 a wad and throwing it on the floor. 
 
 At a state dinner when he was President a woman 
 guest noticed with apparent disapproval that he refused 
 a cigar. 
 
 "^'^Vhy, Mr. President," she remonstrated. ''Don't 
 you smoke?" 
 
 **No, madam," he replied, "but I like to go to prize 
 fights. Won't that do?" _ 
 
 *'I had the honor," Colonel Roosevelt once said, "to 
 be written up by Creel in "The Masses." I must say he 
 took rather a jaundiced "sdew of me." 
 
 John Mitchell, the great leader of the mine workers, 
 was always a welcome visitor at the White House when 
 Roosevelt was President. Organized labor was recog- 
 nized by Roosevelt as a necessity. He believed in the 
 enforcement of all labor laws and in the right of the 
 workers to organize. In relation to the protective tariff 
 he said: "I am for a protective tariff that gets past the 
 mill ofiices down into the pockets of the workingmen." 
 
 A friend who ^^sited the Colonel at the hospital heard 
 of the numerous political visitors who were calhng on 
 him, including standpatters as well as progressives. 
 
 "My, my, Colonel," said the \nsitor, "what company 
 you have been keeping. ' ' 
 
 352 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''"Well," replied the Colonel with a grin, ''like the late 
 Colonel Breckinridge of Kentucky, 'I am not a narrow 
 
 As between two of his political antagonists who had 
 fallen out Colonel Roosevelt remarked: "My position is 
 one of malevolent neutrality." 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt always disclaimed being a genius. 
 He said with regard to the successful man: "The aver- 
 age man who is successful — the average statesman, the 
 average pubUc servant, the average soldier, who wins 
 what we call great success — is not a genius. He is a man 
 who has merely the ordinary qualities, who has devel- 
 oped those ordinary qualities to a^ more than ordinary 
 degree. ' ' 
 
 Many persons thought of Colonel Roosevelt as con- 
 stantly figuring on politics, and how policies would affect 
 him poUtically. The exact opposite was true. Men most 
 intimately associated with him never heard him discuss 
 his own political fortunes. The only thing he asked about 
 a policy was : " Is it right ? ' ' 
 
 One day a strong Roosevelt Progressive met Senator 
 Penrose, king of the old standpat crowd. 
 
 "What about the candidate, Senator?" he asked. 
 
 "Well, how about the Colonel?" answered Penrose. 
 
 ' ' Oh, I'm for him, all right. But I didn't suppose you 
 would be." 
 
 "I'm for him. He's about the squarest man I ever 
 ran up against. ' ' 
 
 35b 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE EOOSEVELT 
 
 ''Do YOU know the thing that makes me madder than 
 abnost anything else?" the Colonel once said to W. R. 
 Nelson. ''That is to see a husky man going along \\'ith 
 his wife, letting her carry the baby. I know that sort of a 
 fellow is no good." 
 
 A characteristic story is that of a friend who took him 
 to task for some mistake he had made in one of his 
 appointments. The former President in reply to tlio crit- 
 icism said: "My dear sir, where you know of one mis- 
 take I have made, I know of ten." 
 
 In his capacity as contributor to the Kansas City 
 Star the men on that paper say the Colonel was the most 
 considerate of men to work with. He had nothing of the 
 small man's pride in what he wrote. 
 
 "If you think any of my stuff is rotten," he said, 
 "don't hesitate to throw it away. I always like criticism. 
 Secretary Root was invaluable in my cabinet, because he 
 was always ready to oppose my ideas. We used to go 
 round and round, and when he didn't convince me I was 
 wrong he frequently convinced me that I would have to 
 modify my position. John Hay disagreed with me. But 
 he was too kind-hearted to say so. So he didn't help me 
 so much." 
 
 In his writings he was rarely humorous or ironical. 
 In conversation he was habitually so. 
 
 Former Congressman Charles G. Washburn of 
 Worcester, Mass., after remarking that Roosevelt had a 
 lively sense of humor in his college days at Harvard, says 
 in his book : "I remember well with what glee he told us 
 that he had gone to Boston to get a basket of live lob- 
 
 354 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 sters for laboratory purposes and on the way back they 
 escaped, much to the consternation of the women in the 
 horse car." 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt liked new martial or sporting imple- 
 ments — things he could play with — as keenly as any boy. 
 In 1906 the Mikado sent the President as a token of 
 esteem a complete suit of samurai armor from the thir- 
 teenth century. The President excused himself to an 
 informal caller for a moment. Off went his frock coat 
 and on went the armor. Presto ! and he made a costume 
 parade of one up and down the corridors of the White 
 House. 
 
 While the Colonel and his son Kermit were shooting 
 in Africa, London Punch, mth a genial inspiration, pub- 
 lished a cartoon of the Roosevelts in the Egyptian desert 
 carefully stalking the Sphinx. The Colonel was saying, 
 ''Steady, Kermit; we must have one of these!" When 
 he saw it he was so pleased Avith it that he wrote to Lon- 
 don and asked to have the original, which was sent to him. 
 
 Speaking of the Rough Riders, Colonel Roosevelt 
 said : ''It was necessary to get that regiment into action, 
 otherwise it would have been laughed at. We came near 
 being left behind, and I admit that I pulled every wire in 
 sight to get that regiment to Cuba, and we got there. If 
 we had not I should never have been President." 
 
 A cowboy who had been with him with the Rough 
 Riders, sure of his sympathy, wrote him from a jail in 
 Arizona : 
 
 "Dear Colonel : — I am in trouble. I shot a lady in the 
 eye, but I did not intend to hit the lady, I was shooting 
 at my wife." 
 
 355 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 To show the live sympathy that all who had been asso- 
 ciated with him expected, a story is told that an old com- 
 rade in arms approached him and said: "Mr. President, 
 I have been in jail a year for killing a gentleman." 
 
 ''How did you do it!" asked the President, inquiring 
 for the circumstances. 
 
 ''Thirty-eight on a forty-five frame," replied the man, 
 thinking that the only interest the President had was 
 that of a comrade who wanted to know mth what kind of 
 a tool the trick was done. 
 
 (The Colonel referred to this incident in a telegram 
 to a friend after the Milwaukee shooting.) 
 
 As a nature lover and observer the President became 
 best known to the country in 1907, just after his criticism 
 of the nature fakers and his own vigorous denials that 
 his interest in nature and mid game was that of the 
 sportsman merely. 
 
 President Roosevelt took a dignitary out with him for 
 a stroll one afternoon, and in the course of the walk 
 sighted a steep and rocky knoll, toward which he directed 
 his course. He turned to his companion and observed as 
 they began making the ascent: "We must get up to the 
 top here," and after much panting and laboring the feat 
 was accomplished, 
 
 "And now, Mr. President," asked the official, "may 
 I ask why we are up here?" 
 
 "Why, I came up here," returned Eoosevelt laughing, 
 * ' to see if you could make it. ' ' 
 
 ]\rr. Roosevelt was a tireless reader of books and on 
 his long railroad trips usually carried half a dozen vol- 
 
 356 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 umes. But the side pocket of his traveling coat always 
 held one stoutly bound, well-thumbed book — a copy 
 of ''Plutarch's Lives." On campaign tours and pleasure 
 jaunts he took a daily half -hour dose of Plutarch. 
 
 ''I've read this little volume close to a thousand 
 times," he said one day, "but it is ever new." 
 
 "Mr. Roosevelt's creed?" wrote Jacob Eiis, his close 
 friend for many years in police work in New York. 
 ' ' Find it in a speech he made to the Bible Society. ' If we 
 read the Book aright,' he said, 'we read a book that 
 teaches us to go forth and do the work of the Lord in the 
 world as we find it; to try to make things better in the 
 world, even if only a little better, because we have lived 
 in it. That kind of work can be done only by a man who 
 is neither a weakling nor a coward ; by a man who, in the 
 fullest sense of the word, is a true Christian, like Great- 
 heart, Bunyan's hero.' " 
 
 A message from Theodore Roosevelt was inserted in 
 the Bibles given in 1917-18 to the American fighting men 
 by the New York Bible Society. This message read : 
 
 "The teachings of the New Testament are foreshad- 
 owed in Micah's verse: 'What more doth the Lord 
 require of thee than to do justice, and to love mercy, and 
 to walk humbly with thy God?' 
 
 "Do justice; and therefore fight valiantly against the 
 armies of Germany and Turkey, for these nations in this 
 crisis stand for the reign of Moloch and Beelzebub on this 
 earth. 
 
 "Love mercy; treat prisoners well; succor the 
 wounded; treat every woman as if she were your 
 sister ; care for the little children, and be tender with the 
 old and helpless. 
 
 357 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''"Walk Immblv; you will do so if you study the life 
 and teachings of the Saviour." 
 
 ** Colonel Roosevelt's life," said Judge Ben Lindsey 
 at a memorial meeting in Chicago, "was marked always 
 by a fortitude which nothing could frighten. During the 
 free silver campaign he went to Cripple Creek, the very 
 center of the silver movement, to fight for the gold 
 standard. 
 
 ''His visit began by the citizens pelting him with 
 stones. It ended by Theodore Roosevelt winning the 
 population over. The same thing occurred in Denver. 
 
 ''With this same fortitude he bore the news of his 
 son's death. He was tremendously proud of his boys, as 
 all America was. He said to me one day: 
 
 " 'Judge, if this war keeps up another year I won't 
 have a son left. They're all bears when it comes to fight- 
 ing, if the fighting is worth while. They're bears, every 
 one of them. ' ' ' 
 
 During a visit to Palo Alto, Cal., Colonel Roosevelt 
 standing on the platform of his railway car, singled out a 
 wide-eyed boy just at the edge of the platform and made 
 of him a hero in Boyville by leaning down and saying to 
 him in a series of explosive sentences : 
 
 "Young man, be game, but be decent. If you are 
 game, but not decent, it would be better to hunt you out 
 of society." 
 
 The little fellow said, "Yes, sir!" and edged away to 
 the outer rim of the crowd to think it over. 
 
 "Anyway, I've had a corking time !" Theodore Roose- 
 velt said back in the '80s when beaten at the polls for 
 
 358 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 Mayor of New York. ''I've had a corking time," he 
 repeated in March, 1909, turning over the Presidency to 
 William Howard Taft. And on January 6, 1919, in the 
 dawn, though no one mortal heard, would it not have been 
 like him, glancing back at the broad roofs on Sagamore 
 Hill, ere he hurried on to seek out Quentin in the shining 
 ranks of the young men "gone west," to have said, yet 
 once more, that he had had a corking time? He always 
 did. 
 
 On one of President Roosevelt's Southern trips his 
 train stopped at Charlotte, N. C. A committee of women, 
 led by Mrs. Thomas J. Jackson, widow of General Stone- 
 wall Jackson, was at the depot to greet him. When he 
 was introduced he referred to himself as by rigkt a 
 Southerner, and then being introduced to Mrs. Ja«kson 
 he added a remark which simply flashed through the 
 South. 
 
 "What? The widow of great Stonewall Jackson? 
 Why, it is worth the whole trip down here to have a 
 chance to shake your hand, ' ' and he reminded her that he 
 had appointed her grandson to a cadetship at West Point. 
 
 Mr. Roosevelt once told this story at a cabinet meeting 
 in Washington : As President, on a Western trip, an old 
 Rough Rider of his boarded the train and renewed their 
 acquaintance. Later the President received a letter from 
 the cowboy asking for $150 to help him defend himself 
 against a charge of stealing horses. The Colonel sent the 
 money. A month later he received a letter from the cow- 
 boy thanking him for the money, but saying that he no 
 longer needed it, as his political party "had elected their 
 candidate for district attorney." 
 
 3S'» 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt, as assistant secretary of the 
 navy, was instrumental in the selection of Dewey to take 
 charge of the Pacific squadron during the Spanish-Ameri- 
 can war. San Francisco and a few other cities objected. 
 They did not know Dewey. 
 
 A delegation was sent to Washington to kick against 
 the appointment. The delegation was finally turned over 
 to Roosevelt. He listened patiently to their objections 
 and said: 
 
 ''Gentlemen, I cannot agree with you. We have 
 looked up his record. We have looked him straight in 
 the eyes. He is a fighter. We'll not change now. 
 Pleased to have met you. Good day, gentlemen. ' ' 
 
 A few days after President McKinley had been shot, 
 when physicians had given the opinion that he would 
 recover, no one felt more joyful than Vice President 
 Roosevelt. 
 
 '*To become President through the assassin's bullet 
 means nothing to me," he said at the home of Ansley Wil- 
 cox in Buffalo. ''Aside from the horror of having Presi- 
 dent Mclvinley die, there is an additional horror in 
 becoming his successor in that way. The thing that 
 appeals to mo is to be elected President. That is the 
 way I want the honor to come if I am ever to receive it." 
 
 Roosevelt was in Idaho one day when he saw a copy 
 of his book, "The Winning of the West," on a news- 
 stand. In talking to the proprietor he casually asked, 
 pointing to the book: 
 
 "Who is this man Roosevelt?" 
 
 "0, ho is a ranch driver up in the cattle country," the 
 man repHed. 
 
 360 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 *'What do you think of his book?" 
 
 ''Well, I've always thought I'd like to meet the 
 author and tell him if he 'd stuck to running ranches and 
 not tried to write books, he 'd cut a heap bigger figger at 
 his trade." 
 
 ''Theodore Roosevelt is a humorist," wrote Homer 
 Davenport in the Philadelphia Public Ledger in 1910. 
 "In the multitude of his strenuousness this, the most 
 human of his accomplishments, has apparently been over- 
 looked. There is a similarity between his humor and 
 Mark Twain's. If Colonel Roosevelt were on the vaude- 
 ville stage he would be a competitor of Harry Lauder. 
 At Denver, at the stock growers' banquet during his 
 recent western trip. Colonel Roosevelt was at his best. 
 He made three speeches that day and was eating his sixth 
 meal, yet he was in the best of fettle. You couldn't pick 
 a hallful that could sit with faces straight through his 
 story of the blue roan cow. He can make a joke as fasci- 
 nating as he can the story of a sunset on the plains of 
 Egypt." _ 
 
 Professor Thayer's "Life of John Hay" contains a 
 good deal of delightful Rooseveltiana. Here is a letter 
 that Mr. Hay, as Secretary of State, addressed to Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt on November 12, 1901. 
 
 "Count Quadt [of the German Embassy] has been hovering 
 around the State Department in ever narrowing circles for 
 three days, and at last swooped upon me this afternoon, saying 
 that the Foreign Office, and even the palace, Unter den Linden, 
 was in a state of intense anxiety to know how you received his 
 Majesty's Chinese medal, conferred only upon the greatest 
 sovereigns. 
 
 "As I had not been authorized by you to express your emo- 
 tions I had to sail by dead reckoning;, and considering the 
 
 361 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 vast intrinsic value of the souvenir — I should say at least 30 
 cents — and its wonderful artistic merit, representing the Ger- 
 man eagle eviscerating the Black Dragon, and its historical 
 accuracy, Avhich gives the world to understand that Germany 
 was It and the rest of the universe nowhere, I took the respon- 
 sibility of saying to Count Quadt that the President could not 
 have received the medal with anything but emotions of pleas- 
 ure commensurate with the high appreciation he entertains for 
 the Emperor's majesty, and that a formal acknowledgment 
 would be made in due course. 
 
 "He asked me if he was at liberty to say something like 
 this to his government, and I said he was at liberty to say what- 
 ever the spirit moved him to utter." 
 
 Here are other interesting passages from Jolin Hay's 
 diary : 
 
 * '■ Nineteen hundred and four — January 17 — The Pres- 
 ident came in for an hour and talked very amusingly on 
 many matters. Among others he spoke of a letter 
 received from an old lady in Canada denouncing him for 
 having drunk a toast to Helen (Hay) at her wedding two 
 3'ears ago. The good soul had waited two years, hoping 
 that the pulpit or the press would take up this enormity. 
 ' Think, ' she said, ' of the effect on your friends, on your 
 children, on your own immortal soul, of such a thought- 
 less act!" 
 
 ''March 18.— At the Cabinet meeting today the Presi- 
 dent said someone had written asking if he wanted to 
 annex any more islands. He answered: 'About as much 
 as a gorged anaconda wants to swallow a porcupine 
 wrong end to.' He was berating someone, when it was 
 observed that the man was doubtless conscientious. 
 'Well,' he burst out, 'if a man has a conscience which 
 leads him to do things like that he should take it out and 
 look at it — for it is unhealthy. ' " 
 
 362 
 
ANECDOTES OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''April 26. — At tlie Cabinet meeting this morning the 
 President talked of his Japanese wrestler, who is giving 
 him lessons in jiu-jitsu. He says the muscles of liis 
 throat are so powerfully developed by training that it is 
 impossible for any ordinary man to strangle him. If the 
 President succeeds once in a while in getting the better 
 of him he says, 'Good! Lovely!' " 
 
 "May 8. — The President was reading 'Emerson's 
 Days,' and came to the wonderful closing line, 'I, too late, 
 under her solemn fillet saw the scorn.' I said, 'I fancy 
 you do not know what that means. ' ' Oh, do I not ? Per- 
 haps the greatest men do not, but I in my soul know I am 
 but the average man, and that only marvelous good for- 
 tune has brought me where I am. ' ' ' 
 
 "October 30. — The President came in for an hour. 
 We talked a while about the campaign (1904) and at 
 last he said, ' It seems a cheap sort of thing to say, and I 
 would not say it to other people, but laying aside my own 
 personal interests and hopes — for of course I desire 
 intensely to succeed — I have the greatest pride that in 
 this fight we are not only making it on clearly avowed 
 principles, but we have the principles and the record to 
 avow. How can I help being a little proud when I con- 
 trast the men and the considerations by which I am 
 attacked and those by which I am defended?' " 
 
 And Hay tells how John Morley, the British states- 
 man, had said, ' ' The two things in America which strike 
 me as most extraordinary are Niagara Falls and Presi- 
 dent Eoosevelt." 
 
 "He is a superman if ever there was one," said Conan 
 Doyle at the time of his last visit to the United States. 
 
 363 
 
Roosevelt 
 
 At dawn he passed ; no somber west, 
 No evening star or twilight gray, 
 No solemn close of weary day, 
 
 No dying sun ; his way was best. 
 
 At dsivra. he passed, the long night through ; 
 For him no dusk, no mystic gleam 
 Of fading light or pale wan dream; 
 
 He went at dawn as workers do. 
 
 Don't mourn, rejoice ! His words live on, 
 Be ours to hold his message high, 
 To fight his fights till perils fly 
 
 And traitors, cowards, fears are gone. 
 
 At da^vn he passed where shadows lurk 
 But to no mist-swept, ghostly land; 
 His valiant soul and eager hand 
 
 Have found some new, still nobler work. 
 
 At dawn he passed, and marched away 
 Beyond our little time and space 
 With strange, new sunlight on his face 
 
 And new strength for another day. 
 
 — Paul McCurdy "Warner. 
 
 364 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 The End Comes in His Sleep — Death Caused by a Pul- 
 monary Embolism — His Last Words — Last Message 
 to the American People — None Present When he 
 Died — Burial in Old Cemetery Near His Home — A 
 Simple but Deeply Impressive Ceremony, Such as He 
 Desired — Distinguished Men at the Funeral. 
 
 Death came to Theodore Roosevelt with an unexpect- 
 edness that stunned the nation, despite the fact that 
 recurrent illness was known to have afflicted his last 
 years. He passed away in sleep in his home at Oyster 
 Bay, N. Y., at 4:15 o'clock in the morning of Monday, 
 January 6, 1919, in the sixty-first year of his age. 
 
 It was not the end that the American people would 
 have chosen for their great leader, nor the end that he 
 would perhaps have chosen for himself. But the unex- 
 pectedness of it sent a thrill around the world, while it 
 filled his fellow-countrymen with a distinct sense of irre- 
 parable loss. 
 
 The cause of death was a pulmonary embolism; that 
 is, a clot of blood was carried through an artery to the 
 lungs, where it stopped the circulation. Weakening of 
 the blood vessels which caused the embolism accompanied 
 an attack of inflammatory rheumatism for which Colonel 
 Roosevelt had been treated at Roosevelt Hospital, New 
 York, from November 11 to Christmas Day, 1918, two 
 weeks before the end. The original cause of both mani- 
 festations was the infection of a tooth, dating back 
 twenty years. 
 
 365 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 All his life the former President had drawn unmerci- 
 fully upon his marvelous store of energy. Nevertheless 
 up to a comparatively late date, it was generally supposed 
 that he had many years yet to live. But he sur\^ved his 
 sixtieth birthday by only seventy days. 
 
