Teddy Roosevelt in Speeches
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out
how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds
could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust
and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who
comes short again and again, because there is no effort
without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive
to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great
devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the
best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and
who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid
souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
– Man in the Arena Speech
The policy of conservation is perhaps the most typical
example of the general policies which this Government has
made peculiarly its own during the opening years of the
present century. The function of our Government is to insure
to all its citizens, now and hereafter, their rights to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If we of this generation
destroy the resources from which our children would
otherwise derive their livelihood, we reduce the capacity of
our land to support a population, and so either degrade the
standard of living or deprive the coming generations of their
right to life on this continent. – Roosevelt letter to the
National Conservation Commission
Now, this means that our government, national and State,
must be freed from the sinister influence or control of special
interests. Exactly as the special interests of cotton and slavery
threatened our political integrity before the Civil War, so now
the great special business interests too often control and
corrupt the men and methods of government for their own
profit. We must drive the special interests out of politics.
- The New Nationalism Speech
The passage of the railway rate bill, and only to a less degree
the passage of the pure food bill, and the provision for
increasing and rendering more effective national control over
the beefpacking industry, mark an important advance in the
proper direction. In the short session it will perhaps be
difficult to do much further along this line; and it may be best
to wait until the laws have been in operation for a number of
months before endeavoring to increase their scope, because
only operation will show with exactness their merits and their
shortcomings and thus give opportunity to define what
further remedial legislation is needed. Yet in my judgment it
will in the end be advisable in connection with the packing
house inspection law to provide for putting a date on the
label and for charging the cost of inspection to the packers.
All these laws have already justified their enactment.
– 1905 State of the Union
The person who should get credit is:
If you are not willing to put in the work you do not:
This speech reflected Teddy’s:
This speech applies to me by:
The part of the Square Deal this speech was about:
Whose job was it to ensure it happened?
He believed this was important because:
The part of the Square Deal this speech was about:
He believed this was important because:
The part of the Square Deal this speech was about:
The part of Progressivism this related to was:
He believed this was important because:
Bonus: The Pure Food and Drug Act led to the
creation of: