THEODORE ROOSEVELT AS MAN CE IE'I'EFB

E:
William I. Herrick

AWE

Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan
State College of Agriculture and Applied Science '
in partial fulfillment of 1:13 requirements

for the degree of
Master of Arts
Department of English

1951

'Practical efficiency is common, and lofty
idealism.not uncommon; it is the combination
which is necessary. and the combination is

rare 0 .
«Theodore Roosevelt

TABIEOFCCNTEM‘S

Mace...................................................... 1
Mar Pug!
I Theodore Roosevelt:: m of letters. Man of Action ... 1
II Roosevelt the Reader ................................ 9
III 'Eistory as Literature' ........................u... 29
Iv Roosevelt's Historical Works ........................ 39
V Rooeevelt'a Non-Historical Works .................... [:9
VI Concluaion .......................................... 68

VII Bibliography oeeeeeooeeooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooeoeeeeeoeeo 78

Y fi V

I

 

 

Heface

W purpose in writing this essay is to look at that
aspect of Theodore Roosevelt so often neglected: the literary.
It is apparent that the mass of the American peOple who consider
literature at all are unaware that tin twenty-fifth President
of the United States was in addition to being a politician,
an earnest and capable man of letters.

His forte was not belles lettres. It was the next thing
to it,. however. for his adventure books ring with the spirit and
intensity of Wolfe. the romance of Wisterrand the realism of
london. There is quality in such books as African Game Trails
and Hunting 113.2% 93 g Henchman. When one has read not only
the adventure books. but the fine historical study fI_'h_e_ Winning
21: the 1931. there is good reason to suspect that had Roosevelt
liveda strictly literary life he would have carved for himself
a niche in the list of secure Amrican authors. As it is. his
importance as a writer rests merely on the fact that he was
President.

m thanks are due to Dr. missel B. Nye. who suggested
the subject and whose constant supervision, and sincere interest

in this investigation have made it a pleasure rather than a chore.

ii

I am indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Donald T. Grey for the faith they
have demonstrated by making it financially possible for me to
attend Graduate School. I am obliged to the staff of the Michigan
Itate College Library for the kind and courteous service they
rendered. and to Mrs. Louella Shipman for advising me as to the
fom of the essay.

Finally. I wish to thank my wife. Doris. who aided me
tremndously in revising. proofing. and typing the manuscript.

W. I. E.

Michigan State College
July 139 1951

cam:

neodore Roosevelt: in of letters. In of nation

It is worthy of note that Theodore Roosevelt. more than an at
his twenty-four predecessors. was known previous to his election to
the Presidency as a ms of letters. His books. as well as the speeches.
essays. periodical contributions. letters. adventure books.. and even
his autobiography have been largely neglected by literary critics and
historians. in spite of the fact that they have an innate interest am!
value quite apart from their author's activities in other fields.

may presidents have been mm of letters «there is as need to
repeat the already f-iliar list-- but none are thought of as being
primarily interested in writing. No one thinks of Lincoln as a writer.
yet there are few documents in American literature that can match the
purity and ccmciseness of his Gettysburg age“. Ioodrow Wilson was
a very good historian and John Quincy Adams note poetry. It is true
of Wlt today that few people think at him as a Iriter. All the
trite cliches have been trotted out yearly in the history classes over
a long period of tin and there is always a vane connection between the
grinning cartoon of Roosevelt straddling the Panama Canal. carrying a
heavy club. with the caption. 'speak softly. but carry a big stick.‘
hen Ibeeevelt is nntioned as a man of letters. one is met either edth
fipen mouthed ineredulity er sly. self-explanatory smirk.

m £25210 entrenly anti-Roosevelt. gave him credit for being

1

second only to P. T. Barnum in rean Pb was extemely popular. but

 

;“Roosevelt and His Boswell.“ LY (March 1;. 1911). 11-12.

 

his popularity must b descrin as of an ambivalent nature: he was
either hated intensely. or adored to the point of deification. Parents
read letters .t_g 5.1.! Children to their little ones before they were tuck-
ed into bed at night. perhaps dumbfounded that such a great nun could be
so utterly hula as to experience the same emotions toward children that
they themselves felt. If he is a legend now. the was no less a legend
daring his lifetime. One writer was surprised. if not shocked. that

he did not ride up the .131. [of a Boston suntan-1mg
in uniform and on a bucking bronco; he did not fire
two guns into the air as he savorted about: he did

not uncoil a lariat and haul up to the stage any of
the old gentlemen who sat in the front row. It was
one of m first disillusionments with the newspapers.
Yet I am convinced there were persons in tin audience.
and many more in the city round about. who confidently
expected him to do exactly these things. They never
relinquished these expectations.2

 

iI. Pearson. "l‘heodore Roosevelt.‘ M. CV1. (lurch 30. 1927).
#1.

 

Rt en the other side of the fence were the Roosevelt haters who wielded
equally fervent pens:

me can have respect for a sincere radical. for an
honest fanatic. for an agitator or leveler who believes
he is doing God's will;: but it is hard to be patient
with amen who talks big but acts mean. whose eye is
always to the min chance politically. and who lets

no friendship. no generosity. no principle. no moral
aeraple stand for a moment between himself and the

goal upon which n. has set his overmastering nbition.3

 

3"lbndacioms Jounalism.’ Outlook. m (September 3. 1910). 10s.

y

like Franklin D. Roosevelt. he was a man for whom one could not con-
tein mined emtions. I-h was called liar and cheat. money-grabber. all
all the other names which opposing parties are wont to heap upon each
other. ht the same time he was blessed with loving appellation by
such highly respected nu as Henry Cabot lodge and John Burroughs.

But in all his action. all his deeds. it is difficult for a
moment to believe that Roosevelt was anything but sincere. Editors and
reporters. caricaturists and critics could all rail at him but 'perseael
contact with T. R. had an ensuing effect to make than love the men they

were fighting.“ He writes of his hunting trips in Africa with utter

 

hPearson. p. 1&5.

hmility; in his letters there is a wane quality ”M intensifies their
interest twofold. There is nothing of the nu 'who talks big but note

mean' and is in possession of “no moral scruple‘5 in the lines that John

 

substations Journalism.‘ p. 10a.

nys penned to his diary by 8. 1961;3'

be president uas reading hrson's "Days' and came
to the wonderful closing line: 'I. toe late. Unbr
her solemn fillet saw the scorn.’ I said. 'I fancy
you do not know what that means.‘ «we. do I not?
Perhaps the greatest men do not. but I in m soult"
know I am but the average man. and that onlysamrvel—
one good fortune has brought me where I am.‘

(11. R. Thayer. 'Joha Bus' Years with Roosevelt.‘ Harpers.

cxm (suntan-r. 1915). 582-

h...

Ihile these lines de speak well for him. Roosevelt could shift to

the attitude of the bully free the attitude of humble sincerity. He
had little patience ennept when he wanted to exercise it. Even in!-
active Sunday golfers are filling to stand up against a man that was
so ardent in his advocation of the strenuous life he could not discuss
the matter but had to hurtle it at them. His naturally bold spirit made
him pugnecious --a quality which shows up in his Journalistic writings.
His character is as many-sided as his activity—filled life.

C. w. Ferguson has indicated the tragic element in Roosevelt's
reputation: 'he was a man of remarkable literary talent to is known

chiefly for his politics.“7 There can be no question left in a person's

 

7'Roose‘velt «m of Letters.‘ Bookman. LXIV. 726.

 

find after even the most cursory survey of the fields in which he wrote.
that had Roosevelt devoted his entire life to literature. renouncing
his driving interest in so may other fields. he would have achieved
for himself an enduring position in American literature. a position
which would have been challenged by few other men. Brander Matthews
has referred to Roosevelt's 'polygonal' nature. asserting that

Roosevelt will hold a secure place among our

statesmen. our men of science. and our men of

letters. denading due appraisal by experts in 8
statecraft. in natural history and in literature.

 

,. 122:5; Ibvolt and gm- m. (an: mm acribner's.
192:). DO 232.

‘_

litthews goes on to make the inevitable comparison between Benjamin

Franklin and Roosevelt. lhile both were authors. it seems Justi fiable

to say that rranklin us an mlthor by accident. Roosevelt by choice.
or. better yet. by profession. Even while at Harvard Roosevelt-began
to rite his first book. _'l_'l_l_e_ _N_a_v_a_l_ 1g; 3; _l_8_l_._2_. a book which is still
in a position of son. authority. Franklin was undoubtedly the greater
man. if only because he lived during a period when events made it
possible for his talents to be taxed to their utmost. Roosevelt
leaves the impression that he was searching for greater things to do.
and could not find them «like any man he wanted to be remembered. to
build pyramids which would outlast those of Cheops.

In addition. Franklin was a scientist and a philosopher. as well
as a man of letters. Roosevelt was neither. where Franklin was creative.
Roosevelt was not. There was a peculiar flaw in Roosevelt's thinking a»
apparatus which kept him from custructing afi great monument of thought.
which kept him frm contributing much to the world of knowledge which
he held in such high esteem. He could not analyse.

Bis mind wcn'ked by the method of cuparison. not
of causation. Iith the vividness ef genius he saw
both sides of a question nor. rather. of a sit-

uation; for he was intense y human and dramatic
te the verge of nelodrama.

 

9John Corbin. 'Roesevelt in His Iritinp.’ m fivigw 91
literature. III (February 19. 1927). 590-591.

¥

Re repeatedly says «a the other hand' «and 'Yet we met remember
that-o.’ Had he been confronted with the problems of contributing
to the erection of a co-titution there is reason to believe that he
would have blustered forward in the realm of vague generalities. an-

able to cqrehend and utilise the fundannt a1 principles which need

te be taken under consideration. Franklin could see the basic issues.
if not the ultinnte consequences of those issues. and could proceed
logically from that position.

Roosevelt could not understand. nor did he want to understand.
the creative mind. His whole concept of stre mlous living coupled with
intense practicality kept him traveling on a plane far below the
pains-idealist. When confronted with philosophical ideas he first
asked whether or not the concept could be put to expedient use; if
not. he would ask. of what value is :I: to the bottemnt of society?

a teacbr once remrked that she would rather do a good Job teaching

one student than a poor Job teaching several. Roosevelt considered her
attitude wicked. The greatest good for the greatest number; preserve
the forests and wildlife for tanorrow. Action was the dmainent note

in Roosevelt. and we find it hard to imagine him having much patience
with those contemplative individuals who dreamed up lovely verse: yet

he us fully capable of appreciating great poetry. Never does he
mention; Thoreau. to w knowledge. Perhaps he found obnoxious the picture

of the post 'on quiet evenings. alone in his boat under the stars'10

“Robert a. Spiller. et. al.. edd.. Litergy Hing g: in;
mud States. (New York: lucmillan. 19h9). I. 397.

_.

playing the flute. It may be that he thought it foolish for a grown.
intelligent man to be cultivating 'his philosophy and a patch of beans.‘
especially since there was so much need in the world for practical nan.
Roosevelt talks about usic very little -he 'leaves that to the soft.
pale men who don't know a bronc when they see one. and tb women.

His mind was without subtlety. and he had little
mgination. A life of thought for its on sake;-
the life of a dre-er or idealist; a life like thfi
of Coleridge. with his paralysis of will and abnormal

activity of the speculative faculty. eter-lly
spinning metaphysical cobwebs. doubtless seemed
to the author of "rho Stfinnous Life' a career
of mere self-indulgence.

 

11Henry a. Beers. 'Roosevelt as a Man of letters.‘ LL!
m Iele VIII (July. 1919). 698a

 

John Burroughs has said that Roosevelt did not care for fishing -

the sport of the contemplative and the lazy; Roosevelt admits

this himself. No. he would rather hunt in Nairobi or Uganda. ridix
across the African veld. levelling his Holland at a big bull elephant.
or riding swiftly after lion. tiger. leopard. wildebeest. hyena.

This one fundamental characteristic of Roosevelt 's nature guided him.
moulded his personality and his life with a buttress against the

other forces which might have made him a different man: his drive.

He could do nothing without exhibiting it. When he spoke he shook
and bered his teeth. Rhea he rode he did so lard and fast. leaping
fences. once breaking an arm and riding on to the end of th fine with
ene hand. He took prim in being in at the finish when tb for was
captured by the dogs. He would ride hours on end without rest a:
anything more to eat than sew-belly bacon and frying-pan biscuits.
then spend odd moments composing books. letters. and essays. when

he read he did so with a voracious appetite. and his powers of speed
and retentien are still mentioned with respect. But all his force and
energy toek:him on toe fast. 3 couldn't take the time to stop and
study this or that with any degree of concentration. B never inten-
sified his study of one field of literature. for example. until he

was particularly well versed in that area. He admits himelf that he

onoeu-traveled steadily from Montaigne through
Addison. Swift. Steel. Lamb. Irving and Lowell.
to Crothers and Kenneth Grahame --and if it be
objected that sane of these could not have sug-
gested the ctherslzl can only answer that they

11;; suggest the m..