 The Colonel's Last Words 
 
 His last words were spoken to his personal attendant, 
 James Amos, a negro who was devoted to him. As Amos 
 was sitting at the foot of the bed, the Colonel said : 
 
 "Please turn out the light, James. I am in for a bit 
 of sleep." 
 
 Because of a spell of hard breathing that the Colonel 
 had experienced after he retired on Sunday evening, hav- 
 ing had two \dsits from a physician in the course of the 
 day, Mrs. Roosevelt had asked Amos to stay in her hus- 
 band's room all night and watch him. Stepping into the 
 room at 2 'clock Monday morning, she found him sleep- 
 ing quietly and Amos keeping vigil at the foot of the bed. 
 
 A little after 4 o'clock Amos sprang to the bedside, 
 for the Colonel's breathing was labored. He touched his 
 master's shoulder, but received no response and the 
 breathing seemed to stop. He left the room to summon 
 a nurse. Miss Alice Thoms, and she called Mrs. Roosevelt. 
 
 A telephone message to the \dllage brought Dr. George 
 W. Fallen, the Oyster Bay physician, who had attended 
 the Roosevelt family for twenty-five years. Dr. Fallen 
 motored fast to Sagamore Hill, but found Colonel Roose- 
 velt dead. He had breathed his last some minutes before 
 — apparently while the man-servant Amos was notifjdng 
 the nurse. 
 
 At the time of the death, no one was with the Colonel 
 at home except his wife, the nurse, and the servants. 
 His cousin and summer neighbor, W. Emlen Roosevelt, 
 
 366 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 called on Sunday, found the Colonel asleep, and hearing 
 good reports of his progress went away without disturb- 
 ing him. His secretary, Miss Josephine M. Strieker, was 
 to have gone to Sagamore Hill from his New York office 
 on the fateful Monday A^dth editorials and letters that 
 he had dictated at the end of the week. 
 
 Needless to say, Theodore Roosevelt was active to his 
 last waking moment. On the Sunday evening before his 
 death he corrected proofs of his last article for the Metro- 
 politan Magazine, and in front of a log Jfire in his library, 
 with Mrs. Roosevelt sitting beside him, wrote a letter to 
 his son, Captain Kermit Roosevelt, and inclosed a set of 
 the proofs. 
 
 His Final Message 
 
 On Saturday, January 4, he dictated a message which 
 was read at a meeting of the American Defense Society 
 at the Hippodrome, New York, on Sunday night, a few 
 hours before he died. In this message he phrased afresh 
 the thoughts that had been burning in his mind, and this 
 was his last ringing message to the American people : 
 
 ' ' There must be no sagging back in the fight for Americanism, 
 merely because the war is over. There are plenty of persons who 
 have already made the assertion that they believe the American 
 people have a short memory and that they intend to revive all 
 the foreign associations which most directly interfere with the 
 complete Americanization of our people. 
 
 "Our principle in this matter should be simple. In the first 
 place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in 
 good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, 
 he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it 
 is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of 
 creed or birthplace or origin. But this is predicated upon the 
 man's becoming in fact an American and nothing but an Amer- 
 ican. If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin 
 and separated from the rest of America then he isn't doing his 
 part as an American. 
 
 367 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 "There can be no divided alleg-iance here. Any man who says 
 he is an American, but something else also, isn 't an American at 
 all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this 
 excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty 
 and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a 
 nation to which we are hostile. 
 
 "We have room for but one language here, and that is the 
 American language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns 
 our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not 
 as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house ; and we have room for 
 but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people. ' ' 
 
 Captain Archie Roosevelt was to have read this char- 
 acteristic message in the Hippodrome, but on the Satur- 
 day he and his wife received word from Boston of the 
 death of her father, Thomas S. Lockwood. 
 
 Summoning of Relatives 
 
 Before 7 o'clock on Monday morning the secretary, 
 Miss Strieker, learned over the telephone from Sagamore 
 Hill of the Colonel's death. She wired all relatives in this 
 country and also cabled Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore 
 Roosevelt, Jr., who was in Germany with the Twenty- 
 sixth Infantry, in the American army of occupation, and 
 asked him to notify all relatives in Europe, including 
 Captain Kermit Roosevelt, U. S. A., who was also on 
 active service. 
 
 Captain Archie Roosevelt had not reached Boston 
 when the word reached him. He left the train, and return- 
 ing to New York arrived in Oyster Bay on Monday after- 
 noon. Also came the Colonel's eldest daughter, Mrs. 
 Nicholas Longworth, from Washington witli her husband. 
 Mrs. Richard H. Derby, who was Miss Ethel Roosevelt, 
 was on her way from Aiken, S. C, where she and her two 
 children went for the winter. Dr. Derby being in France 
 with the medical corps of the army. 
 
 Meanwhile a group of relatives and close friends of 
 the Roosevelts went to Sagamore Hill from New York. 
 
 368 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 There were Mr. and Mrs. Emlen Roosevelt, Mrs. Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt, Jr., and her mother, Mrs. Alexander ; Elon 
 H. Hooker, who was treasurer of the Progressive party 
 in the brave days of 1912 ; Joseph W. Bishop, whom Pres- 
 ident Roosevelt made secretary of the Panama Canal 
 Commission, and a few others. They found Mrs. Roose- 
 velt bearing up well, everything considered, and after 
 learning her wishes as to the funeral W. Emlen Roosevelt 
 set about making the arrangements. 
 
 Airplanes Drop Wreaths 
 
 Late in the afternoon of the day of death three air- 
 planes flew out of the south and circled over the rambling 
 old mansion at the top of Sagamore Hill. Each bore tw^o 
 aviators. They dropped wreaths of laurel among the 
 elms near the house — their tribute to the memory of the 
 former President and their own dead comrade, his 
 youngest son, who was shot down while flying over the 
 German lines six months before. 
 
 The planes came from Hazlehurst Field, where Quen- 
 tin Roosevelt learned the use of wings, where his father 
 also made a short flight as a passenger, and whence 
 Quentin often flew to visit his parents at Oyster Bay in 
 the course of his novitiate. The commander of Hazle- 
 hurst Field, Lieutenant-Colonel M. S. Harmon, announced 
 that an airplane watch would be maintained over Saga- 
 more Hill day and night until the time of the funeral, one 
 plane relieving another every few hours. 
 
 The Physicians' Statement 
 
 Late in the afternoon of Monday Emlen Roosevelt 
 went to the village of Oyster Bay and gave to the waiting 
 newspaper men this statement of the physicians : 
 
 "Colonel Roosevelt had been suffering from an attack of 
 inflammatory rheumatism for about two months. His progress 
 
 369 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 had been entirely satisfactory and his condition had not given 
 cause for especial concern. On Sunday he was in good spirits 
 and spent the evening with liis family dictating letters. He 
 retired at 11 o'clock, and about 4 in the morning his man, who 
 occupied an adjoining room, noticed that while sleeping quietly 
 Colonel Roosevelt's breathing was growing very shallow. He 
 died almost immediately, without awakening from what seemed 
 to be a natural sleep. The cause of death was an embolus. 
 
 "G. W. Fallen, M.D. 
 
 "John H. Rich.vrds, M. D. 
 
 ''John A. H.vrtwell, M. D." 
 
 Dr. Fallen is the Oyster Bay physician, Dr. Richards 
 is a New York specialist who had attended the Colonel 
 at the Roosevelt Hospital, and Dr. Hartwell, who is a 
 relative of Mrs. Alexander, was called into the case as a 
 consultant. 
 
 The Final Illness 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt's final illness dated from February, 
 1918. It was on the fifth of that month that, f ollo^^ing an 
 operation on one of his ears, he was removed from Oyster 
 Bay to the Roosevelt Hospital in New York. He 
 remained there until March 3, meanwhile undergoing two 
 more operations. 
 
 Two months later he insisted on keeping speaking 
 engagements arranged for him in many cities, and until 
 the fall continued to give from the platform his views on 
 international affairs. In November he was forced to 
 return to Roosevelt Hospital for treatment of rheuma- 
 tism. He remained there until Christmas Day, when he 
 returned to Sagamore Hill. 
 
 An Earlier Embolism 
 
 It was learned after his death that Colonel Roosevelt 
 suffered a pulmonary embolism which almost cost him his 
 life three weeks before he left Roosevelt Hospital on 
 Christmas Day. This was revealed by Dr. John H. Rich- 
 
 370 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 ards in telling of the Coloners condition during his last 
 illness. 
 
 In the same manner as his death was caused, a clot of 
 blood became detached from a thrumbosed vein. On this 
 former occasion, however, the passage of this clot through 
 the arteries to the lungs or the brain was checked in time 
 to save the patient's life. 
 
 Dr. Richardson revealed in his statement that the 
 Colonel's inflammatory rheumatism, from which he suf- 
 fered acutely at times, was traceable twenty years back 
 to an infected tooth. This infection spread to nearly all 
 the joints in the Colonel's body as the years went on. 
 
 The physician asserted that the Colonel had never 
 suffered from mastoiditis, as was reported when he went 
 under the operation a year before for an abscess of 
 the inner ear, and that neither this operation nor the 
 fever which he contracted while in South America could 
 in any way be considered a contributory cause toward 
 his death. 
 
 Effect of Quentin's Fate 
 
 It is probable that one thing which contributed to the 
 losing fight of the Colonel was the anxiety in the summer 
 of 1918 regarding the fate of his son Quentin. For some 
 weeks previous to confirmation of his death there were 
 reports that he had possibly been taken prisoner by the 
 Germans and might turn up alive. This suspense added 
 to the distress of the Roosevelt household. 
 
 When the sad news of the son's death finally was 
 officially confirmed. General Pershing cabled Colonel 
 Roosevelt that if desired the body of Quentin would be 
 removed to America. France meanwhile had paid the 
 fullest honors to the dead aviator and the Roosevelt fam- 
 ily declined to accept the War Department's offer. 
 
 371 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 In a letter to the Chief of Staff at Washington, Colo- 
 nel Roosevelt wrote : 
 
 **Mrs. Roosevelt and i wish to enter a most respectful 
 but most emphatic protest against the proposed course 
 so far as our son Quentin is concerned. We have always 
 believed that 
 
 '' 'Where the tree falls, 
 There let it lie.' 
 
 *' We know that many good persons feel entirely differ- 
 ent, but to us it is painful and harrowing long after death 
 to move the poor bodj^ from which the soul has fled. We 
 greatly prefer that Quentin shall continue to lie on the 
 spot where he fell in battle and where the foeman buried 
 him. 
 
 ** After the war is over Mrs. Roosevelt and I intend to 
 visit the grave and then to have a small stone put up by 
 us, but not disturbing what has already been erected to 
 his memory by his friends and American comrades-in- 
 arms." 
 
 The New^s in the Country 
 
 The news of the Colonel's death plunged the entire 
 country into mourning. It came with a shock that made 
 it almost unbelievable, but confirmation of the news sent 
 the flags fluttering to half-mast in every city, town, and 
 village throughout the land and started a flood of mes- 
 sages of sympathy and grief toward Oyster Bay. That 
 village, stunned by the news, then prostrated by grief, 
 did but typify all America. There the Colonel was fully 
 appreciated as a world figure, but he also was looked 
 upon as a fellow-townsman, like the village blacksmith 
 or any other local citizen. Before night in the windows 
 of nearly every store and residence were pictures of the 
 
 372 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 former President, draped vnth. crepe and surrounded by 
 American flags — the emblems that he loved. 
 
 Colonel Koosevelt's old servants were inconsolable. 
 All who ever served him were his friends. James Amos, 
 to whom he addressed his last words, and his coachman, 
 Charles Lee, had both been with him since his White 
 House days. 
 
 *'I have lost the best friend I have ever had," Lee 
 said. *'Yes, sir, the best friend that anybody ever had 
 in all this world. ' ' 
 
 Last Public Appearances 
 
 On Labor Day, 1918, the Colonel celebrated a ship 
 launching at Newburgh, N. Y., keeping a long standing 
 promise, and had to shake so many persons' hands that 
 he got no luncheon. Late in October, just before election, 
 he spoke at a Carnegie Hall meeting, called in the interest 
 of the Whitman gubernatorial ticket, but on account of 
 President Wilson's appeal to the people to elect a purely 
 Democratic Congress it was converted into an answer to 
 the President and a challenge. 
 
 Never did the Colonel blaze brighter than on that 
 memorable night ; his last act before going to the meeting 
 was to dictate an ''insert" for his speech, answering 
 assertions that had been made about his own and William 
 McKinley's appeals for partisan support when they were 
 Presidents. 
 
 In the following week he again spoke in Carnegie Hall, 
 this time in behalf of support for the Negro war unit. 
 That was his last public utterance — an appeal for the 
 Negro. The next morning the Colonel's right hand was 
 swollen, and he did not leave his home until December 11, 
 the day the European armistice was signed, when he went 
 
 373 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 to the hospital again. When lie emerged, on December 
 25, the public supposed that he merely had a furlough for 
 Christmas and would return to the hospital. He motored 
 to Sagamore Hill. 
 
 On the lawn was Mrs. Derby's little son, calling, 
 ''Come, granda, we must go in and see what Santy has 
 brought for Christmas." They had a rousing family 
 party. Thereafter the Colonel did not leave Sagamore 
 Hill, except for a trip or two to the village in his auto- 
 mobile. 
 
 Worked Despite His Pain 
 
 He and Mrs. Eoosevelt walked about their grounds a 
 good deal, but for him the Colonel led a very quiet life. 
 Bheumatisin had caused his left hand and leg to swell, 
 and he suffered a good deal of pain, but worked at his 
 desk prodigiously. 
 
 Always at Christmas time, except when the Roose- 
 velts were in the TMiite House or the head of the family 
 was away exploring the far corners of the earth, he was 
 accustomed to go on Christmas Eve doAvn to the Cove 
 School, where his flock had learned their A, B, C's, with 
 presents which he would distribute to the children and 
 then make a little talk which Oyster Bay folks would 
 regard as better than any of his Presidential addresses. 
 He could not go this time. Captain Archie Roosevelt 
 represented him at the school's Christmas party, and 
 handed the gifts around. 
 
 On New Year's Day, as the doctors revealed after his 
 death, there was an acute attack of the inflammatory 
 rheumatism, which was alarming, but did not last long. 
 Dr. Fallen of Oyster Bay \dsited the patient tvnce a day 
 and Dr. Richards and Dr. Hartwell also went to Saga- 
 more Hill at regular intervals. 
 
 374 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 In High Spirits Sunday 
 
 On Sunday morning, January 5, Dr. Fallen found the 
 Colonel in high spirits, and again at 8 o'clock in the even- 
 ing. In fact, the doctor had considerable trouble in get- 
 ting the Colonel to talk about himself and how he felt. In 
 his characteristic manner the former President was bub- 
 bling with talk about everything else under the sun. 
 
 He always acted as if he took his ailments lightly, 
 although well aware that they might prove serious. At 11 
 o'clock on Sunday night the Oyster Bay physician was 
 called again to Sagamore Hill. The nurse said that the 
 Colonel had had a spell of shortness of breath. The 
 Colonel himself said to the doctor : 
 
 *'I felt as if my heart was going to stop beating. I 
 couldn't seem to get a long breath." 
 
 *'But the Colonel was not pale or nervous," Dr. Fallen 
 said. He looked just as he usually did. His voice was as 
 hearty as ever. In fact, he was quite jovial. There was 
 nothing in his appearance to indicate what had occurred." 
 
 ''Did he have any feeling that the end was near!" the 
 physician was asked. 
 
 ''None whatever," was the answer. Dr. Fallen added 
 that he examined the patient thoroughly, and detected no 
 sign of trouble with the heart or the lungs. He left after 
 twenty minutes or so and the Colonel retired. Then came 
 the telephone call after 4 o'clock in the morning, and the 
 finding of Colonel Roosevelt dead in his bed. He lay on 
 his left side with his arais folded in an attitude of natural 
 sleep. His expression was serenity itself. The doctor 
 was sure that the Colonel had not suffered, but had passed 
 painlessly away. 
 
 How far he was from feeling any foreshadowing of 
 the end was shown by a letter received on the day of his 
 
 375 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 death by a meeting of the Independent Citizens' Commit- 
 tee on Welcoming Returning Soldiers, of which he had 
 been elected honorary chairman. It was written by his 
 wife and said : 
 
 ''Rheumatism has invaded Mr. Roosevelt's right hand 
 and he wants me to write that he has telegraphed his 
 acceptance. This is to assure you that he ^vi\\ be at your 
 call by springtime. ' ' 
 
 Funeral at Oyster Bay 
 
 The simplest obsequies ever accorded a man of great 
 public distinction were those of Theodore Roosevelt. 
 This was in accordance with his own expressed desire, 
 and his wishes were faithfully carried out by his family 
 and friends. Thus in his death he once more gave the lie 
 to those who had ignorantly charged him with ostentation 
 and an uncontrollable desire for the limelight. In his 
 death and the chosen manner of his burial, he was as sim- 
 ple and sincere as he had ever been in life to all who 
 really knew him. 
 
 There was no lying-in-state, no eulog>' over his grave, 
 no special music and no honorary pallbearers at his 
 funeral. He was laid away with the simplest rites of 
 Christian burial. But as that simple funeral took place, 
 a hush fell over the land. The wheels of industry were 
 stopped and men stood bareheaded on the street in cities 
 from Maine to California, in honor of him who was being 
 laid to rest. 
 
 The funeral took place on the afternoon of Wednes- 
 day, January 8, 1919, two days after the Colonel died. 
 In a casket wrapped with the American flag, the body was 
 first taken to Christ Church, Oyster Bay, for a brief 
 ser\dce, and was then interred in the Youngs' Memorial 
 Cemetery, in a grave near the summit of a steep hill 
 
 37€ 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 which looks out on Oyster Bay Cove and across the cove 
 to the Roosevelt home on Sagamore Hill. 
 
 Service in the Home 
 
 At noon the Roosevelt family and very close friends of 
 the Colonel gathered in the trophy room, where the 
 master of Sagamore Hill had delighted visitors from 
 many lands with his inimitable accounts of how he came 
 by the treasures that were there stored. The group 
 assembled for this first intimate service numbered about 
 seventy-five. Mrs. Roosevelt was present, but did not go 
 to the church or cemetery. The rector of Christ Church. 
 Rev. George E. Talmadge, who has had the Oyster Bay 
 parish for eight years and whose fondness for the Colonel 
 was reciprocated, read a few simple prayers and then the 
 Ninety-first Psalm, beginning : 
 
 "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High 
 shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ' ' 
 
 Procession to Church 
 
 In a few moments this part of the ceremonies was 
 ended. Closed automobiles were waiting, when the coffin 
 was carried out to the motor hearse. Into the first step- 
 ped Mrs. Nicholas Longworth and Mrs. Richard Derby, 
 the Colonel's daughters; his sister, Mrs. Douglas Robin- 
 son ; Mrs. Archibald Roosevelt, wife of the Captain, and 
 Mr. Longworth. The chauffeur was the negro, Charlie 
 Lee. Capt. Roosevelt and Theodore Douglas Robinson, 
 nephew of the former President, had gone on to the 
 church to take charge of the seating arrangements. 
 
 Snow had been falling since dawn in great, slow 
 settling flakes that gave promise of an early clearing. As 
 the procession turned into the Cove road from Sagamore 
 Hill the first real sunlight of the day appeared. As the 
 
 377 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 cars moved toward town, in front rode Capt. Edward 
 Bourke of the New York Police Department who, accord- 
 ing to tradition, won the then Police Commissioner Roose- 
 velt's attention when Bourke shouted " Gangway!" one 
 morning when the Commissioner entered headquarters. 
 The Colonel asked Bourke if he hadn't been a sailor. 
 Bourke had indeed. He had been in the United States 
 Navy. Roosevelt pushed him along in the Department, 
 and the two became fast friends, as anyone may read in 
 the Colonel 's autobiography. 
 
 Bourke on horseback cantered ahead of the proces- 
 sion, and on either side of the hearse were three other 
 giants of New York's mounted police, who with their 
 captain formed the escort of honor. 
 
 While the cortege was approacliing the ^^llage over 
 the two miles or so of road skirting the Cove between 
 Oyster Bay and Sagamore Hill, twenty-five New York 
 policemen, not one less than six feet tall and some tower- 
 ing to six feet five, formed a line around the church. 
 Service in Christ Church 
 
 Christ Episcopal Church, where the funeral service 
 was held, was founded in 1705 and rebuilt in 1878. It 
 was the church which the Colonel and his family usually 
 attended when at home, there being no Dutch Reformed 
 Church in the village and Mrs. Roosevelt being an Episco- 
 palian. The church would accommodate less than 500 
 persons, so that admittance for the funeral was by card 
 only. The cards were issued from the Colonel's New 
 York office, at 347 Madison Avenue, and were given only 
 to relatives and close friends. 
 
