The Life of Theodore Roosevelt (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 Excerpt: ...at the end of the term for which he had just been elected, or as a declaration that never again throughout his life would he seek the Presidential office. When a public man makes a statement which on careful reading is open to one of two interpretations, his own explanation of the meaning which he intended is accepted by all persons except those so / twisted mentally that their normal instinct is to believe every public man a liar, or who have, as respects the particular public man making the statement, a strong antipathy and prejudice. Roosevelt's own explanation of his meaning and the reasons for the exact phraseology used is simple and direct. He tells us that he did not expressly say that he would not be a candidate in 1908 because if he had, his statement would have been instantly taken as a declaration that he was, or thought it likely that he might be, a candidate at some future time, when, as a matter of fact, he was not thinking, as he said to an inquirer at the time, about 1912, '16 or '20. What he was thinking about was the fact that the Presidency is a very great office; that the holder has power, if he chooses to use it, to do much to effect his own renomination and election, and that the custom which limits the holder to two terms is wise. But of course this reason does not apply to the man who, having held two terms, retires to private life. The very moment he is out of office the power which was his because he held the office is lost. The weather in the early morning of the 4th of March, 1905, was threatening, but by the time Roosevelt went out to the east front of the capitol to deliver his inaugural address, the sun shone brightly. The address was short, but in what he said, the reader may find the touchstone by which to interpret the fore...