Theodore Roosevelt

Later note: Ridgewalker, member of the Seathal Tribe, asks: “Do they have to be American Presidents? Do they HAVE to be Presidents, at all? If not, I nominate Abe Vigoda, Waponi Chief as the 5th head.” Ridgewalker: The breadth of your knowledge dazzles the mind. So very few know Vogada’s real heritage as an indigenous person of our continent I am truly impressed. Chief Abyssinian Vo Goda roughly translated as Waponi’s “Razor edged dark glass tool of God” changed his name to Abe Vigoda and assumed a Jewish posture throughout his comedy career. He is now retired on the Waponi Reservation in South Dakota. Chief Abyssinian could have been Chief Dan George given different management. Please note “Geronimo” might qualify for the mountain pre 1916. Chief Abyssinian falls from worthy consideration because Mt. Rushmore will not support another face. -------------------- Update: Damned wikipedia! I've been called on my recollections of Teddy. Teddy commissioned the National Parks and r... Read more

REVISED: It is often said that Teddy Roosevelt was the first modern American president, and I think this is a fair statement. To begin, one must be careful to judge people based on the times, or in other words, in comparison with their contemporaries. Yes, Teddy might be considered racist and/or sexist by the standards of today, but when compared with his contemporaries, he was progressive, and no one can accuse Roosevelt of thinking small. He acknowledged and (more importantly) acted upon the new reality that the United States was a world power and the responsibilities that this status entailed (e.g. the Panama Canal and reducing European influence in the Americas). He acknowledged the dangers of extreme capitalism by starting, or substantially starting anti-trust measures, but avoided the temptation of over regulation that plagues us today. Finally (at least for this comment), Teddy was largely responsible for the conservation movement, though this has been largely perverted by subse... Read more

The last "right"-minded Republican.

TR would have been a great war-time president, but he wasn't. His influence in this country was great, but he doesn't have the worldly legacy of FDR, Churchill, Gorbachev, and Reagan. He didn't reshape the direction of history as these great leaders did. This doesn't take anything away of what a great president he was, but the times were quite different during his presidency and there wasn't a great urgency for change as there was compared to the leaders previously mentioned.

A progressive and visionary man who was one of the few great American Presidents. Was responsible for ushering in child labor and pure food and drug legislation, for land preservation efforts and was the first Chief Executive to significantly take on the Robber Barons who were attempting to turn this country into their fiefdom. He also strengthened the power of the Presidency, which was positive for the most past, was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and oversaw the Panama Canal, a boon for commerce at the time. Although he was a bit of a pompous blowhard and photo opportunist, and was a jingoistic death-worshipper, his contributions to our country greatly outweighed his negative attributes.

very strong and a good leader

One of the greatest progressive Presidents of our history. He was obviously no party hack, and used his own mind for thinking. He rallied for conservation and trust-busting (not a typical Republican practice). He "spoke softly and carried a big stick", and while establishing the United States as a bold world power and the courier of freedom, helped resolve the conflict between Russia and Japan. He suffered many illnesses throughout his life, yet was brave enough to join the armed forces during the Spanish-American War and undertake a huge amount of responsibility following the death of William McKinley. As far as Presidents in the 20th century, probably as good as it gets.

Truly, a Renaissance man ahead of his time. Glad that Edmund Morris' books bring this fine President to light.

In addition to what 'abichara1882' said, he started the "New-Right" (a radical softline center right which favors religious values).

All one needs to know about this man is that a) all historians, friends of TR and his political enemies all concurred that the only two women TR had ever touched in his life were his two wives b). some of his friends and allies were John Muir, John Burroughs, Jane Addams (founder of the Hull House), Jacob Riis, et al c). when accused by a Midwestern newspaper of being a drunkard (after he had left the White House), he filed a slander suit against this writer and paid $50,000 from his own pocket to take this writer to court to clear his good name. The jury ruled on the side of TR and TR asked that the punitive damages only be a few pennies. He had only wanted to clear his name since all who knew him knew that he rarely drank. d). He appointed the first Jewish cabinet member during his second term - Oscar Strauss (Commerce) e). He and Edith brought black entertainers to the NY Governor's mansion in the l900 to entertain them and their guests and offered them their home for the evening... Read more

I appreciate what he did for conservation awareness. Still, I hate the big game hunter, Hemingway-macho thing he had going on. He always seemed like a caricature of the puffed up blow hard politician.

I'm sorry, but I have to hold it against old Teddy that he was such a big time rah-rah war cheerleader. But I do like the way he handled his daughter (Alice) and if any of you saw the Doonesbury comic today, there was that great quote he made that Bush ought to learn a lesson from. I do not appreciate his womanizing (being female and a strong feminist) but he was environmentally active and I do applaud that. So far, the scale is about equally balanced, so I shall simply settle on three. Take care, everyone!

He was a muckraker who pushed for reform.

Theodore Roosevelt was possibly one of the greatest presidents of all time. He began building the U.S. into the world power it is today by strengthing our position abroad and at home. He stood up to European powers, he emersed himself in international affairs by negociating a peace treaty between Russia and Japan after a war broke out between these two powers in 1905. This lent America much needed pretige abroad. He revolutionized American politics by helping bring it closer to the people and out of the reach of party bosses. He was very progressive for his time; advocating environmentalism and interventionism; two forces which defined American politics in the 20th Century.

It baffles me that Republicans hold TR up as a great President. He changed the presidency for the worse, by making it an "activist" job, instead of a sober one of obeying the constitution. Sure, the 1900s were a turbulent age, but rather than letting free individuals act in their own best interests, TR acted as the first White House interventionist in environmental matters and in picking winners and losers in the economy (through aggressive anti-trust action). As a result, the early history of private conservation has been lost to federal land management programs that do wonderful things like accidently burn down most of New Mexico (in 2000) without anyone even being fired. He also defied the wisdom of George Washington and got the U.S. involved in the wars of Europe, setting a precedent that let Wilson throw us into WW1. Wilson's help in bringing that to the ugliest possible conclusion set the stage for the rise of Hitler, and got the U.S. sucked into (and sometimes fanning the fl... Read more

Okay- on a totally lighthearted note- he inspired the beloved Teddy Bear!

TR may not have been an intellectual powerhouse (how many of our Presidents haven been?), but he is one of the most fascinating and charismatic world figures of the early 1900s. He defies easy categorization. Take, for example, the fact that he was a soldier who romanticized war and believed profoundly in the virtue of physical bravery, yet he won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the end of hostilities between Russian and Japan. Or the fact that he was a pro-business Republican, and yet he directly challenged the rights of monopolistic corporations (although his successor, Taft, busted twice as many trusts as the legendary Trust Buster). Or the fact that he was raised in New York City society with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he spent a great deal of his time roughing it with ranchers and outdoorsmen in the West. Roosevelt was unique. He was a passionate romantic, often bull-headed and self-righteous, with a legacy that includes unprecedented (at the time) land conservation (n... Read more