Theodore Roosevelt strove to live an honest life and often spoke of the high ideals he pictured in the promise of America. The vision in the bulk of what he said on the oration stump, in the dozens of his books, or in the guideposts of his life, was a respect for honesty and truth.
Ideals were a hallmark in his life and a testament to his country, family and fellow human beings.
“We must all recognize the search for truth as an imperative duty! We ought to recognize that the search for truth should be carried on, not only fearlessly but also with reverence, with humility of spirit, and with full recognition of our own limitations both of the mind and the soul. We must stand equally against tyranny and against irreverence in all things of the spirit, with the firm conviction that we can all work together for a higher social and individual life if only, whatever form of creed we profess, we make the doing of duty the love of our fellow men two of the prime articles in our universal faith! We firmly believe that the American people feel hostility to no (one) who has honestly won success. We firmly believe that the American people ask only justice; justice for himself and justice for all others. They are against wickedness in rich and poor alike. They are against lawless and murderous violence exactly as they’re against the sordid materialism which seeks wealth by trickery and cheating, whether on a large or small scale. They wish to deal honestly and in good faith with all. They recognize that the prime national need is for honesty in public life and in private life, honesty in business and in politics, honesty in the broadest and deepest significance of the word.”
Dakota Datebook: Remembering Theodore Roosevelt is written and performed by Steve Stark. Funding provided by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.
