Never have I met such arduous of a man as Theodore Roosevelt. When I first got word of his death, I thought back at that moment we took charge against the Spaniards, at the hill of Santiago in Cuba, Roosevelt went up to a dying Rough Rider & shook his hand and said, “Well old man, isn’t this splendid.” Roosevelt led that attack, up front taking bullets to his elbow and boots, as if death could not grab him. This was even more convincing, & you might think he was plain crazy, as did I at one point, is when Roosevelt took his swagger stick that had his Colonel rank emblem on it & paced back & forth within range of the Spaniard’s snipers as they shot at him, & death was still unsuccessful. Roosevelt’s resolute was inspiring & contagious. Death was once frightening & intimidating to me, I now accept and disregard death, unable to perturb me from doing my duty.
However, it is one thing to be fearless of death & another to have death take the ones closest to you. I believe one is more affected by the death of others than the face of one’s own death. I remember when Roosevelt’s father had passed away at 46 from stomach cancer. Roosevelt immediately went home from Harvard to see his passing father. T.R. was in such distraught, I felt I had no way to console him. Roosevelt wrote, “Oh father, my father, no words can tell how I shall miss your council and advice.” However, I did not need to console him, he sought solace in nature & relief in action. He must have been in such pain, for he would exert himself in rigorous exercise, almost unable to stop. He would hike & hunt for hours; he had paddled his boat 25 miles in one day; almost road his horse to death, & shot a dog just because it had snapped at him. It’s as if he thought pain could not catch him in action. Roosevelt wrote in his diary, “How little use I am or ever should be if I had very much time to think, I believe I should almost go crazy.”
Nevertheless, T.R. was always like this, he always had the tenacity in staying fit, & much of it had to do with the abiding principles his dad taught him. Teddy Roosevelt was born in 1858 in New York City with a weak body. Many speculated if Roosevelt would even live until the age of four. He had severe asthma; he couldn’t even blow out a candle. His dad told Roosevelt at a young age that he was blessed with a wonderful mind but a weak body, & that he would have to build his body so it may be strong just like his mind. It was the only way for T.R. to take charge of his life. His dad would say, “Get action,” & “Don’t dwell in inner darkness, reach out, and burst out.” Roosevelt took his father’s words with sincerity & made it a point to strengthen his body. As a young kid he would learn boxing, hike, wrestle, & do many other outdoor activities. Although his body became much stronger, his asthma still stuck around for his college days, but T.R. knew it could not & would not defeat him. Roosevelt’s father was a great influence & his guiding spirit by which T.R. lived by.
Not only was Roosevelt constantly active, but he would also devour books, learn several languages, & loved to learn about nature. He would also have many pets as a kid, he would have birds & snakes. He loved life & wanted to know all about it. His curiosity was beyond many other children. One thing that Roosevelt hated as a kid was his nightmares. He would tend to always have a nightmare of a loose werewolf in his bedroom. It happened so much that the doctors would try unusual methods to cure his terrors by recommending induce vomiting, drinking black coffee, & even smoking cigars. Sometimes, I think doctors are still unsure of their knowledge, but they do know best.
Roosevelt would go back to college & fall in love with Alice Lee, and graduate from Harvard with honors in 1880. Not too long after, he would get married and win election to become the youngest New York Legislature. Because of his young age people would try to make fun of him. I remember one time a man was making fun of his clothes and with Roosevelt’s boxing skills at hand he punched him in the face. He let the man get up & punched him again. Then Roosevelt said, “When you are in the presence of gentlemen, act like a gentleman.” People were in such awe that nobody really ever made fun of him after that.
Then in 1984 the two telegrams came, one of excitement & one of dread. The first was of his newborn child & the second was of his dying mother & wife. Roosevelt raced home & within hours both his mom & wife were dead. His mom was 48 years old, & Alice was a young 22. I saw him just looking at the meadows, looking to nowhere. He was stunned & heartbroken. “The light has gone out of my life,” T.R. would write. What kind of test has God given him? Such a tragedy would break any man. But it didn’t break Roosevelt, no, it took him to a new place, a place of grim beauty. He retired from politics, left his newborn daughter with his sister, & took to the west.
T.R. left to the badlands of North Dakota & went all cowboy. He would shoot buffalo, take down bullies, & fight Indians. He thought Indians as an inferior race & thought that it was destiny for the Anglo-Saxon race to rule the world; although, he did not hate the Indians. He stayed there for about 2 years & when he came back, he was stronger in will & utterly fearless. He had said, “There were all things of which I was afraid, but by acting that I wasn’t afraid, I realized I wasn’t afraid.”
Back in New York, he would marry Edith, finally bring his daughter to live with him & five of their children. He was unsuccessful in becoming mayor in 1886 but later on would be appointed police commissioner. He quickly fired the appointed police chief & required the New York police to meet certain standards. Police now had to be able to read & write, & it was the first to require training for gun handling & shooting. He would even go and prowl at night to make sure the police were doing their job. Journalist would write about his work ethic & had high standards. People admired him, as I heard one say, “He must be president; a man you can’t cajole, can’t frighten, can’t buy.”
Roosevelt was a man of morals, but he understood the necessary actions it would take for America to prosper. In 1897, when he became assistant secretary of the Navy, he advocated to help the Cubans defeat the Spaniards in order to gain international power. I still remember what he said at the Naval War College, “Cowardice is the unpardonable sin, no triumph of peace is quite so great as the supreme triumphs of war. The nation must be willing to pour out its blood, its treasures, & its tears like water rather than submit to the loss of honor & renown.” Roosevelt was not just a preacher, he would practice what he preaches. He would go & lead, in the front lines, the Rough Riders & Cuba to victory.
Roosevelt returned home a hero & a celebrity, & used that to his advantage to become governor of New York. As Governor he would fight for social injustice & the preservation for national parks. Many of the republican’s were against many of Roosevelt’s policies & would commit to balloting T.R. into becoming vice president because the republicans knew there was less power as a vice president. Although Roosevelt did not want to become vice president, William Mckinley won the presidency in 1901, making T.R. vice president. This, however, backfired on the republicans. Less than a year later, on September 6, 1901 Mckinley was assassinated, making Roosevelt the new President of the United States.
With Roosevelts unwavering courage & will of determination, he fought many big corporations to help the labor unions & sought to fight against monopolization. I especially loved the square deal. A domestic program, referred as the “Three C’s”, to help the conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, & consumer protection. His handling of affairs was another skill he had. When Colombia refused our offer to build a damn in Panama, T.R. asked me to call the head of the Panamanian rebellion over to the white house. We were to help the rebellion in order so Panama could attain independence from Columbia & after helping the rebellion, Panama will graciously accept our offer to build the damn in order to cut thousands of miles of exports & imports, cutting straight through Panama instead of around South America.
Roosevelt was not a man of money; he was a man of honor & virtue. As a friend & advisor, I would try finding other ways around to prevent battling huge corporate leaders, but Roosevelt would not have it any other way, he stood his ground as a man ready to die for what he believed in. Such virtuous of a man & zealot moralist, never have I known such a great leader. Whenever we would have our meeting, he would always help me see the bigger picture. He was always able to perceive what would be better for the benefit of America.
I found it funny when Roosevelt won election as President in 1904 & he said, “I am no longer a political accident.” Well of course you’re not. Roosevelt would say, “Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction, not of creed or birthplace, the test of our worth is the service we render.” Roosevelt helped me build my conviction & make peace with death. Without the fear of death, it seemed as if almost anything is possible. Roosevelt would go to the cutthroat of life & fight for America, for his people. He may be gone now, but it seems that he is still affecting me & many others in so many ways. Well old man isn’t this splendid.
