As standard bearer of the Progressive Party in 1912, Theodore
Roosevelt played to enthusiastic crowds wherever he traveled. When
he was targeted by an assassin while campaigning for president, a
bullet passed through the speech in his breast pocket-pages that he
then held aloft while assuring the crowd "It takes more than that
to kill a Bull Moose . . . and you cannot escape listening to this
speech "
This first full edition of his campaign speeches takes readers
on the stump from New England to California, collecting thirty-five
texts largely overlooked since they were first delivered. They
offer a more nuanced picture of his third-party candidacy than has
ever existed, providing a companion to Lewis Gould's recent Four
Hats in the Ring and shedding new light on both the Progressive
movement and the dynamics of an extraordinary campaign that changed
American politics forever.
Culled from nation-wide newspaper archives, these speeches show
TR at his most radical. He echoes the missionary spirit of the
Progressives as they challenged partisan orthodoxy, advocating for
"the plain people, for their right to rule, and for their duty to
secure for themselves and for others social and industrial
justice." All over the country, he speaks out on government
regulation of business, social justice, the role of the president,
the place of reform in national politics, and of course his
differences with Woodrow Wilson.
Given the wide availability of Wilson's speeches, having
Roosevelt's available makes the study of the 1912 campaign more
meaningful-not only the debate between the New Nationalism and the
New Freedom but also differences on such issues as tariffs and
campaign contributions. These texts also reveal how Roosevelt
massaged Wilson's words to serve his own polemical purposes.
"We do not propose to do anything that will interfere with
prosperity," proclaimed Roosevelt, "but we want it passed around";
and these speeches show that, even in a new century, his words are
as relevant as ever.
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