John Denson on Teddy Roosevelt

[Jim] Powell [author of Bully Boy: The Truth About Theodore Roosevelt's Legacy] states that "Theodore Roosevelt believed war was glorious, even healthy for a nation. He thought that reasons for participating in war should not be limited to national defense. He insisted that the United States should intervene in affairs of other nations and enter into other people’s wars to do good." Powell further states that T.R. "Claimed that war would make better men and a better world. He longed for the excitement of war as he showed clearly in the Spanish-American War, when he resigned from his position as assistant secretary of navy to enter the fighting and secure a measure of glory." Powell reveals the fact that T.R. actively lobbied to obtain the Congressional Medal of Honor, but was denied this because he only served for two weeks and his "exploits were limited to a single day. More than a century later Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by President Bill Clinton." Powell goes further by quoting T.R. "No triumph of peace is quite so great as the supreme triumphs of war."

Powell’s book points out the aggressive measures of T.R. in gaining Federal control of the economy in order to eliminate the free market. Powell states, "Theodore Roosevelt claimed that politicians and bureaucrats could achieve fairness by interfering with the economy." He "never recognized the fatal flaw of giving a few people enormous power over the entire economy." Powell points out that it was T.R. who introduced his slogan, "The New Nationalism" by which he meant, "Executive power as the steward of the public welfare." T.R. believed that it was within the president’s power "not only his right but his duty to do anything that the needs of the nation demanded unless such action was forbidden by the constitution or by the laws."

Powell quotes T.R. as stating, "I am a Hamiltonian in my governmental views, especially with reference to the need of the exercise of broad powers by the national government." I believe that if you connect the dots you will see a straight line from Hamilton to Henry Clay to Lincoln to T. R. to Wilson and finally to FDR. All of these politicians believed that the federal government should be in control of the economy but certain businesses should be favored by a partnership with the government through subsidies and other benefits.

~ John V. Denson, "American Mussolini," LewRockwell.com, October 25, 2007