 Seated side by side in the first pew of the church were 
 the representatives of the army and na%^ — General Pey- 
 ton C. March and Admiral Cameron McR. Winslow — with 
 
 378 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 their hands resting on the hilts of their swords, from 
 which hung knots of crepe. Vice-President Marshall, 
 representing President Wilson and the Government of 
 the United States, was in the front of the church, where 
 also were seated the members of the Congressional dele- 
 gation, old political friends and old political foes of 
 Colonel Roosevelt, equally anxious to do honor to his 
 great memory. The pews were filled, the sides of the 
 church were lined with men and women standing, and 
 small rooms communicating with the nave of the church 
 held those for whom room could not be otherwise 
 provided. 
 
 The church was decorated with laurel which had been 
 left since Christmas. 
 
 Though the family had requested that no flowers be 
 sent, the friends would not be denied that sad privilege, 
 and the chancel w^as covered w^ith floral pieces. One of 
 these was a wreath of pink and white carnations sent in 
 accordance with cable directions from President Wilson. 
 A large wreath in the foreground bore a wide ribbon 
 marked ''United States Senate" in gold letters. A bunch 
 of pink and white carnations was sent by the officers of 
 the battleship Indiana. A piece made of heather, pink 
 roses, and violets came from a Japanese organization, 
 the Osaka Osahe. The American Historical Association 
 of Washington sent a cluster of liHes. Orchids, violets, 
 and peach blossoms came from the Republican National 
 Committee. Floral pieces came also from the American 
 Defense Society, the Camp Fire Club of America, the 
 National Institute of Arts and Letters, the American 
 Academy of Arts and Letters, the Boone and Crockett 
 Club, and other organizations. 
 
 As the church began to fill there was interest in 
 
 379 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 another decoration of the rear wall of the edifice of which 
 Colonel Roosevelt was particularly proud — two sheets of 
 foolscap, under glass, on which were written with pen and 
 ink the names of ninety-eight members of the parish who 
 had entered the national service, the first four names 
 being Roosevelts, and the one name of the ninety-eight 
 distinguished by a gold star being that of Quentin 
 Roosevelt. 
 
 Allied Nations Send Delegates 
 When the church liad filled many were in uniform 
 besides the official representatives of the army and navy. 
 There were officers present in British and French uni- 
 forms, and most of the nations of the Allies were repre- 
 sented by military or diplomatic delegates. 
 
 Captain Archibald Roosevelt, thin, very pale and only 
 partly recovered from his wounds, wearing the Croix de 
 Guerre and two other medals on his breast, moved up and 
 down the center aisle of the church, acting as usher. He 
 gave a respectful military salute when the official repre- 
 sentatives of the nation arrived and took them to their 
 seats. He saluted and gripped the hand of ex-President 
 Taft. Others who acted as ushers were William Loeb, 
 Jr., Theodore Douglas Robinson, and Representative 
 Nicholas Longworth. 
 
 Just before the service began the sun broke out for 
 the first time during the day. During the morning the 
 snow fell so thickly as to make fl>4ng impracticable and 
 the airplane watch over the Roosevelt home was discon- 
 tinued. At about noon the snowfall ceased, but the slcy 
 remained overcast. At 12:50 o'clock, just three minutes 
 before the service began, however, rays of sunlight fell on 
 the stained glass windows, lessening the gloom in the 
 church and touching it here and there with faint glows of 
 purple, yellow, and ruby. 
 
 380 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 Arrival at the Church 
 
 The funeral party from Sagamore Hill arrived seven 
 minutes before 1 o'clock. Reciting the words of the pro- 
 cessional, beginning, ' ' I am the resurrection and the life, 
 saith the Lord," the rector. Dr. G. E. Talmadge, walked 
 up the aisle, preceding the coffin, carried by six men. The 
 coffin bore the American flag and upon that a wreath and 
 two banners, the regimental standard of the Rough Riders 
 and the national standard of the Rough Riders. The 
 wreath was the gift of the members of Colonel Roose- 
 velt's famous regiment who were in attendance at the 
 funeral. It was of bronze laurel, intertwined with a rare 
 acacia, the yellow being the cavalry color. 
 
 In clear tones the rector read the service, while the 500 
 persons in the church, Americans and foreigners, whose 
 mourning symbolized that of the United States and of 
 the allied nations, sat with grave faces. Some of the 
 devoted admirers of Colonel Roosevelt could not control 
 themselves and covered their faces mth their hands. It 
 was plain that only the simplicity and formality of the 
 service made it possible to go through with it without an 
 outburst of uncontrollable grief. Had there been a 
 eulo^, the feelings of the men and women in the church 
 would have broken all bounds. 
 
 The first variation from the ritual order for the burial 
 of the dead was the reading by Dr. Talmadge of the hymn, 
 ''How Firm a Foundation," which was Colonel Roose- 
 velt's favorite, and the following prayer attributed to 
 Cardinal NeAvman : 
 
 O, Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life, 
 until the shadows lengthen and evening comes and the busy world 
 is hushed and the fever of life is over and our work is done. 
 Then of Thy great mercy grant us a safe lodging and a holy rest 
 and peace at the last, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 
 
 381 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 How Fiirm a Foimdatloii. 
 
 Geortre Keith. 
 
 M.108 = J 
 
 Uokaoim. 
 
 S 
 
 5 
 
 Lord, Is laid 
 
 r^^fiTr ^ 
 
 1. Hjwfinn a {onc-da-tion, ye eaints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in Hb 
 2."Fcarnot, I sm with tlice, be not dis-mayed, For I api thy God, I will 
 3."Whenthro*thedeepwater8l call thoe to go, The riv-e're of BorrowshaU 
 4."Whenthro'fi-ery tri - als thy path-way shalllie, My grace,aU-8uf-ficient, shall 
 
 ex-cel-lent wordl WhatmorecanHesay thantoyou Hehathsaid, To you, who for 
 Btill give thee aid; I'll 8tr»aglbcnlliM,helpthee,andcausetheetostand,Up-held by my 
 not o-verflow;For I will be with thee, thy tri-ab to bless, And sanc-ti-fy 
 be thy sup-ply, Thefiame88hallnotlmrtthee;ion - ly de-sign Thy dross to con' 
 
 JlL^ — i.r .... ...-J.rJ.J'jJ.JlJ J 
 
 Ww^fmm^m 
 
 Q^E 
 
 ^j^^^^Mumm^^Mm 
 
 ref-nge to Je - sus have fled? To you, who for ref-uge to Je-sus have fled? 
 gra-cious.om-Oip - o-tent hand. Up-held by my gra-cious,om-nip-o-tenthanJ. 
 to thee thy deep-est dis- tress. And sanc-ti - fy to thee thy deep-est distress. 
 Bome, and thy gold to re - fine, Thydrossto consume, andthygold to re- fie." 
 
 j2. 
 
 How Firm a Foundation. 
 
 George Koitli. 
 M 60= d 
 
 Anne Steele. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt's Favorite Hymn, with Two Tunes to Which It Is Sung. 
 
 382 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 An Affecting Incident 
 
 In one other respect the service in the church differed 
 from the expected. That departure was a glowing thing, 
 distinguishing the formalities of this service from 
 all others, as the man who lay there was distinguished 
 among men. When the moment for the benediction 
 arrived, the Rev. Dr. Talmadge advanced in the chancel 
 and raising his hands uttered the name ''Theodore!" 
 He looked straight at the sealed coffin and seemed to be 
 speaking to the one who lay therein. 
 
 "Theodore," he said, "the Lord bless you and keep 
 you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be 
 gracious unto you ; the Lord lift up his countenance upon 
 you and give you peace, both now and evermore. Amen." 
 
 These words, omitting the salutation, are found in the 
 Book of Common Prayer. The minister of Christ Church 
 had adapted them to this occasion, and in so doing had 
 transfigured them. The effect was most stirring. 
 
 The congregation rose then as the bearers lifted the 
 coffin and carried it down the aisle. Into the silence 
 broke the tolling of the church bell. Each clang of the 
 hammer was echoed by the answering bell in the steeple 
 of the Presbyterian Church nearby. Thus the former 
 President was borne to the portico. 
 
 Those in the church moved slowly outside into a clear 
 space about the edifice which had been drawn by the New 
 York traffic policemen. 
 
 Up and down the street, outside the police lines, were 
 from 3,000 to 4,000 men, women, and children of Oyster 
 Bay and visitors from New York and elsewhere. 
 
 Representative Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois, with his 
 head bowed, walked out of the church in the Congres- 
 sional delegation near Champ Clark, Speaker of the 
 
 383 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSE\'ELT 
 
 House of Representatives, who also appeared much 
 affected. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, 
 and an old personal friend of Colonel Roosevelt, wore an 
 expression of deepest grief. Some of the other official 
 representatives at the funeral were Governor Alfred E. 
 Smith of New York State, Admiral Albert Gleaves, Gen- 
 eral Louis Collardet and Captain Christian Pierret of 
 the French Mission to this country, Assistant Secretary 
 of State AVilliam Phillips, and Mayor Hylan of New 
 York City. 
 
 The members of the Senate delegation were Senators 
 Lodge of Massachusetts, Calder of New York, Knox of 
 Pennsylvania, Kellogg of Minnesota, Poindexter of 
 Washington, Curtis of Kansas, Hardwick of Ohio, Cham- 
 berlain of Oregon, Smoot of Utah, Phelan of California, 
 Henderson of Nevada, Gay of Louisiana, King of Utah, 
 Martin of Kentucky, New of Indiana, and Sutherland of 
 AVest Virginia. 
 
 The members of the House committee included 
 Speaker Clark, Representatives Sherley of Kentucky, 
 AYebb of North Carolina, Flood of Virginia, Dent of Ala- 
 bama, Sherwood of Ohio, Padgett of Tennessee, Stedman 
 of North Carolina, Estopinal of Louisiana, Riordan of 
 New York, McAndrew of Illinois, Gallivan of Massa- 
 chusetts, Smith of New York, Mann of Illinois, Fordney 
 of Michigan, Gillett of Massachusetts, Volstead of Minne- 
 sota, Cooper of Wisconsin, Kahn of California, Butler of 
 Pennsylvania, Mott of New York, Hicks of New York, 
 Chandler of New York, Cannon and Rodenburg of Illi- 
 nois, and Bowers of West Virginia. 
 
 Scene in the Cemetery 
 
 Standing in the snow, among the bare locusts and 
 green cedars about the grave was a small group of rela- 
 
 384 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 tives and intimate friends of Colonel Roosevelt, some 
 of the nation's greatest and most honored public men, 
 and a number of boys and girls from the Oyster Bay Cove 
 School, three or four of them negro children. 
 
 The automobiles, which had come a mile and a half 
 from Christ Episcopal Church to the cemetery, stopped 
 at the gate of the cemetery on the Oyster Bay Cove road, 
 a few feet from the water's edge. The narrow road into 
 the cemetery was too steep and rough for automobiles. 
 Senators and Representatives in Congress, members of 
 the Rough Riders, relatives of Colonel Roosevelt, and 
 intimate friends therefore climbed with the children of 
 the village up the hillside and stood with bare heads. 
 
 The sun, which, after a morning of snow, had come out 
 of the clouds just before the body was carried into the 
 church, was still shining when the simple burial service of 
 the Episcopal Church was held at the grave. Snow was 
 melting and falling from the locusts and evergreens which 
 form a thick grove about the plot which Colonel Roosevelt 
 had selected as his last resting-place. 
 
 Ex-President William Howard Taft, the picture of 
 grief, stood near the grave, with his head bent forward 
 and tears in his eyes. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, who 
 appeared hardly able to command himself, stood a short 
 distance away. Senator Chamberlain, who was between 
 them, seemed almost equally affected. Some less famous 
 men among Colonel Roosevelt's intimates were sobbing 
 like children. His two daughters were overcome with 
 grief. Mrs. Roosevelt was not present, and did not leave 
 the home after the service of prayer which was held there 
 for the family. 
 
 Major-General Leonard Wood, w^ho had come from 
 Camp Funston, Kansas, on receiving the unexpected news 
 
 385 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 of his friend's death, had arrived during the morning 
 and stood with the members of the Roosevelt family. 
 
 The members of the family stood on ground up the hill 
 from the grave, which was in sloping ground. The Con- 
 gressional delegations, representatives of national organi- 
 zations, and old friends were ranged among trees on the 
 slope and below the grave. The circle was completed by 
 the line of school children. 
 
 The earth, which had been removed for the concrete- 
 lined grave, was concealed by flowers. The oak coffin, 
 partly covered by the flag, rested on four rough finished 
 boards, on each side of the opening. 
 
 Sorrovnng Group About the Grave 
 
 In the group about the grave were men who had first 
 put Colonel Roosevelt forward prominently in the State 
 and nation. One sorrowful old man was Joseph Murray, 
 the Repubhcan leader of the Twenty-first District in 1881, 
 who first induced Theodore Roosevelt to run for office 
 and of whom the Colonel wrote in his autobiography: 
 
 *'It was not my fight, it was Joe's; and it was to him 
 that I owe my entry into politics." 
 
 The man who brought him into his first great national 
 prominence was Senator Lodge, of whom Colonel Roose- 
 velt said in the same volume : 
 
 ''In the spring of 1897, President McKinley appointed 
 me Assistant Secretary of the Navy. I owed the appoint- 
 ment chiefly to the efforts of Senator H. C. Lodge of 
 Massachusetts, who was doubtless actuated mainly by his 
 long and close friendship for me, but also — I like to 
 Ijelieve — by his keen interest in the navy." 
 
 Others about the grave were among the most dis- 
 tinguished men in the nation as artists, authors, explorers, 
 scientists, and men who bad stood in various relations to 
 
 386 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt; college friends, hunting and fishing 
 friends, sparring partners, policemen, and priests. One 
 man who came to the funeral at the express msh of Mrs. 
 Roosevelt was Father J. J. Curran of Wilkes-Barre, who 
 aided Colonel Roosevelt in settling the anthracite coal 
 strike in 1902. 
 
 ''I came," said Father Curran, ''to pay my tribute to 
 the best man that ever lived." 
 
 Schools and shops were closed in Oyster Bay during 
 the funeral, and most business places and some residences 
 were hung with crepe. Many persons in the village wore 
 buttons bearing the picture of Colonel Roosevelt over a 
 bit of crepe or black ribbon. 
 
 The grave was guarded after the burial by young men 
 of Oyster Bay, recently discharged from the service of 
 the nation, who patrolled the cemetery in their uniforms. 
 They were under Lieutenant C. T. Reynolds of East 
 Norwich. 
 
 Youngs* Memorial Cemetery 
 
 ''The Youngs' Memorial Cemetery, at Oyster Bay, 
 where Theodore Roosevelt is now taking his long sleep, 
 has an especial interest to me because I was in college 
 for two years at Cornell with William Jones Young," 
 said Julius Chambers, in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 
 
 "When the Cornellian Council was organized, five 
 years ago, he and I were chosen life members thereof to 
 represent our respective classes. 
 
 "Meantime, each of us had had experience with the 
 Avorld. He emerged from the practice of law in 1899, as 
 Governor Roosevelt's private secretary, after which he 
 became a United States District Attorney, with an office 
 in Brooklyn. 
 
 387 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 ''The heretofore purely local burial place at Oyster 
 Bay vdW now become a world-wide shrine, to be visited by 
 those who reverence the name of the great American 
 buried there. 
 
 ''I sincerely hope that a tall shaft, visible from many 
 points of vantage, will some day surmount the hill upon 
 which is the Roosevelt grave. Other monuments will rise 
 in his honor at many places in this land ; but Oyster Bay 
 is the site for the real testimonial of national affection 
 and pride. 
 
 **He chose to rest with the people of his own com- 
 munity, among whom he had passed much of his life — his 
 townfolk, who knew him better than other friends and 
 universally respected and loved him. 
 
 ''Mount Vernon, Springfield, Oyster Bay — sacred to 
 the memories of Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt!" 
 Theodore Roosevelt's Will 
 
 The last wdll and testament of the former President 
 was filed for probate at Mineola, N. Y., on January 11, 
 1919. While the value of the estate was not disclosed, 
 it was estimated to exceed $500,000. 
 
 The income of the estate was bequeathed to Mrs. 
 Roosevelt, who was authorized to dispose of the principal 
 to the children in any way she desires. 
 
 A trust fund of $60,000 left to Col. Roosevelt by his 
 father was divided among his children. 
 
 To Mrs. Nicholas Long^vorth, who was Alice Roose- 
 velt, the Colonel left ''all the silver given as wedding 
 presents on my marriage with her mother," who was Miss 
 Alice Lee of Boston when she became Theodore Roose- 
 velt's wife. She died in 1884. The rest of the family 
 silver was di\aded among the other children, Mrs. Ethel 
 Derby, Theodore, Jr., Archibald, and Keiinit. 
 
 388 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 The executors, Theodore, Jr., Mrs. Roosevelt, and 
 George Emlen Roosevelt, were authorized to sell or dis- 
 pose of all real or personal property held by them and to 
 change the investments whenever they please without 
 being held responsible "for any losses arising there- 
 from. ' ' 
 
 The mil directed that the executors should not be 
 required to file an inventory of the estate, and authorized 
 them to sell and partition any of his real and personal 
 property and allot the same to the several legatees as 
 provided by the will. 
 
 Prank Harper of Oklahoma City, Okla., and George 
 Douglas Wardrop of New York, witnessed the document. 
 
 The ColoneFs Last Letter 
 
 Major E. J. Vattman, who was ranking Roman 
 Catholic chaplain with the United States Army when he 
 was retired fourteen years ago and who for years before 
 that had enjoyed the fullest friendship and confidence of 
 Colonel Roosevelt, could not hold back the tears when 
 news of the Colonel's death reached him in Wilmette, 111. 
 
 Almost before he had recovered his self-possession 
 the noon mail was placed before him. A familiar envelope 
 topped the pile. Major Vattman 's hand trembled as he 
 reached for it. 
 
 ''How can I believe him dead?" he asked. "His 
 friendship lives for me still." 
 
 Here is the Colonel's letter to the venerable chaplain 
 — one of the last he Kved to write and almost certainly 
 the last to reach Illinois : 
 
 "Dear Mgr. Vattman: Mrs. Roosevelt and I were 
 really very much impressed by Father Garecbe's poem, 
 'The War Mothers.' 
 
 389 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 "We value the book for its own sake, and we value it 
 especially because it comes from you. 
 ''With all good wishes, 
 
 * * Gratefully yours, 
 ''Theodoee Roose\t:lt." 
 
 Pension for Mrs. Roosevelt 
 
 On January 20, 1919, the Committee on Pensions of 
 the House of Representatives, to whom was referred a 
 bill granting a pension of $5,000 per annum to Mrs. Edith 
 Carow Roosevelt, widow of the former president, unanim- 
 ously approved the bill, and adopted as its report the fol- 
 lowing letter of Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the 
 Interior, to whom the bill was referred for comment, 
 "because it constitutes one of the most beautiful, fair, 
 and just tributes to the life and character of the late Col. 
 Theodore Roosevelt which could be written:" 
 
 Department of the Interior, 
 "Washington, January 20, 1919. 
 
 My Dear Mr. Key : I have your letter of January 14, submit- 
 ting for my consideration H. R. 13879, in which it is proposed 
 to provide a pension of $5,000 per annum for Mrs. Edith Carow 
 Roosevelt and asking that the committee be informed as to "what 
 widows of ex-Presidents of the United States have been allowed 
 pension by means of a special act of Congress and the amounts 
 of the pension in each instance." I find that it has been the 
 pleasure of Congress to provide a pension of $5,000 per year for : 
 
 Sarah Childress Polk, widow of James K. Polk. 
 
 Julia Gardner Tyler, widow of John Tyler. 
 
 Mary Lincoln, widow of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Julia Dent Grant, widow of U. S. Grant. 
 
 Lucretia R. Garfield, widow of James A. Garfield. 
 
 Ida S. McKinley, widow of William McKinley. 
 
 Your letter also suggests that I am at liberty to make other 
 comment tlian a mere formal report upon the proposed bill. I 
 would gladly avail myself of such an opportunity if I thought 
 that any word that I could say would add to the strength of the 
 sentiment that urges the passage of this measure. The impress 
 
 390 
 
DEATH AND BURIAL 
 
 that Theodore Roosevelt's personality has made upon the world 
 does not, however, need emphasis. Whatever his fame as a 
 statesman, it can never outrun his fame as a man. However 
 widely men may differ from him in matters of national policy, 
 this thing men in their hearts would all wish, that their sons 
 might have within them the spirit, the will, the strength, the 
 manliness, the Americanism of Roosevelt. He was made of that 
 rugged and heroic stuff with which legend delights to play. The 
 Idylls and the Sagas and the Iliads have been woven about men 
 of his mold. We may surely expect to see developed a Roosevelt 
 legend, a body of tales that will exalt the physical power and 
 endurance of the man and the boldness of his spirit, his robust 
 capacity for blunt speech, and his hearty comradeship, his live 
 interest in all things living — these will make our boys for the 
 long future proud that they are of his race and his country. 
 And no surer fame than this can come to any man — to live in the 
 hearts of the boys of his land as one whose doings and sayings 
 they would wish to make their own. 
 
