PROGRAMMING WARNING: Bret Baier’s Fox Nation series about the legendary life of Teddy Roosevelt is now available to stream on Fox Nation and the Fox Nation app.
Teddy Roosevelt looked into the American heart and declared that all was well. And America looked at Roosevelt and saw his greatness reflected. To this day, more than a century after his death, Roosevelt remains one of our most admired presidents.
This week marks the publication of my latest presidential biography: “To Save the American Spirit: Teddy Roosevelt and the Birth of a Superpower.” It was an exciting experience for me to live for a while in the world of our twenty-sixth president.
Born two years before the Civil War, when America would be tested like never before, Roosevelt rose to become president at the turn of the century, when the country was buzzing with opportunity. It could have gone in different ways.
The Gilded Age had created great wealth, but also crushed income inequality. There was a pattern of corruption and indifference to public life. On the world stage, the US tended to be neutral and uninvolved; its success in the Spanish-American War was a one-off. If we had continued on that path, we might have failed. But Roosevelt broke through the malaise and inertia.
Roosevelt came to power after a presidential assassination. Everyone wanted to know whether he would be loyal to the policies of his late predecessor, William McKinley. He wanted to allay their concerns by making that promise, but it was against his nature to stick to the status quo just out of loyalty – to a party or to an individual. He set his own course – and in doing so changed the course of history.
American politician and future President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt during a visit to the Dakota Badlands in 1885 after the death of his first wife. (Photo by TW Ingersoll via Getty Images)
How he managed this is an exciting story, which is explored in depth in my book. But I have chosen four core reasons why Roosevelt was a great man and a great president.
Roosevelt had a strong moral core
Our nation’s founding fathers placed great value on the importance of morality. John Adams stated, “Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people only. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other people.” Ben Franklin agreed. “Only a virtuous people is capable of freedom,” he wrote. “As nations become corrupt and cruel, they need masters more.”
Roosevelt learned the importance of morality at his father’s knees. The elder Theodore Roosevelt, a prominent businessman and philanthropist known for his good works, often told his children that morality was a higher value than status, wealth or fame. “Take care of your morals first,” he told his son when he went to college, and Teddy listened to the lesson. After his father died suddenly while he was at Harvard, Teddy wondered how he would live up to his sky-high ethics. He tried for the rest of his life.
President Theodore Roosevelt in his office in Washington, DC on February 10, 1903. (History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
In public service, Roosevelt was always aware of the moral mandate as he grappled with the gritty issues of men. The key for him was to be uncompromising when it came to values. He once mused, “There will be some fool who will say, ‘Yes, perhaps he is a little crooked; but he is ‘terribly smart’. That kind of praise speaks ill of the man who is praised, and ill of the man who praises him. We cannot afford as citizens of this republic to tolerate the successful scoundrel any more than the failed scoundrel.”
Roosevelt believed that America should lead the world
When we now hear America called the leader of the free world, we have Roosevelt to thank for it. He charted a course like a great ship sailing international waters, establishing a U.S. presence in a world that had never existed before.
President Roosevelt’s role in brokering an agreement in the Russo-Japanese War may seem like an obscure historical footnote. It’s not talked about much. But it was America’s participation in a larger global role. Later, Roosevelt demonstrated peaceful global dominance when he sent the nation’s “Great White Fleet” of battleships on a world tour.
When the world went to war in 1914, he became the loudest voice for America’s entry into the war. He crushed the resistance of pacifist President Woodrow Wilson, mocking pacifism as the equivalent of withdrawing from responsibility for the human race – and calling it unpatriotic. He said: “Pacifism has proven to be the most powerful possible anesthetic of patriotism, courage and manliness. Our present task is to restore these virtues to the nation.”
Theodore Roosevelt stands at a podium and points to the crowd during a campaign speech, circa 1900. (Getty Images)
When America finally entered the war, Roosevelt wanted to serve, but President Wilson declared that he was past his prime. However, all four of his sons joined the war effort. His youngest son Quentin, a fighter pilot, died during a mission. Emotionally devastated by the loss, Roosevelt did not hesitate. He continued with a planned speech in New York, praising the contributions of the fighting martyrs. “These are the torchbearers,” he said through tears. “These are those who have dared the Great Adventure.”
Roosevelt believed that the working class should benefit from America’s success
He came from a privileged position, but felt a strong bond with the ordinary worker. He fought for workers’ rights, linking workers’ ability to earn a living wage to their ability to be good citizens. Roosevelt put the issue in words that everyone could understand. “No man can be a good citizen unless he has a wage amply sufficient to cover the expenses of living, and the hours of work are short enough, that after his daily work is done, he will have time and energy to do his part in the management of the community, to assist in carrying the general burden.”
An undated photo of Theodore Roosevelt who succeeded William McKinley after his assassination. Roosevelt was a popular leader and the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded for his mediation in the Russo-Japanese War. (Current Press Agency/Getty Images)
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Roosevelt always had an affinity for the common man, whether they were the farmers or horsemen of his beloved western plains or the miners whose hardships affected him so deeply that he fought for their cause. In all cases his attention was focused on harnessing the great American spirit, which was present in the people, for the future he envisioned.
Roosevelt urged citizens to join the greatest cause in the world – as a civic duty and as a calling
He did it all with a passion and joy that was unusual for top executives. The White House under Roosevelt was a lively, loud, happy place, full of children, animals and the president’s big, booming laughter. He embodied the daring spirit of a new century in a way that gave others permission to embrace adventure.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (1901-1909) sits at his desk, circa 1905. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
After his presidency, Roosevelt issued one of the most important calls to action of his time with a speech that still resonates today. It’s called Citizenship in a Republic and is known as the ‘Man in the Arena’ speech. In a simple way he explained the fundamental premise of citizenship by stating: ‘It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done it better. The credit goes to the man who is actually in the arena.”
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In powerful prose, born of a conviction deep in his soul, Roosevelt called on his countrymen to fully commit themselves to their citizenship – to show great courage for a good cause.
Words and actions like these make Teddy Roosevelt a unique and beautiful voice – the all-American man whose life embodied what we strive for as a nation.
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