The Everything Theodore Roosevelt Book (35 page)

On May 26, 1910, TR gave a speech at the Cambridge Union. Just prior to it,
Punch
magazine printed a cartoon depicting the lions guarding the Nelson Monument at Trafalgar Square in London. The statue, surrounded by policemen, featured a sign that read, “These lions are not to be shot,” an obvious reference to the large number of animals TR had killed in Africa in the interest of science.

One speech in particular caught people’s attention: his April 23, 1910, presentation at the Sorbonne in Paris.

In his “Citizenship in a Republic” talk, TR lauded people of action, not those who sit by idly and let others do the work:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat
.

That passage caught the world’s attention, and gave the listeners an insight into TR’s philosophy of life.

Side Trip to France

While he was in France, TR received an invitation to review French troops and maneuvers at the Château de Vincennes, a medieval castle and dungeon used for military schools. He got to watch the maneuvers and a practice battle staged for him. The party included Robert Bacon, the American ambassador to France, Jules Jusserand, the French ambassador to the United States, and General Jean B. Dalstein, the military governor of Paris.

There was a comical side to the day at the military school. TR was dressed formally in striped trousers. The French had to adjust the horse’s stirrups and place leggings over TR’s trousers to accommodate his clothing. Nevertheless, he rode with dignity as he passed on horseback through the more appropriately dressed French cavalry units. It was quite a day for TR.

Stirring Up Controversy

A few weeks after his “Citizenship in a Republic” speech, TR spoke at the Guildhall in London. He elaborated a bit on his Sorbonne remarks, with a few words that reflected his directness: “I wish to say a few words because they are true, without regard to whether or not they are pleasant.”

He generated a bit of a controversy in his speech when he spoke about Britain’s role in Egypt.

The Corporation of the City of London, the oldest corporation in the world, presented TR with the “Freedom of the City” on May 31, 1910. He used the occasion to present a speech on “British Rule in Africa,” a subject about which he had learned a lot in his recent safari.

TR was brutally direct in his choice of words. He told his audience that someone had to rule Egypt to restore order out of chaos, but they had better do it right. He advised that, “If you stay in Egypt it is your first duty to keep order, and above all things also to punish murder and to bring to justice all who directly or indirectly invite others to commit murder or condone the crime when it is committed.”

The
New York Times
published the full-text transcript of the speech TR gave at the Guildhall on June 5, 1910. That is believed to be the first time the
Times
reproduced a speech of any kind word for word. It also carried a lengthy analysis about the speech in its June 4, 1910, issue.

Some detractors construed his meaning as an invitation to apply violence and injustice against the “fanatical” Egyptians. They also charged that he referenced the Egyptians’ attempts at self-government as “farcical.” “Fanatical” and “farcical” were not words he used. Regardless of his exact words, he created a worldwide firestorm.

TR’s comments drew derision and criticism from people on all sides of the political spectrum, especially in London, where liberals accused him of basing his comments on a single safari to Africa rather than on any real knowledge of Egypt or Britain’s role in ruling it. As TR said, truth trumped pleasantness. Per usual, truth lay in the eyes of the beholder, and the controversy he created was something to behold.

Not everything he said at Guildhall was controversial. He also said, “The people at home, whether in Europe or America, who live softly, often fail fully to realize what is being done for them by the men who are actually engaged in the pioneer work of civilization abroad.” That had been true in his forays into Cuba and the Philippines. He saw it as true when he was updating the British on the status of their rule in Egypt.

Prescreening

Contrary to popular belief, TR did not make his comments out of the blue. He had submitted his speech to high-ranking British government officers prior to delivering it. They had approved his remarks. He was on solid ground in what he said. Critics had never daunted him before. They did not this time, either.

Historian William Roscoe Thayer theorized in his 1919 book,
Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography
, that the British government wanted someone to warn people that it could not let the Egyptians’ problems remain unaddressed. They were happy that TR was willing to be their spokesperson, since he was respected worldwide and did not have a personal interest in the issue.

TR was stirring up the people of France and England. He also stirred up some of the people in Italy—specifically Pope Pius X.

Putting Off the Pope

As TR’s Guildhall speech demonstrated, his post-safari trip to Europe was not without controversy. An incident regarding a proposed visit to see Pope Pius X in Rome drew a lot of negative publicity for him. Some people labeled him anti-Catholic. The argument showed that TR could generate controversy wherever he went, even when he was just trying to enjoy himself.

TR had asked the U.S. ambassador to Italy, John G. A. Leishman Sr. to arrange an audience with the pope—if it was mutually convenient. The pope agreed to an April 5 meeting. TR wrote in a March 25 cable that if the pope did not receive him, “I shall not for a moment question the propriety of his action.”

A few months prior to TR’s proposed audience, his former vice president, Charles Fairbanks, had refused to promise papal representatives that he would not speak to a meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Rome on his visit there. Consequently, the pope’s representatives refused to grant Fairbanks an audience with the pope. That incident fueled the fire when TR arrived.

The negotiations dragged on—but never directly between the pope and TR. Eventually, the meeting fell through. Catholics believed that TR had snubbed the pope. The issue took on a larger-than-it-had-to-be life.

The
New York Times
declared flat out in an April 4, 1910, headline that “Roosevelt refuses to visit Pope.” In another article, Archbishop William H. O’Connell of Boston proclaimed in the
New York Times
that TR’s failure to visit the pope was “insulting and a violation of Mr. Roosevelt’s principle of a ‘Square Deal.’“ Critics weighed in on both sides of the issue, which became an international incident.

Getting TR’s Side

TR explained his side in the
Outlook
, for which he became an editor. He wrote:

Bitter comment and criticism, acrimonious attack and defense, are not only profitless but harmful, and to seize upon such an incident as this as an occasion for controversy would be wholly indefensible and should be frowned upon by Catholics and Protestants alike
.

Gradually, the issue went away—and so did TR. He left Italy and returned to the friendlier confines of other European countries.

Back Home

After some months in Europe, TR returned to the United States. He arrived in New York City on June 18, 1910, aboard the ocean liner
Kaiserin Auguste Victoria
. The city staged an elaborate homecoming that attracted 1 million people. TR transferred to two revenue cutters and sailed up the Hudson River, followed by a flotilla of nearly 100 vessels of all shapes and sizes. The mayor of New York City, William J. Gaynor, and TR both gave the obligatory speeches followed by a parade up Broadway and Fifth Avenue.

The “Welcome Home” parade for TR included nearly 2,000 veterans of the Spanish-American War. Among them were his Rough Riders, First United States Volunteer Cavalry, who preceded his open carriage. The war had been over for twelve years, but the troops’ adulation for TR was still evident. And the bands played on.

Once the furor over his return abated, TR took it easy. He completed and published
African Game Trails
and gave speeches. He could not forget, though, the fact that his successor as president of the United States, William Howard Taft, was not living up to his expectations. It was only a matter of time before he addressed his dissatisfaction.

The “New Nationalism”

An August 31, 1910, address on “New Nationalism” at Osawatomie, Kansas, signaled that he was getting restless. TR continued to speak out for everyone as part of the “New Nationalism”—and as a prelude to his return to politics.