 Cordially, yours, 
 
 Franklin K. Lane. 
 Hon. John A. Key, 
 Chmrman Committee on Pensions, House of Representatives. 
 
 The bill was passed unanimously by both the House 
 and the Senate. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt's devotion to his country above 
 all else was never more courageously shown than in the 
 statement he issued July 17, 1918, upon receiving the 
 news of his son, Quentin's, death in an aerial combat 
 in France. 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt said: 
 
 * ' Quentin 's mother and I are very glad that he got to 
 the front and had the chance to render some service to 
 his country and to show the stuff there was in him before 
 his fate befell him. ' ' 
 
 General Pershing, verifying the report of Quentin's 
 death, wired the Colonel : 
 
 ' ' You may well be proud of your gift to the nation in 
 his supreme sacrifice." 
 
 391 
 
A Square Deal for the Men at the Front. 
 
 By Tnpx)DORE 
 
 We should show our respect for the 
 men at the front by more than mere 
 adulation. They arc tl;e Ainerlcans who 
 have done most and suffered most for 
 this country It was announced in the 
 presi that in many cases they and the 
 families they have {eft behind have not 
 for months received their full pay TLls 
 is an outrage. All ciTil officials are 
 paid. The Secretary of War is paid and 
 hft CQght not to touch a dollar of bi> 
 salary end no hlsh official should tonch 
 a dollar of his saJury until the enlisted 
 men and Junior officers are paid every 
 cent that is owing to them, and thfs pay- 
 ment sbould bo prompt. There is liter- 
 ally no excuse for even so mucb as three 
 days^ delay in the payment. 
 
 Moreover, these men at great coat to 
 themselves in paying everything tnclud- 
 iag. tn fifty or sixty thousand cases, 
 their lives, have gone to the front at a 
 wage from one-half to one-fifth as great 
 As that their companions who stayed be- 
 hind have received during the same 
 period. They enlisted to do a specific 
 )ob They made the saoiflco In order 
 to do that iobk We on our side shotUd 
 eee that ]ust as eoon as the ]ob is done 
 tho men aro taken home, allovred to 
 leave tha army and begin earning their 
 llvellbooj and take care of the wives 
 and children that the married ones 
 among them baTa left behind 
 
 Recently in tbc public press there 
 have appeared various artless and chatty 
 staiemonta from the Slate. War and 
 Navy departments that our men might 
 be feept in Europe to do general police 
 wori and might not be brought back 
 hero until the Bummer of 1920 There 
 are three tj-pcs of soldiers On the other 
 slda Theroare tbe^ReguIar Army men. 
 who have entered the Regular Army as 
 
 Roosevelt 
 
 a profession, and to whom it is a matter 
 of indifference whether they stay in En- 
 rope, come back be-e. fo to the Phlllp- 
 plnes^or do anything else. That is a 
 small proportion of our fvce on the 
 other side The bulk are dlrtded be- 
 tween volunteers, who enlisted in tho 
 National Guard or sometimes in the 
 regular regiments to fight this war 
 through, and the drafted men who were 
 put into the army nndpr a law designed 
 to meet this war and this war only Not 
 one In ten of the volunteers would have 
 dreamed of volunteering to do police 
 work in European squabbles Not ten 
 congressmen would have voted for the 
 Draft Law If it was to force selective 
 men to do police duty after the war was 
 over All these men went In to Gght 
 this war through to a finish and then 
 to corns home It (s not a square deal to 
 follow eny other (»urse as regards them. 
 The minute that peace comes every 
 American soldier on the other sido 
 should be brought home as speedily as 
 possible save, of course, the regulars 
 who make the Regulcr Army their life 
 profession, anil any ether man who 
 chose to volunteep to go over, or who 
 can with entire propriety he used for 
 gathering up the loose ends. The Amcrl. 
 can fighting man at the from has S'ven 
 this country a square deal during the 
 war Now let the country give him a 
 square deal by letting bim get out ot 
 the army and go to his home as soqd as 
 the war Is finished The Red Cross has 
 done wonderful work in taking care ot 
 the dependents of these men pending set- 
 tlement by the government, but the gov- 
 ernment should not be content to rely 
 on any outside organization to make up 
 Us own shortcomings 
 
 tCopfTitXl. 1913. Tit Saniu f«j Star \ 
 
 392 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 Messages of Grief and Sympathy — Tributes by Public 
 Men in Many Countries — Official Action by States, 
 Cities, Courts, and Public Bodies — Autographed Ex- 
 pressions of Respect — A Special Day of Tribute to 
 Theodore Roosevelt's Life and Memory. 
 
 From far and near, when Roosevelt died, there came 
 the tributes of all classes of men and women. There was, 
 in fact, such an outpouring of mingled eulogy and regret 
 that it seemed as if all who had known him in life hastened 
 to show their appreciation of his patriotic career and 
 services to America. Even many of those who had been 
 arrayed against him in politics, and some who had been 
 counted among his avowed enemies, joined the chorus of 
 world-wide sorrow at his death and praise of his virtues, 
 lajdng their tributes upon the bier of the great American 
 -svith unstinted recognition of his patriotism and a sin- 
 cerity that was unmistakable. 
 
 In almost every expression there seemed to be a 
 mingling of the sense of personal loss with that of irre- 
 parable loss to the nation and to humanity. And those 
 whose sympathy and regret found public expression in 
 the press were but a part of the many that voiced similar 
 sentiments in every community in the land. Popular and 
 beloved as Theodore Roosevelt was in life, it was only 
 after his death that it could be fully realized how deeply 
 
 393 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 he was enshrined in the hearts of his fellow-countrymen. 
 There was no discord in the chorus of regrets at his pass- 
 ing and tributes to his hfe of service. 
 
 Only a few of these tributes of public men and women 
 can be reproduced out of the great mass of laudatory and 
 regretful expressions, but the most significant and repre- 
 sentative appear below. 
 
 Proclamation by the President 
 
 The following proclamation was cabled from Paris by 
 President Wilson and issued at the State Department : 
 
 Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America. 
 
 A proclamation to the people of the United States: 
 
 It becomes mj sad duty to announce oSiciaJly the death of Theodore 
 Eoosevelt, President of the United States from September 14, 1901, to 
 March 4, 1909, which occurred at his home at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, 
 N. Y., at 4:15 o'clock in the morning of January 6, 1919. 
 
 In his death the United States has lost one of its most distinguished 
 and patriotic citizens, who had endeared himself to the people by his 
 strenuous devotion to their interests and to the public interests of his 
 country. 
 
 As President of the Police Board of his native city, as member of the 
 legislature and governor of his state, as civil service commissioner, as 
 Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as Vice President, and as President of 
 the United States, he displayed administrative powers of a signal order 
 and conducted the affairs of these various offices with a concentration of 
 effort and a watchful care which permitted no divergence from the line 
 of duty he had definitely set for himself. 
 
 In the war with Spain he displayed singular initiative and energy and 
 distinguished himself among the commanders of the army in the field. As 
 President he awoke the nation to the dangers of private control which 
 lurked in our financial and industrial systems. It was by thus arresting 
 the attention and stimulating the purpose of the country that he opened 
 the way for subsequent necessary and beneficent reforms. 
 
 His private life was characterized by a. simplicity, a virtue and an 
 affection worthy of all admiration and emulation by the people of 
 America. 
 
 In testimony of the respect in which his memory is held by the Govern- 
 ment and people of the United States, I do hereby direct that the flags of 
 
 394 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 the White House and the several departmental buildings be displayed at 
 half-staff for a period of thirty days, and that suitable military and 
 naval honors, under orders of the Secretaries of War and Navy, be ren- 
 dered on the day of the funeral. 
 
 Done this seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord one thou- 
 sand nine hundred an 1 nineteen, and of the independence of the United 
 States of America the 013 hundred and forty-third. 
 
 WOODROW WILSON, 
 
 By the President. 
 
 Feank L. Polk, Acting Secretary of State. 
 
 By the King of England 
 **The Queen and I have heard with feelings of 
 deep regret of the death of Colonel Roosevelt. We had 
 a personal regard for him and we always enjoyed 
 meeting him. He will be missed by many friends in 
 this country, to whom he endeared himself by his attrac- 
 tive character and many talents." Geoege, R. L 
 
 Canada's Official Tribute 
 
 The following is a copy of the official message of sym> 
 pathy sent to Mrs. Roosevelt on behalf of the Govern- 
 ment of Canada by Hon. Sir Thomas White, Minister 
 of Finance, as Acting Prime Minister in the absence of 
 Sir Robert Borden, who was overseas, attending the 
 Peace Conference in Paris: 
 
 Ottawa, January 7th, 1919. 
 Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, 
 
 Oyster Bay, N. Y. 
 
 Please accept and convey to the members of your family the 
 most sincere sympathy of the Government of Canada upon the 
 lamented death of your distin^ished husband who was so greatly 
 admired throughout the Dominion. 
 
 W. T. White, 
 Acting Prime Minister. 
 
 395 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 A statement given to the press on January 7, 1919, 
 by Hon. Sir Thomas White on the death of Colonel 
 Roosevelt was as follows : ''He was a great world figure 
 of unique and commanding personality. We are all 
 greatly shocked and grieved. To his widow and the mem- 
 bers of his family all our hearts go out in deepest sym- 
 pathy. ' ' 
 
 Britain's Premier to Mrs. Roosevelt 
 *'I am deeply shocked to have the news of your 
 distinguished husband's death. I feel sure I speak for 
 the British people when I tell you how much we all here 
 sympathize with you in your great bereavement. Mr. 
 Roosevelt was a great and inspiring figure far beyond 
 his country's shores, and the world is the poorer for Ms 
 loss." 
 
 An Irreparable Loss 
 
 ''The death of Colonel Roosevelt is an irreparable 
 loss to the nation. His virility and courage were a 
 constant inspiration. He personified the Americanism of 
 which he was the most doughty champion. He demanded 
 the recognition and performance of our national 
 obligation in the war. 
 
 ''Back of all that was done in the war was the pres- 
 sure of his relentless insistence. In response to his 
 patriotic call lay the safety of ci^ilization and in this 
 hour of complete victory the whole world is his debtor." 
 
 Charles Evans Hughes. 
 
 396 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 By the Chief Justice of the United States 
 
 **Mr. Roosevelt's death brings to me a sense of deep 
 sorrow, of personal loss. While he was President his 
 kindly consideration never failed, and many oppor- 
 tunities were afforded me for observing the highness of 
 his innate ideals and his courage, all of which combined 
 to make him the distinguished, not to say phenomenal, 
 man he was." Edwakd D. White. 
 
 By Senator Kellogg of Minnesota 
 
 It is quite impossible to express the profound sorrow 
 and grief which I feel as a result of the passing of Colonel 
 Roosevelt. His death will be deeply mourned, not only 
 by all the people of the nation, but by the civilized world. 
 
 A most distinguished citizen, writer, soldier, and 
 statesman with the loftiest ideals, his life is the finest 
 example of unselfish devotion to his country, and no 
 eulogy can now add to his fame. He was a great com- 
 moner, who, in his heart, cherished the welfare of the 
 masses of the people — a man of the most intense patriot- 
 ism, who placed the advancement of humanity and the 
 cause of his country above all other considerations. 
 
 No one in either public or private life within his 
 generation has exercised a greater influence for good 
 upon the world than has Colonel Roosevelt. I feel his 
 death as a personal loss, since it was my fortune to be 
 more or less intimately associated with him during the 
 greater part of his public career. 
 
 C^is^<^i^ '^\ 
 
 397 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 By United States Senator Weeks 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt was a very great man, one of the 
 greatest developed during the Hfe of this republic. His 
 unbounded energy and versatility resulted in a vast pro- 
 duction in several lines, any one of which would have 
 been considered a life work for any ordinary man. The 
 things which seemed to me paramount in him were his 
 patriotism and greater than even that, his courage. If 
 we measure men's greatness by their effectiveness on 
 public thought or on individual action, he was the great- 
 est man in our time, for there has never been a minute 
 since the days of the Spanish War, whether in public 
 office or in private life, when his words have not been the 
 guide of millions of Americans. They believed that he 
 was wise, far-seeing and honest in his convictions, and 
 came to have reliance in the belief that what he advo- 
 cated was his honest and mature thought. 
 
 By the Governor of New York 
 A Proclamation 
 Theodore Roosevelt, a distinguished citizen of this 
 State and known throughout the world, is dead. 
 
 Formerly a Governor of New York State, later Vice- 
 President and then President of the nation, we should 
 unite in appropriate marks of respect to the memory of 
 
 398 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 one who for so many years was a leading figure in all 
 things which had to do with the welfare of the nation. 
 
 It is proper that official recognition of the loss of one 
 of our native sons of so much prominence be fittingly 
 expressed in a manner due to the character and services 
 of the deceased. 
 
 Now, therefore, I, Alfred E. Smith, Governor of the 
 State of New York, do hereby order the flag placed at 
 half-mast on all public buildings of the State until after 
 the final obsequies. ^^^^^ E. Smith. 
 
 By the Governor: 
 George R. Vannamee, secretary to the Governor. 
 
 By a Well-Knov^m Writer 
 
 In his virtues and in his shortcomings, in his restless 
 desire to do the good thing, in his failure sometimes to do 
 it; in his energies, his ambitions; in his enthusiasm, in 
 his beliefs ; most of all, in his courtesy — and, finally, in his 
 splendid patriotism which made him among other things 
 dedicate the fives of all the men in his family to the serv- 
 ice of his country, Theodore Roosevelt was the most 
 typical in his day and generation. 
 
 Of Theodore Roosevelt living, a million different opin- 
 ions were had and expressed by millions of his fellow 
 countrymen. 
 
 Of Theodore Roosevelt dead, his fellow Americans 
 can have but one opinion, and that opinion I take it is 
 this: The man who died today as truly died in the 
 service of his country and for the love of his country as 
 though he had died with a uniform on his back and a 
 bullet through his brains. Ievin S. Cobb. 
 
 January 6, 1919. 
 
 399 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Legislative Tribute in Verse 
 In the Indiana Senate on January 10, 1919, a resolu- 
 tion in verse expressing regret at the death of Theodore 
 Roosevelt, introduced by Senator Negley, was passed. 
 The resolution was as follows: 
 
 ""Whereas, there has passed from this earth to the realm 
 unknown of man — 
 
 A heart always faithful and fearless, 
 
 A mind of the fiber of steel, 
 A soul of a patriot peerless. 
 
 When Liberty made her appeal. 
 
 A man who was proud of his nation; 
 
 A man whom his nation revered ; 
 A man who could rise to occasion 
 
 When danger to nation appeared. 
 
 A man whom the world loved to honor ; 
 
 A man to whom monarchs deferred ; 
 A man, although born to the manor. 
 
 His voice for the masses was heard. 
 
 A soul that could look to the morrow 
 
 With no fear of past to betide. 
 The world bowed with us in our sorrow 
 When Theodore Roosevelt died. 
 "Therefore, Be it Resolved, That when this Senate 
 adjourns it shall adjourn, in honor of our distinguished now 
 deceased fellow-American, Theodore Roosevelt, until the hour 
 of 2 o'clock p. m. on IMonday, the 13th day of January, 1919." 
 
 By Congressman Julius Kahn 
 
 In the death of Koosevclt the country loses one of its 
 most commanding figures. A man of intense American- 
 ism he will fill a conspicuous place in his country's Tem- 
 ple of Fame. He was broad-minded and liberal in his 
 views. He respected m( n for what they were. He knew 
 neither race nor creed in his dealings with his fellows. 
 
 400 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 He accomplished many reforms. He was fearless in 
 exposing those who would contaminate American public 
 life. He occupied an unique position in our country's 
 history and his life will be an inspiration to countless 
 generations yet to come. 
 
 By Senator Jones of Washington 
 The world has suffered a great loss in the untimely 
 death of Theodore Roosevelt. He was one of the truly 
 great men of the world and of this age. His tireless 
 energy, intense convictions, and high courage, both physi- 
 cal and moral, will be an inspiration to every young man 
 struggling for success. He exemplified fully in words 
 and actions the very essence of pure democracy and genu- 
 ine Americanism. 
 
 By Senator Sterling of South Dakota 
 
 The nation now mourns the death of one of its greatest 
 citizens, if not at the time the greatest. Thorough, faith- 
 ful, and eminently able in all the many positions he occu- 
 pied during his strenuous life, from his membership in 
 the New York Legislature to seven and a half years as 
 President of the United States, he is famed and honored 
 
 401 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 today for the great and beneficent results he has accom- 
 plished in each. 
 
 One of his biographers, in speaking of his sense of 
 duty, says : "Mr. Roosevelt's conception of duty ignores 
 all sorts of magnificent ideals at long range and fastens 
 itself upon the tasks which lie nearest his hand." 
 
 The lesson afforded by his conception of duty is one 
 for us to heed. The task has been at hand and waiting 
 now since the great and fateful day when the armistice 
 was signed. Its terms, together w4th the unsettled condi- 
 tions at present existing, would seem to make the consid- 
 eration of the terms of pcctce and of readjustment alone 
 the practical, the imperative duty of the hour. 
 
 By the President of the University of California 
 
 *We cannot do without him. That is the first thought. 
 "We need him. We never needed him more. The mar- 
 velous range of his information, the variety of his experi- 
 ence, liis vision, his knowledge of men, and the general 
 reasonableness and moderation of his theoretical views — 
 all these belonged among the things which seemed to 
 make him invaluable to us. But we wanted him for more 
 than all or any of these. 
 
 In this world-overturning we wanted him for a counsel 
 and guidance that should take into account all there is of 
 human purpose and motive among the peoples and 
 nations of the earth. He has not generally been thought 
 of as a wise counselor, but he was — just as soon as he had 
 a task big enough for his powers and had responsibility 
 
 402 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 therefor. He was at liis best as an executive, not as a 
 critic. Before going out of office, however, he had regis- 
 tered a vow that he would never play the role of ex-Presi- 
 dent. And I think he never did. He could have been 
 counselor and guide without being President. This would 
 have set him at his best. 
 
 There was only one Theodore Roosevelt. Vehement, 
 virile, lovable, belligerent, courageous, noble. There will 
 never be another like him. 
 
 Benjamin Ide Wheeler. 
 
 By the Secretary of the Interior 
 
 The impress that Theodore Roosevelt's personality 
 has made upon the w^orld does not need emphasis. What- 
 ever else his fame as a statesman, it can never outrun his 
 fame as a man. However widely men may differ from 
 him in matters of national policy, this thing men in their 
 hearts would all wish, that their sons might have \vithin 
 them the spirit, the will, the strength, the manliness, the 
 Americanism of Roosevelt. He was made of that rugged 
 and heroic stuff with w^hich Legend delights to play. The 
 Idylls and the Sagas and the Iliads have been woven about 
 men of his mold. We may surely expect to see developed 
 a Roosevelt legend, a body of tales that will exalt the 
 physical power and endurance of the man and the bold- 
 ness of his spirit, his robust capacity for blunt speech 
 and his hearty comradeship, his live interest in all things 
 living — these will make our boys for the long future 
 proud that they are of his race amd his country. And no 
 surer fame than this can come to any man — to live in the 
 hearts of the boys of his land as one whose doings and 
 sayings they would wish to make their own. 
 
 Franklin K. Lane. 
 
 403 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Proclamation by the Governor of Nebraska 
 
 Our country confers few honorary titles upon its 
 leaders; it uses few medals as symbols of outstanding 
 fortitude or distinguished service. But it does deeply 
 revere the memory of those whose lives and acts embod- 
 ied the principles for which the blood of the nation has 
 again and again been sacrificed. 
 
 On January 6th, Theodore Roosevelt was stricken. 
 The flags of the nations of the world stood at half mast 
 and the heads of thoughtful people everywhere were 
 bowed in deference to his passing. His was a life of excep- 
 tional leadership and distinguished service to his country. 
 
 No monument mil adequately symbolize the character- 
 istics of this illustrious American, nor would it be his 
 wish that such artificial effort should be made to perpet- 
 nate his memory. He believed in, and loved, the senti- 
 ments that were virile and real — the expressions that 
 came from the heart. 
 
