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There was a time when, in the American body politic, if you said "Teddy", your first thought was of a man of substance and ability, rather than a drunk, socialist playboy with an unpunished act of man-slaughter on the national conscience.



An excerpt of a little speech from the one on Mount Rushmore and from a time when great people wrote their own speeches, presenting them without benefit of a teleprompter:



"I am peculiarly glad to have an opportunity of addressing you, my fellow citizens of Dakota, on the Fourth of July, because it always seems to me that those who dwell in a new territory, and whose actions, therefore, are peculiarly fruitful, for good and bad alike, in shaping the future, having in consequence peculiar responsibilities. Much has been given to us, and so, much will be expected of us; and we must take heed to use aright the gifts entrusted to our care.



The Declaration of Independence derived its peculiar importance, not on account of what America was, but because of what she was to become; she shared with other nations the present, and she yielded to them the past, but it was felt in return that to her, and to her especially, belonged the future. It is the same with us here. We, grangers and cowboys alike, have opened a new land; and we are the pioneers, and as we shape the course of the stream near its head, our efforts have infinitely more effect, in bending it in any given direction. In other words, the first comers in a land can, by their individual efforts, do far more to channel out the course in which its history is to run than those who come after them; and their labors, whether exercised on the side of evil or on the side of good, are far more effective that if they had remained in old settled communities.



So it is peculiarly incumbent on us here today so to act throughout our lives as to leave our children a heritage, for which we will receive their blessing and not their curse. If you fail to work in public life, as well as in private, for honesty and uprightness and virtue, if you condone vice because the vicious man is smart, or if you in any other way cast your weight into the scales of evil, you are just so far corrupting and making less valuable the birthright of your children.



It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it.



I do not undervalue for a moment our material prosperity; like all Americans, I like big things; big prairies, big forests and mountains, big wheat fields, railroads – and herds of cattle too – big factories, steamboats, and everything else. But we must keep steadily in mind that no people were ever yet benefited by riches if their prosperity corrupted their virtue. It is of more importance that we should show ourselves honest, brave, truthful, and intelligent, than we should own all the railways and grain elevators in the world. We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of good fortune. Here we are not ruled over by others, as in the case of Europe; we rule ourselves. All American citizens, whether born here or elsewhere, whether of one creed or another, stand on the same footing; we welcome every honest immigrant not matter from what country he comes from, provided only that he leaves off his former nationality, and remains neither Celt nor Saxon, neither Frenchman nor German, and becomes an American, desirous of fulfilling in good faith the duties of American citizenship.



When we thus rule ourselves, we have the responsibilities of sovereigns, not of subjects. We must never exercise our rights either wickedly or thoughtlessly; we can continue to preserve them in but one possibly way, by making the proper use of them. In a new portion of the country, especially here in the Far West, it is peculiarly important to do so; and on this day of all others we ought soberly to realize the weight of the responsibility that rests upon us.”



Theodore Roosevelt

Dickinson, Dakota Territory

July 4, 1886



[ July 29, 2009, 06:53 AM: Message edited by: Edwards Kings ]

Wayne, I'm not near the history buff that you are. This speech certainly stands the test of time. Good stuff.

Before baseball season I read Calvin Coolidge autobiography and was struck with how eloquent he was for having the reputation of not saying much. If Coolidge were in the sports forum, he would have a record that could not be beat by any of his competitors. He never lost an election.



By the way, when you mentioned speech and Teddy at the beginning of your post, my mind went to Edward's speech at Bobby's funeral. A few lines from that eulogy still resonate with me to this very day.

Glad you liked it. BTW, Roosevelt was only 27 when he gave that speech.

Here is part of another speech that I find to be far more timely 100 years after it was originally spoken;





The absence of effective State, and, especially, national, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. The prime need to is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which it is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise. We grudge no man a fortune which represents his own power and sagacity, when exercised with entire regard to the welfare of his fellows. Again, comrades over there, take the lesson from your own experience. Not only did you not grudge, but you gloried in the promotion of the great generals who gained their promotion by leading their army to victory. So it is with us. We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well used. It is not even enough that it should have been gained without doing damage to the community. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community. This, I know, implies a policy of a far more active governmental interference with social and economic conditions in this country than we have yet had, but I think we have got to face the fact that such an increase in governmental control is now necessary.





No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. Every dollar received should represent a dollar worth of service rendered not gambling in stocks, but service rendered. The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size, acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and in another tax which is far more easily collected and far more effective a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion, and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate.





The people of the United States suffer from periodical financial panics to a degree substantially unknown to the other nations, which approach us in financial strength. There is no reason why we should suffer what they escape. It is of profound importance that our financial system should be promptly investigated, and so thoroughly and effectively revised as to make it certain that hereafter our currency will no longer fail at critical times to meet our needs. It is hardly necessary to me to repeat that I believe in an efficient army and a navy large enough to secure for us abroad that respect which is the surest guaranty of peace. A word of special warning to my fellow citizens who are as progressive as I hope I am. I want them to keep up their interest in our international affairs; and I want them also continually to remember Uncle Sam’s interests abroad. Justice and fair dealings among nations rest upon principles identical with those which control justice and fair dealing among the individuals of which nations are composed, with the vital exception that each nation must do its own part in international police work. If you get into trouble here, you can call for the police; but if Uncle Sam gets into trouble, he has got to be his own policeman, and I want to see him strong enough to encourage the peaceful aspirations of other people’s in connection with us. I believe in national friendships and heartiest good-will to all nations; but national friendships, like those between men, must be founded on respect as well as on liking, on forbearance as well as upon trust. I should be heartily ashamed of any American who did not try to make the American government act as justly toward the other nations in international relations as he himself would act toward any individual in private relations. I should be heartily ashamed to see us wrong a weaker power, and I should hang my head forever if we tamely suffered wrong from a stronger power.



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New Nationalism Speech



Theodore Roosevelt

1910



[ July 29, 2009, 09:33 PM: Message edited by: Navel Lint ]

Great speech and I think that it is very timely, especially the part about the "absence of effective State", which certainly appears to be the case now.



Interesting period in history. There was no Federal Income Tax at this time, as the previous attempt in 1894 was held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court because it established a ``direct'' tax on real property and invested personal property deemed unconstitutional without apportionment among the states according to population as mandated by the Constitution. It would take a ratified amendment to the US Constitution to allow such a tax. President Taft (another Republican President who busted more "Trusts" than even Roosevelt) made Corporate and Individual Federal Income Tax part of his agenda. Of course, it was time as the US moved from agrarian power to industrial power. The Sixteenth Amendment went to the States in 1909 and was ratified in 1913.



This was a time when Roosevelt was out of the White House, was disilluisioned with his hand picked successor, Taft, and started the "Bull Moose" Party to try to get the White House back. Roosevelt successfully split the Republican base for the 1912 election and Wilson won the Presidency.



As to Federal Income Tax, here is an interesting quote generated from the 1894 discussion:



"Wherever an income tax has been in practice for any time the small incomes as well as the large are taxed; and it is the small incomes which yield the largest revenue to the state." --Treasury official Worthington C. Ford (U.S. Senate 1894)



I wish Mr. Ford could see us now. Per the 2006 numbers, roughly 3.8% of the tax returns filed representing those with AGI of over $200k per year are paying 50.6% of the revenue generated by the Federal Income Tax. Those that have an AGI less than $50k per year make up 56.9% of the returns filed, but represent only 9.7% of the tax revenues collected. Looks like we broke a historical trend.



[ July 30, 2009, 06:35 AM: Message edited by: Edwards Kings ]