12"me that I Read.' Ladies' Home Journal. XXIII (110141-
1915): 720

 

It is worthy of admiration that a man has enough stamina and intel-
lectual curiosity to wade through the bulky. often heavy. though
interesting. material of these authors. but it also illustrates
Roosevelt's roving mind. Beers has «gested that Roosevelt nde

a specialty of omniscience. It is characteristic of certain energetic
individuals to read a great deal of everything without knowing any
one field with any degree of intensity. 1 great many men have taken
all knowledge for their realm long before Bacon stated it as his
special province. but equally as many nan of this type have been.

in the final analysis. bereft of real penetration into a particular
field ef intellectual endeavor. Boesevelt was a sportsmen. literary
critic. naturalist. politician. Journalist. and historian. but in no
one field does he exhibit those qualities which make his aspect one
of authority. The Jack-of-all-trades seldom does more than taste

the tools of many different occupations.

WII

Eosevelt the Reader

Upon. occasion Roosevelt was asked what kind of books a statesman
should read. His answer was 'poetry and novels-”including short stories

under the head of novels. '1 By this. he explained. he did not mean

 

1;; hutobioEaphz. (New York: Scribnere. 1929). p. 333; hereafter
referred to as hut obiogapg.

 

simply 'modern' novels and poetry. The statesman should also read. he
continued. 'interesting books on history and government. and books of
science and philosophy. Further. ‘ l

in the final event. the statemn. nd the publicist.

and the refoimer. and the agitator for new things.

and the upholder of what is good in old things. n1;
need more than anything else to know human nature.

 

' Mo . 33,5-

 

Ami. he continues. it is by the study of good books that men find the
needs of the human soul set forth in imaginative writing.

to have seen in his theory of 'history as literatureI that
Roosevelt held imagination to be one of the prime requisites for ex-
cellent writing. whether it be in science. history. or pure literature.
Another of his criteria for the Judaent of a good book is that it met

be interesting. He recognized that there are new interesting hooks.

10

some interesting to certain sea for particular reasons 3 the reader

met heat his own needs'3 in selecting reading material. A look at

 

Bhutobi ogapfl. p. 335.

 

Roosevelt's own reading will not be amiss. In looking over the list
which is given in the succeeding paragraphs it will be well to notice
how right Brander mtthews was when he called Roosevelt's nature
'polygonall' But before we go into a list of Roosevelt‘s reading. it
might be well to consider portions of the background of such an om-
nivorous reader. mterial not heretofore considered.

His friends and associates were constantly amned by the speed
of Roosevelt 's reading and his power of retention. Be .8 never in-
tellectually tired. Thus he explained to George frevelynn in a letter
dated lhy as. 1901.:

I find reading a great comfort. People often say
to me that they do not see how I find time for it.
to which I answer them (much more truthfully than
they believe) that to m it is a dissipation. which
I have sometime tried to avoid. instead of an irk-
some duty. Of course I have been so busy for the
last ten years. so absorbed in political work. that
I have simply given up reading any book that I do
not find interesting. But there are a great many
books which ordinarily pass for 'dry' which to m
possess such interest-"notably history and anthropology;
and these give me ease and relaxation that I can at
in no aher way. not even on horseback“

 

1:roseph. moklin Bishop. Theodore Roosevelt 24 g; Lia. (New
York: Scribner's. 1920). II. 11.2; hereafter referred to as m;
as me. Lino

 

D had excellent taste. and wide and varied reading kept him
fr- ever growing tired of books.. He read Tacitus. Thucydides.

Erodetus. Polybius. Goethe. Keats. Gray. Iowell --and in reading
them he said he would 'lose all memory of everything grimy. and of

the basonees that met be parried or conquered.‘5

 

3.80019 that I Road“ I). 7.

 

In. reading speed enabled him. of course. to read a great
deal more than most run. He had an immense amount of news. official
papers. correspondence. manuscripts and documents which demanded
constant attention. 1. addition to the may other utters which kept
his days packed to the brim. Sanehow he always found tine to read.
despite the fact that all his life he was afflicted with poor eyes.
he anecdote in the “Century. magazine illustrates his powers of con-
centration:

The other afternoon he was handed a new book --

a not very long dissertation on a matter of current
interest. That evening be entertained a umber of
guests at dinner. and later there was a musical
party at the White House. at which he was present.
ht luncheon. the next day. the giver said to him:
nor. President. of course you have not had tin to
look at that book ' 'Oh. yes.’ said the President;
'I have read it.‘

6'Roosovelt an a Reader.‘ Contgxz. 1111 (April. 1905). 953.

 

B was a photographic reader. Ea culled the best from whatever he
read and was able to recall minute details from obscure books years
after he led perused their pages. But as was to be expected. Roosevelt
was often disoourapd by the vast amunt of material which was being

published. Iorthless. he called much of it. and lamented the fact that

12

boomlse of the enormity of reading setter available one tended to

'leso sight of some really good things that are published. '7 Because

 

7Roosevelt 93 g; m... II. 151.455.

 

tin was extremely precious. he would read whenever the opportunity
presented itself. whether lying against an elephant he bad Just shot.
or in the thick of a political campaign. During the campaign of 1901.
'he re-read all of Macaulay's 'History of England.‘ all of Rhodes's

'Eistory of th united States.‘ and Dickens's 'Martin Chuzzslewit.”8

Woven as a Beader.‘ p. 953.

 

 

Els reading usually had a definite purpose. whether it was to
increase his knowledge of a certain field. or whether it was to enable
him better to understand the people with when he case into contact -
he always read because it would so smthing for him. His practicality
shond up 1. this respect. In pagan-lover; song he advised” lovers
of good books to read the sketches of old-tin Argentine life in
Hudson's 'El mbuJ His personal reason for reading the book was to
enable him better to

understand the strength and ruthlessness which
produced leaders of the stamp of the scarred
and war-hardened veteran to in full general's

uniform met no at dinner at t house of his
son. the governor of lbndozn.

 

9; Book-Lover's Holiday g 2. 92;. (New York: 1919). p. 101.

 

A reading list was made over a two year period «the first two

13

years of his first administration. frcm November. 1901 to November

1903.10 ten one considers the vast amount of work he had to do as

 

lo'Roosevelt as a Reader.’ pp. 931-932;. This article gives the
actual list of books read.

 

the Chief Executive it is surprising that he found time to read 105
authors. Nor. did he simply read one book by each of the authors. In
several cases there were as many as five. E read. for example. two
capleto works of Lincoln ”the stremous life indeed!

Somewhat of an example of what Roosevelt read may be seen in
his famous 'Pigskin Library. .11 It is to be noticed that the books

 

111's. originl list .1' the man. Library' 1. as ton...

Bible.

Anaemia.

“Woooooe.eooeooooeoooeooeooo-ooeomhl. 1. ”1‘0
Zingali.
Inveng'o.
Iildo “10's
Tb M We

Saul-pure.

speller..............................!'aeric “no

NIWOo

Mooeoeoeeoooeeeoeoooooooeooooooea. Pom.
maulay.............................mstory.

Elmo

Poem.
Moseeoooooooooeeoeeeeeeeeeeooooem‘de

Odyssey.
Chanson do Roland.
Nibelnagenlied.
Carlyle”............................Frcdcr1ck th. QC‘to
Shelley.............................Poens.
Menu"............................m We
Lowell...............................L‘.ltcrary hw'e

. Elglow Papers.

”'0‘ooe.oooooeooeoeroooeeoeoo-eoeoeoMe
Longfellow.
hnnyson.
Meooooooooooeoooeeoeeoeeoeoeooeeoehl..o

Mo

Vbosvwds‘ee

row-waeeetw

I‘COIIQII‘.

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I o A
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Keats.

mltGIeoeruoee-o—o-ooooem”oeooeeooooM‘di” 10” (300k. I and II)o
”Cooeooeooeoooeoeoeooooeooeeoooo-oMOm (Carlylc's translation).
891ml..............................hutocrat.

Over tb Teacups.
mt meooeoooooeooeoeeeoooeoooeeeMO

Tales of the Argonauts.

Luck (If Roaring Camp.
Browning............................Selections.
mthflrUOeeoooooeoooooeeooooeoooooooGOIth Reader.

Pardoner's “allot.
bk Tnin..........................mcklebcrry flan.

‘ Tom 3.".1'0
Bunyan..............................P11grim's Progress.
hripidos (Hurray ' s translation). . . .Hippolytus.

Bacchae.

The Rdmlilt.
Gregoroviusuu..."................Rane.
Scott".............................Iagell 0f Montrosa.

Guy Mannering.

'laverley.

Rd. Roy.

Antiquary.
Cooper..............................Pilot.

TIC Admirals.
mifimto
Percy's Reliques.
Thackeray...........................Yanity Fair.

Pendcnnis.
mckens.............................n1tual ”10‘s

Pickwick.

Bee: African Guns Trails. (llew York: 1919). II. 61.8-66.2.

 

mentioned are only those which Roosevelt was able to recall as having
been part of the library which he took with him in hunting travels to
Africa. There may have been more.
Roosevelt was envious of Trovelyan. who could read Latin and

Greek in the originl. suing that

you...who are so blessed as to read all the

best of the Greeks or Latins in the original

not not look down too scornfully upon us who

have to make believe that we er! contented with
Enerson's view of translations. 2

k A

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1.5

hose classic writers which he read were as follows: Aeechylus.
Sophocles. Aristotle. Theocritus. Polybius. Euripides' W.
Echo. and supplementary reading in Hahsffy's W m.
Eb had . wide knowledge of Biblical sources and 1. an Outlook
article appealed for wider reading of the 2111;. He chimed that
regardless of . m'. religiondthe Em; contained‘high ethical
teaching which was worthy of study. and praised the language of the
King James version. His Judgnent tit the léihle must be studied in
the context of the period is typical. In addition to the 13111 he
read Frazer's m :32 _t_h_9_ 2&1” George Bosrow's all: i;
2-1.1» Mow 1123M. ndmhsaeatm- a. new
the W and road Hunymmu We 'm'eat Beart.’
he said. referring to the famous character from Buuan's book.
' 1. my favorite character in-allcgory...just
as Bunynn's 'Pilgrim'e Progress-F; is to w
mind one of the greatest books that was ever

written; and I think that Abraham Li oln is
the ideal Great-Heart of public 11:» 3

 

”Roosevelt and EB T1”. 11. 16°o-

Roosevelt was capable of reading both French and German. and he
exercised himelf well in those languages. He read Moliere. Pascal.

Montaigne. Voltaire's Siecle _d_e_ Louis E. and Memoiros 9: _ll_._ Simon

 

'(to be read on the way houne).'1h rroisnrt. the lbmoirs g; Marbot.

nurican one mm. II. 650.

¥

d'Aurevilly‘s Chevalier Leg Touches. were part of his reading diet
while shooting hyena and lion in Africa. 3 read nnas' Euves .d_o_

16

W. and said of his WW“ he did“ not

read it 'until after I had shot 1n lions! '15 In German he read the

 

1 £13.12 6.33.19. “173113. II. 650.

 

poetry of Schiller. Koerner and Heine. and he was familiar with
Goethe's 1"_a_us_§_. .

Roosevelt knew and read Marlowe's dramatic work. askespeare
in particular he read all of his life. When he was fifty years old
he wrote to Dodge. saying

you will...be amused to hear that at last. when
fifty years old. I have come into my inheritance in
Shakespeare. I never before really cared for more
than one or two of his plays; but for sane inex-
plicable reason the sealed book was suddenly opened
to me on this trip. I suppose that when a men fond
of reading is for long periods in the wilderness /of
Africa/ with but few books he inevitably grows into
a true appreciation of the books that are good. I
still balk at three or four of Shakespeare's plqsz;
but most of hen I have read or am reading over and
over again.

 

161nm can Lodge. ed.. _S_e_______1sctions from _t__ho .2

Corr orre onde
o_f_ Theodore Roosevelt and Hiya-[m Cabot 13%,]. 8g-1—9-18. New York:
Scribner'e. 1925). II. 3&7-3h 3 hereafter referred to as kttgrg
g Roosevelt Lag lodge.

 

A' writer of essays himself. it is a pity that Roosevelt did
not prdit more by the extensive reading he! did in that field. We
discover that Roosevelt 's essay style was a bit too forceful and
energetic. not nearly so conversational in tone as were the authors

he read constantly: mxley. Lord Acton. Macaulay (always a great

favorite of his). Recon. Lowell's mm Esme and Biglow Pa rs.

17

and Elms' Antocraf 51:33 Breakfast 29.3312 and 9_v_e_r_ _t_gg Teacups.
B considered Helms to be the philosopher of the humorists.
Roosevelt was always a great lover of history. and his read-
ings in that field confirmed his love for it. His Judgment of a
book on history generally depended on the criteria set forth in his
'History as Literature. lecture. For sample. he praised Henry
Osborn Taylor's study of 33!. Medieval M on the basis of grasp of
fact coupled with the 'power of conveying to others what he has thus

graspodfln He read Murray's History _o_{ 325 Greek gig; Benjamin

 

17m 2W...- (New York. 1913). p. 200.

