Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-01-07
Theodore Roosevelt

| A MERICA> has lost its most picturesque
Il fgure-Theodore Roosevelt is dead
Tho Colonel" the former President OF
the United States was Familiarity known alike
to friends and foes, lies quietly in death, his
strenuous days on earth forever ended. after
Il stormy, brilliant career, tho true depth of
whose impress on tho national life and char
acter may not be known until the heat and
passions of the present generation have
passed away and history shall reveal in his
proper perspective 1.-The Man on Horseback"
and with impartial hand weigh his deeds in
the scales of human progress.
With Il few exceptions, no President has oc-
cupied larger place in the life of the United
States than Roosevelt. No other President
whose tenure of Office has been unmarked by
war, has stood out boldly or swayed
the nation by the sheer force of his per-
sonality No other President has had so many
stanch friends and so many bitter, unrelent-
ing enemies. None other has been more en-
Enthusiastically praised at home and received
abroad, Wilson alone excepted, and none has
been the object OF more hostile criticism.
honest or vindictive. or has been more
strongly condemned. Yet friends and
mics have united in paying tribute 10 the
brilliant. even if eccentric, qualities Of his
mind to his tireless energy, which kept him
constantly in the public eye, and to the gen
uineness of his Americansm even when his
ton were such to draw down upon him
the disapproval OF his warmest supporters
Roosevelt was essentially man of ac-
ton. typical American. strong in his likes
and fierce in his animosites, "Kickcd into
the presidency by Boss Tom Platt at the
carly ago of forty-two. he entered the White
House following the death of Mckinney and
from that day to the very hour of his death
he was = leading figure in American public
life aud never absent from tho nations mind.
History VIII anayzc the fruit OF his seven
years as President. 1t still is Il subject Of
bitter controversy and of widely divergent
views. hut let it be said TO his crcdi; that
during his administration the soul of tho
United States was stirred rs il never had been
before in times Of peace. and there was laid
the solid foundation for the structure OF social
and economic progress whose towering
ne Ghi is now a beacon to all other nations.
Indeed, history may record that the great
wave then started. the reawa kcniug OF the
NAT ional mind and spirit, brought America to
the point which it had attained on entering
tho European war for the attainment OF an
deal lis friends attribute this reuwakcuing
TO Roosevelt, ever an earnest preacher and
an active docr his cncmc arc equally ardent
in denying him this praise. but the facts as
they stand will not be altered
Roosevelt's later years were unfortunate
from the standpoint Of personal popularity
never -cca5inC determination 10 regain politi-
cal control Ills ,loscrt:on of Taft. whom he
made President, his own candidacy four years
later on the Progressive ticket ana he con
senuent disruption and defeat OF the Repub-
lican party, AZ least temporarily ;tlicnated
from his banner thousands of his former fol-
lowers But even so. who shall say that he
may not have been used instrument in
the hands OF Divine Providence for through
civ
the nation III its time OF lirest peril? In
recent months the current again had SGT
Ill toward Roosevelt; the Republicans and
lroSrcsSivcs We're getting together under
the party standard he had deserted and the
Colonel promised 10 be tho one great factor
III the caHpa En OF 1920. Either he would
have seized the nomination or would have
dictated it. failing in which the history of
I9l2 perhaps would have been rcDeatcd
Spccu!a ION as TO that is rendered idle bv n
rover that Is greater than that of Prcs-
cents ana Kings, but it serves to give point
10 the commanding place the ex-President re-
tanned in the public heart ard mind Ills
death also removes possibly The only factor
except ;hat Of war. that might have forced
MT wilson to stand for third term
OF martial ardor. the Colonel sough, IA
lead division of soldiers to France. Baked
Ill 'hls ambition and perhaps emhittcrcd he
nevertheless gave four sons to tn; service
ana one OF them now lies II frances sacred
SOIL Ills criticisms of the war course OF the
administration were bitter and maDy of ,bam
unjust and untimely, yet even in his storm
"' 'hVcctf'c no one doubted or questioned his
loyalty or the depth of his Americanism liz
faults were peculiarly his own and 10 b;s tons
OF thousands of ardent admirers ,hcy fool,
on the scnhlance OF virtues Now thai no
has gone, his real virtues will stand on, in
bolder relief. and as the years pass the cold
critical eye OF the unprejudiced historian nm.
doubleday will give TO Theodore Roosovo,,
h'sh pace among those who nave lived and
S'riveh effectively for better America.
False Financial Theory