The Strenuous Life

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THE STRENUOUS LIFE

By the dawn of the twentieth century the United States was coming of age. Still a young nation bustling with ceaseless energy and brimming with seemingly unlimited resources, the emerging American Republic had taken its rightful place on the global stage as both an economic giant and a military power to be reckoned with. A manufacturing and mechanical marvel poised to tower over the modern world like a colossus, the United States had grown at a breathtaking pace into the mighty engine of industry and a cradle of inventive genius that had become the envy of the entire Western world. Restless, ambitious, daring, even imperious, the United States waited only for the arrival of a leader who could summon forth the best in its people. It was almost as if the nation—and history—beckoned such a prophet who could best articulate the lofty ideals of a new nationalism, a modern-day oracle and warrior of Olympian reach who could inspire millions of Americans to embrace the muscular patriotism that he or she preached and practiced, a leader who could persuade the people that it was their Manifest Destiny to rule a global empire and extend a Pax Americana from the Caribbean Basin to the distant Pacific Rim.

Just such a titan stood at the threshold of a new century, an American Century. His name was Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919). At the age of forty his own destiny seemed to mirror that of his growing nation. Youthful, pragmatic, physically strong, compassionate though brash, and at times stern and moralistic, Roosevelt was unpredictable and on occasion even reckless. His character had been tempered by adversity, forged by the hardships of the frontier experience, and chiseled, too, by the hard realities of the Industrial Revolution and the festering corruption of the "spoils politics" that it spawned. Intensely loyal to his friends and partners, he was equally steadfast, even tenacious in the face of his enemies. But perhaps above all else Roosevelt personified the unrelenting spirit of national progress—a spirit born of optimism and bound up in a people's collective hopes for a brighter and more glorious tomorrow.

Roosevelt was a man so right for his times. Hailed widely in 1898 for gallantly leading his Rough Riders on their storied charge up San Juan Hill and into history, Colonel Roosevelt had already entered the pantheon of American heroes. Had he done nothing more than return home to New York and to the deafening cheers of a grateful nation, his place as a human meteor in the annals of America would surely have been secure.

Yet the word "secure" was not even in the vocabulary of the adventuresome and restive Theodore Roosevelt. In the autumn of 1898 he campaigned successfully for the office of governor of New York (or perhaps it should be said that fellow New Yorkers and Republican Party bosses in Albany campaigned for him). After all, he was the most famous man in America, and he knew it. On 10 April 1899 Governor Roosevelt delivered an address before the Hamilton Club in Chicago. In a manner characteristic of a crusading evangelist, he pronounced a new national gospel, which he termed the "doctrine of the strenuous life" ("The Strenuous Life," pp. 319–320). For both the individual in society and the nation as a whole, he proclaimed, the "highest form of success" comes not to those who desire a life of ease and comfort but to those bold and hardy souls who never "shrink from danger, from hardships, and from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph" ("The Strenuous Life," pp. 319–320). He extolled the virtues of work and self-help, though he also uplifted the values of community and civic duty. He defended the necessity of "righteous war" in the cause of liberty. He called his countrymen and countrywomen to awaken from their national slumber and collective contentment and to seek "the higher life of toil and risk" ("The Strenuous Life," pp. 319–320). Only then might individual citizens reach their full potential, and more importantly, might their nation achieve the promised greatness that awaited America.

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much, nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat," Roosevelt affirmed ("The Strenuous Life," pp. 322–325). With an almost religious conviction, he called upon his fellow Americans to cast off the long-held illusion of isolation. "We cannot sit huddled within our own borders," he reasoned, "and avow ourselves merely an assemblage of well-to-do hucksters who care nothing for what happens beyond" ("The Strenuous Life," pp. 322–325). Roosevelt implored his listeners to disavow the temptations of hedonism and the tendencies of self-indulgence and to redirect their collective energies away from materialism and the pursuit of personal gain and toward a shared commitment to the common good.

In so doing, Roosevelt pronounced the faith of other fellow progressives that together, and only together, could Americans build a better future and make a better world. But first, he insisted, a mightier navy and a stronger and reorganized army must be elevated as the highest of national priorities. Otherwise, he prophesied, the United States would surely be forever relegated to the status of a weakling among nations. The American Republic would thus be consigned to the dustheap of human history, unable to impose its will and, more importantly, unable to fulfill its destiny by blessing the world with liberty and prosperity (no matter whether or not others chose to be "blessed" with "superior" American institutions and ideals).

