Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1904 — Theodore Roosevelt [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Theodore Roosevelt

A STUDY OF THE MAN

“Ho hu qxeant every word ho said and tho people hare believed evdfy word ho said, and with him this c6n* ventlon agrees because every worfl baa been gound Republican doctrine.” When Chairman Root uttered these words at the opening of the Chicago convention he included and suggested many of the facts that nominated Theodore Roosevelt for president long before the delegates met at Chicago to hold a national convention. “Ho has meant every word he said.” This one quality has characterized the utterances of Theodore Roosevelt ever since he first entered public life, and that was years ago, for the ink was scarcely dry on his college diploma until he had been given preferment by his follow citizens. And it is reasonable to suppose that this knowledge of the man was one of the things that contributed to his success at the outset. The people knew that they could safely depend upon him. He would not deceive them. Th# individual and t&e world like a man they know they can “put a finger on him.” Given this one quality and there are others of a similar nature that go to make the desirable friend, the trustworthy business man, the useful citizen, the competent office-holder, and the foundation stone of a useful oareer has bsen deeply laid. But let a man lack this one quality and there is no other—no combination of other quakes—to serve as a satisfactory substitute for it. For this include! strength and the determination to use this strength. BUII more, it means determination to tile this strength for the right, for othonrise, however lofty his purposes, he could not be depended upoh to crystaUlze thefa into achievement. ‘The people have believed every word he said," continues the chairman of the conVention. Why T Because they -have come to know him. They net only "believe hut they feel tfcat he Is sincere. And they naturally and reasonably warm to such a Again, however, we have something *dd_ed to sincerity, for a man may be sincere and still be misled. But Theodore Roosevelt id not'a theorist

or a vtslonaire. His aims are lofty, he has high ideals, but he lives as far from cloudl&nd as any man that has evtTr been in public life. This suggests another quality that m|kes Theodore Roosevelt a rare map. For ages there has been a plroeptible distinction between the tinker and tlm door. Plato and JJotiHtes were thlnkcrt ami the world has their thought today; but Pericles both and did things, and however we may revel in the sublime realms of Plato and Socrates, it was Pericles who contributed to the glory of Athens that which chiefly appeals to us today. We suspect that a Bismarck appeals more to the average human being than a Gladstone, the one was a man of deeds, the other an orator. But Theodore Roosevelt combines the two qualities, that of the thinker as well as that of the man of action. He writes an essay on “American Ideals” in which he treats of the things vital to a great republic. Here he is the thinker; but civilization has been waging for ft century for tb? Panama cSnal, andhe makes that great world highway a possibility. Thomas Jefferson wrote well and reasoned about the rights of man, and set down abstractions with a wonderful clearness, but he bought Louisiana Teyltory, and he will be remembered In history chiefly because of this one thing that he did In opposition to the theories set down in his abstractions. This suggests another distinguishing trait in Theodore Roosevelt, because he is not required to violate his own theories in order to record achievements. His pv[bllc acts are in accordance with his published principles and the country approves and applauds because the people feel that both his theories and his deeds will withstand the test of actual experience. This is why Chairman Root was able to add the third element in the sentence quoted at the beginning of this article —"with him this convention agrees because every word has been sound Republican doctrine.” And this suggests a striking analogy between the life of this man and the We of this party sat has Just placed him la nomination for an office the highest that the world bag to bestow. The Republican party came) into existence half a century ago because the times then demanded a oar

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PRESIDENT THEODORE ROOSEVELT.