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I am a big fan of Teddy Roosevelt and truly believe he was one of our greatest presidents, if only he were alive today....
Well, with the 4th of July weighing on my mind, I also wanted to share some history of Ted Roosevelt Jr, Brigadier General US Army. He fought in both World War I and II and was the only General to land on the beaches at Normandy, and to top it all off, he landed with the very first wave of troops. He personally directed troops for hours and was given much credit for establishing the first US beachhead in France. General Omar Bradley was quoted as saying the bravest fighting he had seen during the war was Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach. Pretty amazing praise considering Ted Jr never fired a shot himself that day.
When he was informed the boats had come ashore a mile off course, he famously shouted “We’ll start the war from right here!”.
We could use more of that spirit.
2 comments:
I've always had mixed feelings about Teddy Roosevelt as a president. He definitely had leadership qualities in spades, and his foreign policy helped put America on the road to being a world power. "Speak softly and carry a big stick". Words to live by for individual and nation alike. However, his support of the amendment that led to the income tax as well as supporting what eventually became social security put us on the slippery slope we are now on as a nation. But, hey, no one is perfect. I would, however, agree that he is ten times the president than some of our recent holders of the office.
I agree to the general idea that he wasn't perfect. His price control schemes were legendarily bad for everyone involved and his support for more government was definitely anti-Jeffersonian, but I believe his intentions were good. He envisioned the federal income tax as something that would only ever be used against the rich, but obviously it came to be applied to everyone. Plus, these days if private citizens started a militia and invaded Cuba they wouldn't really receive the warmth in the press he did. Plus, his use of water torture against rebels in the Philippines would probably get him a prison sentence these days. However I do believe he was a leader, something our government currently lacks.
He may have made some poor decisions, but he would make the tough ones and to hell with anyone who tried to get him to compromise. He fell victim to those around him though, as he was not detail oriented and left the day to day to underlings, some of whom abused this power.
All in all, though, I don't see anyone running for President in 2012, who, when shot in the chest giving a speech, would take a few minutes break to clean the wound and then re-take the stage to finish their speech. The days of the rough riders are over, for good or for bad.
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