 

Ids Ioeler's Elston gf_ Alexander. and £533; Ridgoway's Prehistoric
$9.933: De La Gorce's History 2; the m Republic g._n_d_ 5.9.93.1. g;-
er3 (he clai-d it as an invaluable book); Iea's Histm _o_f_ Lb;
Lnguisition: rerroro's Histog _o_f_ Lie (with typical Roosevelt on-
thnsissm he invited the author of this book to come and stay with him
at the white muse); Gregorovius' EJ- Porcy's Religuos; Green's
933; Histog 9; Lb; m 2211:; Joinville's Histog 9_f_ §_t_._ Egg
Dhn's m m; Garlylo's {adorick the 95933; Gibbon. Park-n. and
locum. In not listing the works of these authors Roosevelt is paying
hugs to his favorites. lhcaulsy ranks highest with him. than Pal-km.
Trevelyan's work on the heriaen Revolution pleased him a good deal. but
it is not mentioned as part of those in the 'Pigekin Library.“

He took with him to Africa a good many books dealing with hunting
African big game. mntioning Chapman. Powell Cotton. and Edward North

Burton as being the best in the field. Surprisingly enough he took only

one book which might have been tensed political in nature: :11; m1;-
alist. Equally surprising is the lack of extensive works on science.
3 took Darwin's Originggthg Species and mgm Be le. plus
Gobineau's Incelite deg Races Humaines. which he called

a well written book. containing some good

guesses; but for the student to approach

it for serious infornmtiom would be much as

if an albatross abould apply to a dodo for an
essay on flight.1

 

18African G-o Trails. II. 6119.

 

Roosevelt's excuse for not taking many scientific books with him on
his hunting expeditions was tint they rarely had literary value. He
said:

3 course a really good scientific book

should be as interesting to read as any other
good book; and the vo1une in question anthr-
land's History of the Growth of the Moral In-
stint] on. taken because it fulfilled this
requirement. its eminent Australi-’ autfir being
not only a learned but a brilliant man.

 

”93.3. . II. 651.

 

An interesting cmnt indeed!

It was Roosevelt's wish that people would learn to read novels
not only for the relaxation thy give. but for the value they have
in helping people to understand one anothers? problons. He suggested
nere than once that people read

Henry Bordeaux. books like Kathleen Horris's
'Mother.' and cornelia Gomer's 'Prelimiurios.‘

and would use these. 58d other such books. as
tracts. now and then!

19

 

EUAntobiogapyz. p. 163.

 

But novels had their practical value for Roosevelt. He wrote
to Trevelyan from the battleship Louisiana that

after I read Milton and Tacitus until I
feel I can stand then no longer I devour
short stories or novels. In the novels

I an sorry to say I usually have to go back
to those I have road ahead, ‘

 

amosevelt g; g; n... II. 160.

 

no he had his likes and dislikes where the novels were concerned.
Be accepted tragedy in the tragedians. but in novels he wanted a
happy ending. especially when it is '0! sufficient length to enable

as to get interested in the hero and heroine! '22 He doesn't defend

 

22m. that I Read.’ p.'7.

 

his attitude; he merely states it.

For hunor he liked Sydney mth. John Phoenix and Lrteaus
lard. among others «from these to Stephen Ieaeock. Mark Twain. he
said. ion at his best. stands apart. 'alnost as such so as Joel

Ghandler Harris.'23 an! a. no great enthusiasm m- Oliver Iendell

 

2321a. . p. 72.

 

EDI-Ce
He paid due praise to‘his college-friend Owen lister. tying
that he was

the writer I wish when I an bunny with the

nemories of lonely mountains. of vast

sunny plains with seas of wind-rippled
grass. of springing wild creatures and
lithe sun-tanned men who ride with utt
ease on ungrooned. half-broken horses.

 

a"unack- that I nuns.- p. 72.

 

Bilt he adds that when on the plains he carried a volume or! Swinburne.
'as a kind or antiseptic to alkali dust. tepid muddy water. frying-pan
bread. sow-belly bacon. and the too-infrequent washing or! sweat-drench-

ed clothing. '25

 

25:31:10 1;. 72.

 

The Pigskin Iibrary' list of novels includes Scott's 1289—29. 9}:
lontrose. guy Manneri . Waverl . 3213 E. and Lntigugz; George Mere-
dith's l"_a_r_i__n_a_; Thackeray's m 311;. and Pendennis. Ihilo he took
only Dickens' m M. and Pickwick with him to Africa. it met
be nationed that all his life Roosevelt was a Dickens enthusiast.
During the cubes canpaign he took Dickens with him. He said tht he

would 'like to have "hrtin chunlewdt' studied as a tract in hence...26

 

26asevelt and g; 11.3. II. nap-11.5.

 

even though he considered that Dickens was nistaken in his action that

'all Anricans were represented by his figures.‘27 Dickens he Judpd

 

273413.. II. 11.5.

 

21

as 'an ill-natured. selfish sad and boor. who had no understanding

enf what the word gentleman meant. and no appreciation of hospitality

or good treatment. '28 It node the patriotic Roosevelt angry to think

 

28Joseph Bucklin Bishop. ed.. Theodore Roosevelt's Letters Do
g: Children. (New York. 1919). p. 219 ; hereafter referred to as
Ettore to §i_s_ Children.

 

that Dickens 'had not tb soul to see what herica was really doing. '29

 

”Ride. Do 220.

 

At any rate. he says.

there are innumerable characters that he has
created which symbolise vices. virtues. follies.
and the like almost as well as the characters
in Bunyan; and therefore I think the wise thing
to do is simply to skip the bosh and twaddls ad
vulgarity a Ountruth. and get the benefit out
of the rest. ‘

 

3°Ibid.. p. 220. It is interesting to note that Roosevelt
shared these opinions with his sons; typical of a sincere father
who mintained no superior intellectual attitude.

 

Roosevelt lists sue of the novels which he took with hin to
Africa. but neglects to give the authors' mes. Sane are familiar.
others are long forgotten: 1'2: M. £13 m. M of 22.3.1!
sh. Min-2s. EsmmsL-ss ______1etters gawk
9.22% 29. 21.1.: is a: .._£__°‘1' .... is. _________G..u.... 2.12s .____I-a1m. 933.9
E. 22%;!» mmm.mmmm
Lu“ 22.2. $2amm. hams-4i. S's—Wt
_a_n_d ils. Knights in rustian. i153. 1h: Tasknasters. 3:331 _l_h_n to
Q; m. He probably read one of these every day in his spare nests!

22_

He read Cooper's m. _ng Admirals; lurk Il'wain's §u_c_kle__-
2232.13.59 mam;.3ret Harte‘sgglggggmir onauts.
14155 g Roaring E23 Poe's M. William Allen White's A Certain
329.543.!) Jams Lane Allen's mam; laurice Egan's li_l_e_g
g; _s_e_x_t_o_n_ Mani”; Crothers' _G_ea__1:__];e_ 5.9.9.422. and Pardonsr's Lug;
Octave Thanet's novels and stories; M in Wonderland. Through
_t_h_9_ 295.15. 31339; 29; Quixote; Dums' £93m d_e_ Machecoul. and
others which he does either not recall or neglects to mention.

It is interesting to note that Roosevelt does not include
Tolstoy in his 'Pigskin Libraryz'! he did read and enjoy Tolstoy. and
had many consents to nke about him. In typical Roosevelt fashion
he put practicality first. for 'if a nan is not practical.' he said.

'he is of no use anywhere. ’31 the practical man with high idet.

 

31W p- 179.

 

he says. is not influenced by Tolstoy. who is unncral. and would

appeal to the 'feeble folk and the fantastic folk. '32 5 considered

 

”nanny.- mlook. 1:11 (In: 15. 1909). 10h-

 

!‘olstoy to be a good novelist. and had high praise for ELM g;
13 2:13. plus such adverse criticin. The neutzer mu. considered
to be the work of a noral pervert. B sakes an interesting cement
after reading “_5 Kareniaes-

I was struck by the way in which Russians

evidently regard thensolves out of the

European worlds; perhaps this was the reason
the book seened to as to show shthing

curiously brican fin sons of the sides
of 11:. it showed.3

 

33'Books that I Read.’ p. 72.

 

Like almost everyone interested in literature. Roosevelt went
through periods when he read little or no poetry; but as he pointed
out. there were times when he

voraciously devourl'ey poets of widely different
kinds. low it will be Horace and Pope; now
Schiller. Scott. Longfellow. Koerner; now hot
Harte or Kipling; now Shelley or Herrick or
Tennyson; now Poe and Coleridgeg and again
hrson or Browning or Whitman. 1‘

 

3§;!;g,. 72.

 

Included in his 'travel library' were the poems of Biret
Brto. Poe. Longfellow. Emerson. George Cabot Lodge (the volume
entitled 1h; §_g_u_l_f_s_ Inheritance). when Roosevelt considered to have
great pranise; of ritaaerald's translation of 29; m. he said’
'other versions...always leave 3 with the feeling that Fitzgerald

is the mjor partner in the book we really liked” He took Brown-

 

35lfrican Game Trails. I. l98-l99.

ing with his. even though he thought that the post was 'unin‘telligible.'36

 

36ntters of Roosevelt and Lodge. I. 1.2.

 

Be scoffed at readers of Browning. on the basis that they 'who

labor longest and hardest to master his meaning are entirely mistaken

b

 

2h

1. thinking that they enjoy him as a poetom While it was true

 

37msto_1_‘z 2 Literature. De 211s

 

that people enjoy Browning as a puzzle. it was equally true. Roosevelt
pointed out. that Browning is to be enjoyed for a peculiar mixture

of philosophy and intended philosophy. Browning is inferior. said
Roosevelt. to many others in form and expression. but his philosophy
is written as literature. and therein lies his attractiveness.
Furthermore. when it comes to crises of the spirit. which are also
crises of the mind. Browning gives then an expression of the highest
order. Other poets. he continues. give expression to our more primi-
tive needs and emotions. (Roosevelt here illustrates his ability to

get to the core of the matter. )38

 

3591c. . 212-213.

 

In addition to these poets Roosevelt read Keats. Tennyson
and Shelley. 0f Milton he enjoyed particularly the first two books
of Paradise Lost: He also read Hilton's prose works «and was coca-

vinced of 'what an intense Protestant the fine old 2.11" was.'39

 

39 Roosevelt 93 gi_s_ Time. II. 160.

 

He thought of his. in his attitude toward divorce. as being distinctly
'modern.’ 'Persenell'y.' he wrote. 'I like his 'flkonoklastes.‘ but then
I an a radical about punishing people like Charles the First or Jefferson

Davin.“ He thought the poems of lilli- Harris to be slightly absurd.

25

 

hoRoouvelt _a_a_g_ g1; cm... 11. 160.

 

but loved" the poetry of Macaulay largely because of his 'eminently

sane and healthy mind.” He read Sponsor's Faerie 3222.0 and

 

“ma. . II. 160.

 

Braithwaite's B_9_ok__ of Elizabethan :2!!!) The Morris translations
of various Norse Sagas were in his duffle-bag. and of Morris' '
translation of Beowulf he canplained that won. it had undoubtedly
been translated out of Anglo-Saxon. it had not been translated into

Inglish. but merely into a language bearing a specious resemblance."...."2

 

"Africa on. Trails. II. 651.

 

In his gtobiogaphy Roosevelt claimed that he cared as much
for Genoa poetry as he did for English. He loved the Genes people
and expressed this feeling accurately when he said:

no affection. the Genuthlichkeit (a quality
which cannot be exactly expressed by any other
English word). the capacity for hard work. the
sense of duty. the delight in studying litera-
ture and science. the pride in the new Gel-may.
the more than kind and friendly interest...sll
these manifestations of the German character and
of Germs fmnily life made a subconscious im-
pression upon me which I did not in the least
define at the time. but glob is very vivid L :
still forty years later.

 

”mtOb1CEEQ p. 21o

 

In the German language. in addition to the poetry of Schiller.

26

Kearner. Bias. and Goethe. he read and respected the Nibeanggnlied.

Also he enjoyed essays on and translations frm early Irish poetry.

as well as the Chanson _d_e_ E31333. and Lounsbury's edition of Chaucer.
mch quoted by Roosevelt. and the subject of a complete essay

Canto and the Bowery') by him. is Dante.“ He read Carlyle's trans-

 

M'Ihis essay may be found in History as Literature as a c.-
plete chapter.

 

lation of the gorse. feeling that Dante was right in placing himself
ahead of Virgil. Honor. Horace. Ovid. and Lucas. as the greatest poet.
Eh was particularly pleased with Dante's ability to 'use anything that
was striking and vividly typical of the humanity around him'lé to

 

”History 2 Literature. Do 221.

 

illustrate fundamental truth. Mosevelt always derided the poet who
would not (could not) use simple. everyday canparisons «derided the
tradition which prevened the poet from using human nature as he sees
it.