 Therefore, in order that the people of Nebraska may 
 unite in paying tribute to the memory of one who so well 
 characterized our nation 's ideals, and in keeping wdth an 
 Act of Congress, I do declare February 9, of this year. 
 ** Roosevelt Memorial Day" throughout Nebraska. It is 
 my sincere wish that all the people of this commonwealth 
 shall observe that day in fitting manner. 
 
 Governor. 
 
 Executive Department, State of Nebraska, January 20, 
 1919. 
 
 404 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 By the Governor of Arizona 
 
 Arizona has lost a real friend, America her most emi- 
 nent statesman, and the world its foremost citizen in the 
 passing of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Gifted with a 
 vision accorded to but few men, he has not only forecast 
 events but suggested a way to meet them. Patriotic to 
 the core, he never suggested a policy for others which he 
 was not willing to personally follow even to the supreme 
 sacrifice. We shall miss the wisdom of his wise counsel 
 and the nation will bow its head in grief that its popular 
 leader has been stricken by death at a time when his 
 words were eagerly awaited in connection with the settle- 
 ment of the world war. It is hard, but trusting in that 
 Divine Providence which doeth all things well, we say 
 * ' Thy will be done. ' ' rjr^^^ E Campbell. 
 
 By the Governor of Wisconsin 
 
 In the death of Theodore Roosevelt, America lost a 
 great man. Nature had made him brilliant, but his great 
 learning and natural ability did not put him out of touch 
 even with the most lowly citizen. He understood the 
 problems of the masses of the people. One could disagree 
 with Mr. Roosevelt and yet respect him. And I dare say 
 that few Americans held the attention of their country- 
 men for so many years as he. Whether we believe he was 
 right or wrong we could not avoid the conclusion that he 
 was at all times a good and true American. 
 
LIFE Oi^ THP:0D0RE ROOSEVELT 
 
 By the Governor of California 
 California is greatly shocked at the sudden demise of 
 Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. He was one of xVmerica's 
 greatest Presidents. He was patriotic to the core. He 
 thought always in terms of America. We love our flag 
 and our country all the more because of Colonel Roose- 
 velt's courage, example, and intense loyalty. His name 
 will go down in history with that of Washington, Lincoln, 
 and Grant. Theodore Roosevelt is America's fourth 
 immortal. 
 
 Wm. D. Stephens. 
 
 By the Governor of North Dakota 
 Colonel Roosevelt was closely associated Avith this 
 state, as he spent several years of his early life in North 
 Dakota, and his passing occasions deep regret among his 
 former associates and many friends. 
 
 Lynn J. Frazier. 
 
 By the North Dakota Legislature 
 
 Be It Resolved by the Seriate and House of Representatives in 
 
 Joint Session Assembled- 
 
 That we, the members of the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly 
 of the State of North Dakota, have learned with deep regret 
 that Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States 
 and once a resident of this state, whose pioneer log-cabin now 
 stands upon the Capitol grounds, has departed from this life. 
 
 In his years of public activity we gladly remember the 
 things he gave to the nation that will be of enduring good. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt encouraged vigorous manhood. He 
 inspired men with a desire for achievement, and was himself 
 the living emlnxliment of untiring activity. 
 
 He helped to arouse the public ooTiscienoo and to inform the 
 public mind as to the social and industrial injustice of the times. 
 
 He exercised at all times the right of full and free discus- 
 sion of government affairs, upholding without restraint and 
 
 406 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 without fear the inherent right of the citizen to speak and 
 write concerning the government, of which he is a part, what- 
 ever words of commendation, censure or counsel seemed to him 
 proper to the time and to the occasion. 
 
 The exercise of these qualities confers a lasting benefit upon 
 mankind, and for such attributes we desire to remember Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt at this time, and to place a memorial of him upon 
 the permanent records of this Legislative Assembly. 
 
 Therefore, Be It Further Resolved: That these resolutions 
 be spread at large upon the Journal of each House of the Assem- 
 bly; that the Secretary of State be instructed to send one 
 engrossed copy of same to the bereaved family, and that as a 
 mark of respect to the memory of Theodore Roosevelt, this joint 
 assembly, after retiring to their respective chambers, do stand in 
 recess until 1:30 o'clock p. m. tomorrow, January 9th, 1919. 
 
 By the Governor of Kansas 
 (Telegram to Mrs. Roosevelt.) 
 
 I am greatly shocked and grieved by Colonel Roose- 
 velt's death. Permit me to extend to you my most heart- 
 felt sympathy. The nation needs now as never before his 
 clear insight and fearless facing of facts. The world 
 mourns with you. May God comfort and sustain you. 
 
 By the Mayor of Boston 
 
 America and the world have lost a great citizen. It is 
 a loss which must necessarily become more intimate to 
 every man as time goes on. 
 
 President Roosevelt's presence in the public life of 
 our country raised public service in the United States to 
 
 407 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 a higher plane. His service marked the transition from 
 the older political standards to the newer and higher 
 standards of democracy in public life. His great faith 
 in our country and his loyalty to its ideals were an inspir- 
 ation to everyone who came in contact with him. His 
 faith in the ideals of the American people and his courage 
 in asserting them brought to the new political life support 
 from every direction throughout the country. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt was the exponent of the American 
 family Ufe. He stood for its ideals and its perpetuation. 
 Its homes and its citizenship ever received from him the 
 most vigorous defense of its best traditions. The life of 
 President Roosevelt has been a great stimulant to the 
 uplifting ideals of the people of his country and in his 
 death one force for higher standards ceases. 
 
 His loyalty to and his keen personal interest in his 
 friends make his loss to them a doubly severe one. 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt will always be remembered as a 
 man who lived only to serve his f ellowmen. 
 
 Andrew J. Peters. 
 
 By the Governor of Minnesota 
 
 The death of Colonel Roosevelt comes as a great 
 shock. It does not seem possible that a man that has 
 stood out as he has for so many years is gone. America 
 loses one of the greatest statesmen that it has produced. 
 The world will mourn this loss of this wonderful char- 
 
 J. A. A. BURNQUIST. 
 
 By the Mayor-Elect of Detroit 
 
 I believe Theodore Roosevelt did more to eliminate 
 dishonesty and corruption in business and public life than 
 
 408 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 any other citizen in the world during the twentieth cen- 
 tury. He had the strength of character and the virility 
 to attract people's attention to the dishonesty of the rail- 
 roads and the trusts and thereby compel corrective legis- 
 lation. Even at this time he is a distinct loss to our 
 country. 
 
 James Couzens. 
 
 By the Mayor of San Francisco 
 
 Proclamation. 
 To the People of San Francisco: 
 
 The late Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the 
 United States and one of this country's most famous 
 statesmen, will be laid to rest tomorrow, Wednesday, 
 January 8, 1919, in the little churchyard at Oyster Bay, 
 New York. 
 
 At 12:45 p. m.. Eastern time, or 9:45 a. m.. Pacific 
 Coast time, funeral services will begin in the Oyster Bay 
 church, where the late former President worshipped. 
 
 Out of respect for the memory of this distinguished 
 American and notable leader of men, I respectfully sug- 
 gest that, promptly at 9 :45 a. m. tomorrow, all street car 
 and other traffic stop; that municipal employes and all 
 citizens in business or private life, cease work for a period 
 of two minutes. Respectfully, 
 
 James Rolph, Jr.^ 
 
 Mayor. 
 San Francisco, January 7, 1919. 
 
 By U. S. Senator Lewis 
 
 "The death of Colonel Roosevelt is the loss of a 
 great man, of a great force, and the loss of a great benefit 
 
 409 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 to America. Whatever differences men may have had 
 with Colonel Roosevelt on party Unes, or political princi- 
 ples, all must certify that his fight for cleanliness and 
 integrity in public life did much to rid the nation of cor- 
 ruption in public affairs. All must admit that his labors 
 to force monopoly to yield to private welfare and per- 
 sonal rights started this country upon the course of 
 justice." 
 
 J. Hamilton Lewis. 
 
 By the President of the National City Bank, 
 New York 
 
 "Mr. Roosevelt's hold on the people has seldom been 
 paralleled; his great courage was what the people 
 admired. I do not think Colonel Roosevelt was afraid 
 of anything, and I believe that of all the lessons public 
 men can take from his life, the one that will be of the 
 greatest value to the nation is that of courage in public 
 life." Frank A. Vanderlip. 
 
 By a U. S. Senator-Elect 
 
 "He was the greatest American of our time. When 
 others spoke ^^'ith unctuous equivocation, he spoke out; 
 he dared and did when others palavered. We are his 
 debtors for his tremendous labors in the regeneration 
 of our public life, for the quickening of our national 
 spirit, for the reanimation of our patriotism." 
 
 Medill McCormick. 
 
 Washington, D. C, Jan. G, 1919. 
 
 410 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 By the President of the American Federation of 
 
 Labor 
 
 I regard the death of Colonel Roosevelt as a very 
 great loss. He rendered service in his time of incalculable 
 benefit. I knew him for thirty-five years, in all his public 
 activities. I worked with him, and even those who dif- 
 fered with him conceded that his sincerity of purpose and 
 high motives and his anxiety to serve the people were 
 unquestionable. o r^ 
 
 bAMUEL (tOMPERS. 
 
 By the Governor of Pennsylvania 
 
 Theodore Roosevelt's death is a great national calamity, I 
 can think of no one man whose passing would be a greater loss. 
 Now, of all times, his courage, his clear view of great questions, 
 and, above all, his exalted patriotism, are needed by the Republic. 
 In time of peril or in great public need our people turned to him 
 for leadership and awaited his directing voice. He has typified, 
 all through his life, the finest development of American citizen- 
 ship. As a public figure, he has stood like a mighty fortress, 
 "four square against all the evil winds that blew." 
 
 l^^^.^f^AUul 
 
 By Senator Calder of Nev^ York 
 
 (Remarks in the U. S. Senate, January 6, 1919) 
 As a Senator from the State in which Col. Roosevelt lived 
 and as one who believed in him and followed him in his leader- 
 ship in the affairs of his St-ate and the Nation, I am sure it will 
 not be considered inopportune for me to say a word or two on 
 this occasion. 
 
 At the time of his death Mr. Roosevelt was the foremost pri- 
 vate citizen in the world. Of all those before the public at the 
 time of his greatest activity, he made by far the deepest impress 
 upon our national life. 
 
 As a citizen Mr. Roosevelt approached the ideal. His occu- 
 pation was America. His relaxation was study. His pleasure 
 
 411 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 was friendship. His family relations, too sacred to be lightly 
 intruded upon, were those to which good men everj-where aspire 
 and good women best understand and appreciate. 
 
 Dead in his sixty-first year, Mr. Roosevelt will number his 
 real mourners by the million. Time and history will write his 
 true epitaph. But we today can record the death of a great 
 American, of whom it can truly be said that while he lived mil- 
 lions followed him because they believed in him as a force for 
 righteousness, justice, peace, and progress, and when he died a 
 whole people mourned him. 
 
 Cardinal Gibbons: ''It was a terrible shock to me to 
 learn of the death of former President Roosevelt. I had 
 been intimately acquainted ^\ith him from the time he was 
 elevated to the high office of President of the United 
 States, and we were very dear and good friends. It is a 
 terrible loss to me and to the whole country." 
 
 Major-General Leonard Wood: "The death of my 
 friend, Theodore Roosevelt, brings to me great personal 
 loss and sorrow, but keen and deep as these are, they are 
 but the sorrow and loss of an individual. The national 
 loss is irreparable for his death comes at a time when his 
 services to this nation can ill be spared. Unselfish loy- 
 alty, honest and fearless criticism have always charac- 
 terized the life and work of Theodore Roosevelt and he 
 lived and worked always for his country's best interests. 
 His entire life and work was one of service. ' ' 
 
 Raymond Robins, first Progressive candidate for 
 United States Senator from Illinois: "Mrs. Robins and 
 I are shocked beyond words. Our sense of the loss of a 
 statesman and leader in the nation is less keen, at the 
 moment, than our grief at the loss of a loved and gener- 
 ous friend. The greatest statesman of his age, the Colo- 
 nel was the best loved American since Lincoln. He chal- 
 lenged the conscience of America." 
 
 412 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 President Poincare of France: '*I am very much 
 affected by the death of Mr. Roosevelt. Well do I 
 remember the dignified letter which I received from him 
 after the death of his son, Quentin, in which he informed 
 me that he was coming to France to visit the grave of his 
 son. It is distressing to me to think that poor Roosevelt 
 will not have an opportunity to lay flowers on the grave 
 of his heroic son. 
 
 **The whole heart of France goes out to Mrs. Roose- 
 velt in sympathy. 
 
 "Friend of hberty, friend of France, Roosevelt has 
 given, without counting sons and daughters, his energy 
 that liberty may live. We are grateful. ' ' 
 
 Colonel E. M. House (in Paris) : "I am greatly 
 shocked to hear the news that comes from America. The 
 entire world will share the grief which will be felt in the 
 United States over the death of Theodore Roosevelt. He 
 was the one virile and courageous leader of his genera- 
 tion and will live in history as one of our greatest 
 Presidents. ' ' 
 
 J. J. Jusserand, French ambassador to the United 
 States: **The unexpected death of one who has upheld 
 all his life the principles of virile manhood, straightfor- 
 ward honesty and fearlessness will be mourned all over 
 the world, nowhere more sincerely than in France, whose 
 cause he upheld in her worst crisis in a way that shall 
 never be forgotten." 
 
 Henry White, one of the American peace commis- 
 sioners: "I have heard of Mr. Roosevelt's death with 
 deep sorrow because of the loss to the nation of a great 
 public servant and to myself of a lifelong friend. ' ' 
 
 Herbert C. Hoover: "The news of Mr. Roosevelt's 
 death comes as a distinct shock. America is poorer for 
 
 413 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 the loss of a great citizen, tlie world for the loss of a 
 great man." 
 
 Robert Lansing: ''The death of Colonel Roosevelt 
 removes from our national life a great American. His 
 vigor of mind and ceaseless energy made him a conspicu- 
 ous figure in public affairs." 
 
 William Jennings Bryan: "The rare qualities that 
 won for Colonel Roosevelt a multitude of devoted fol- 
 lowers naturally arrayed against him a host of oppo- 
 nents, but his death puts an end to controversy and he 
 will be mourned by foe as ^ye\\ as friend. He was a 
 great American and made a profound impression on the 
 thought of his generation. His picturesque career will 
 form a fascinating chapter in our nation's history." 
 
 Bert Leston Taylor ("B. L. T."), in the Chicago 
 Tribune: "We are one of many who admired Theodore 
 Roosevelt as a man and as a political force. His party 
 label, 'Progressive,' was the only one we ever wore. His 
 virtues were obvious, his weaknesses amiable weaknesses, 
 which irritated only those who insufficiently admired his 
 virtues. He was a great leader, and great leaders are 
 compact of strengths and weaknesses. The good he did 
 lives after him ; his frailties will not be long remembered. 
 'This earth that bears thee dead bears not alive so stout 
 a gentleman.' " 
 
 Messages of Condolence 
 
 Hundreds of messages of condolence from all parts of 
 the world were received by Mrs. Roosevelt after the 
 Colonel's death. Among those made pubHc were the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 King Emmanuel of Italy: "I wish, to express to you 
 my sympathy for your great grief over the death of your 
 illustrious husband." 
 
 414 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 The President of Brazil: "I beg to present to you 
 this expression of my sincere sympathy with your grief, 
 which is shared by all Brazilians, whose admiration and 
 respect President Roosevelt won by his generous collab- 
 oration in our public life, and in friendly remembrance 
 of his passing through our country." (The latter ref- 
 erence was to Col. Roosevelt's exploration journey 
 through South America.) 
 
 Sir Thomas Lipton: ''Kindly accept my deepest and 
 most heartfelt sympathy in the sad loss of your dear 
 husband, for whose splendid gifts and qualities I have 
 always had the highest admiration. I regarded him as 
 one of the greatest and most representative Americans 
 of all time, and the world at large is the loser by his 
 untimely passing." 
 
 Queen Maud of Norway: "Our deepest sympathy with 
 you in your great trial. ' ' 
 
 Ronald C. Munro-Ferguson, Governor-General of Aus- 
 tralia: ''Deepest sympathy in your irreparable loss." 
 
 Brigadier General S. T. Lian, attache to the Chinese 
 peace delegation, en route to Paris: "I hear with pro- 
 found regret of the death of Colonel Roosevelt. On be- 
 half of the minister of war and the army of the Chinese 
 Republic, I beg to tender sincerest sympathy in your 
 bereavement." 
 
 Senator Boise Penrose of Pennsylvania: "I am 
 greatly shocked to learn of the death of Colonel Roose- 
 velt. I cannot adequately express my sentiments on this 
 occasion. The nation has suffered an irreparable loss. 
 I extend my sincerest sympathy to you and your family." 
 
 iS'. G. Kimher, mayor of Southampton, England: "On 
 behalf of the to^^Ti of Southampton, I beg to offer the 
 
 415 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 sincerest sympathy to you and your family in the irre- 
 parable loss which you and the American nation have 
 sustained." 
 
 Former Attorney General George W. Wickershayn, 
 who was abroad, cabled: "Sincerest sympathy in your 
 great loss." 
 
 Col. E. M. House: **Mrs. House shares with me tlic 
 great sorrow which all Americans feel over the death of 
 your distinguished husband." 
 
 Mayor John F. Hylan, of New York: ''In this hour 
 of your great bereavement, permit me to extend to you 
 in the name of the people of the City of New York the 
 sincere sympathy that we all feel for you. Your loss is 
 shared by the entire nation." 
 
 By a Leading Democratic Senator 
 
 Washington, D. C, January 6, 1919. 
 Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, 
 
 Oyster Bay, Long Island, N. Y. 
 
 I am grieved beyond expression at the news of your 
 husband's death. Notwithstanding many political differ- 
 ences, he was one of the men in America who stood in 
 my mind for a good heart, a big heart, and a patriotic 
 purpose. 
 
 [**I meant every word of it," said Senator Williams, 
 in a letter to the author three weeks later, "and I mean 
 a good deal more besides. You are at perfect liberty to 
 publish it all."] 
 
 416 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 ^n mg ^atljer's Ijowse arc trtanti mansions; if it twcre 
 noi B0 ^ ttJonlit Ijawc folb^ uou; for ^ go to prepare a place 
 for gou. — ^oljn xiw. 2. 
 
 The genius that can be analyzed is no genius at all. Like the whirl- 
 wind, it is a law unto itself. So with the great soul whose flight from 
 earth we mourn today. 
 
 To weigh Theodore Eoosevelt, to scale his dimensions with a tape, to 
 label and classify his parts, is a baffling and futile undertaking. He pre- 
 sented a thousand facets to life. Packed within his tenement of clay were 
 the makings of a score of average men. Eeverently lifting the veil of his 
 personality we see within the statesman, the diplomat, the student, the 
 hunter, the naturalist, the author, and all the others. But it is not vouch- 
 safed us to see the ego, the "I am," the spirit, the bit of divinity — call it 
 what you will — by which he marshaled these potentialities into one and 
 hurled them like a thunderbolt. 
 
 Nothing was too little or too big for his earnest scrutiny. Those near- 
 sighted, squinting eyes which millions know and love would scan with equal 
 interest the mountain and the tiny marmot which burrowed, in its flank. In 
 spite of the manifold tasks and the weighty responsibilities which beset his 
 public life — which was practically his whole life — he found time, somewhere, 
 somehow, to read and write voluminously; to ride and hunt and shoot and 
 play tennis; to hunt in Africa and explore in South America; to study the 
 conifers of the Eockies and to patiently and lovingly observe the tiny 
 warblers which each spring and fall fluttered and lisped about the grounds 
 of Sagamore Hill. 
 
 He had learned the golden truth that the only things on earth with- 
 out interest are the things of which we are ignorant; that all the appur- 
 tenances of the universe, from the tiny desert plant which runs its cycle 
 of life in a fortnight to the enduring and eternal Milky Way, are but the 
 exceptions of the Creator, for the instruction, uplift and salvation of man. 
 
 Yet he was no Gradgrind. An irrepressible ebulliency silvered over 
 the dullest tasks for him. He wrestled with them like a boy at play. 
 Hence above all his purely intellectual or practical interests towered his 
 love of Man. From this love sprang his intense hatred of injustice, of 
 inequality of opportunity, of any limitation of political, social or economic 
 rights. And from this love, coupled with the vision of a seer, sprang his 
 instantaneous recognition and detestation of Prussian kultur, making him 
 for the time as a voice crying in the wilderness. 
 
 417 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Thus it came about that he was at once, for a season, the most-loved 
 and the most-hated man, perhaps, in America. Thus it came about that 
 while thousands clamored to be led by him to the cannon 's mouth, there 
 were others who sought to do him to death. 
 
