Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1919-01-10

II was to be done in the hurly.burIy
for / don't like cloister life" Honestl,
was the watchword OF this admins
tration. and the two years Of his occu
pancy became memorable through tn,
reforms he inaugurated, attracting tn,
nations attention while holding a DO
sition which was obscure In compari
son with the events to come. Illlci
liquor traffic, gambling, vice in gen
eral-of these evils he purged the cit,
in the face Of corrupt political oppo
sition, and the reputation he establish
ed as a reformsr won him the per
sonal selection by President McKinle,
as assistant secretary OF the navy, In
1897. A year later the Spanish Amer
lean war broke out.
The Roosevelt temperament did moi
allow the man to retain deputy cab
met position with war offering some
thing more exciting, Leonard Wood
now a major-general In France; wa,
then President McKinleys physician
and one of Roosevelt's staunches,
friends.
The famous Rough Riders were or
ganized by Wood and Roosevelt
band Of fighting men the mention OF
whose name today suggests immedi
ately the word Roosevelt They
came out of the west-plainsmen
miners, rough and ready fighters who
were natural marksmen and Wood be
came their colonel and Teddy" as he
had become Familiarity called by the
public, their Northumberland. In
company with the regulars Of the
army they took transports to Cuba,
landed at Santiago and were soon en-
gagged in the thick Of battle. Among
tho promotions which this hardy reg
iment's gallantry brought about were
those Of Wood to brigadier-general
and Roosevelt to colonel-and this
title Theodore Roosevelt cherished
until the end. Some Of the Rough
Riders formed the military escort
when he was elected President few
years later.
When Cuba had been liberated,
Roosevelt returned to New York. A
gubernatorial campaign was in swing
with the Republican party in need Of
q capable candidate. Roosevelt was
nominated. Van Wyck, his Democrat
lie opponent, was defeated. The reforms
Roosevelt had favored as assembly
man he now had the opportunity to
consummate, together with others of
more importance. and 1t was during
this administration that he Is said to
have earned the hostility Of corpora.
tions. When the Republican national
convention was held in Philadelphia
in 1900 his party in New York State
demanded and obtained his nomina-
ton for Vice President on the ticket
with William Mckinley. In November
OF that year this ticket was elected.
The policies Of Mckinley Roosevelt
endeavored to carry out after he sue
ceeded the former upon the Presi'
dents tragic death at the hands OF an
assassin. Roosevelt retained his pre-
decessor's cabinet as his own and he
kept in office the ambassadors and
ministers whom Mckinley had ap-
pointed. As much as two years before
the presidential campaign OF 1904 Re-
publican organizations in various
States began endorsing him as their
next candidate.
It was thus that "the man Of des
tiny" idea became associated with
his life. Ostensibly. Roosevelt, leav-
ing the governorship Of New York to
become Vice President, was moving
forward from state politics into ma
tional politics, SO his political oppo-
nents professed publicly to believe;
but II was their secret desire to
'shelve" the man and eliminate him
from prominence in their own commu'
nifty, 1t was said, that prompted these
political foes to obtain for him the
vice presidential nomination. which he
did not desire.
At the height OF his public and po-
litical career, during the four years OF
the term for which he had been elect
ed, Roosevelt accomplished achieve
ments which historians will rank high
In the International and industrial
process Of the country. They includ
I'd his influential negotiations which,
conducted at Portsmouth. N. H., ef-
'ected peace between Russia and ia
pan; maintenance Of the Monroe doc
.rine at q period when European pow
ers were interested in the Affairs OF
the recognition Of Panama
.s q republic and his treaty with
Panama by which the inter-ocean ca
,al through that country was put I'M
Ter way; and the settlement, through
lis moral influence in the face OF a
In which there was no ade-
rute federal legislation, OF the Penn
Iylvania coal mine strike For his
,art in terminating the Russo-Japan-
,se conflict he was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1906. Four years later,
nee more private citizen, he was
pecial ambassador for the United
states at the funeral of King Edward
III of England.
A rift in the friendship between
Roosevelt and his successor as Presi-
lent, William Howard Taft, led to the
ormer's announcement OF his opposi-
lon to Mr.. Tafts' denomination. The
x.President's influence had been large
n placing Mr.. Taft In the White
louise Now his influence was equally
trong In preventing Mr.. Taft from
emaining there. Men who had clash
d with the Taft policies quickly raj
led to Roosevelt's support. Roose.
cit assembled what he termed as con-
tructive ideas as opposed to the con-
ervative ones of the so-called Re-
ublican ''Old Guard" characterized
hem with the description of ''Pro.