Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-01-14
ROOSEvELT'S CAPACITY FOR WORK

: 1t is probable that the~purely personal side of the
Of Theodore Roosevelt will receive greater at
I;nllention at the hands of the historian and the biographer
han has that of any other American with the exception
! IF Lincoln, and. possibly, Of Washington. This fact has
7 40 bearing on the mans greatness of character, but is
tIue to his possession in a marked degree of those traits
(which make him an interesting and unique individuality
Ii One of the most striking of Roosevelt's Characters
lies was his marvellous capacity for work. Remember
that from his attainment Of his majority Roosevelt was
almost continually occupying some important public Of
kice until he stepped out of the presidency. Remember
hat whatever position he occupied, he never loafed on
knae job. Into the work of every Office which he held he
atshTcw himself with all his great energy. and it is diff
iic,ult to see how the man accomplished what he did in
,Sesany of the Offices which he held without devoting all his
waking hours to that particular work.
Now consider the enormous amount of work Of a
nature entirely unrelated to his official duties that was
p reformed during those years while he was performing
phcial work ample in quantity to keep many an able
snan busy all Of his time, without any side issues. Dur
..sng those busy years he wrote and published volume after
=olume on the history Of the western section of the United
Estates, a history of Cromwell, a history Of the war of
1912, many other books and pamphlets almost without
Yhumber on such diverse subjects as the hunting Of big
/ game, Irish literature, exploration in South America,
focial life in America, Spanish literature, and a multi
Jude of other things.
Leaving for the critical scholar the work OF estfmat-
M ~ S0SAA0
Wig the literary and other excellence of Roosevelt's liter
ay work, one must be impressed by it's volume, it's bulk.
TO write such a history of Cromwell, for instance, as
Roosevelt wrote, one must do more than sit down and
Z iictate rapidly to a stenographer. He must inform him.
lIbelf. He must gather his facts from widely separated
sources. He must analyze and digest these facts and as
/ semble them in order. All of this was done in the leisure
time Of a man who was already performing so much
X work that had he been any other man he could have had
no leisure. This is but one illustration of an entire inst,
One writer some years ago ascribed Roosevelts re-
markable rapidity in working to his ability to CRASH all
the essential features of a case at a glance, whereas most
linen would require slow and painstaking investigation,
lofdetail by detail. There are many instances on record
I sePf ability usually perfected by long practice. to erasn .
of details at a glance, as, for instance 70 he
sr77able. after walking rapidly past crowded store windowa
trto enumerate all the articles there on display. A. or.
s1pert chess player, playing a dozen or a score az simu,-
Xtaneous games. looks once at a position, and sees clear
through to its ultimate result. and is able to make the
answering move on the instant. Roosevelt had this ah;,.
~ in large measure. Also, a fact Of which one doe. mt
usually think in connection with Roosevelt. he had IN.