I’m currently reading volume one of Edmund Morris’ three volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt. And yes, likely like the typical reader of this newsletter, I too have been led to dislike the man. He expanded the power of the presidency as well as the central government.
However, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for TR the man. He was clearly one of kind. Eccentric yes, but certainly an elite of his day. I’d rather disagree with a politician who could be counted among the elite as opposed to… well, Kamala Harris. Also, complete disagreement with TR on philosophy and policy is not as strong within me as it once was.
*Ducks*
Anyways, the book. Volume one covers TR’s birth to his ascendency to the presidency after William Mckinely’s assassination. In 1898, before becoming Mckinely’s vice-presidential running mate, chosen while in his second year as New York’s governor, the famous charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War occurred. Many accounts of this charge, which will do better justice to it than a brief description from me, exist, so I encourage you to look for these elsewhere. Besides, it’s not the famous charge that stood out to me most while reading this chapter.
While still aboard ship and before even reaching the Cuban shores, Roosevelt later described in his diary what was going on inside his head during these calm before the storm moments: “the nearing future held… many chances of death, of honor and renown,” and that if he failed, he would “share the fate of all who fail,” and if successful, “score the first great triumph of a mighty world-movement.”
If able to set aside personal objections regarding this expression of imperialist sentiment, one can find appreciation in the strength of resolve and will shown in this moment. The man was a man of unrivaled courage, and I won’t apologize for respecting him for this.
In addition to writing about this premonition, TR also assumed that every Rough Rider also felt what he felt. But he soon discovered that this was not the case, writing that only one had the “soul and imagination” to articulate similar emotions.
What were the others thinking and feeling then? To be sure, these questions matter on a human and personal scale. However, there’s also a reason we don’t know. While much of mainstream history has indeed been manipulated, what’s not a lie is that most men down through history, those who have lived good lives on the whole, exist as men to be led in situations of great circumstance, while very few exist as men to lead and exert will.
Consider your own frustrations, perhaps scaling down a bit in gravity of circumstance. The cause of said frustrations, mainly with regard to those who may not be “getting it,” may be because your “gets it” exists within a domain they’re not privy to.