Before anyone presumes what I refer to in my title, it relates to politics and life.  In many ways, our American culture has been reduced to milquetoast timidness that renders us incapable of overcoming adversity. 

We walk on eggshells today, and many are so fearful of being arrested or castigated by the PC police that they have lost the spirit of perseverance that made America a reality and has sustained her. So, I ask, “Are we Wimps or Warriors?”  Are we capable of facing an enemy or adversity and prevailing?

Overcoming adversity is epitomized in numerous figures in American history, and one of them is Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was a sickly lad, and at 14, his father sat him down for a man-to-man view of his life. His father reportedly said, “You have the mind, but you have not the body. Without the help of the body, the mind cannot go as far as it should.”  Teddy responded, “I will make my body.” 

His determination was visible and determined.  He began lifting weights and engaged in boxing and wrestling.  One of his sisters said, “Theodore widened his chest by regular, monotonous motion – drudgery indeed.”  His persistence paid off as he remade his physical body, diligently working his mind.  He read prolifically covering a vast array of subject matter. 

In 1886, he entered New York state politics and entered the White House as president in 1891, when President William McKinley was assassinated.   The nation was deeply divided by racial tension despite the end of the Civil War decades earlier.

Roosevelt’s persistence and determination to overcome all obstacles could be cited as one of the reasons he invited Booker T. Washington to dinner in the White House.  Both men were devoted advocates of perseverance and shared a determination to make America a better place for all.  One does not have to agree with the politics of either man but should appreciate their determination and willingness to work together to overcome the known obstacles facing the nation.

Roosevelt was no doubt influenced by the corruption in politics of his era.  The spoils system and cronyism defined American politics in the nineteenth century.  How is that different from today?  Little, but some of the actions of Theodore Roosevelt and others of that era give hope for today if we can find the courage to become warriors and refuse to be wimps. 

In New York City, Tammany Hall was a prolific distributor of political spoils that extended to Washington, DC.  Roosevelt wrote, “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 victor belong the spoils, produces corruption and degradation.”   He could not stamp it out, but he did some things to give us hope if we become courageous.

When Roosevelt was the head of New York City’s four-man police commission, he was notorious for mingling throughout the city in disguise. He called it his “midnight ramble.”  His objective was to ensure that the police officers were on the job, alert, and attentive. He discovered that they were not.

Frequently, they would sass him when he confronted their idleness or inappropriate behavior. That was a colossal mistake, and his swift action resulted in a significant modification of the behavior of the police force in that city.  Some of Roosevelt’s devotion to fighting the spoil’s system may have been connected to his father.

In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes nominated Theodore Senior, or “Thee” as he was known, as Collector of Customs in New York.  It was assumed that Roosevelt Senior was rewarded for his philanthropic work but soon discovered that it was an action by Hayes to block his rival, Senator Roscoe Conkling, the boss of the corrupt New York State Republican machine, who had his own nominee in mind.

The political battle was brutal, and the political machine crushed “Thee,” belittling and humiliating him. This was a significant personal setback for Roosevelt Senior, infuriating the young Teddy and adding fuel to his vision of reform.

“Thee” Roosevelt died shortly after his nomination was rejected.  He suffered from stomach cancer.  Teddy studied natural history at Harvard, and his father’s death shifted his focus on life.  He determined that a career in public service was the most needful for his life and nation.  He felt that it was the best way he could honor his father.  In 1881, he was elected as the youngest member of the New York State Assembly, and his journey into politics was born.

Someone said, “Teddy Roosevelt began his political career as a New York snob, a highly educated dandy who wore really weird clothing and had a high-pitched voice and was just a kind of an eccentric and an outlier and kind of a blue stocking.”    He was determined to break up the spoils system. 

To his amazement and dismay, he witnessed firsthand the power of lobbyists in Albany, New York, where they were openly bribing legislators in the hallways of the capitol. The legislators engaged in tactics of corruption, sponsoring legislation unfavorable to corporations and then blackmailing the corporations, promising they would not pass the bills if paid sufficiently. This sounds a lot like today on many fronts.

One historian wrote that Roosevelt “Viewed the government as good … but believed that government had to be honorable.   His philosophy was that people have the right to expect that the people they elected,  the people that they appointed, or who hold bureaucratic positions, are trying to do the right thing, and when they’re not when they are corruptionists or cronies or lazy or inept, then that discredits the very idea of government intervention in the life of the American people.”

After the Rough Riders’ exploits, his political stock rose, and he became Governor of New York. He became William McKinely’s running mate and was elected Vice President on November 6, 1900, when McKinely won a second term.

President Roosevelt continued his war on the spoils system. He took on many entities and made a ton of enemies in the process. Money talks, and if you touch the goose that is laying the golden egg, you will become anathema to the powers behind the scenes.

Roosevelt was a progressive in many ways, and everything he did was not laudable.  However, he demonstrated what dogged determination and courage can do in producing reform.  His success is still questioned on many fronts.  Yet, his efforts did cause people to become more aware of corruption.  Some of his efforts seem to have helped ensure that the food supply was not tainted and dangerous on several fronts. 

I am not trying to offer a treatise on the virtues of Theodore Roosevelt. However, I am suggesting that we need someone in the White House and people in Congress who are courageous enough to fight for the restoration of the Constitution.  We have had too many weak-willed, corrupt politicians and need a courageous warrior to fight for us.

God bless you, and God bless America!