The Bowery is one of the neat highways of human-
ity. a highway of seething life. of varied interest.
of fun. of work. of sordid and terrible tragedy; and
it is haunted by demons as evil as any that stalk
through the pages of the ‘Inferno.’ But no ms of
Dante's art and with Dante's soul would write of it
nowadays: and he would hardly be understood if he
did. lhitman wrote of homely things and every-day
-n. and of their greatness. but his art was not
equal to his power and his purpose; and even as it
was. he. the poet. by set intention. of the demon-soy.
is not has to the people as widely as he should be
Mosee

 

“9.4.4.- . 820-221.

 

Vii"

 

 

27

Both mm and Dante. said Roosevelt. illustrate these fundamental
truths by allusions to'human nature as they see it «and have been
criticised for it. E explains why this is so:

I suppose that this must be partly because we are
so self-conscious as always to read a comparison
into any illustration. forgetting the fact that

no canparison is implied between two men. in the
sense of estimating their relative greatness or
importance. when the career of each of time is
chosen merely to illustrate some given quality
that both possess. It is also probably due to

the fact that an age in which the critical faculty
is great developed often tends to develop a certain
querulous inability to understand the fundametal
truths which less critical ages accept as a matter
Of ”We“?

 

E5"History a__s_ Literature. p. 221.

 

lastly. Roosevelt mentions that he read Palmer's translation
of Boar's Iliad and m.
Roosevelt maintained very strongly that the books which

accompanied him on his sojourns to Africa “were for use. not ornament.""8

 

“aux-ion can. Trails. II. 650.

 

Ihere it was possible he had them bound in pigskin. and he always
carried something to read so that given a mmnt's leisure he could
make good use of his time. The list is by no means accurate. as he
pointed out.

I am writing on the lhite Nile fr- nmory;

the titles I give may sometime be inaccurate.

and I cannot. d course. begin to renember all

the b I have at different times taken out
With ’e 9

28

 

”African Game Trails. II. 651.

 

It is. at any rate. an.amazing collection. and an indication of the

omnivorous. ensgetic. and kinetic mind of its reader.

CHLPIER III

'mstory as literature.'

John Burroughs said that Roosevelt was a kind of 'electric
bubshell.‘ adding that “all other men seem so woodeny and slow

in canparison with him.'1 If we agree with his description. then

 

lclara Berrus. :1th life an letters 9; John Burrow.
(Boston: Roughton mrrnn. 192553—11. 145.

 

 

it is not surprising to see him as President of the herican Hist-
orical Association stealing before that learned group and expound-
ing a theory which he knew would be unacceptable to the majority
of it. The theory. simply enough. is self-explanatory as 'Ristory
as literature.‘ That he held the majority of the Historical Iss-
ociation in a certain degree of contenxpt is evinced by a remark he
made to Henry Cabot Lodge on the eve of the lecture.

I am about to deliver a beastly lecture
m“History as Iiterature'--. because I

am President of the brican Historical
Association. None of its members. by the
‘y. believe that history is literature.

I have spent much care on the lecture. but
as far as I now know it won't even be print-
ed anywhere. Even the Outlook finds it too
tough a morsel to swallow.

 

gutters _o_r_ Roosevelt Log Lodge. II. m.

 

Roosevelt excuses his membership in the 'preposterous little...

organisation' in a letter to George Trevelyan. explaining that he

3o

jointed 'when...juet out of Harvard and very ignorant.-3

‘

 

3Roosevelt and g1; Time. 11‘. rho-m.

 

loll aura of the era in which he was living. Roosevelt

launched his attack on the new historical theory which specialized
all knowledge. severing history and literature into neat little
pigeonholes. Science. he said. is not split off fran literature.
and neither is history. His definition of literature left ample
room for the inclusion of all branches of knowledge. providing

the treatment of those branches created 'that which has permanent
interest because both of its substance and its form. aside from the

more technical value that inheres in a ...treetise for specialists.“

 

hmstog _ag Literature. p. 8.

In cmsideration of method and form. Roosevelt was emphatic

in his belief that history met 'put flesh and blood on dry bones.’5

 

SEE-1.9.. e 15.16.

 

He hated the narrow pedantry which constructed neat little pyramids
of facts and figures. claiming that 'the industrious collector of
dead facts' bears the sen relation to the literary historian that

'a photompher bears t o Rembrandt . '6

 

5121.2” 8-

If it is clear that Roosevelt scorned the pedant. it must

31

also be clear that he recognized the value of the 'day laborer“

 

7Roosevelt and £13 Time. II. 11.0.

 

scholar. He was not trying to undermine the tenets of scholarship.
He saw the value of scholarly research quite clearly. but was
anxious to clarify its position to those who might have some mis-
conceptions concerning scholarship. It is valuable. he said. only
when it is productive. Furthermore. the scholar who studies to
satisfy himself n8? well achieve his purpose. but from the broader

point of view he achieves nothing unless his learning is productive.8

 

Set. 'Productive Scholarship... History 5; Literature. p. 197.

 

It is not enough that the scholar be in possession of tie
facts. said he. Only a man with vision and imagination is capable
of seeing the totality of his abject. thus rendering himself in a
position whereby he can successfully assimilate and transmit the
facts in a clear vision to others. In 1h; timing was _l_e_s1_t_
Roosevelt recognised that to understand the history of herica he
had to return to and evaluate these events which led up to the
discovery and subsequent settlement of the nation. He used a great
new primary sources. such as letters. reports. personal and inter-
cepted papers. state papers. etc. These make up lunch of the material
he took true the 'archives of the American Government. which date back
to 1775,. when the first Continental Congress assembled. '9 In addition

 

—— ...‘sst... (Nov York: 1889). 1. viii. (For

911:. m3 p_f the
a couple e listing see pp. viii-xiii.)

 

32

he used old newspapers. unpublished letters. diaries. reports.
and other manuscripts which he found at Nashville. Tennessee.

& admits that on certain intellectual levels the collector
of facts can do a certain utilitarian service. at the same time
rejecting those 'utilitarian'historians

who often decry the recital of the mighty
deeds of the past. the deeds which always

have aroused. and for a long period 18 come
are likely to arouse. most interest.

 

loHistogz g_s_ literature. p. 16.

 

3 gives due credit to the school history text authors. but adds
that

the historical work which does possess
literary quality my be a permanent con-
tribution to the sum of man's wisdm.
enjoyment. and inspiration. The writer

of such a book met add wisdom to knowledge.
and the giftlif expression to the gift of
imgination.

 

11Ibid.. 9.

 

It is simply not enough. said Roosevelt. for the historian
to present the bare story of what happened. The reader met live
the past in his own imagination. aided md abetted by the literary
historian. Thus history beet-saga vital part of the reader's in-
tellectual experience --a direct result of the mat historian
moulding routine and mndane facts of semen. everyday existence.
along with the greater events. into throbbing portions of human

experience.

33

Although he puts his greatest emphasis upon the need for
vision and inngination. Roosevelt is scholar enough to recognize
that

no mount of sslf-camnnnion and of pon-
daring on the soul of mnkind. no gorgeous-

ness of literary imagery. can take the place
of cool. serious. widely extended study.

 

12Histogz g_s_ literature. p. 6.

 

Even though a book is interesting. he said. if it is untrue it

ceases to be in 'l'he category of history....'13 In addition.no

 

13Ibiti. . 11.3.

 

partisanship should ever get in the way of truth. he said. well
aware of his own Yankee tendency to obviate Souther" motives and
principles in interpreting the Civil Far.

Practical to the last ditch. Roosevelt was asking that a
merger be made between the ranantic and scientific views of historic-
graphy. «mm... of the great historian.‘ a. said. 'mst be both
wide and lofty. But it must be sane. clear. and based on full know-

ledge of the facts and of their interrelat ions...“ The subject of

 

”Rid. . 6.

 

the historian. he said. is as bread as it is long. All phenomena
met be embraced so that in tracing the mltiple causes he can sketch

the total effect in realistic detail.

'n'} hunt! out? Mann 2: a": ar'vmn on. Manors. n'nf Vt‘llrv ”r. n'....,.,r+.'f

 

 

 

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3h

He must trace the changes that cane
almost unseen. the slow and gradual
growth that transforms for good or

for evil the children and grandchildren
so that they stand high above or far
below the love on which their fore-
fathers stood.

 

lsmstogz as; Literature. p. 29.

The historian. he claims. must recognize the part that all 1
realms of knowledge play in an imaginative interpretation of 1
history. Roosevelt had read James Harvey Robinson. and agreed 5. }
that all departments of knowledge are indefinite. fluctuating
back and forth between the lines of demarcation. All of the sciemes.

Roosevelt. believed. continually bleed into each other at some points.
but not at others. Pb maintains. rightly enough. that unless science
is continually aware of this fundamental fact. it cannot progress.

He lauds the work of the archaeologist. and anthropologist. and the
palace-ethnologist. for these branches of science. he said. produce
materials of inestimble value to the historian. Roosevelt was not
the first to recognize the value of primary source material. but he
was anticipating later historians when he maintained that 'the study

of the eeonaic changes produced by the factory system'16 was a

 

16!hid.. 22.

 

necessary portion of historical research. The realm of history cannot
be marked off by the stance of intellectual prejudice --'bound to the

past by the shackels of an iron conservatism. '17 All subjects play a

 

 

J”Histggz _a_s_ literature. p. h.

 

part. whether they be 'exhaustive tables of statistics.’ the
influence of great enters. *the fiebsters and Burkes. or by the
poets. the Tyrtaeuses and Koerners. who in crisis utter what is in

the nation‘ s heart. '18

 

131bid.. a. . 3

 

'Ilnm - - I
I

looking down upon his audience. Roosevelt admitted reluctantly
that the use of literature to portray history had passed any. 'No
one would now dream of canbining the history of the Trojan War with

l
a poem on the wrath of Achilles.‘ 9 he said. Making a careful dis-

 

191bid.. u.

tinction between mtaphysics. material science. and history. Roosevelt
mintained that philosophy had been little affected by scientific
specialization. implying that history has suffered thereby. 'Poetry
is still used as a vehicle for the teaching of philosophy.... Goethe

was as profound a thinker as Kantflzo He gives Goethe credit for tie

 

2°Ibid..‘5.

 

greater influence. on the basis that be utilized a more effective node
of expression than did Kant. The same is true of Browning.
than the poet writes of historical matters he leaves an in-

delible impression upon the reader's mind. Roosevelt said. In his

6

 

u'L.

7 a
e. ..
NA

not!

36

own writings Roosevelt more than once describes scenes and incidents
which are vivid and intense.

Shakespeare has definitely fired the character
of Richard III of whom ordinary men think and
spent. Keats forget even the right none of the
man who first saw the Pacific Ocean; yet it is
his lines which leap to our minds when we think
of the 'wild surmise' felt by the indanitable
explorer-conqueror from Spain when the vast new
sea burst on his vision.

 

2lgstog 2 Literature. pp. 25-26.

 

Darwin and Huxley said no more than what had alreacybeen said by
less imaginative writers. Roosevelt claims; they caused a revolution
because of the force and imagination of their presentation. They

were simply 'interesting to read.'22

 

ZZIMde 6 11s

 

Roosevelt stretched his point in the Keats ample. but it
is well taken. Is it not a fact that the general concept of the
Victorian period is largely a result of the novels which flared forth
in that period? And is this general concept not. by and large. erroneous?
It is seen that misconceptions of history arise fran sen sith too such
imagination and too little factual accuracy. But lest his audience
get the notions that he condoms imagination not coupled by scholar-
ship. Roosevelt carefully erplained that imagination alone does not
distort truth; on the contrary. it is a distorted imagination which.
if left to itself. leads to eventual inaccuracy. & reiterates again

and again his central thesis; that the historian must render himself

37

available of all the facts applicable to his subject and then. by
usehf imagination. express them so that they live again. The
rueantic historical novel and the dead list of pedant facts are
both perversion. of the historian art. he said. Further. the
ma who tries to rake his literary ability suffice for a paucity
of information. or a 'misreading of facts renders less than no

service. '23 In addition Roosevelt warns the historian to make the

 

23Rising as; Literature. p. 21;.

 

utmost use of the facts at hand. using all the materials tint were
not available to previous historians. 'The fact that a book. though
interesting. is untrue.‘ he said. 'of course removes it'at once from

the category of history.....'2h

 

”his" h3-

History must also teach. he said. and with that aspect comes
the implication of moralism. Impartiality. he claims. is not obtained
sorely by treating good and evil on the sane level. On the other hand
the historian met not becaae obsessed by moral teaching. It is no
easy task to take abstract principles of morality and apply them to
concrete instances. Roosevelt criticises Carlyle:

Very few sen have ever been a greater source
of inspiration to other ardenTsouls than n.

Garlyle when he confined elf to preaching
morality in the abstract.

 

25316.. . 19.

 

38

But in his treatment of the American Civil war. says Roosevelt.
Carlyle demonstrated that he could not distinguish between great
virtue or great vice. He criticised him for Juggling facts to

fit preconceived notions of morality in Frederick .t_h_g_ M.

Ibosevelt insisted that the historian met at all times be honest both

with himelf and his subject.