 Conscious of his rectitude, aa genius always is, he acknowledged no 
 bounds for the play of his tremendous energy. In the ardor of battle he 
 tossed aside all eonvoHtional restraints. In season and out of season — 
 as we lesser ones would say — he branded sham and pretense and greed 
 and lust of power witi the red-hot iron of his righteous indignation — even 
 his anger, as he himself called it. 
 
 Yet no one was quicker than himself to recognize his mistakes. And 
 who, after all, shall assume as yet to chart his orbit and measure his devia- 
 tions therefrom? 
 
 That shall be the task of men yet unborn. For the battle in which 
 he enlisted is only begun. Nineteen-twelve was but the reveille. And 
 1914-1918, with all its blood and horror, may prove but the skirmish. 
 Today the forces of the world are gathering for the real Armageddon, and 
 we may be sure that the soul of their great captain is watching them from 
 his celestial aerie. 
 
 "Many-sided," multi-angled Roosevelt! Equally at home in the 
 throneroom of royalty and the bunkhouse of the plains! Comrade alike 
 of the cowboy and the intellectual! Citizen of the world, champion of 
 mankind! So sweet and chivalrous with women; so frank and kindly with 
 men! A caress for what he loved, a blow for what he hated! 
 
 So we call him "Teddy." A few may remember him as Col. Roose- 
 velt; others as President Roosevelt. But in the hearts of his countrymen, 
 as they weep today and as they recount his deeds to their children tomor- 
 row, he will be ' ' Teddy ' ' — a Christian gentlemen, a faithful friend, a fear- 
 less foe. 
 
 Hequiescat in pace! 
 
 The touching tribute reproduced above appeared in 
 the Chicago Evening Post on the day of Theodore Roose- 
 velt's funeral. It was from the pen of Mr. Elmore 
 Elliott Parker, and was typical of the sentiments gener- 
 ously expressed in the press of the United States in the 
 sorrowful days that followed the Colonel's death. And 
 as it was in the press, so in the pulpit — tributes of love 
 and respect were poured out in unstinted measure. 
 
 418 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 Personal Reminiscences of Roosevelt 
 
 By the Bight Rev. Samuel Fallows, D. D., LL. D. 
 
 I came to know Theodore Roosevelt more intimately when 
 he became Governor of New York. I had watched him with 
 iatens'ist interest in his political ascent and his continually wid- 
 eming influence among all classes of men. But as Governor of 
 th« G.eat Empire State, I, with others, foresaw a more brilliant 
 career before him, nay, the most brilliant career open to man, 
 
 Mf son, who represented a portion of New York City as 
 Assemblyman at Albany, was very close to the Governor. He 
 was assisting him in the Legislature to carry out several very 
 important reform measures. I went with him to call upon 
 Roosevelt ; he received us both most cordially, and, putting his 
 hand upon my son's shoulder, he said, "This is my right-hand 
 man in my administration." When I came to leave, the pro- 
 phetic instinct which I felt in my innermost nature prompted 
 me to say: 
 
 "Governor, the West will want you some day to be Presi- 
 dent." 
 
 Candidly and straightforwardly he said, without the least 
 self-depreciation : 
 
 "Well, Bishop, you know I am more of a Western man than 
 an Eastern man." 
 
 We little thought then of the mysterious way by which he 
 was soon to reach the Presidency. 
 
 We know now why those who did not love him overmuch 
 and were trying to prevent his going to the White House, were 
 among the foremost to urge him to become a candidate for 
 Vice President. He knew their real feelings and at first was 
 determined in his opposition to the idea. But his sincere friends 
 were just as earnest in their fervent appeals for him to con- 
 sent. Clearly they laid before him the imperative need to win 
 the election. He was really to be the determining factor in the 
 result. 
 
 He said, "I will consent on that ground alone. Above 
 everything else I put my country"; and thus sinking his self- 
 will and laying aside whatever ambition he might have felt, 
 knowdng that in all probability it meant turning his back upon 
 the highest prize that his fellow-citizens could give him, he 
 became the Vice President of the United States. 
 
 Who could excel him in pushing and climbing without 
 being short of breath? Who could surpass him in changing 
 
 419 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 enemies into friends when they knew him? Only Lincoln could 
 match him. 
 
 I was witness to his marvelous i>owers of physical and 
 mental endurance on his last public visit to Chicago at the 
 height of the great World War. He made several short 
 addresses on one of these days when among us, and at night 
 spoke to nearly fifteen thousand people in the huge Dexter 
 Pavilion. W^hen I made the invocation in my uniform as a 
 Brigadier-General of the Civil War, with my Grand Army dec- 
 orations, he called attention to the fact and, turning to the 
 large number of veterans on his right, he said, "I am proud to 
 have one of your number with me on this platform," and then, 
 in a few impressive words he paid a glowing tribute to the 
 services these heroes had rendered in our great Civil conflict. 
 
 In the course of his address he said: "This war for me is 
 an exclusive war. I have been blackballed by the Committee 
 on National Efficiency, but I have three sons over there." 
 Then, turning to Major-General Barry, the Commander of the 
 Central Department, he said, "General, I have been Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States for 
 nearly eight years. I gave you your commission as a Major- 
 General. I am perfectly willing to serve under you, or under 
 any other General the War Department may select. All I ask 
 is that I may have the military rank I had in the Spanish- 
 American War, that of a Brigadier-General." 
 
 But it was not to be. There were already enrolled, as I 
 now remember, nearly fifty thousand volunteers most anxious 
 to serve under him. His great heart, as those who knew him 
 intimately can testify, was sorely disappointed because he was 
 not allowed to serve as he desired. 
 
 On the following day he made a short speech after break- 
 fast, and then, accompanied by several prominent citizens, pro- 
 ceeded to Camp Grant at Rockford, Illinois. Twenty thousand 
 soldiers were gathered in front of him to listen to his speech. 
 He then went to Fort Sheridan and addressed the four or five 
 thousand young men training there as officers. Then he hur- 
 ried to the Great Lakes Station, and after reviewing ten thou- 
 sand blue jackets made them a rousing patriotic talk. He then 
 went in a special train to Racine, Wisconsin, and met an over- 
 whelming audience, whom he enraptured by his appeal for an 
 unadulterated Americanism. Then leaving late at night for 
 Minneapolis, he was ready for the fray the next day with two 
 stirring speeches, and afterwards left for Oyster Bay. 
 
 420 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 Almost his last notable speech in the West was at Spring- 
 field, Illinois, at the Centennial exercises connected with the 
 admission of the State into the Union. It was an immense audi- 
 ence that greeted him in the vast enclosure in the Fair Grounds, 
 stretching so far on either side of the stand as to be almost 
 beyond the speaker's eye and utterly beyond the speaker's 
 voice. I had been requested to officiate as chaplain and appeared 
 in my uniform among my Grand Army comrades. Again he glor- 
 ified, in words which those heroes who heard them will never 
 forget, the immortal deeds wrought by them for the salvation 
 of the Union, If the fight for that Union had not been won, 
 the fight then on for the salvation of the world could not be 
 gained. The central thought of that glorious address was the 
 need of the united effort of all the world nationalities in this 
 great State to be fused into one mighty, magnificent American 
 whole. All hyphens must be consumed in the fires of that 
 American patriotism, burning as never before, at white heat. 
 There must be but one language and one flag in the whole 
 American domain. 
 
 These same sentiments were contained in his last unwritten 
 utterances just before his unexpected translation to the higher 
 service beyond. 
 
 As member of the New York Legislature, as Civil Service 
 Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Colonel of the 
 Rough Riders, Governor of New York, Vice President and Presi- 
 dent of the United States, as author, historian, naturalist, 
 hunter, husband, father, and citizen, history will record him 
 as the foremost American of his time, and one of the most 
 illustrious of men in the annals of mankind. 
 
 Memorial Services 
 
 While many memorial meetings were held within the 
 week following Colonel Roosevelt's death, a number of 
 friends of the Colonel united in urging the Governors of 
 all States officially to suggest that all proposed memorial 
 services in honor of the former President be held simul- 
 taneously on February 9, 1919, the date set for a memorial 
 service in Congress. This request, telegraphed to the 
 
 421 
 
LIFP: of THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 various Governors, was signed by William H. Taft, Car- 
 dinal Gibbons, Franklin K. Lane, Senator John Sharp 
 Williams, Senator George E. Chamberlain of Oregon, 
 Senator Henrv Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, Senator 
 James W. Wadsworth, Jr., and Senator William M. Cal- 
 der of New York, Senator Frank A. Kellogg of Min- 
 nesota, Senator Hiram Johnson of California, Senator- 
 elect Medill McCormick of Illinois, Champ Clark, 
 Thomas A. Edison, Charles E. Hughes, Oscar S. Straus, 
 former Secretary of the Interior James R. Garfield, John 
 Mitchell, and Julius Holz. 
 
 The suggestion had the approval of Col. Roosevelt's 
 family, and was generally adopted. 
 
 Accordingly, on February 9 eulogies of Theodore 
 Roosevelt were delivered at special services and meetings 
 all over the land. Congress gathered in joint session 
 in the House of Representatives on that day, and listened 
 to a touching eulogy by Senator Lodge, the text of which 
 appears in following pages. In all the great cities orators 
 of distinction moved crowded meetings by their tributes 
 to the former President, which the people, literally in 
 millions, gathered in deep sorrow and respect to hear and 
 indorse. 
 
 Next day the press of the country was filled with 
 reports of these great memorial meetings, to which the 
 New York Sun, in an editorial typical of hundreds of 
 others, referred as follows: 
 
 America's tribute to roosevelt 
 
 The tribute America paid yesterday to Theodore Roose^'elt 
 was a spontaneous expression of the respect and affection this 
 great man's fellow citizens felt for one whose life made tliem 
 deeply his debtors. 
 
 It was not official in its inspiration. It needed no formal 
 guidance. It bore no relation to politics. It enlisted the support 
 
 422 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 of men of every race, of every creed, of every calling, of every 
 station in life. In all its manifestations one note predominated : 
 sterling, unquestioning Americanism. 
 
 Its unanimity was amazing. Men and women with no other 
 thought in common, divided on all other subjects, holding antag- 
 onistic opinions, joined in praise of Roosevelt and shared their 
 sorrow at his passing. 
 
 Their sincerity was apparent not less in their acts than in the 
 words they uttered. They had lost not only a leader, but a 
 friend ; not merely a counsellor in good works, but a co-laborer 
 for national and for individual well being. Their words were 
 personal and intimate. The statesman Roosevelt did not hide or 
 obscure Roosevelt the man. 
 
 In this intimacy of feeling the hold Roosevelt had on the 
 hearts of his countrymen was best revealed ; and no man without 
 that hold could have called forth such a tribute as was paid by 
 America to Theodore Roosevelt yesterday. 
 
 It is manifestly impossible to do more than refer to 
 
 some of these great gatherings and reproduce in part 
 
 a few of the addresses made, which may be regarded as 
 
 typical of the sentiments expressed. 
 
 Capt. Chas. E. Merriam's Tribute 
 
 At a memorial service for Colonel Roosevelt held in 
 the People's Church, New Pantheon Theater, Chicago, 
 on Sunday, January 12, 1919 (the first Sunday after the 
 Colonel's death) the principal address was made by Cap- 
 tain Charles E. Merriam, of the University of Chicago, 
 candidate for Mayor of the city, and personal friend of 
 Theodore Roosevelt, who had just returned from an 
 important mission to Italy for the United States govern- 
 ment. The pastor. Dr. Preston Bradley, an orator of 
 silver tongue, also spoke, and the two addresses were so 
 filled with interesting personal reminiscences of the Colo- 
 nel that they are reproduced practically in full. Captain 
 Merriam said: 
 
 423 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 It seems only a few days ago that in the ancient city of Rome 
 I talked with Colonel Roosevelt's son, Captain Roosevelt, and 
 his wife, discussing with him his experience in the British Array 
 on the eastern front, and his future plans and prospects. Only 
 a few days later word was flashed across the wire that the son 
 of Colonel Roosevelt had fallen somewhere from the clouds in 
 France. It seems only a few days since I saw in the old city 
 of Rome perhaps the strangest combination that great city has 
 seen in all of the many peculiar combinations of persons and 
 people that have come there. We had there upon one day men 
 of a detachment of two hundred and fifty Czecho-Slavs on the 
 Italian front ; beside them were two hundred and fifty High- 
 landers with kilts and bagpipes, beside them Frenchmen from 
 the Italian front, and beside them were two hundred and fifty 
 Yanks from Ohio, of the 332d Regiment, and everywhere were 
 Italians, and I must not forget the Belgians and the Servians and 
 the Montenegrins were everywhere, too. 
 
 The great war is over. ]\Iore than forty million men have 
 taken part in it ; more than ten million will never return again ; 
 another ten million will return handicapped and crippled in the 
 struggle of life. , 
 
 Now I have come back and I find here a terrific blow struck 
 at our own land in the loss of one of our great leaders, our great 
 statesman, a great dynamic force in American political and social 
 life. And in view of my own friendship with Theodore Roosevelt 
 and intimate acquaintance with him and my association with 
 him, political and otherwise, for so many years. I find it difficult 
 to speak coolly of what I know and what I should say. 
 
 (Capt. Merriam then recounted his experiences with Colonel 
 Roosevelt at Milwaukee, when the Colonel was shot by John 
 Schrank. This portion of his address is included in a previous 
 chapter. He continued:) 
 
 It has been my pleasure not only to study Colonel Roosevelt 
 at long range, but to know him intimately and to know his per- 
 sonal actions and reactions, and for that reason I may, perhaps, 
 undertake to say a few words about the quality of his mind and 
 the quality of his ability. 
 
 It is sometimes said that Colonel Roosevelt was a superficial 
 man. That was not true. Colonel Roasevelt had one of the 
 greatest minds of his time. He had the greatest faculty for 
 
 424 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 observing and classifying and digesting and applying informa- 
 tion of any man of his day. He had an instinctive and intuitive 
 faculty of reaching out and collecting facts, and then of making 
 them a part of his life in some way. 
 
 It was my fortune to meet many of the notable men of our 
 time, but without disparaging any of them, for all of them are 
 excellent and represent a peculiar type of ability, Roosevelt 
 seemed to me to have the greatest faculty of finding out what 
 he wanted to know and being able to force that immediately 
 into a course of action. 
 
 ROOSEVELT AS A NATURALIST 
 
 If Colonel Roosevelt had specialized in one of a dozen things, 
 he might there have been as great as he was in his special political 
 sphere. If Roosevelt had chosen to be a naturalist, he would have 
 been one of the world's greatest naturalists, for he had unusual 
 powei's of sharp observation, unusual power of classification ; he 
 understood plants ; he understood animals, and he had a perfect 
 genius for their observation and their classification. 
 
 HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR 
 
 Colonel Roosevelt was a great historian and a great writer. 
 If he had chosen to give thirty or forty years of his great life to 
 the writing of history he would not only have been a historian 
 but he would have been one of the world's greatest historians, 
 for he possessed the faculty of historic inquiry ; he possessed the 
 power of expression ; he possessed the judgment and the insight 
 which would make it possible for him to interpret events. And it 
 is generally conceded that he might have ranked high in almost 
 any position that you can conceive in that particular and impor- 
 tant field. 
 
 A man in a position like Colonel Roosevelt's has to possess a 
 mind that will not only dig. deeply when required, but will get a 
 rounded view of things — not too much this and not too much 
 that, not looking here too long nor there too long, but surveying 
 the field, if necessary concentrating upon a particular point, and 
 out of all, knowing something of everything and everything 
 about something, be able to concentrate and work out a particu- 
 lar type of policy adapted to the particular moment. In this 
 Colonel Roosevelt was a master among men, and his ability in 
 this field has never been surpassed. 
 
 HIS HUMAN SYMPATHY 
 
 Another great trait of Colonel Roosevelt's mind, a typical 
 feature of his career was the astonishing range and breadth of 
 
 425 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 his human sympathy. Not only was Colonel Roosevelt himself 
 a man among men, but he intuitively liked men and undei-stood 
 men of all types and of all classes and of all races, languages, 
 religions; all peculiarities and all types were familiar to him 
 and were understood by him. There probably never vv'as a man 
 in the history of our country with a broader range of human 
 sympathy and a wider range of human acquaintance. One day 
 he might be entertained by an old cowboy friend, and the next 
 day shake hands with a workman, and the next day talk with a 
 great statesman or great lawyer, and he was equally at home 
 among them all. He knew their points of view ; he understood 
 their ideals; he sympathized with their purposes; he could talk 
 their language. 
 
 ROOSEVELT AND THE ANTI-JEW 
 
 Some of you will remember what Jacob Riis told of him, the 
 famous story about Roosevelt's attitude in a case involving the 
 Jewish people while he was Police Commissioner of New York. 
 It illustrates my point. There came to New York City a lec- 
 turer who was very rabid and bitter in his denunciation of the 
 Jewish people. He turned out later to be an impostor. But 
 he came to the Police Commissioner and said, "Now, the Jews 
 of New York are so bitter against me they will not allow me to 
 speak and therefore I must have special police detailed for that 
 evening." The Commissioner said to hira, "I don't believe that 
 is necessary. You will not need that. Our people are orderly 
 and you will be allowed to talk." Nevertheless, this man insisted 
 that when he opened his lecture he must have a special police 
 guard. That night when he came in to speak the house was filled 
 with people. The platfonii and all around the room, as if you 
 were to start here (indicating) and out all around the room was 
 an unbroken line of police, a cordon of policemen, in order that 
 there might be no disturbance. At first every one looked sur- 
 prised at the presence of so many police, but in a second's time 
 the audience laughed and the meeting adjourned. Every one 
 of the policemen was a Jewish policeman! That was the end of 
 his meeting, of that particular meeting, and the end of his work 
 in New York and America, because ridicule did what nothing els(^ 
 could have done. The joke was on him. And this intuitive under- 
 standing of all and acquaintance with all types of men enabled 
 Roasevelt to interpret the mind and the will of the American 
 people on so many occasions when it seemed to others to be 
 doubtful or unclear and uncr^-stallized. He understood the 
 
 426 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 American because he himself was so much an American ; he 
 understood the American because he had seen so many sides of 
 American life, 
 
 HIS SELF-MADE ENERGY 
 
 We think of Roosevelt as being a vigorous, robust and pow- 
 erful person physically. He was, at the end and for many years 
 of his life, but at the outset the original Roosevelt was not a 
 vigorous person. He was rather inclined to be sickly and weakly. 
 He was not a powerful man in his early days, but by his own 
 course of discipline and by his own application he had built him- 
 self up physically. He was, in the literal sense of the term, 
 physically a self-made body, he built up his own body, he built 
 up his own power and that amazing energy that was the wonder 
 of the whole world, and having done that he realized the atti- 
 tude of the powerful, but also the position of the weak and of 
 those who did not have that unbounded vigor that he possessed 
 in his later days. , 
 
 He understood the life in New York City and he understood 
 the life of the cowboy ; he understood the life in the army and 
 on the battlefield, and he understood the life of the legislator and 
 in the administrative department at Washington, and of the 
 political field and the political arena. 
 
 COMBINED THEORY AND PRACTICE 
 
 It always seamed to me that one of the great characteristics 
 of Roosevelt's career was his very remarkable combination of 
 the theoretical and the practical ; his combination of high ideals, 
 of what ought to be, and of practical effort and practical achieve- 
 ment in that direction. This has all the more been impressed 
 upon me because the first time that I ever saw Colonel Roosevelt 
 was when I was at Columbia University, in 1896. At that time 
 he came before us and delivered an address upon the theoretical 
 and practical in politics, and he was defending himself — curi- 
 ously enough, as it seemed later — he was defending himself of 
 the charge of not being a practical man. He was defending him- 
 self against the assertion that he was purely an idealist and did 
 not understand practical methods and that was because pri- 
 marily he could not bring the Police Commission of New York 
 into order. This was impossible because there were two on his 
 side and two on the other side, and under those conditions the 
 only thing possible was war and war it was until the end. 
 
 All through the Rooseveltian policies, all through the Roose- 
 velt career you find a singular combination of high standards 
 
 427 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 and the willingness to fight for his standard. There was noth- 
 ing in Roosevelt of the cloistered or secluded philosopher, but 
 there was everything in him of the willingness, first, to look upon 
 your distant goal, and then fight your way toward it. He was 
 willing to take the dirt and the sweat and the grime and the 
 blood and the sacrifice and the toil that were necessary to reach 
 the distant goal; he was not of the kind to sit and dream of 
 what he would like to do and then forget to fight for it. His 
 life was built not merely of battles, but also of dreams and vis- 
 ions of what things ought to be. And the striking thing is that 
 he never longed to go so much that he forgot to move in that 
 direction. 
 
