Attacking Roosevelt’s Legacy
Most people see TR as one of our country's iconic presidents, but life has it critics. Perhaps Roosevelt's most famous speech addresses the topic. He delivered the speech April 23, 1910, at the Sorbonne in France. The speech is officially titled “Citizenship in a Republic,” but its most often known as “The Man in the Arena.” Miley Cyrus has part of the speech tattooed to her forearm.
Roosevelt told the audience, “The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twisted pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes second to achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities—all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority, but of weakness. They mark the men unfit to bear their part painfully in the stern strife of living, who seek, in the affectation of contempt for the achievement of others, to hide from others and from themselves their own weakness. The role is easy; there is none easier, save only the role of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance.”
Over the years TR has had his share of detractors. Perhaps the criticism began with Gutzon Borglum's plans to carve Theodore Roosevelt into Mt. Rushmore placing him shoulder to shoulder with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. Roosevelt had only been gone a decade and some objected to his being placed alongside Washington.
Maybe it started in the fall of 1928 when The Marx Brothers appeared on Broadway in “Animal Crackers.” Groucho played the African Explorer Captain Spaulding dressed in Roosevelt style baggy pants, leggings, boots and a pith helmet. The resemblance was more than casual. Comedian's often find humor in public figures and TR's bigger than life persona was a great personality to use. Not a lot you do with Benjamin Harrison, but you can have a field day with Theodore Roosevelt. While TR was all eyeglasses, mustache and teeth. Groucho’s Spaulding was all eyeglasses, mustache and eyebrows.
When Spaulding wasn’t hunting in Africa he was in the Amazon. In the song “Hooray for Captain Spaulding” the lyrics in the chorus are “Captain Spaulding is a very moral man.” The words the French used to describe Roosevelt. The music would eventually become the theme song of his TV game show You Bet Your Life.
In 1931 Roosevelt's legacy took a different turn when Henry Pringle published his biography of TR. He made Roosevelt seem, at times, immature comparing Roosevelt actions to a child having a temper tantrum.
In 1932 his biography received a Pulitzer Prize.
Edith told Ethel she wanted to burn every page and send the ashes to the author. For the rest of Edith’s life, she saw her husband’s legacy slowly fade from the American conscious. FDR became the new Roosevelt icon.
TR’s resurgence began in the 1950s and has, for the most part, continued into today. However, there has been some new attacks on Roosevelt. some of which I personally find worrisome.
When the question came up as to whether or not to remove TR’s equestrian statue from the steps of the Museum of Natural History Jon Schwarz wrote a disturbing article in The Intercept asserting the monument had to be removed.
In what can only be seen as a weird, off the wall twist, Schwarz claimed “Nazism was an outgrowth and the logical culmination of the European colonialism celebrated by Theodore Roosevelt.” That would be like saying, the Wright Brothers dedication and celebration of flight naturally led to our dropping the atomic bomb. Schwarz asserted America still hasn’t faced the extraordinarily dark side of Roosevelt’s history.
When it comes to the museum it wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the hard work and dedication of Theodore Roosevelt's father and the continued support of TR and the Roosevelt Family. The museum's charter was signed in the parlor of the Roosevelt home on 20th Street.
In Schwarz's world he wanted TR’s name removed from the park, the Roosevelt Rotunda and the Memorial Hall. The museum needs to take that action because according to Schwarz Roosevelt's support of George Washington and the Revolutionary War illustrates his over admiration for military leadership that in the past has led to the rise of such men as Genghis Kahn who killed 10% of the world’s population. To Schwarz the pictures TR hung at Sagamore Hill of Alexander and Grant, whose equestrian statue protects the capital, only serve to illustrate the dark, dangerous side of Theodore Roosevelt.
What would Schwarz say about TR's state of mind if he had hung up any of these Picasso self-portraits at Sagamore Hill