39

CHAPTERIV

Roosevelt 's Historical Works

Roosevelt entered Harvard in the fall (I 1876 and graduated
in 1880. When he entered his principal interest was natural history.
and his ambition was to be

a scientific men of the Audubon. or filaon.

or Baird. or Goues type-ma man like Hart
Herr am. or Frank Chapman. or Hornadav. to-

day.

 

 

1W- P- 22-

Be was given a Phi Beta Kappa key. although it was his opinion that
Harvard had done him good 'only in the general effect. for there was

very little in an actual studies which helped me in after lifeo'2

 

2mm" 22.

 

He was. for a time. interested in the law. but after reading law in
his uncle's office he decided he did not like it. It may be that his
practical mind was repelled by the fine points of the legal procedure.
for more than once. later in life. he canplained that legalists were
unable to deal properly with social matters. sime they resided too
securely in a sort of ivory tower. unable to see the social and econasic
implications of their opinions.

it Harvard the young Roosevelt became interested in. and began

to write. his history of the Naval E o_f_ 1812. Three books sere

an

apparently responsible for his interest in Naval History. one of them
William James' Naval History 9; Great Britain. of which Roosevelt
connented.

it is an invaluable work. written with
fulness and care; on the other hand it
is also a piece of special pleading by
a bitger and not over-scrupulous part-
183.110

 

 

Supplementing lames' work. Roosevelt listed Fenimore Gosper's 15319;

meter: 93213 mm. and George E. Emnons' Histog _9_i_‘__t_l_1_e_
M21. _S_t_e_i_t_e_g 32!:- With characteristic fervor. he read .11 th. Naval

history that he could lay his hands on. and impulsively. wrote two

chapters of his projected book. He later confessed in his Autobigggphz

that 'those chapters were so dry that they would have made a dictionary

seem light reading by comparison. '1‘ Iithin two years after his graduation.

 

up} as

 

the book was canpleted and published. in 1882. It is still a standard.
authority in its field. The book was well received and added impetus
to his growing popularity as a successful legislator.

& 531‘}. 1a}; of 1812 is. as he admitted. 'dry and pedestrian in

style.’5 As a work which includes such pertinent detail it is extremely

 

snussel B. HID. 'i'heodore Roosevelt as an Bistorian.‘ m Nassau
(“dusty Historical Journal. III (191.0). 5.

..—

valaable. but is tedious to one who has himself participated in sea

11.1

battles. for there is a curious fact about fights at sea --they

all sound alike. Iar may have been stupid. meaningless slaughter.
but all his life Roosevelt was enchanted by the sound of the bugle
and his love and constant reference to his Cuban camaign is praf
of his desire for war glory. This facet of his personality is one
of the few things about him that the nodern reader finds hard to
admire. The book was widely accepted. largely due to the fact that.
as he pointed out in his Autobiogaphz. 'the navy had reached its
nadir. and we were then utterly incompetent to fight Spain or any

other power that had a navy at all;'6 through reading it. people

.L;

6p. 211a

were stimlated into consideration of a neglected phase of the
military.

In the midst of an active public life Roosevelt never ceased
writing books. In 1886 and 1888 he published m _H_a_rt__ E22593}. and

uverneur m. respectively. for the 'hnerican Statesmen' series.
In 1889 he published the first two volumes of _Thg lining of th_e_ 1.91.
followed two years later by a history of New York City and in 1900
31313; Cromwell. L11 the while he was busy writing a goat many other
books. speeches. and papers on a variety of subjects.

m gart— m. by the nature of its subject. is easier to
read than his naval history. Roosevelt wrote it quickly (about four
months of 1886 were devoted to it ) while on his ranch in the Dakotas.
snatching mmeents between long hours in the saddle to write a few

pages. In the light of such a procedure. it is to be expected that the

42

work is not scholarly. He wrote a letter to lodge which fairly
explains the manner in which he qproached the books

I have pretty nearly finished Benton. min-

ly evolving him fran my inner consciousness;

but ten he leaves the Senate in 1850 I have
nothing whatever to go by; and. being by nature
both timid and. on occasions. by choice a truthful
man. I would prefer to have some foundation of
fact. no matter how slender. on which to build
the airy and arabesque superstructure of my
fancy-aspecially as I am writing a history.

Now I hesitate to give him a wholly fictitious
date of death and to. invent all of tie work

of his later years. Would it be too infernal
'anuisance for you to hire some one on the
Advertiser...to look up. in a biographical diction-
ary or elsewhexy. his life after he left the
Senate in 1850!

in;

 

7Letters 2; Roosevelt and Eda. I. 14.1.

 

There is no question but that this method of work would not be
acceptable to historical scholars today.

Gouverneur £92.13 was written with the same rapidity as
m Roosevelt was familiar with Jared Sparks' biography of
Ibrris. and considered the biographer 'a very voluminous writer.‘

8

although 'a quite abnormally dull one.‘ B complained tint Sparks

 

aGouverneur Morris. herican Statesman Series. edited by

John T. Home. Jr. (New York: 1891). p. v.

 

was not aware that 'a biographer'a duties are not necessarily
identical with those of a professional eulogist.‘9 but admitted

that most writers have a tendency to heap praise on any bad American
...‘save Benedict Arnold.'10 a. claim. that Sparks was 'funnily

unconscious of his own prolix dullness.‘ laughs at him for improving

1' rev :'-\ I J“ :' tu‘ - - LA T _K c AJ-‘n— r '. +l‘ ‘fw -.T ~\- ’ V ‘5 A '3',“ - A.“ q a ‘ ~t~ -
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lbrris' English. and criticz‘es Sparks' tendency 'to soften don. or
omit anything that he deemed either improper or beneath the stilted

'dignity’ of history. '9 If Roosevelt felt 'a little appalled over

 

9(louverneaur Morris. p. vi.

 

10
the Bonton' he had ample reason to feel the same way about Morris.

 

loIstters gf_ Roosevelt and Lodge. 1. 37.

 

It was no better. even though Roosevelt had relied more heavily on
primary source material. He used Morris' letters and state papers.
as listed in Sparks' work. and in addition made he use of the Jay
and! Pickering manuscripts. I-b listed Morris' speeches in the Con-
stitutional Convention as source material. as they were preserved

in mdison's Debates. Two articles in Scribner's Maezine by Miss:
"'—— 11 w.

Annie Carey Morris were consulted - as well as articles in Macmillan's

 

n'i‘heodore Roosevelt.’ in lilliam T. Hutchinson. ed..
Marcus 1. Jernegan Essays _ig herican Historiogaphy (Chicago UP.
19375. p. 2338 hereafter referred to as Jernefl Begs.

 

we and the Atlantic Monthly. lhile Roosevelt admitted that he
did not enjoy writing Morris as much as he had the Barton. he found

great delight in chastising Morris for his conduct in 1812-15.42

 

l2
Lettera 9_f_ Roosevelt 93.5 E2. 1. 59.

 

The thin volume 3.: York is his most inconsequential work.

5 listed in the preface a good deal of mterial from which he drew

I“ "‘

1m

his information. but fails to give textual citations. 'It has been
my aim.‘ he wrote. 'less to collect new facts than to draw from the

inmense storehouse of facts already collected...."13 (It is intez'st-

 

13
_Ne_w_York. (New. York: 1891). p. viii.

 

ing in spots. but the material. even though presented with enthusiasm
and force. appeals chiefly to the individual with a particular in-
terest in that field of history.

In OW Roosevelt's judgment is. 'in all essentials.

 

accurate.'1h But filled with the same enthusiasm thst generated his

 

“Oliver Cromwell. (New York: 1906). p. 1. Thus it was that
Roosevelt described Macaulay's judgnsnt of Cromwell.

 

other work.,Roosevelt often became chauvinistic about his subject.
Craawell..he said. is 'the greatest soldier-statesman of the seven-

teenth century..'15 But if the worth of a statesman can be masured

 

1
5Ibid. . l.

 

by his ability to construct what will bear the test of time. then
Cranwell was not a great statesnnn. The soldier may do his job well
at a time when he is vitally needed. but constitutional construction.
such as was seen in our own country at the tin of the Constitution-
al Convention. pushes the deeds of the soldier into the pale of
near-insignificance. If Oranwell 1a; the greatest soldier-statesman.
then let us admit that the standard of excellence. if judged by the

above criteria. was very low. Again. as in the case of his leg York.

 

 

 

'

 

45

the author did not essay a new and objective study. Indeed. the
subjectivity of the work provoked the criticism “that it was a fine
imginative study of Cromwell's qualifications for the governorship

of New York. '16 Lodge was pleased with the book. and said that he

 

l6:l’ernegan Essays. p. 231;. Thornton does not give his source
in this instance. but the criticism is well taken. Since Cromwell
was written soon after Roosevelt returned from the Cuban war there
is reason to believe that there is a more than coincidental parallel
between his own actions and those of his subject.

 

liked especially the first part in which you
treat with great force and vigor. as it seem
to me. the general situation of Europe and of
European opinion at that time. The point that
the great rebellion was the beginning of the
new time and not the end of the old seemed to
me especially well taken.

 

17letters 9; Roosevelt and Lodge. 1. 431

 

To call the book an historical ranance would not be far amiss. al-

though it is generally accurate in outline.18

 

181.31. Halsey. 'Review of Oliver Cromwell‘.' Outlook. 1m
(December 1. 1900). 812-815. Halsey says that Roosevelt's 'sym-
pathies sre...with the religious conception of the State and in so
far with Puritanism!

 

On February 15. 1887 Roosevelt wrote to Lodge. saying that

If I write another historical work of any
kind--and my dream is to mks one such that
will be aw m_agnum opus-J shall certainly
take more time and do it carefully and
thoroughly. so as to avoid the roughness
and interruption of the Benton.

 

”Letters 21; Roosevelt and an. I. 51.

.‘Illlllllluvl‘ 4-.-- - Olin—ha.
n .

 

 

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A6

If Roosevelt succeeded in his dream it is in _‘I_'h_e_ Winning 2; £93
1931. Any judgmnt of Roosevelt's power as a historian. as one
who wrote history as literature. must face up to this work. It
was published in 1889. and in July of that year Roosevelt wrote
again to Lodge. saying that he was still struggling for 'a

uniformly emellent style.‘20 011 September 18 or the same year

 

20letters 93 Roosevelt and Lodge. I. 81.

 

he told Ledge that

The tionalist. in criticizing
Z The Winni‘ng 9_t_‘_ the lies 7. startled but
pleased m the other day by regretting
that it did not possess the same sus-
tained charm and interest as. of all

things in the world. my 'lar of 1812':2¥

 

211bid.. I. 90.

 

alch criticill is hardly justified. Where the Naval 31812931 9; 1812

is 'dry and pedestrian in style. '22 & Vinnigg of the West is full

 

22m». p. 5.

 

of vigor and charm.

Roosevelt was singularly well suited to write such a book.
He was familiar with the western country and its people; he knew how
they talked. how they thought. and by what emotions they were guided.
Frederick Jackson Turner had to admit that Roosevelt was the best
equipped.. In writing this work Roosevelt was. more than he had ever

been.,at hone. He was not. it is true. so much a westerner as perhaps

147

even he would have liked to believe-~he admitted that he never lost
contact with the cast-"- but he had a feeling for its people that few
other men in his position possessed. The work he called 'a labor of
love to write of the great deeds of the border people." Nor was he

blind. as he puts it. 'to their manifold shortcomings. '23

 

23% m 23 _t__g West. I. xiv. The preface lists in acne
detail his sources.

 

 

The use of facts was. as he stated in his theory of history.
but a secondary matter in the actual writing process. The mgination
and vision required of the historian was the prime consideration. and
Roosevelt certainly possessed both. Francis Parkman was his favorite
historian. even above Macaulay and Trevelyan. and it was natural
that he should dedicate 3 Winning of the M to him. So we see
that in this work Roosevelt was successfully merging the romantic
tradition with the newer scientific tradition. That was all he asked.
essentially. and to that extent he was right: the historian must
combine the two elements if he is to write a history which will be a
contribution to the sum total of humn wisdom. Roosevelt praised

'I‘refelyan for writing 'the final history of our Revolutionfl'zh but

 

“has. Kraus. A slug 9;; met-lean Eisto . (New York: Parrar
and Rinehart. 1937). p.. hos.

 

pointed out that 'irevelyan was a little bit too nmeh on theside of
the herican cause. Ihile it is true that Roosevelt leaned on his
pen too heavily when the facts were not available. it is also true

that he preferred 'to have acne foundation of fact. no mtter how

ll8

slender. on dlich to build the airy and arabesque superstructure of

w fancy. '25 But it is to be admitted that Roosevelt does not strike

 

25Letters _o_i: Roosevelt 22.2 Lodge. 1. Al.

 

the middle-road in all instances. His chief difficulty was that he
wrote too much and in too many fields. If he had concentrated on
Western History. devoting a lifetine to research and thought in that
field. there is no question but that he would stand today as one of
our great historians. The amazing thing is that he wrote history at
all. what with the many other things he accomplished in his life.

But therein lies Roosevelt's prominence as a literary figure.

T‘T “ "" ""'
l

h?

CHLPTERV

Roosevelt 's Non-Historical Works

As might be enacted. Roosevelt's letters reveal his
personality and character more than an of the other media in
tich he wrote. One of his private secretaries estinnted that
in his public cart he wrote over 150.000 letters. The amazing
thing is that they have been preserved.

With them are the original letters of the
many correspondents that he had in all parts
of the world «authors. poets. historians.

artists. explorers. naturalists. Itatesmen.
prime ministers. kings. emperors.

 

lRoosevelt 9.132 _F_!_i_s_ Time. I. viii.

 

few other writers are so canpletely themselves in their letters
as Roosevelt. His letters are frank and truthful. self-revealing
and full of character. When writing to political opponents. he is
as bold and straight-forward as when he is writing to Theodore Jr.
in college.

His letters are not nerely like his talk.

they a his talk ”frank and free. with

rays of irrepressible and always joyous

humor playing about it. and with deft and

sure thrusts at the foibles. vanities. 2
perversities. and weaknesses of mankind.

21bid.. I. .111.

L-
I

In”

50

He reveals his desires and motives without the least hesitation.
There is something sincerely honest in a man who admits that
until he was sixteen all he did was make a 'collection of natural
history. reading a good deal in certain...fie1ds and indulging in
the usual scribbling of the small boy who does not small in sport.‘
and who further admits that 'I cannot remember that I did amthing

that even lifted m up to the average.'3

 

3Roosevelt and fii_s_ Time. I. 2.

 

To the student of literature there is no phase of Ibosevelt
which is quite so interesting as his correspondence with the literary
men and women of his day. If Roosevelt chanced upon a new book that
he enjoyed to any degree at all. he would write to the author and
comend him for his efforts. 'While he was President there was
scarcely a writer of even moderate fame with whom he had not extablished

friendly relations.“ Young authors were often considerably surprised

 

thid. . II. 136.

 

by his knowledge of. and interest in. their writings. His letters to
Trevelyan reveal not only a fine relationship. but also fbosevelt's
concept of 'History as Literature' in its incubation.

That his personality is revealed in even the most form]. letters
is seen in his correspondence with Hamlin Garland and William Allen
Ihite. letters which are primarily concerned with matters of political
importance. Roosevelt speaks of his lack of respect for the big-moneyed

lien. and then adds. as though he were nursing on the subject:

 

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xii-shore. 933 L'- ' Rhi'c'ill‘ ~15" 9-!" -.-.:‘...c.-'.‘? 'r .951“? :técm' f‘rr ."fr‘fi

I thoroughly believe that the first duty

of every man is to earn his own living.

to pull his own weight. to support his own
wife and family; but after this has been
done. and he is able to keep his family
according to his station and according to
the tastes that have become a necessity to
him. then I despise him if he does not treat
other things as of more importance in his scheme
of life than mere money getting; if he does
not care for art. or literature. or science.
or statecraft. or warcraft. or philanthropy
«in short for sons form of service to his
fellows. for some form of tie kind of life
which is alone worth living; ..

 

3Roosevelt and; Hi_s_ Time. II. 50-51.

 

Illustrative of Roosevelt's ability to make his letters intensely
personal. is this extract from a letter to W. A. White. written
November 26. 1907s

is far as I am personally concerned. I am
well ahead of the game. whatever happens.

I have had an exceedingly pod time; I have
been exceedingly well treated by the American
people; and I have enjoyed the respect of
those for whose respect I care most. If for
a moment I have to go under a cloud. why. it
is all in the gain.

 

61bid.. II. 51.

 

Roosevelt's letters indicate fully his wide range of interests. both
inside and outside the public service «from letters to nitsuhito.
hperor of Japan. concerning a negotiated peace between Japan and
Russia. to the letters to Brander Matthews. in which he tells of an
unsuccessfull attempt at advancing the cause of simplified spelling

by ordering the public printer to use it in all public docmente.7.

52

 

7Congress objected and Roosevelt had to back down --a fact
which made Brander Matthews angry. Roosevelt said in his defense
that there was no use in fighting the thing in an already lost
cause; but said he would use it in his own private correspondence.
This latter resolution was one he did not live up to.

 

His most intimate correspondence. aside from his letters to
his children and near-relatives. was with Henry Cabot Lodge. While
he took great pains with all his correspondence there is reason to
suspect that he was especially careful about his letters to his friend
and early critic. E wrote to Lodge:
Writing is horribly hard work to me; I
make slow progress...ns' style is very rough

and I do not like a certain lack of seguitur
that I do not seem able to get rid of.

 

ELetters 9_f_ Roosevelt 221.1%. I. 38.

 

Iith Lodge he shared all his hopes and aspirations. it the outset
of the correspondence Lodge is tle more mature and self-confident):
Roosevelt looks to him as the critic. but later takes over the role
of leader and advisor. while Lodge relinquishes the position to his
younger friend.

Iith his children Roosevelt carried on a correspondence of a
singularly beautiful nature. lb never speaks to them from an position
of authority: they are his intellectual equals and he advises them on
that lefil. It goes without swing tint he cannanded a greater respect
from them for that. & shared their views. and gave them advice on
those cutters most important to children. He treated them in the can

way that he had been treated by his father. is the children. more

.53

particularly the boys. advanced toward manhood the tone of equality
mver changed. Whenever it became necessary for him to 'preach.‘ the
father always made an apology. He was always interested in whatever
they were doing. whether it was athletic or intellectual. His advice
was always practical and sincere. A letter to Ted. when the boy was
1h. shows his attitude very well:

I want you to do well in your sports. and

I want even more to have you do well with '

your books; but I do not expect you to stand
first in either. if so to stand could cause

you overwork and hurt your health. I always
believe in going hard at everything. whether

it is Iatin or mathematics. boxing or football.
but at the same time I want to keep the sense of
proportion. It is never worth while to abso-
lutely exhaust one's self or to take big chances
unless for an adequate object. I want you to
keep in training the faculties which would make
you. if the need arose. able to put your lagt
ounce of pluck and strength into a contest.

 

9Ietters t_o gig Children. pp. 25-26.

 

men qientin was seven years old his father wrote him many letters
of genuine interest.

Dear Qlentyquee: The other day when out riding
diet should I see in the road ahead of me but a
real B'rer Terrapin and B'rer Rabbit. They were
sitting solemnly beside one another an! looked
just as if they had come out of a book: but as
my horse walked along B'rer Rabbit went lippity
lippity off into the bushes and B'rer hisapin
drew in his head and legs till I passed.

 

1"Ibid.. 101.

 

He sure prof is needed of Roosevelt's love and devotion to his

5h

family. Few fathers are comerned enougl to take the tine to compose
a letter vhich would have such appeal to a child. In addition
Roosevelt took time to Illustrate his letters. usually denoting
those objects which were not drawn with artistic accuracy by

arrows and marginal notes.

Roosevelt shared with his children their intellectual growth.
being aware. no doubt. that his own development was largely due to
the interest and concern of his own father. Their interest in
books was greatly supplemented by a father who shared in thdr
critical judgments. As is to be expected there was a good deal
of interest in Dickens and Thackeray. Roosevelt. Kermit and Theodore
Jr. carried on an extensive discussion of these two writers by cor-
respondence.

As the children got older. and could be more appreciative of
their father. they could share more in his aspirations the“ they had
ever done before. They were the kind of children to whom a father
could write of his pride in being a contributor to the 'naterial

perfection' of the navyen

 

1'l'lgtters t_g g; Children. pp.l76-l7'7.

 

With aple reason Roosevelt felt pride in his letters addressed
to the children. He said of the published volume of these letters that

'I would rather have this book published than anything that has ever

12

been written about me.“ It is true that these letters show the

 

12lbid. . 10.

 

5.5

sensitive and gentle aspect of Roosevelt more than anything In ever
penned.

Typical of the man. Roosevelt's speeches and essays have in
them that quality of truth. courage. and sincere aggressiveness.
'which we associate with the preacher calling men upward to higher

things. '13 They reveal more than mere learning; they show a pat-

 

133. C. Lodge. 'Character and Opinions of Theodore Roosevelt.‘
Critic. XLIV (April. 1901;). 311;.

 

riotism that approaches chauvinism. conviction. force. and tremndous
energy. The typical essayist is not as earnest and energetic as
Roosevelt. and for that reason he cares upon us with a little too
nah vigor; we do not like to be hurried. and the discussive manner
of the typical essayist is more to the tone of an evening's reading.
On the occasion of the centennial year of the University of
Berlin Roosevelt was asked to deliver the principal address. on my
12. 1910. A month later. on June 7. Roosevelt delivered the Romance
lecture at Oxford. choosing as his subject 'Biological Analogies in

History. 'M He gave considerable of his time to the composition e!

 

1“This lecture is contained in the volume mstgg 2 Literature
as a complete chapter (2).

 

of the lecture. but Dr. Ibnry Fairfield Osborn or the Means of
Natural History. to whom Roosevelt sent a draft of the lecture. had
to cut out certain passage which were '1ike1y to bring on war between

the united States and the governmelms referred to. '15 The lecture was

r.’

'ym'JH mob/35W? ‘10 aeofn'rzfl {we reissued!“ .erzfmI .3 .F’”

a - ¢ u q
. -.-

t 9 f

.. _ e

t .
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v v . - .
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. .- . a ~ 0 ‘ t V O

wrr-— ‘aucw- \ .---———q_.-

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.
. . C
. . H

.\;.‘,' 'LIJI\{X’.l-.} :-: 3.111..” 8 11:5

56

 

153nm Fairfield Osborn. I_zgpressions 9; Great Naturalists.
(New York: Scribner's. 1928). p. 2 3. .

 

received with a modicum of enthusiasm. but the lecturer was given
high approbrium. That was the characteristic result of a Roosevelt
speech: if the subject was poor Roosevelt was always good.

Roosevelt's ever-present theme in his peaches and essays is
the imperfection of the world. and the opportunities that are open
for the advancement of mankind. He is possessed of 'singularly open
sympathies. of large views. of copious information. and «in the main-

of catholic and balanced Judgment”16 We again have to admire the man

 

1E'Roosevelt as Esswistfl Inde ndent. now: (October 9.

1913). 93-

 

who is so interested in seeing the triumph of good over evil.

Lodge pointed out that what a man says form the contribution.
not what is said about him. Roosevelt's speeches reveal the man.
his education. sincerity; they have energy. force. conviction. honesty.

The biographer may flatter. tln political
friend any paint tie portrait all in rose.
and the political anew may draw it in un-
relieved shadow with the blackest charcoal.
but there can be no ake about what the
man himself has said.

 

l
7'Gharacter and Opinions of Theodore Roosevelt.‘ p. 313.

 

It would be impractical for one to choose the 'best' of Roosevelt's
hunting books. They are all good. full of adventure. action. movennt

and color. In the hunting and killing of game he was excelled by few

.57

other men of his day. and his approach to the sport was such that

it is doubtful if any other man has had a more wholesane attitude.
or cwrse there are those who appreciate nature to the extent that
Roosevelt did. but few have articulated the tremendous joy that tte

18

'free. self-reliant. adventurous life' gives. If tie joy of a

 

1 PAW M33.- (m' York: 190.5)e P0 1111-

 

task. be it work or play. lies in the ability to understand and
appreciate. then Roosevelt is clearly free of the tramls of drudgery.
It is a pleasure to read a man who took such obvious deligat in inat-
ever he did. Speaking of the hunter. he writes:

In after years there shall cc-e forever to

his mind the memory of endless prairies
shimmering th'e the brigit sun; of vast snow-
clad wastes lying desolate under gray skies;

of tie melancholy marshes. of the rush of -
mighty rivers. of the breath of the evergreen
forest in summer; of the crooning of ice-armored
pines at the touch of the winds of winter; of
cataracts roaring between hoary mountain masses:
of all the innumerable sights and sounds of the
wilderness; of all its imensity and mystery;
and of e silences that brood in its still
depths.

 

191b1de . fl'e

 

‘

The hunting books“ provide an intimate portrait of Roosevelt.
the mannof action. They are. by and large. anecdotal and detailed
accounts of the President's adventures hunting in the western Uhited
States. and in foreign lands. He writes with chm and interest.
describing maurately what he observes. It is worth remarking thu

his powers of observation. Joined with his retentive manory. enabled

53

2O

him to create real power in description. African Game Trails is

 

20Those hunting books dealt with in this paper are as follows:

Hunting Trips 93 a Ranchmang. (New York. 1905); Good Hunting. (New
York. 1907); Ranch Life and the Huntig Trail. (New York. 1901.);

_A_ gook-lover's Holidays i_n_ the OJaen; The Wilderness Hunter; African
Game Trails; mtdoor Pastimes of an American mater. (New York;

Scribner's. 19255. _ '—

 

 

filled with enough detail (in every sense of the word) relative to
hunting. animls. scenery. safari procedure. history. etc. as to
provide a very helpful book of source material for the novelist who has
never been to Africa.

The use of color and touch imagery are consciously utilized by
Roosevelt in his successful attempt to create mood.