 There are two types of people and they both have their uses 
 in the world. There are those who dream and frame their dreams 
 of distant futures and cease their activities with the conclusion 
 of their dream, and there are those who struggle and toil and 
 fight, but never lift up their eyes to see which way they are going. 
 In Colonel Roosevelt America had its finest example of one who 
 dreamed, but one who toiled toward the dream of his ideal. And 
 it is a quality and a characteristic only too necessary and only 
 too important to enforce and impress upon the great American 
 people by precept and by example. 
 
 HIS IDEA OP CIVIC DUTY 
 
 Roosevelt, personally, of course, had a supreme contempt for 
 a man who hoped for something in a public way or social way and 
 would not fight for it. He had only the profoundest contempt 
 for that attitude of mind which will criticize but will not work. 
 He had nothing but indignation for a man who would denounce 
 a government or a weakness, then would forget to vote when 
 election time came. To his mind that was the highest type of 
 civic treason. He felt and he taught that an education that 
 leaves a man without a sense of social obligation is worse than 
 nothing ; and the life that ends— a business life or social life or 
 professional life — that ends without having rendered its great 
 contribution of sacrifice to the common good, whatever the pin- 
 nacle of fame of the individual has been, must be marked down 
 in the long run as a failure. And over and over again in his 
 actions and his speeches and in his writings he undertook not 
 only to stir up the idealism of the American people, but to stir 
 them toward effective action, of which nothing nobler in the 
 world has ever been attained. 
 
 428 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 HIS FIGHT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE 
 
 Another great characteristic of Colonel Roosevelt was his 
 broad view of social classes and of social questions and his will- 
 ingness to meet these situations frankly and boldly as they came. 
 Roosevelt was no man to mince words in the face of social dan- 
 gers, he was no man to cringe or crouch before power, before 
 wrong or before injustice, however great or however formidable 
 it might seem. He was not afraid to denounce anarchy, whether 
 it was found among those of great wealth or among those who 
 had nothing at all. He was not afraid to denounce injustice, 
 or wrong privileges, wherever they might be found. And in his day 
 he fought all kinds of injustice, all exploitation, cruelty, privi- 
 lege, wherever he might find them ; but he fought them not only 
 with what might be called windy platitudes, not only by words, 
 but he fought them by deeds, he fought them by practical poli- 
 cies, he fought them by the organization of right-minded men 
 for right purposes, and he fought them by unceasing tenacious 
 struggle toward common purposes during long periods of time. 
 For that he possessed a singular faculty and wonderful ability, 
 and one of the greatest things that we have lost in America and 
 the one thing the world has lost is this unflinching quality of 
 social justice that Roosevelt possessed in so high a degree. 
 Never was that quality more necessary, my friends, than at the 
 present time and never were there greater problems to be worked 
 out in sanity of judgment, where breadth of vision, where clear- 
 ness of view and where courage and constructive power were 
 more necessary than in the present day. 
 
 We are living in a new world, the character of which we 
 ourselves scarcely realize. Militarism is dead or dying; autoc- 
 racy has gone forever, and the world does not weep at its tomb. 
 The world has been made a safe place for democracy, and now 
 the nations of the world are wondering what kind of a democ- 
 racy we will develop ; and now the old ostentations of militarism 
 and autocracy have gone forever, particularly is the world watch- 
 ing America to see what America understands by democracy, to 
 see what we understand by self-government, to see what we 
 understand by liberty, to see what our interpretation of justice 
 is — and what a pity it is, in these critical years, that the courage 
 and the insight and the constructive power of this great leader 
 are taken away from us. 
 
 Roosevelt's great work 
 It is a rash thing for any man to undertake to make an 
 appraisal of the work of another man at so close a range to him 
 
 429 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 personally and at so close a range to him historically, yet we 
 may raise the question today in this memorial service : \\niat 
 was the great work of Theodore Roosevelt ? It was of two kinda 
 as I see it, my friends. One of his great works was his material 
 constructive achievement. As Police Commissioner of New York, 
 as member of the Legislature of New York, as Governor of the 
 Empire State, he left his mark on a long series of detailed 
 measures unnecessary to enumerate here ; and as President of 
 the United States and as citizen of the world, he left his impress 
 in definite waj'S, in specific measures, and in a manner that 
 never can be forgotten. , 
 
 Wliether it is the Panama Canal or whether the irrigation 
 works of the West, or whether his attempt to control the gigantic 
 corporate interests of the country, or whether it is the stimula- 
 tion and development of the American Navy, or whether it is 
 the organization of the rural life of the community, or whether 
 it is his work on public health and sanitation, or whether it is one 
 of the dozen other great and historic outstanding features of his 
 work, these are imperishable monuments to his memory in the 
 history of our country. And yet, beyond all that, he was not 
 only a builder in the sense that he was a part of the constructive 
 period of our history for thirty years, but more than all that, 
 he was a dynamic force. , 
 
 His work must be measured not only by what Roosevelt him- 
 self did, but by what he drove others to do ; not only by what 
 he did himself, but by what he inspired others to do; not only by 
 what he did himself, but by what he led others to do. Roosevelt's 
 hammer blow struck the civic conscience of America and he 
 released untold forces of manhood and womanhood, inspired by 
 the same high ideals that he had held and by the same willing- 
 ness to fight for ideals for which his life had stood; and his 
 work must be appraised not by what he did personally — great as 
 it was, magnificent and wonderful — but by the indefinable and 
 immeasurable current of life and power that he sent shooting 
 through the veins of America. 
 
 Where there was one Roosevelt, there sprang up ten thousand 
 young men who followed his standard and who adopted his ideals 
 and his methods; where there were ton thousand men active 
 because of his work, there were millions of people who are 
 inspired, influenced, directed, and encouraged by this master 
 spirit of American political life. His fearlessness, his courage, 
 his outspoken statements, his broad democratic methods, his high 
 
 430 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 ideals and his practical ability made him one of the great assets 
 of American national public life; and when we lose this asset 
 we have lost something that will be a long time in replacing. 
 The monuments of his work will remain, but that impulse, that 
 driving force, that electric energy, that superabundant ability 
 that was a great inspiration to a great many millions of people, 
 for the time being has been eclipsed. 
 
 THE GENIUS OF ROOSEVELT 
 
 All in all, America has lost a great man who rendered his 
 great service in his own way. 
 
 The genius of Washington was his military ability and that 
 calm poise that made George Washington a dignified center 
 around which the American union might be built. 
 
 The genius of Andrew Jackson was his great military ability, 
 and then his slashing attack upon forces that might have made 
 of America something other than a democracy. 
 
 The genius of Lincoln was his human sympathy and his great 
 battle upon the system of organized privilege that held four 
 million as slaves. 
 
 The genius of Roosevelt was his constructive statesmanship 
 and his immense impulse toward higher standards and higher 
 ideals and keener civic conscience in America. He vitalized and 
 energized his party, but not only did he vitalize and energize 
 the Republican party and the great Progressive party, but he 
 vitalized and energized the American people, stimulated its 
 civic conscience, stirring its will to action and inspiring it to 
 practical Americanization, which lies at the bottom of the suc- 
 cess of this republic of ours. 
 
 And so today, my friends, we meet to pay honor to the 
 memory of a great man. Colonel Roosevelt is dead and his body 
 sleeps, but let us believe, my friends, and let us make sure that 
 the spirit of Colonel Roosevelt goes marching triumphantly on, 
 marching on toward the highest standards of civic conduct, 
 marching on toward more practical methods of their achieve- 
 ment, marching on toward a broader and finer democracy in 
 the social and political and industrial life of our country, march- 
 ing on toward a greater and nobler America, marching on toward 
 a finer type of international justice and of international order. 
 
 Dr. Bradley's Address 
 
 Dr. Preston Bradley spoke after Captain Merriam on 
 the memorial occasion referred to above, as follows : 
 
 431 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 I am sure, my friends, that after a speech such as you have 
 just listened to, the life and character of Theodore Roosevelt 
 has been so carefully and analytically given to you that there is 
 not much left for me to say in a large way, but I want to give 
 my little tribute to him personally. 
 
 In 1912 Roosevelt came to Chicago, and for the first time in 
 the history of national politics a man went into a great national 
 convention endorsed in the presidential preference primary for 
 the Presidency of the United States, and those stormy days came, 
 and I stood under the balcony of the Congress Hotel and saw 
 him come out in the midst of the battle and shake that clenched 
 hand of his before the Michigan boulevard, black with people, 
 and I heard him say again, "We refuse to try the title for stolen 
 property before the judge who stole it." And I saw him that 
 night walk out on the platform of Orchestra Hall while the audi- 
 ence were singing, "Onward, Christian Soldiers"; and I saw 
 the Progressive party born, and then the great battles of those 
 months which came on, and the political life and character of 
 America all changed because of those two or three days. And 
 then I could see the keen astuteness of the politician and the man 
 who had the best of the country at heart ; those days when the 
 convention was at the Auditorium and they were waiting to 
 receive word from Sagamore Hill, and word came back that he 
 said "No!" And as he faced the storm of the Republican party 
 of this country, when the Progressive party was organized he 
 faced the storm of the Progressive party because he was loyal, 
 and he refused the nomination thrust upon him and the party 
 as a political organization practically died after its work had 
 been accomplished and achieved. 
 
 THE TRUE AMERICAN 
 
 We saw all this, and then the great war came and he became 
 the spokesman of our highest type of true Americanism ; and 
 while there are those who criticized him for his criticism of some 
 things that had taken place, there is one outstanding fact that 
 stares us in the face today, and that is that after Theodore Roose- 
 velt's criticisms of the administration, we noticed that the mis- 
 take was not repeated. 
 
 This service in this great church of ours, yours and mine, we 
 have held to do him honor at this memorial time. I shall feel 
 his loss very deeply, personally, because I loved him; loved him 
 for what he was. Any man of pronounced opinions and strong 
 
 432 
 
 i 
 
A WORLD IN MOURNING 
 
 ideals and not afraid of the common-run who have their own 
 little axes to grind, — any man is bound to have enemies who is 
 pronounced in his individualism. And I love Roosevelt because 
 of the character of his enemies. I love him because they reveal 
 the type of man that he was himself — and they love him, too. 
 Why, a whole nation has forgotten politics and past battles. 
 
 The affection in wliich he was held in the hearts of the youth 
 of his country was peculiarly expressed in one of our schools 
 last Monday morning when the children came to school, about 
 fifty. They came in and they said, ''Teddy is dead." Forty- 
 nine of the children called him "Teddy," only one said "Mr. 
 Koosevelt." "Teddy," — and the fact that a whole nation and 
 the world could call him "Teddy" is evidence of his more than 
 superlative greatness — if there is such a thing — of heart and 
 soul, of body and of mind. He was the man unafraid. And the 
 finest thing I know about Theodore Roosevelt is that with him 
 there was no compromise, no compromise; you can't compromise 
 where great issues are involved in this world; you can't com- 
 promise on questions between right and wrong in this world; 
 you can't compromise where the whole destiny of a nation and 
 mankind is involved. The only thing is to have what you think 
 is steady loyalty and unswerving devotion around you, and do 
 what you think is right, and if you have found out what is right, 
 go ahead. 
 
 "in for a bit of sleep" 
 
 I read with tears in my eyes a letter of friends who told 
 about the last night at Oyster Bay, one week ago, after he bid 
 his family good-night, Mrs. Roosevelt had been alone with him, 
 and his old colored servant had been with him at 11 :15 when he 
 said, "Jim, will you turn out the light? I am in for a bit of 
 sleep." And he never woke up. 
 
 He has been quoted as saying that if the war had continued 
 three years longer, he probably would have last every son in his 
 family, for, he said, ' ' They are fighters, there is not a quitter in 
 the bunch." And though there are thousands of others like him, 
 yet he did lose that favorite son of the White House, Quentin, 
 and he was going to let him sleep where the enemy bullet found 
 him. A great sorrow was in his heart, but it was the personal 
 human sorrow of separation. A great thanksgiving was in his 
 life that he had been able to give a son, as you have done, per- 
 haps, to the great cause of world freedom and of democracy and 
 justice. 
 
 433 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 And so, quietly and tenderly they laid him away in the little 
 cemetery where you and I are going to make pilgrimages to his 
 grave ; and we are going to stand there, and we are going to read 
 his books and state papers, and we are going to listen once more 
 to his great speeches ; we are going to do all this because a new 
 day has been born to the world. The world is sick and tired of 
 your petty political dreams of graft ; the world is tired of your 
 narrow bigotry along political lines; a world has been re-bom. 
 Freedom 's banner has been unfurled, and freed men we shall be, 
 no longer to be driven and beaten by the bosses of politics; no 
 longer to be corralled. Freed men, free because of the great- 
 ness of such spirits as have helped to make men free. 
 
 And in the pilgrimage of that soul released — and that body 
 still carrying the bullet that Captain Merriam so dramatically 
 and beautifully portrayed to you, that body will go back to the 
 dust, but the soul of Roosevelt shall go marching on. And so 
 I say to you and I say to him, and I say to all who loved him, 
 Theodore Roosevelt, Hail and Farewell! 
 
 In Paris and London 
 
 While in his own land, cities and towns, the capital 
 and villages united in contemplation of the former Presi- 
 dent's distinguished achievements, Paris halted in mak- 
 ing the world peace on Sunday, February 9, 1919, and led 
 by President Wilson and Secretary of State Lansing, 
 paid honor to Mr. Roosevelt at a ser\'ice in the American 
 Church. In the church were other members of the Peace 
 Conference and hosts of the dead President's friends and 
 acquaintances. 
 
 Great Britain showed its respect at a memorial service 
 in Westminster Abbey, to which went many men promi- 
 nent in the councils of the Government. It was the first 
 time any man not a Briton had been so signally honored. 
 In other capitals, of the smaller nations whose cause 
 Colonel Roosevelt so persistently championed, similar 
 services were conducted. 
 
 434 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE OFFICIAL MEMORIAL 
 
 Congress in Joint Session with Crowded Galleries Hears 
 a Magnificent Tribute to Theodore Roosevelt from the 
 Lips of Senator Lodge, His Long-Time Personal and 
 Political Friend. 
 
 The Congress of the United States paid the last and 
 greatest possible official honor to the memory of Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt on Sunday, February 9, 1919, which had 
 been dedicated as the official memorial day throughout 
 the United States. 
 
 The huge hall of the House of Representatives was 
 packed to capacity with members of the two branches of 
 Congress, members of the Cabinet, the Supreme Court of 
 the United States, the Diplomatic Corps, and officers of 
 the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. 
 
 Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge, senior Senator from Massa- 
 chusetts, held the absorbed attention of the officials and 
 dignitaries on the floor of the House and of the packed 
 galleries while he laid before them the life history of 
 Colonel Roosevelt. 
 
 Senator Lodge traced the remarkable rise of the sickly 
 boy through his college days, when by sheer will power he 
 made himself an athlete, to the height of power and honor 
 to which he rose while still a young man. In a little 
 more than an hour he sketched the principal points in 
 the remarkable life history of the ex-President, touching 
 
 435 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 on his election to the New York State Assembly a year 
 after his graduation from Harvard ; his life in the West 
 after that ; his political activities up until the time he was 
 made Ci\dl Service Commissioner and the upheavals and 
 reforms he forced in that service; his record as chair- 
 man of the Board of Police Commissioners of New York 
 City ; the record he made as Assistant Secretary of the 
 Navy; as one of the organizers of the Eough Riders; 
 his administration as Governor of New York, and his 
 seven years in the White House. 
 
 Senator Lodge dwelt also on the many achievements 
 of Colonel Roosevelt outside his pubhc career, paying 
 the superlative tribute to him as a statesman, a public 
 servant and his friend. 
 
 "Had No Secrets from the People" 
 
 With a firm voice throughout the Senator depicted 
 the long and hard fight made by Colonel Roosevelt and 
 Representative Augustus P. Gardner (Massachusetts), 
 a Major in the army at the time of his death, for putting 
 the United States on its guard and preparing itself for 
 war. Only at this point and one other did the least trace 
 of bitterness creep into the Senator's voice. Major Gard- 
 ner was Senator Lodge's son-in-law. 
 
 In only one sentence was it possible to read into the 
 Senator's eulogy the least tinge of partisanship or com- 
 parison of President Wilson with Theodore Roosevelt— 
 when he declared that Colonel Roosevelt when President 
 "had no secrets from the American people." 
 
 Representative Nicholas Long\vorth (Ohio), Colonel 
 Roosevelt's son-in-law, did not sit in the gallery reserved 
 for members of the Roosevelt family. Mrs. Long^vorth, 
 General and Mrs. Macauley, and Mrs. Douglas Robinson 
 (the Colonel's sister) were the only representatives of 
 
 436 
 
THE OFFICIAL MEMORIAL 
 
 the family there. Mr. Longworth occupied a place among 
 his colleagues of the House. 
 
 Impressive But Simple 
 
 The ceremonies, tremendously impressive, at the same 
 time were simple in the extreme. 
 
 Promptly at 3 o'clock Speaker Clark's gavel fell and 
 the House was declared in session. Immediately 
 announcement was made of the presence of the Senate 
 and the Senators led by Vice-President Marshall filed in 
 two by two and silently took seats in the first four rows 
 at the left of the Speaker's rostrum, the Vice-President 
 taking his place by Speaker Clark. Next General March, 
 Chief of Staff of the Army, accompanied by Generals 
 Crowder, Sei^^ert, Black and Squier, Rear Admirals 
 Fletcher, Blue, Winslow and McKean of the Navy and 
 Brigadier-General Lauchheimer of the Marine Corps 
 were announced, and filed to their seats at the opposite 
 side of the House. 
 
 The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the 
 United States Supreme Court next were conducted to 
 their seats directly in front of the rostrum. 
 
 Announcement was then made of the members of the 
 Cabinet. When it was seen that the heads of only six of 
 the ten executive departments of government had seen 
 fit to be present and pay this last respect to the memory 
 of the former President, one of the few jarring notes of 
 the solemn occasion was distinctly noticeable. Acting 
 Secretary of State Polk and the Secretaries of the Inte- 
 rior, Treasury, War, Navy, and Commerce took their 
 seats. 
 
 The absent Cabinet members were Postmaster-Gen- 
 eral Burleson, Secretary of Agriculture Houston, Secre- 
 tary of Labor Wilson, and Attorney-General Gregory, 
 
 437 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 Just before the Diplomatic Corps were ushered into 
 the House, former President William Howard Taft, once 
 Theodore Roosevelt's close friend and the premier of his 
 Cabinet, later his political enemy, but in the last 3'ears of 
 the Colonel's life again his friend, was announced. As 
 Mr. Taft walked down the center aisle to the seat assigned 
 him a wave of applause swept Senate and House mem- 
 bers. Mr. Taft sat beside Senator Martin (Virginia), the 
 Democratic Senate leader. 
 
 Nations of Earth Represented 
 Lastly, the representatives in America of practically 
 every ci\T,lized nation of the world filed in and took their 
 seats. 
 
 The diplomats present were: Spain, Ambassador 
 Riano ; Mexico, Ambassador Bonillas ; Japan, Ambassa- 
 dor Ishii; Chili, Ambassador Mathieu; Portugal, Envoy 
 Extraordinary De Alte ; Bolivia, Minister Calderon ; Nor- 
 way, Minister Bryn ; Guatemala, Minister Mindez ; Swe- 
 den, Minister Ekengren ; Denmark, Minister Brun ; Siam, 
 Minister Karavongse. 
 
 Other countries were represented as follows: Vene- 
 zuela, Minister Dominici; Bulgaria, Minister Panaretoff ; 
 Salvador, ^Minister Zaldivar; Ecuador, Minister Elizalde ; 
 Colombia, Minister Ureuti ; Honduras, Minister Guiter- 
 rez; Dominican Republic, Minister Galivan; Nicaragua, 
 Minister Chomorro ; Paraguay, Minister Gomdra ; Neth- 
 erlands, Minister Cremer; Peru, Minister Tedula; Serbia, 
 Secretary of Legation Simitch; Great Britain, Henry 
 Getty Chilton, Secretary of Embassy, and Sir Henry 
 Babbington Smith ; Argentina, Counsellor Quintana ; Bra- 
 zil, Counsellor Moreira ; Italy, Secretary of Embassy Di 
 Valentine; France, Counsellor De Chambrun; Rou- 
 mania. Secretary of Legation Lahocary; Panama, First 
 
 4C3 
 
THE OFFICIAL MEMORIAL 
 
 Secretary of Legation Lef evre ; Hayti, Secretary of Lega- 
 tion Blanchot; China, Counsellor Yung Kwai; Monte- 
 negro, Secretary of Legation Matanovitch; Uruguay, 
 Secretary of Legation De Pena ; Cuba, Second Secretary" 
 of Legation Brull; Smtzerland, Commercial Adviser 
 OederUng; Russia, Baron Gunzburg; Belgium, Counsel- 
 lor Symon ; Persia, Mr. Baabe. 
 