To Roosevelt the issue was simple—perhaps too simple. And the stakes could not be greater, he warned. Like it or not, the American people were destined to play a central role in the greatest movement of modern history, that of the ongoing struggle between civilization and what he termed "savagery." As for the outcome of this clash, Roosevelt maintained, it would not be in doubt, not if the American people accepted a legitimate leadership position in the family of nations.

"Let us shrink from no strife, moral or physical," he demanded, "provided we are certain that the . . . [cause] is justified, for it is only through strife, through hard and dangerous endeavor, that we shall ultimately win the goal of national greatness" ("The Strenuous Life," pp. 331–333). Then he punctuated his comments with the pronouncement that "cowardly peace may be worse than any war" ("The Strenuous Life," pp. 331–333).

Just as Roosevelt called upon his countrymen and countrywomen to leave behind a life of leisure and the lethargy of traditional isolationism, he also enjoined his generation to reject the time-honored principles of laissez-faire, the tired doctrine that held that government should refrain from any interference in the "natural" processes of the free market economy. Only implied, therefore, was Governor Roosevelt's rejection of Social Darwinism and thus the gospel of greed and indifference that explained the existence of both poverty and prosperity in terms of "survival of the fittest." The future of the United States, and the hope for a better world, thus rested not upon the quiet dogmas of the past but upon a bold new nationalism, an ideal built upon the labors of a proud people and their unwavering faith in something far greater than themselves. And this new spirit of progress, Roosevelt insisted, must ensure that all Americans share in the nation's advancing wealth.

Roosevelt's rousing and inspirational address would soon be shared with a much larger audience. Before 1899 came to a close the Century Company published a collection of Governor Roosevelt's speeches under the title The Strenuous Life (1900). The following year a second printing would be turned out on the eve of President William McKinley's selection of the renowned Rough Rider as his vice presidential running mate. Early in 1901 yet another reprint was rushed off the presses when Roosevelt assumed the second highest office in the land. More reprints were soon to come, including translations into Italian, German, French, and Japanese. Perhaps the series of addresses would have gone largely unnoticed had it not been for a single event that changed the course of American history. On 6 September 1901 an assassin mortally wounded President McKinley while he stood greeting visitors at the World Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Eight days later the forty-two-year-old Roosevelt was sworn in as the twenty-sixth president of the United States.

Nothing would be the same. During the next seven and a half years President Roosevelt guided his country away from the old-school dogmatism of laissezfaire. He steered his people from traditional isolationism and toward a new acceptance of global responsibility and leadership. His "Big Stick" diplomacy portended the rise of the United States as a world power, and his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which projected the American Republic as the policeman of the Western Hemisphere, heralded the coming of a new day for U.S.–Latin American relations. Of course, Roosevelt's acquisition of a ten-mile-wide canal zone slicing through the narrow isthmus of Panama likewise trumpeted the dawn of American imperialism.

The institution of the modern American presidency also began to emerge with the appearance of the charismatic and vigorous young leader. From his loose constructionist view of the Constitution to an unprecedented activist role in the legislative process, to his passion for reform, to his obsession with physical fitness, to his hands-on approach to foreign policy, and to his public accessibility (he was the first president to hold press conferences), Roosevelt brought both a different style and a different substance to the White House. He was the first chief executive to press for conservation initiatives to protect the environment, the first to promote much-needed consumer protection measures, the first to enforce existing antitrust laws. His warlike face, walrus-like mustache, squinting eyes, and toothy grin all became national trademarks; one contemporary described the feisty and demonstrative Roosevelt as looking like "a wild bull about to charge" (Morris, p. 420).

In his essay "The Strenuous Life," Roosevelt had challenged his fellow Americans to "dare mighty things" (p. 475). He had also encouraged them to rediscover and redefine their sense of national purpose and to accept the Platonic precept that the individual is the foundation of any great republic. And he argued convincingly that every individual can make a difference and that each citizen should strive tirelessly to that end. Indeed, as president of the United States, Roosevelt translated those ideals into actions. In so doing, he transformed not only the presidency but also the nation, which he believed was destined for greatness.

See alsoPolitical Parties; Reform