A Bully of a Luncheon!

I recently had lunch with President Theodore Roosevelt.  He sat down at my luncheon table, and we all stood up, him being the President and all.  He waved us back down into our chairs, looked at his plate of food and said with a booming voice, “By jove, I’ve been very much looking forward to these green beans!”

President Roosevelt, or as he prefers his friends to call him, T.R., spoke to a full house in the Fellowship Hall of Flossmoor Community Church last month, having been invited by the Women’s and Men’s Association to speak to the gathering.  After lunch, he spoke with great enthusiasm about his upbringing, his family, his politics and his adventures; “enthusiasm” being the key, for everything that T.R. says ends with an exclamation point, because he is, as he describes himself, “A wonderful physical specimen of a man!”

The President spoke for nigh on an hour and a half, and regaled us with stories of bravery, adventure and sorrow.  He told us of an astonishing coincidence in which a photograph exists of him, at seven years old, his brother and their cousin looking out the window of their brownstone home in New York, just as Abraham Lincoln’s funeral procession is walking by, thus resulting in a photograph of the 16th and 26th Presidents together.  Remarkable!

The President shared the story of a time recently, when he spoke to a collection of Masons in Aurora, and someone asked him with which modern President he would most align himself today.  He told them William Jefferson Clinton.  He recalls thinking he should have brought some heart defibrillators along, as the gathering was quite astonished, but he went on to explain it in this way: Bill Clinton, he feels, was a fellow centrist, someone who tried to work with both parties in order to move forward.  Besides, he said, Bill Clinton was the President who finally awarded him the United States Medal of Honor, the award that his own party refused to grant him after his victories in the Spanish-American War, fearing his popularity was already too great. 

There were a great many stories he told of his time in office, but a typical “Teddy” story involved his 1905 offer to mediate between Russia and Japan during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War.  “I brought the representatives from each country to the White House, but they avoided each other,” he said.  “Thinking it would be more relaxing, I brought them to my home, but they still avoided each other.  Finally, I brought them to my yacht.  They still avoided each other, but the available room on the yacht was considerably smaller.  I then visited the ship’s captain, and I told him ‘I am your President and this boat will not dock on land until an agreement has been reached.’”  The President then took a dingy to land, ditching the representatives in the ocean to reconcile their differences.  Supplies were sent to the ship, and nine days later, the boat docked, and indeed the two gentleman had begrudgingly reached an agreement.  The brokering of the Treaty at Portsmouth won the President the Nobel Peace prize.

After Roosevelt’s second presidential term was up, he went on safari.  He told us he killed or otherwise collected over 1100 insects and animals and returned home with them, donating them to museums and naturalists throughout the nation.  Although he enjoyed his wilderness adventures, he said he was itching to get back into politics and he was soon on the campaign trail again, this time leading the Progressive Party.  In March of 1912, he gave an address in New York where he said, “I am not leading this fight as a matter of aesthetic pleasure. I am leading because somebody must lead, or else the fight would not be made at all.”

Right before delivering a speech in Milwaukee in October of that same year, he was shot by a gentleman who was against a President serving more than two terms.  The bullet passed through Roosevelt’s breast pocket, which contained the rather thick manuscript of his speech, plus his glasses case and spectacles, before lodging into his chest.  He still delivered his speech, speaking for ninety minutes.  Some excerpts from that speech will give you a sense of the man’s commitment and pure stubbornness:

“I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose…The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best…Don't you pity me. I am all right. I am all right and you cannot escape listening to the speech either…I know these doctors, when they get hold of me, will never let me go back, and there are just a few more things that I want to say to you...”

I repeat: he spoke for 90 minutes after being shot in the chest.

After speaking nearly as long at the Flossmoor luncheon, the President opened up the floor for questions, and the audience eagerly asked one after the other.  Afterwards, I was able to privately ask the President if he was aware of our 2nd congressional district race coming up.  Yes, he said, he pays attention.  What, I asked, makes a good leader?  He didn’t hesitate with his answer for a moment.

“What makes a good leader is sacrificing your self interest for the benefit of those who cannot stand for themselves, you put the others ahead of you.  The other thing is that you do, instead of letting other people do.  You show by example.” 

It seemed to me that Theodore Roosevelt embodies what I think is missing from so many of our politicians these days, the integrity, the sense of serving others, the desire to lead by example.  I briefly thought of asking him if he would consider entering the race himself, but I caught myself when I remembered that he has been dead since 1919.  Do not make me remind you this is not necessarily a mark against someone running in this district, but I felt it would be a burden to ask him. 

President Roosevelt gave a us a very good afternoon, and touched on a great many things, both good and bad, which are still relevant today.  In total, it was a fine afternoon.  I shall not soon forget my lunch with the President.

Follow this link to hear Theodore Roosevelt speak on "The Right of People to Rule," an address originally delivered at Carnegie Hall, New York City, on March 20, 1912

The Man Behind Theodore Roosevelt

Terry Lynch brings life to historical figures.   He is a gifted storyteller and historian, and one is immediately taken in by his ability to inhabit a character completely.  What is most remarkable about this kind of work is an actor’s ability to engage at an eye-level discourse with an audience, to answer questions ranging from historical facts to emotional and motivational circumstances.  Terry excels at answering in a seamless and authentic way.  Terry was Theodore Roosevelt, and he had the audience engaged from the get-go: they were honestly saddened to hear of his wife’s death, they were genuinely excited to hear of his adventures in the Dakotas.  Terry knows that the key to learning is to engage people in exactly this manner.

HFK Presents is the production company Terry runs with his educator wife, Laura.  Together, they provide educational and entertaining programs that give children and adults alike a window into the minds that shaped our country.  They use libraries, school assemblies, community groups and television to share what history can teach us.  They also have made several YouTube videos of HFK Presents 5 Minutes of History.  Here is the episode where President Theodore Roosevelt explains how he received the Nobel Prize for Peace.

In addition to their entertainment programs, they also offer workshops on leadership and motivation.  Through humor and storytelling, audience members learn effective leadership strategies, develop important everyday decision making skills, and discover that even great leaders make mistakes.  To that end, they have co-written a book, Mistakes Happen: An Historical Guide to Overcoming Adversity.

You can next see Terry on March 13th at the Homewood Historical Society, where he will present an entertaining and educational historical portrayal of inventor, statesman, and founding father Benjamin Franklin.  That program will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Homewood Public Library, 17917 Dixie Highway, and will be free to the public.

12 Things You May Not Know About Teddy Roosevelt

During his nearly two terms in office, President Roosevelt was able to do some remarkable things.  Here is a partial list of accomplishments:

1. Founded the National Park Service to preserve the wilderness when he found whole forests decimated to supply industry with raw materials.  “Did they think we had an unlimited supply?  Fools!”
2. Restocked Yellowstone with one hundred Bison from New York.  To this day, all bison in the park can trace their lineage back to those original beasts.
3. Busted 47 trusts from oil to rail, coal to steel, losing millions himself, in the process.  “But it was for the good of the people,” he told us.  “I was the voice of the people and I had to level the playing field for them.”
4. Set up departments to regulate food and drug quality, eventually leading to the USDA and FDA.
5. Called for laws establishing a minimum wage and limited work hours.
6. First President to be seen riding in an automobile in public
7. First President to have a telephone in the White House
8. First President to board a submarine
9. First President to fly in an airplane.
10. Formed the NCAA in 1906, to keep college athletes safe after 12 students died playing football that year.
11. Hosted African-American educator Booker T. Washington for dinner at The White House, the first such invitation from any President.
12. Remarked that the coffee he was drinking at the Maxwell House Hotel was, “good to the last drop.”