 Invocation by the Chaplain 
 
 As the diplomats took their seats the gavel in the hand 
 of the Vice-President fell and the Rev. Henry N. Couden, 
 the blind chaplain of the House, arose and said : 
 
 ''We are here in memory of one of the nation's noblest 
 sons, a writer, a speaker, a scientist, a patriot, a soldier, 
 a statesman. We respect him because he respected his 
 country. We love him because he loved her people. 
 We honor him because he honored and revered her sacred 
 institutions and would have poured out his heart blood 
 to uphold and sustain them. A Christian ever turning 
 with faith and confidence to his God for strength and 
 guidance — God, help us to cherish his memory, emulate 
 his virtues, that we may leave a record well pleasing in 
 Thy sight. 
 
 ''Let Thy kingdom possess our hearts that we may 
 hallow Thy name, our God and our Father. Amen." 
 
 The Marine Band then played one of the favorite 
 hymns of the great American in honor of whose memory 
 the ceremonies were held, "How Firm a Foundation." 
 As the last strains of the hymn died away Vice-President 
 Marshall introduced Senator Lodge, and the Senator 
 immediately began his eulog}^ 
 
 Senator Lodge's Address 
 
 The Senator, who knew Colonel Roosevelt from the 
 latter 's college days, spoke first of the effect upon the 
 
 439 
 
LIFE OF TnEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 world of the tidings of his death — **the cry of sorrow 
 
 came from men and women of all conditions, high and 
 
 low, rich and poor, from the learned and the ignorant, 
 
 from the multitude who had loved and followed him, and 
 
 from those who had opposed and resisted him." 
 
 Senator Lodge continued : 
 
 ""VYe can not approach Theodore Roosevelt along the beaten 
 paths of eulogy or satisfy ourselves with the empty civilities of 
 conunonplace funereal tributes, for he did not make his life jour- 
 ney over main travelled roads nor was he ever commonplace. 
 Cold and pompous formalities would be unsuited to him who 
 was devoid of atTcctation, who was never self-conscious, and to 
 whom posturing to draw the public gaze seemed not only repel- 
 lant but vulgar. lie had that entire simplicity of manners and 
 modes of life which are the crowning result of the highest culture 
 and the finest nature. Like Cromwell, he would always have 
 said, 'Paint me as I am.' In that spirit, in his spirit of devotion 
 to truth's simplicity, I shall try to speak of him toda,y in the 
 presence of the representatives of the great Goremment of 
 which he was for seven years the head. ' ' 
 
 KEPT PEACE WITHOUT THREATS 
 
 In sketching Colonel Roosevelt's life, Mr. Lodge said of the 
 Presidential period: "Those who were alarmed about what he 
 might do had also suggested that with his combative propensities 
 he was likely to involve the country in war. Yet there never has 
 been an administration, as afterwards appeared, when we were 
 more perfectly at peace with all the world, nor were our foreign 
 relations ever in danger of producing hostilities. But this was 
 not due in the least to the adoption of a timid or yielding foreign 
 policy; on the contraiy, it was owing to the firmness of the 
 President in all foreign questions and the knowledge which other 
 nations soon acquired that President Roosevelt was a man who 
 never threatened unless he meant to carry out the threat, the 
 result being that he was not obliged to threaten at all." 
 
 It was the Senator's opinion that in the Panama Caoial Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt "left the most enduring, as it was the most visible 
 monument of his administration." 
 
 "Much criticised at the moment for his action in regard to 
 it, which time since then has justified and which history will 
 praise, the great fact remains tliat th>? canal is there," Senator 
 
 440 
 
THE OFFICIAL MEMORIAL 
 
 Lodge said. "He said himself that he made up his mind it was 
 his duty to establish the canal and have the debate about it 
 afterwards, which seemed to him better than to begin with 
 indefinite debate and have no canal at all. This is a view which 
 posterity both at home and abroad will accept and approve. ' ' 
 
 HIS GREAT PERSONAL STRENGTH 
 
 This was the speaker's comment on the election of 1912, 
 when Colonel Roosevelt led the Progressives : 
 
 "There never has been in political history, when all condi- 
 tions are considered, such an exhibition of extraordinary personal 
 strength. To have secured eighty-eight electoral votes when 
 his own party was hopelessly divided, with no great historic 
 party names and tradition behind him, with an organization 
 which had to be hastily brought together in a few weeks seems 
 almost incredible, and in all his career there is no display of the 
 strength of his hold upon the people equal to this." 
 
 Coming to Colonel Roosevelt's service to the country during 
 the war and the loss of his son, Quentin, Senator Lodge said: 
 
 "He would have had us protest and take action at the very 
 beginning in 1914 when Belgium v:as invaded. He would have 
 had us go to war when the murders of the Lusitania were per- 
 petrated. He tried to stir the soul and rouse the spirit of the 
 American people, and despite every obstacle he did awaken them, 
 so that when the hour came, in April, 1917, a large proportion 
 of the American people were even then ready in spirit and in 
 hope. 
 
 "How telling his work has been was proved by the con- 
 fession of his country's enemies, for when he died the only dis- 
 cordant note, the only harsh words, came from the Gerrnan 
 press. Germany knew whose voice it was that had more power- 
 fully than any other called Americans to the battle in behalf 
 of freedom and civilization," 
 
 Because he was not permitted to go to Europe at the head 
 of a body of soldiers, said Mr. Lodge, Colonel Roosevelt "was 
 denied the reward which he would have ranked above all others, 
 the great prize of death in battle. ' ' He continued : 
 
 PATRIOT IN EVERT FIBRE 
 
 "But he was a patriot in every fibre of his being, and per- 
 sonal disappointment in no manner slackened or cooled his zeal. 
 Everything that he could do to forward the war, to quicken 
 preparation, to stimulate patriotism, to urge on efficient action, 
 
 441 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 was done. Day and night, in season and out of season, he never 
 ceased his labors. Although prevented from going to France 
 himself, he gave to the great conflict that which was far dearer 
 to him than his own life. I cannot say that he sent his four sons, 
 because they all went at once, as every one knew that their 
 father's sons would go. Two have been badly wounded; one 
 was killed. He met the blow with the most splendid and 
 unflinching courage, met it as Siward the Earl of Northumber- 
 land receives in the play the news of his son's death: 
 
 Siw. Had lie his hurts before? 
 
 Eoss. Ay, on the front. 
 
 Siw. Why then, God's soldier be he! 
 Had I as many sons as I have hairs, 
 I would not wish them to a fairer death: 
 And so his knell is knoll 'd. 
 
 "Among the great tra-gedies of Shakespeare, and there are 
 none greater in all the literature of man, Macbeth was Colonel 
 Roosevelt's favorite, and the moving words which I have just 
 quoted I am sure were in his heart and on his lips when he 
 faced with stern resolve and self-control the anguish brought 
 to him by the death of his youngest boy, killed in the glory of a 
 brave and brilliant youth. 
 
 "There was no hour down to the end when he would not 
 turn aside from everything else to preach the doctrine of Ameri- 
 canism, of the principles and tJie faith upon which American Gov- 
 ernment rested and which all true Americans should wear in 
 their heart of hearts. He was a great patriot, a great man; 
 above all a great American, His country was the ruling, mas- 
 tering passion of his life from the beginning even unto the end. 
 
 AS A WRITER AND SPEAKER 
 
 "Let me speak first of his abilities. He had a powerful, well 
 trained, ever active mind. He thought clearly, independently 
 and with originality and imagination. These great gifts were 
 sustained by an extraordinary power of acquisition, joined to 
 a greater quickness of apprehension, a greater swiftness in seiz- 
 ing upon the essence of a question than I have ever happened to 
 see in any other man. His reading began with natural history, 
 then went to general histoiy and thence to the whole field of 
 literature. He had a capacity for concentration which enabled 
 him to read with remarkable rapidity anything which he took 
 up, if only for a moment, and which separated him for the time 
 being from everything going on about him. 
 
 442 
 
THE OFFICIAL MEMOEIAL 
 
 *'He made himself a writer not only of occasional addresses 
 and essays but of books. He had the trained thoroughness of 
 the historian, as he showed in his history of the war of 1812 
 and of the ' Winning of the West, ' and nature had endowed him 
 with that most enviable of gifts, the faculty of narrative and the 
 art of tlie teller of tales. At the same time he made himself a 
 public speaker, and here again, through a practice probably 
 unequalled in amount, he became one of the most effective in all 
 our history. In speaking, as in writing, he was always full of 
 force and vigor; he drove home his arguments and never was 
 misunderstood. In many of his more carefully prepared 
 addresses are to be found passages of impressive eloquence, 
 touched with imagination and full of grace and feeling. 
 
 "He had a large capacity for administration, clearness of 
 vision, promptness of decision and a thorough apprehension of 
 what constituted efficient organization. He could not have done 
 all these things unless he had had most exceptional natural abili- 
 ties, but behind them was the driving force of an intense energy 
 and the ever present belief that a man could do what he willed 
 to do. As he made himself an athlete, a horseman, a good shot, 
 a bold explorer, so he made himself an exceptionally successful 
 writer and speaker. 
 
 povn'er to hold attention 
 
 ' ' His also was the rare gift of arresting attention sharply and 
 suddenly, a very precious attribute and one easier to illustrate 
 than to describe. This arresting power is like a common experi- 
 ence, which we have all had on entering a picture gallery, of see- 
 ing at once and before all others a single picture among the many 
 on the walls. For a moment you see nothing else, although you 
 may be surrounded with masterpieces. In that particular pic- 
 ture lurks a strange, capturing, gripping fascination as indescrib- 
 able as it is unmistakable. Roosevelt had this same arresting, 
 fascinating quality. Whether in the Legislature at Albany, the 
 Civil Service Commission at Washington or the Police Com- 
 mission in New York; whether in the S-panish war or on the 
 plains among the cowboys, he was always vivid, never to be 
 overlooked. 
 
 "Men follow also most readily a leader who is always there 
 before them, clearly visible and just where they expect him. 
 They are especially eager to follow a man who never sounds a 
 retreat. Roosevelt was always advancing, always struggling to 
 make things better, to carry some much needed reform and help 
 
 443 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 humanity to a larger chance, to a fairer condition, to a happier 
 life. Moreover, he looked always for an ethical question. He 
 was at his best when he was fighting the battle of right against 
 wrong. He thought soundly and wisely upon questions of 
 expediency or of political economy, but they did not rouse him 
 or bring him the absorbed interest of the eternal conflict between 
 good and evil. Yet he was never impractical, never blinded by 
 counsels of perfection, never seeking to make the better the 
 enemy of the good. 
 
 "He wished to get the best, but he would strike for all that 
 was possible even if it fell short of the highest at which he aimed. 
 He studied the lessons of history and did not think the past bad 
 simply because it was the past, or the new good solely because it 
 was new. He sought to try all questions on their instrinaic 
 merits, and that was why he succeeded in advancing, in making 
 government and society better where others, who would be con- 
 tent with nothing less than an abstract perfection, failed. He 
 would never compromise a principle, but he was eminently toler- 
 ant of honest difference of opinion. He never hesitated to give 
 generous credit where credit seemed due, w-hether to friend or 
 opponent, and in this way he gathered recruits and yet never 
 lost adherents. 
 
 FRANK IN ALL COMPANIES 
 
 "The criticism most commonly made upon Theodore Roose- 
 velt was that he was impulsive and impetuous, that he acted 
 without thinking. He would have been the last to claim infalli- 
 bility. His head did not turn when fame came to him and 
 choruses of admiration sounded in his ears, for he was neither 
 vain nor credulous. He knew that he made mistakes, and never 
 hesitated to admit them to be mistakes and to correct them or 
 put them behind him when satisfied that they were such. But 
 he never wasted time in mourning, explaining, or vainly regret- 
 ting them, 
 
 "It is also true that the middle way did not attract him. He 
 was apt to go far, both in praise and censure, although nobody 
 could analyze qualities and balance them justly in judging men 
 belter than he. He felt strongly, and as he had no concealments 
 of any kind, he expressed himself in like manner. But vehem- 
 ence is not violence nor is earnestness anger, which a very wise 
 man defined as a brief madness. It was all according to his 
 nature, just as his eager cordiality in meeting men and women, 
 his keen interest in other people's cares or joys, was not assumed, 
 
 444 
 
THE OFFICIAL MEMORIAL 
 
 as some persons thought who did not know him. It was all pro- 
 foundly natural, it was all real, and in that way and in no other 
 was he able to meet and greet his fellow men. He spoke out with 
 the most unrestrained frankness at all times and in all companies. 
 
 *'Not a day passed in the Presidency when he was not guilty 
 of what the trained diplomatist would call indiscretion. But the 
 frankness had its own reward. There never was a President 
 whose confidence was so respected or with whom the barriers of 
 honor which surround private conversation were more scrupu- 
 lously observed. 
 
 " As a matter of fact, what Theodore Roosevelt was trying to 
 do was to strengthen American society and American Govern- 
 ment by demonstrating to the American people that he was aim- 
 ing at a larger economic equality and a more generous industrial 
 opportunity for all men, and that any combination of capital or 
 of business which threatened the control of the Government by 
 the people who made it was to be curbed and resisted, just as he 
 would have resisted an enemy who tried to take possession of 
 the city of "Washington, 
 
 ' ' He had no hostility to a man because he had been successful 
 in business or because he had accumulated a fortune. If a man 
 had been honestly successful and used his fortune wisely and 
 beneficently, he was regarded by Theodore Roosevelt as a good 
 citizen. The vulgar hatred of w^ealth found no place in his heart. 
 He had but one standard, one test, and that was whether a man, 
 rich or poor, was an honest man, a good citizen, and a good 
 American. He tried men, whether they were men of big business 
 or members of a labor union, by their deeds and in no other way. 
 The tyranny of anarchy and disorder, such as is now desolating 
 Russia, was as hateful to him as any other tj^ranny, whether it 
 came from an autocratic system like that of Germany or from 
 the misuse of organized capital. Personally he believed in every 
 man earning his own living, and he earned money and was glad 
 to do so, but he had no desire or taste for making money, and 
 he was entirely indifferent to it. The simplest of men in his own 
 habits, the only thing he really would have liked to have done 
 with ample wealth would have been to give freely to the many 
 good objects which continually interested him. 
 
 HIS POWER OVER MEN 
 
 "Theodore Roosevelt's power, however, and the main source 
 of all his achievements, was not in the offices which he held, for 
 those offices were to him only opportunities, but in the extraor- 
 
 445 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 dinary hold which he established aud retained over great bodies 
 of men. He had the largest personal following ever attained 
 by any man in our history. Let me define what I mean by per- 
 sonal following. I do not mean the following which comes from 
 great political office or from party candidacy. There have been 
 many men who have held the highest offices in our history by the 
 votes of their fellow countrymen who have never had anything 
 more than a very small personal following. 
 
 "By personal following is meant here that which supports 
 and sustains and goes with a man simply because he is himself; 
 a following which does not care whether their leader and chief 
 is in office or out of office, which is with him and behind him 
 because they, one and all, believe in him and love him and are 
 ready to stand by him for the sole and simple reason that they 
 have perfect faith that he will lead them where they wish and 
 where they ought to go. 
 
 ' ' This following Theodore Roosevelt had, as I have said, in a 
 larger degree than any one in our history, and the fact that he 
 had it and what he did with it for the welfare of his fellow men 
 have given him his great place and his lasting fame. 
 
 "This extraordinary popular strength was not given to him 
 solely because the people knew him to be honest and brave, 
 because they were certain that physical fear was an emotion 
 unknown to him, and that his moral courage equalled the phy- 
 sical. It was not merely because they thoroughly believed him to 
 be sincere. All this knowledge and belief, of course, went to 
 making his popular leadership secure ; but there was much more 
 in it than that, something that went deeper, basic elements which 
 were not upon the surface. They were due to qualities of tem- 
 perament interwoven with his very being, inseparable from him 
 and yet subtle rather than obvious in their effects. 
 
 Ills SENSE OF HUMOR 
 
 "Very different, but equally compelling, was another qual- 
 ity. There is nothing in human beings at once so sane and so 
 sympathetic as a sense of humor. This great gift the good fairies 
 conferred upon Theodore Roosevelt at his birth in unstinted 
 measure. No man ever had a more abundant sense of humor — 
 joyous, irrepressible humor — and it never deserted him. Even 
 at the most serious and even perilous moments if there was a 
 gleam of humor anywhere he saw it and rejoiced and helped 
 himself with it over the rough places. He loved fun, loved to 
 joke and chaff, and, what is more uncommon, greatly enjoyed 
 
 446 
 
THE OFFICIAL MEMORIAL 
 
 being chaffed himself. His ready smile and contagious laugh 
 made countless friends and saved him from many an enmity. 
 Even more generally effective than his humor was the universal 
 knowledge that Roosevelt had no secrets from the American 
 people. 
 
 "Yet another quality — perhaps the most engaging of all — 
 was his homely, generous humanity which enabled him to speak 
 directly to the primitive instincts of man. 
 
 He dwelt with the tribes of the marsh and moor, 
 
 He sate at the board of kings; 
 He tasted the toil of the burdened slave 
 
 And the joy that triumph brings. 
 But whether to jungle or palace hall 
 
 Or white walled tent he came, 
 He was brother to king and soldier and slave, 
 
 His welcome was the same. 
 
 "He was very human and intensely American, and this knit 
 a bond between him and the American people which nothing 
 could ever break. And then he had yet one more attraction, less 
 serious than the others, but none the lass very important and 
 very captivating. He never by any chance bored the American 
 people. They might laugh at him or laugh with him, they might 
 like what he said or dislike it, they might agree with him or dis- 
 agree with him, but they were never wearied of him and he 
 never failed to interest them. 
 
 A KNIGHT IN HIS DMLY LIFE 
 
 *'He had a touch of the knight errant in his daily life, although 
 he would never have admitted it ; but it was there. It was not 
 visible in the mediaeval form of shining armor and dazzling tour- 
 naments but in the never ceasing effort to help the poor and the 
 oppressed, to defend and protect women and children, to right 
 the wronged and succor the downtrodden. Passing by on the 
 other side was not a mode of travel through life ever possible 
 to him, and yet he was as far distant from the professional philau- 
 thropist as could well be imagined, for all he tried to do to help 
 his fellow men he regarded as part of the day's work to be done 
 and not talked about. 
 
 "When the future historian traces Theodore Roosevelt's 
 extraordinary' career he will find these embodied ideals planted 
 like milestones along the road over which he marched. They 
 never left him. His ideal of public service was to be found in 
 his life, and as his life drew to its close he had to meet his ideal 
 
 447 
 
LIFE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 of sacrifice face to face. All his sons went from him to the war 
 and one was killed upon the field of honor. Of all the ideals that 
 lift men up the hardest to fulfill is the ideal of sacrifice. Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt met it as he had all others and fulfilled it to the 
 last jot of its terrible demands. His country asked the sacrifice 
 and he gave it with solemn pride and uncomplaining lips. 
 
 "This is not the place to speak of his private life, but within 
 that sacred circle no man was ever more fortunate in the utter 
 devotion of a noble wife and the passionate love of his children. 
 The absolute purity and beauty of his family life tell us why 
 the pride and interest which his fellow countrymen felt in him 
 were always touched with the warm light of love. In the home so 
 dear to him, in his sleep, death came, and 
 
 "So Valiant-for-Truth passed over and all the trumpets 
 sounded for him on the other side. ' ' 
 
 No words at present command could add to the tribute 
 thus feelingly uttered in the halls of Congress by Senator 
 Lodge, true friend and fidus Achates of Theodore Roose- 
 velt with a friendship akin to that of David and Jonathan, 
 or that of Damon and Pythias. And as the distinguished 
 gathering at Washington responded to the sentiments of 
 Senator Lodge, his glowing tribute to his departed friend 
 was echoed far and near, in the voices of a nation's 
 sp'^kesraen, from New York to San Francisco, from Chi- 
 cago to Ne\v Orleans — until a mighty chorus of universal 
 tribute to Roosevelt rose to high heaven on that Sabbath 
 afternoon, and it proclaimed: 
 
 ''He was a man, a great man, and the friend of man; 
 but above all else he was a great American, the greatest 
 of his day and generation." 
 
 512 
 
 [The total number of paces In this book Is 512, Includlnc 64 papes of lUusfratlons, 
 which are not marked by folio numbers, and 448 pages of numbered text.] 
 
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