A favorite quote of mine. Teddy was the real thing, I have read his books, and several about him and his family. A most remarkable person. Where are the Teddy Roosevelts of today?
TR was a fine Police Commissioner and a wonderful man, but a failure as a president. He Big Stick-ed ever cause and problem with the cudgel of government force, intervention, and oversight. His ideas of individual development and responsibility never extended beyond the personal level - he trusted no one other than himself and ruined the country with his petty turn against his self-appointed successor Taft that ushered in the virulently racist Wilson and revived the nigh-dormant national Democratic Party. F*ck TR.
No doubt Teddy was a flawed human. He basically abandoned his child Alice the moment she was born to go play cowboy because he was distraught over the death of his wife in childbirth. Pure selfishness.
Same with the Bull Moose Party splitting the vote and letting Wilson win the election. Pure selfishness and ego.
Fascinating man though. And one has to feel sorry for him as he (rightly) blamed the bravado that he almost required got his son killed in WWI as the boy tried to live up to his dad. That broke TR's heart and was what really killed him.
A favorite quote of mine. Teddy was the real thing, I have read his books, and several about him and his family. A most remarkable person. Where are the Teddy Roosevelts of today?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a Teddy Roosevelt of today would bother getting into politics? Never mind being police commissioner.
ReplyDeleteTR was a fine Police Commissioner and a wonderful man, but a failure as a president. He Big Stick-ed ever cause and problem with the cudgel of government force, intervention, and oversight. His ideas of individual development and responsibility never extended beyond the personal level - he trusted no one other than himself and ruined the country with his petty turn against his self-appointed successor Taft that ushered in the virulently racist Wilson and revived the nigh-dormant national Democratic Party. F*ck TR.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt Teddy was a flawed human. He basically abandoned his child Alice the moment she was born to go play cowboy because he was distraught over the death of his wife in childbirth. Pure selfishness.
ReplyDeleteSame with the Bull Moose Party splitting the vote and letting Wilson win the election. Pure selfishness and ego.
Fascinating man though. And one has to feel sorry for him as he (rightly) blamed the bravado that he almost required got his son killed in WWI as the boy tried to live up to his dad. That broke TR's heart and was what really killed him.
Love him or hate him - he was the man in the arena.
ReplyDelete