The midwinter mountain landscape was very
beautiful. whether under the brilliant blm

sky of the day. or the starligit or glorims
moonlight of the night. or when unier the
dying sun the snowy peaks. and the light clouds
shove. kindled into flame. and sank again to
gold and amber and sombre purple. After the
snow-atoms the trees. almost hidden beneath
the light. feathery nasses. gave a new and
strange look to the mountains. as if they were
giant nesses of frosted silver. Even the
storm had a beauty of their own. The keen. cold
air. the wonderful scenem and the interest
and excitement of the sport. made fir veins
thrill and beat with buoyant life.

 

2"l'cmtdoor Pastime g _a_n_ American mmter. p. h.

 

less romntic and more realistic is this passage from the same book:

[Colorado] is a high. dry country. where the
winters are usually very cold. but the snow
not under ordinary circmnstances very deep.
It is wild and broken in character. the hills

59

and low mountains rising in sheer slopes.
broken by cliffs and riven by'deeply out

and gloomy gorges and ravines. The sage-
brush grovis everywhere upon the flats and
hillsides. Large open groves of pinyon

and cedar are scattered over the peaks.
ridges. and tablelands. Tall spruces cluster
in the cold ravines. Cottonwoods grow along
the stream courses. and there are occgzional
patches of scrub-oak and quaking asp.

 

”mtdoor Pastimes 9_f_ an herican Hunter. p. h.

 

 

'Tall spruces cluster in the cold ravines.‘ There is a clear image

invoked by such clear prose. It 8°es without saying that Roosevelt

was more than ordinarily sensitive to nature. He is a man for when

even the cry of the volt held a peculiar attractiveness.

He writes::

To me their haying. though a very eerie

and lonesome sound. full of vaguely sinister
associations. has. nevertheless. a certain
wild music of its own which is far from being
without charm.2

23M- 0 57'580

 

His wide knowledge of the natural world more than once bewilders the

reader:

The plains were generally covered only with
the thick grass on which the great herds of 7”“
fed; here and there small tuba-trees grew
upon then. but usually sosnall and scattered
as to give no shelter or cover.... There were
mny kinds of shrikes. sane of them big. parti-
colored birds. almost like magpies. and with a
hestrel-like habit of hovering in the air over
one spot; others very small and prettily color-
ed.... Little pipits sang overhead like our
Missouri skylarks. There were nidit-Jars; and
doves of various kinds. one of which uttered a
series of notes slightly resemling the call 4.9.“

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of our dipporwill or whuckwills widow....
Bastards. . .f colins. . .African spur-fowl
...civits....

 

zhhfrican Game Trails. I. 1.0-1.3.

 

hit in addition to the ability to draw pastel portraits
of what he saw. Roosevelt could with equal deftness convey sense

of rhythm and movement:

In an hour we overtook the Nandi warriors.
who were advancing across the rolling.

gassy plains in a long line. with in-
tervals of six or eight yards between the
men. They were splendid savages. stark
naked. lithe as panthers. the muscles rippling
under their smoth dark skins: all their
lives they had lived on nothing but animal
food. milk. blood. and flesh. and they were
fit fcr any fatigue or danger. Their faces
were proud. cruel. fearless; as y ran they
moved with long spring strides.

 

25113.. 1409 no 113241330

 

R is also able to be realistic; for ample. in one passage he
speaks of shooting a bear and casually describes the effect in the
following manner: 'I hit him square between the eyes. and he dropped

like a pole-and steer. '26 Or the following passages from grican

 

2rQtdeer Pastimes g; _a_n_ arisen fainter. p. 83.

 

Game ls:
Both the cow and the bull [61.phant.7 were
in fine condition; but they were covered
with ticks. especially wherever the skin
was bare. Around the eyes the loathsome
creatures swarmed so as to take complete

 

 

0..)

V

rims. like spectacles; and in the armpits
and the groin they were massed so that they
looked like barnacles on an old boat. It

is astonishing that the game should mind the;
so little: the wildebeest evidently dreaded
far more the biting flies which hung around
them: and the maggots of the bot-flies in
their nostrils must have been a sore torment.
Nature is merciless indeed.

 

27African Geese Trails. I. 36.

The accusation of didactieism is not entirely unjustified
were Roosevelt is concerned. His natural propensity for practicality
causes him to continually inject personal opinions and theories con-
cerning his favorite subjects. i.e. preservation of natural resources
and the attitude of the true sportsman and lover of nature. Occasion-
ally his opinions get in the way of otherwise smooth prose:

In spite of the snow-storms spring was coming;
some of the trees were beginning to bud and show
green. more and more flowers were in bloom. and
bird life was steadily increasing. In the bushes
by the streans the handsome white-crowned sparrows
and green-tailed towhees were in full song. making
attractive music; although the songof neither can
rightly be compand in point of phintive beauty
with that of the whitedthroated sparmw. which.
except sane of the thrushes. and perhaps the
winter wren. is 28° sweetest singer of tie North-
eastern forests. -

 

EaOutdoor Pastimes 9; g herican Hunter. p. 108.

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to his ability to create image. Roosevelt is
continually seeing the varied implications of things. This is a
defect. to a certain extent. inasmuch as it suspends the flow (1'

his mooth press. It is. however. interesting to watch his mind

rove all the avemres of his vast knowledge. playing over this and
that with great enjoyment. E speaks of a negro servant while on

trail in Africa. noting that

One. Hamisi. must have had in his veins

Galla or other non-negro blood; derived

from the Hamitic. or bastard Semitic. or

at least non-negro. tribes which. pushing
slowly and fitfully souttard and south-
westward among the negro peoples. have creat-
ed an intricate tangle of ethnic and lin-
guistic types from the middle Nile to far
south of the equator.29

 

29African Game Trails. I. Zip-25.

 

I! elephants he can speak with equal eruditions

In the first dawn of history. the sculptured
records of the kings 1 Egypt. Babylon. and
Nineveh show the immense importance which
attached in the eyes of the mightiest mon-
archs of the then known world tothe chase.

and the trophies of this great strange beast.
The ancient civilization of India boasts as

one of its achievements the taming of the
elephant; and in the ancient lore of that
civilgaation the elephant plays a distinguished

part.-

 

3°Ibid.. r. 290.

 

Right in the midst of a thrilling passage dealing with the
hunting of hippopotamus“. Roosevelt pauses to give us a character-
istic sapling of the Roosevelt type of humor:

I did not wish to shoot again unless I had
to. and stood motionless. with the little
Springfield at the ready. A head burst up
twenty yards off. with a lily pad plastered
over one eye. giving the hippo an absurd
resemblance to a discomfited prize-fighters].
and then disappeared with great agitation.

63

 

Blflrican Game Trails. I. 272.

 

The following passage speaks for itself. It comes upon the
reader unexpectedly. much as does the dichotomr-writing of Hemingway.
although there is no attempt here at mking such a comparison. It
is interesting to speculate. and we can only do that. whether or not
the effect produced is intentional.

The bullet broke [the deer'g7 neck and Down

he went «a fine fellow with a handsome ten-
point head. and fat as a prize sheep; for it
was jm before the rut. Then we rode home.
and I sat in a rocking-chair on the ranch-house
veranda. looking across the wide. sandy river
bed at the strangely shaped buttes and the
groves of shimering cottonwoods until the 53a
went down and the frosty air bade me go in.

 

320ntd‘oor Pastimes of An herican Painter. p. 219.

 

It is true that Roosevelt's autobiography is incomplete. Per-
haps such a criticism may be leveled at any attempt at autobiogaphy.
but in this case there is sane justification. Biography is made
interesting by material not of counon knowledge «anecdotal or
otherwise. The childhood of Roosevelt is only briefly sketched.
without much of the material that is evident in the side-glances and
digressions of his other books. While Roosevelt does tell a great
deal that we did not hiierto know. we wish that he had been a little
more eager to tell us about the life that was so filled with varied
experience. It is uncanny that a man who had written dozen‘of books
and countless thousands of words in every field imaginable should

leave the world with a six-hundred page autobiography and xmrch of

61:

that political theory! it any rate the book is largely a dis-
appointment.

Roosevelt does give in it a clear picture of the Western
character. It is a pleasant surprise to know that a man of letters.
a politician. was big enough. and man enough. in spite of physical
difficulties. to fake a gunman into the position for a 'right cross“
followed by a quick 'left' all in the face of two guns! Roosevelt
tells of the incident and quickly passes on to another subject with-
out giving us the slightest hint as to the reaction of such a bold
deed on the part of tie people in the saloon where it happened. This
close-mouthed attitude is in keeping with the Western tradition;
htnnility was not entirely foreign to Roosevelt.

Roosevelt gives his friend Owen Wister credit. along with
Remington. for preserving. 'with pen and pencil.‘ the true Western
man. He writes:

I have sometime been asked if Wister's
'Virginian' is not overdrawn; day. one

of the men I have mentioned. in this

chapter was in all essentials the Virginian
in real life. not only in his force but in
his charm. Half of the men I worked with
or plwed with and half of the men who
soldiered with me afterwards in my regiment

might have walked out of ister's stories
or Remington's pictures}

 

 

The Isstern habit of understatement is humorously illustrated
in the chapter 'In cowboy Iand.‘ Roosevelt was net at a reunion of

his regiment by a man. 'an excellent soldier.‘ who informed him that

65

he had been in- jail. When asked why he had been confined the man
replied with some surprise:: 'Ihy. Colonel. don't you know I had a
difficulty with a gentleman. and...er...we11. I killed the @ntle-
mn.’ Roosevelt asked the man how it happened that he had killed
a man. Msinterpreting my question.‘ he writes. 'as showing an

interest only in the technique of the performance. the ex-puncher

replied: 'With a .38 on a .15 fram‘} 60101131.: th

 

3l‘llltobio h . p. 125.

 

As is so often the case with Roosevelt. his didacticism
often intrudes into excellent narrative. He constantly preaches
his theories about national defense. preservation of natural re-
sources. politics. idealism. etc.

The most interesting chapter by far. and it appears to be
completely out of place in the Autobiography. is that one entitled
'Outdoors and Indoors.“ In it Roosevelt discusses that phase of
his life which is pertinent to this essay: the lover of nature. and
the lover of books. for the two go hand in hand in Roosevelt's life:
no distinction can be reds between life and what is said about it.
and Roosevelt never divorced the two. His knowledge of natural life
supplemented. and was supplemented by. books.

Like most hericans interested in birds and
books. I know a good deal about English birds

as they appear in books. I know the lark of
Shakespeare and Shelley and the Ettrick Shepherd:-
I know the nightingale of Milton and Keats: I
know lordswcrth's cuckoox; I know mavis and merle

singing in the merry green wood of the old ballads: 3
I know Jenny Iran and Cock Robin of the nursery bofls. 5

66

 

351htoblgggaphz. p. 322.

 

Wherever Roosevelt traveled he constantly made interesting associa-
tions between what he saw and his knowledge of natural life. to say
nothing of the associations he was able to make as regarding cul-
ture. Mich of his papularity in foreign countries was due to the
fact that invariably he convinced people that he was acquainted with
not only their literature. but with the rest of their material and
non-material culture as well.
With regard to books themselves. Roosevelt wrote that they

are almost as individual as friends. There

is no earthly use in laying down general laws-

about time. Sane meet the needs of one per-

son. and some of another; and each person

should beware of the booklover's besetting

sin. of what Mr. Edgar Allan Poe calls the

'the mad pride of intellectuality.‘ taking

the shape of arrogant pity for the ma36who
does not like the same kind of books.

 

36Ibid.. 332.

 

The reader will note that it is a matter of kind: Roosevelt deeply
pitied the man who did not care for 551 books.

The chapter in question is interesting for another good
reason: it gives us an intimate glimpse into the personality of
Roosevelt the father. Pb reveals his joy in and love for his
children when he tells of adventures they shared together. But
even in‘lhis chapter we have the feeling that there is much being

unsaid which would add tremendously to the interest of the book.

67

The closing lines are of such Rooseveltian quality they might
very well have been the lines with which he closed the book:

It is impossible to win the great prizes

of life without running risks. and the
greatest of all prizes are those connected
with the home. No father and mother can
hope to scape sorrow and anxiety. and there
are dreadful moments when death comes very
near those we love. even if for the time
being it passes by. But life is a yeat
adventure. and the worst of all fears is
the fear of living. There are many forms
of success. many forms of triumph. But
there is no other success that in any shape
or way approaches that which is open to most
of the many. many men and women who have the
right ideals. These are the men and women
who see that it is the intimate and homely
things that count most. They are the mn
and woman who have the courage to strive
for the happiness which comes only with
labor and effort and self-sacrifice. and
only to those whose Joy in life springs

in part from power of work and sense of duty.37

 

37Mtobio h . pp. Bin-3&8.

 

In the final analysis Roosevelt was. as many of his critics have
said. a mall boy who did a lot of talking. but as a whole his
philosOphy is a good one. and worthy of the admiration of any
nan.

When he died in 1919 it was as though a great noise had
ceased and the room had suddenly become very silent. People could

only look about themelves and wonder at the change.

CHAPTER“

Conclusion

In the final analysis Roosevelt's writing is. with rare
exception. important largely because of the author's greater im-
portance as a political figure. Sane couparison is inevitable
between Roosevelt and other statemen-writers. both of his own
and previous tines. Jefferson. notably. was a writer-statesman;
John mincy Adams wrote poetry and Woodrow Wilson was an herican
History scholar.

Iletcher Pratt has claimed that the writings of past

presidents are all. 'in a sense. propaganda.“ “11.“ however

 

lTletcher Pratt. 'Doubling in Literature.’ aturdg Revig;
intersture. II (1937). 3.

 

is too strong. Roosevelt's hunting books are not allied to prop-
aganda in any way. other than an occasional direct reference to the
matter of conservation. It is perhaps true. as Pratt has pointed
out. that 'to find good writing without ulterior purpose by govern-

ment officers we met turn to the great appoimzive posit ions'2

 

2mm" 3.

 

«mwthorne. Irving. )btley. Melville. Bancroft. and others who were

in government service. We my disregard them as political figures.
Pratt claim. on the grounds that 'literature with most of them was

69

the vocation and diplomacy or politics the toy..3 This is a moot

 

3'Doubling in Literature.‘ p. 3.

 

point. yet it met occur to the reader that given the inclimtion
to neglect what he considered an obligation to his country. would
not Theodore Roosevelt have produced more and finer work? Roosevelt
chose to be both writer and statemen. md men who have chosen to
swing two mighty clubs lose the value‘ of the greater force they
might apply to a single weapon. The list of nun who forsook that
which they perhaps enjoyed more than any other thing is undoubtedly
a long one. Periods of war see little writing manon forsake to a
greater cause their inclinations. The great writers and thinkers
of any period might well have been great statesmen and warriors of
another. Roosevelt tried to be both writer and statesma. and in
so doing lost the place in herican letters he might very well have
earned.

Pratt has given due credit to Henry Cabot lodge for 3332 11131:

a; hericen Eaton --

still one of the met widely circulated
juveniles in the country; has probably been
read by. and as an outstanding Juvenile has
conditioned the ideas of. more persons than
any other work in this survey.

 

“an... 1..

 

But Pratt does not include Roosevelt as the joint author of hro Tales.
the result. no doubt. of Lodge's name being the only one on the book

cover. Pratt further claim 'that kmrican Literature by politicians

70

is remarkable chiefly for its poverty'5 and makes a comparison

 

'rboubling in Literature.’ p. h.

 

between England and Amrica on the basis of the merits of Disraeli.
Bulwer-lytton. Macaulay. Lblbourne. G. I). H. Cole. and L. P.
Herbert. But Pratt was writing in 1937 and we have the advantage
of a considerable number of subsequent years as perspective.
Disraeli is remenbered chiefly for his political efforts. E was
more popular than Bulwer-Lytton during his lifetime. but now
Bulwer-Iytton is remembered where Disraeli is forgotten. at least
so far as literature is concerned. mcaulay will stand firmly in
English letters. but G. D. H. Cole receives no attention in the
English survey courses. A. P. Herbert is a minor writer whose
profusion of letters. plays. librettos. novels. and poetry receive
scant notice in this country. although his contributions to gu_nc_h_
are still popular in England. It seems unjustifiable to compare
these minor English writerawithsome of our own statemen. namely
Franklin. Hunilton. Madison. Jefferson. Washington. Lincoln or
lilson.

like Roosevelt. lilson as an historian does not stand high
in the ranks of contributors to historical scholarship. His primary
importance lies in the fact that he aided in 'shaping the destinies
of nations and of races' and all eyes are necessarily 'turned to the

equipmnt which he brings to his new task. '6 I! is the object of our

 

gamma “:8, p. 103e

 

71

interest for the sane reason that Roosevelt is abecause of what
he did. not in books. but in politics. We can best learn about
his methods and motives in his political life by finding out what it
was tlat he had to say in the interpretation of past events. Both
Wilson and Roosevelt were writers of history who became makers of
history. Wilson being by far the more instrumental in shaping
world events. Wilson learned fran his study of histdgy that man
had the right of self-determination; in his role as President. as
a major figure of the Peace Conference at Versailles. he determined
to put the lesson he had learned fran history to good use.
Wilson's judgment was far more mature than Roosevelt's.

He could write. when he was twenty:

In Bismarck are united the moral force of

Cranwell and the political shrewdness of

Richelieu; the comprehensive intellect of

Burke. without his learning. and the dip-

lomatic ability of Talleyrand. without his

coldness. In haughtiness. a rival of Ghatham;

L - in devotion to his country's interests. a
' poor of Hampden; in boldness of speech and

action. anegual of Brougham. Bismarck's
qualities are in most unique combination?

 

 

7a.. 5. Baker and w. s. Dodd. (.aa.). _Th_e;_ Public Paw-g _o_:_
Woodrow Wilson. (New York and Iondon. 1925-1927). 1. 3-7. mated

in Jernegg; Essen. p. 101;.

 

His college essays were on such dissimilar individuals as 'Prince
Bismarck. the m1 of Chathm. John Bright. mum; 3. Gladstone.
characters the most dissimilar-assays remarkable for precocity
rather than profundity. '8 a criticism which cannot be laid to

4 7

J’ernegan EssaE. PP. 101.25.

 

72

Roosevelt. although his Naval E95 gt; 1812 does exhibit a quality

of precociousness. though it is “dry and pedestrian in style. '9_

 

9Ny9o Po 5-

 

Speaking of Wilson. louis Martin Sears says that even in college
Wilson exhibited evidence

of that capacity for sweeping general-
ization which often leads the historian
astr‘y but without Rich no historian can
possibly be great.

 

O
1 Jernega_n Essa s. p. 105.

 

Roosevelt could also make the broad. sweeping generalization. Speak-
ing of future historians he says that

They will show how the land which the pioneers
won slowly and with incredible hardship wss
filled in two generations by the overflow from
the countries of western and central Dirope.
The portentious growth of the cities will be
shown. and the change from a nation of farmers
to a nation oi" Business an and artisans. and
all the far-reaching consequences of the rise
of the new industrialism. The fomtion of a
new ethnic type in this melting-pot of the nations
will be told. The hard naterialism of our age
will appear. and also the strange capacity for
lofty idealism which must be reckoned with by
all who would understand the American character.
A peOple whose heros are Washington and Lincoln.
a peaceful people who fought to a finish one of
the bloodiest of are. waged solely for the sake
of a great principle and a noble idea. mnely
pos-ss an emeggency-standard‘ far above are
money-getting.

 

9Histogz 2 Literature. -p. 35.

 

,Wilson was the more scholarly of the two. but even he could write

73

in the Romantic vein. His Georgg Washington is 'good popular stuff.

10

and 'suitahle for the nontechnical reader.“ Wilson ranged further

 

10:fernegan Essa s. p. 111.

in his studies. and went deeper than Roosevelt. whereas Jefferson.
ranged no further. but also went deeper. Wilson was capable of
dealing in large ideas. and 'never failed to shed new light upon.

existing concepts.'n Wilson greatly admired Lincoln. as did Roosevelt.

 

ll:e1a.. 117.

 

and both men did much by way of eulogizi ng that great Amrican. But
wilson's admiration was on a higher and more subtle intellectual
plme than Roosevelt's. They are far apart in intellect. and the
critic is justified in conjecturing that greatness as an historian
was within wilson's grasp. but he did not seize it. 'His nature was

too rich to be so circumscribed. '12 Roosevelt too. might have reached

 

121bid.. 121.

 

an enviable height as a writer. but it would have been in the Romantic
vein. whereas Wilson had more of the scientific strain. But science
in Wilson gave way to philosophy. and from philosophy he turned. as do
so nany. to religion. It was his firm conviction toward the end of
his life that the world could be saved only by becaning one with the
spirit of Christ. and there is in his later work. perhaps a result of
his bitter experience. a foreboding of evil days ahead. Roosevelt

could see growth and expansion. but he was optomistic abcmt the future

7h

--on the condition that people live to the full vigor of their
lives. Roosevelt is never as definite about religion as Wilson
«he falls more into the tradition of Pains and Franklin. although
he as by no means a deist. Eb never gives such a bald-faced
testimony as that given by Wilson:

The sum of the whole mtter is this. that
our civilization cannot survive materially
unless it be redeemed spiritually. It can
be saved only by booming permeated with
“the spirit of Christ and being made free
and happy by the practices which spring
out of that spirit. Only thus can discon-
tent be driven out and all Be shadows
lifted from the road ahead. ,

 

. 13Jernegan EBSQB. p. 121s

 

There is an interesting parallel between Jefferson and Roosevelt
which is worthy of consideration as a means of summing up Roosevelt
as a man of letters.

In comparing the merits of Jefferson and Roosevelt. we must
first consider the periods in which each lived. Where Jefferson
was a philosopher-statesman. Roosevelt was a writer-statesman. The
term 'philosopher' cannot be used to describe Roosevelt. because
neither in approach nor practice did he have the philosophic attitude:
philosophical ideas were abhorrent to him. The ten 'scholar' cannot
be applied to him in its narrow sense. for Roosevelt‘s histories
indicate that his scholarly approach was largely a matter of such
thewy and little application. Jei'ferson was concerned with much
the same philosophical problems as those which confronted the

Renaissance humanists. the essential difficulty being how to reconcile

lilllll
. [I

 

7.5

speculative thought on the nature of man with the greater and more
imediate problem of creating a new society. Jefferson was particularly
comerned with the theory and practice of good government. 'He was
intellectually prepared to examine the logical. philosophical.

scientific. or sentimental elements in his views of society.“

 

Wmmmmm 1.1m.

 

If this implies a character that was practical. then in that sense
Jefferson and Roosevelt were much alike.

But in actual ability Jefferson stands far above Roosevelt.
Roosevelt leaves the impression that he would have balked at much
of the philosophical discussion that went on in Jefferson's day.
Even though practical men were needed in the framing of the Constitution
Roosevelt would have been lost had he not taken a more philosophic
appmach. It is not enough that a nun be merely practical; the great
nan looks ahead and by sane curious insight and genius sees what
the problems will be far ahead of his own time. and aids in preparing
to meet those periods of conflict. Roosevelt. as we know. is remembered
for his continual harping on the need for conservation of natural
resources. and this one factor contributes a good deal to his fane
today. It is an instance where he saw through the maze of everyday
problems and detected the goat» issue. It was. however. a tangible
issue. and one which experience in the hunting regions of the nation
had pointed out to him.

Jefferson exercised a greater intellect than Roosevelt in many

respects. He was a great lover of the fine arts. and his taste for

76

literature was practical. but above all he possessed a more mature
judgment than Roosevelt's. Roosevelt's almost boyish enthusiasm

for literature of all kinds. fine as it may be. indicates a lack

of discriminating judgment. We rebel that he cannot be put into

a 'taste catagory.‘ On one occasion at least. Roosevelt and Jeff-
erson shared identical views. is we have seen. Roosevelt considered

it an obligation on the part of writers to be interesting. imaginative.
and moral. imagination being the necessary catalyst if a book is

to stand up as a real contribution to literature. Jefferson coincides
to a great extent in this view:

Considering history as a moral exercise. her
lessons would be too infrequent if confined
to real life. Of those recorded by historians
few incidents have been attended with such
circumstances as to excite in any high degree
this sympathetic emotion of virtue. We are.
therefore. wisely framed to be as warmly in-
terested for a fictitious as for a real person-
age. The field of imagination is thus laid
open to our use and lessons may be formed to
illustrate and carry-Shame to the heart every
moral rule of life.

 

”Frederick C. Prescott. ed.. Alexander Hamilton 2:; Thom
Jefferson (lbw York. AIS. 1931.). p. l h.

5;

Jefferson illustrates his more liberal mind when he asserted that he
was no friend to 'purism. but a zealous one to the neolog which has

introduced these two words without any authority from the dictionary. '16

 

161tid.. lxwii-lzviii.

 

Purism he declared to be a detriment to the languages: similarly

Roosevelt once expressed his desire to inaugurate and make
official a system of modified spelling.
Nowhere in I"oosevelt's criticism does one find such
clarity as Jefferson's description of Paine's style:
No writer has exceeded Paine in ease
and familiarity of style. in perspicuity

of expression. happiness of elucidation?
and in simple and unassuming language.1

 

"£221.62. mailing and moms Jefferson. p. 18a.

 

Jefferson gets to the core of the matter in a hurry. He is such
less concerned with critical generality. Roosevelt. while he does
occasionally strike the mark. is often adolescent in his ent hlsiasm
and exercise of the critical faculty. but even when canpared to a
man of Jefferson's stature he stands as one who does possess more
than a modicum of ability. Jefferson ranged no further than
Roosevelt. unless it be in the realm of speculative philosophy.

but he went deeper. The content of the Declaration _o_i_'_ Independence
is proof enough of the depth. The criticism of Jefferson's
'ideological' program as one “fitted to practical needs and political
responsibilities. and yet attuned to the highest cultivation of the

arts. the sciences. and belles--lettres.'18 is a description which

 

18Literary Histogy gt; the United States. I. 151;.

 

 

 

fits Theodole Roosevelt very well.

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