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.There would be no more sharing of the livingquarters with strangers traipsing through the rooms onpublic business.Here, in their private quarters, Edith cre-ated a sunny corner bedroom for the president and herselfwith light, air, and a sense of serenity.It became a Roose-velt favorite because Edith installed some furniture thathad been used by the Lincolns.Roosevelt said that he liked to imagine the Emancipator shambling about.hisface deeply furrowed and racked in thought. 174 0465010240-Donald.qxd:Layout 1 8/25/08 5:36 PM Page 175chapter 7A Mandate at LastOne must always keep in mind what Abraham Lincolnpointed out that all of the people can be fooled for part ofthe time.It may be that this election will come in that partof the time; but it is sure as anything in history can be thatthe Democrats.and their mugwump and capitalistic al-lies, are playing a bunco game which ought not to take inany but a low order of intelligence.I am in my own way, a radical democrat myself; that is Iam a thorough believer in the genuine democracy of Abra-ham Lincoln, the democracy of the plain people.The whole Brownsville business had been carried on un-der my personal supervision; and.if there was the slight-est doubt on the subject I was exceedingly anxious thateverybody concerned should know that I not only acceptedbut claimed the entire responsibility for the affair.In the Brownsville case I.visited upon Negro soldierswho had been guilty of misconduct the same punishmentthat I would have inflicted had the offenders been white.175 0465010240-Donald.qxd:Layout 1 8/25/08 5:36 PM Page 176lion in the white houseFrom the information I have, there are probably five orsix men who, because of being on pass or being in barracksout of the way, can be legitimately reinstated.I have furnished a safety-valve for the popular unrest andindignation.I am deeply convinced that unless we want tosee very violent convulsions in this country, and the certaintyof ultimate adoption of State ownership and of very drasticmeasures against corporations, there must be a steady perse-verance in the policy of control over corporations by the Gov-ernment, which I have advocated.oosevelt wanted to be president in hisRown right. Of course, I should like to bePresident, and I feel I could do the work well, he wroteto his friend William Howard Taft in July 1901.ToCabot, a month later, he reported some good news fromthe West and Southwest after a two-week trip.There aresome genuine popular movements.in his behalf. Themen who supported Roosevelt were not nobodies butvarious officeholders.He wrote to the journalist WilliamAllen White on August 27 that, if he were nominated, itwould be at the initiative of the people. That is, Roo-sevelt looked beyond party leaders for a nomination andto high-minded Republicans and farmers, small busi-nessmen, and upper-class mechanics, who were his natu-ral allies. A few days earlier, he had written to Whitethat he had neither the temperament, nor the kind ofpolitical and moneyed friends to permit of my being putforward by intrigue. 176 0465010240-Donald.qxd:Layout 1 8/25/08 5:36 PM Page 177A Mandate at LastPresident Theodore Roosevelt, 1903, attached to the worldBy the time Roosevelt approached the 1902 off-yearelections, he had amassed a record he was proud of andwhich he believed could propel him toward the Republicannomination for president.He was the most adept chief ex-ecutive since Lincoln, and he barnstormed the North,177 0465010240-Donald.qxd:Layout 1 8/25/08 5:36 PM Page 178lion in the white houseSouth, and Midwest for the Republican Party.He did notstop for long even after a terrible carriage accident severelyinjured him in early September.Roosevelt was black-and-blue and his face was swollen.His left shin suffered traumadespite two operations to clean up the infection.Hay esti-mated that he had avoided death, literally, by two inches.He was amply rewarded for his perseverance.Republicanswere returned to office with a thirty-seat majority in theHouse, and they retained their same majority in the Sen-ate.In his programs, style, ideas, values, and family life,Roosevelt had captivated the nation, energized his sup-porters, and almost neutralized his Democratic adver-saries.It was especially helpful that the Wall Street crowd,especially J.P.Morgan and E.H.Harriman, among others,had favored Roosevelt.The omens were good for Roose-velt as 1904 beckoned.Mark Hanna had been the pluto-crats golden boy for the nomination, but his crown wastarnished as Roosevelt s was burnished.Then Hanna died,unexpectedly, of typhoid fever in 1903.The sometime Roosevelt friend and jaundiced HenryAdams observed of Roosevelt s obsession to win in 1904, If you remark to him that God is Great, he asks naivelyhow that will affect his election. Roosevelt easily won a unanimous Republican nomi-nation for president in June 1904.Surprisingly, he wastouted as a writer and a scholar, not a warrior, and he wascalled the man who most represented the spirit and valuesof the twentieth century.The Republican Party platformwas vague on a revision of the tariff (never a Rooseveltpriority, as it would divide the party), labor, the trusts, thePhilippines, and foreign policy.Blacks got a nod, as disen-178 0465010240-Donald.qxd:Layout 1 8/25/08 5:36 PM Page 179A Mandate at LastPresident Theodore Roosevelt speaking atNorthwestern University, 1903franchisement was not supported.(Southern states wereengaging in denying the vote to black men.) The mostprogressive Republicans were ignored and radicals leftalone.It was a milk-and-water document.There was179 0465010240-Donald.qxd:Layout 1 8/25/08 5:36 PM Page 180lion in the white housenothing of Roosevelt s fiery and explicit calls for action orpledges for the future.The presidential campaign lacked energy because ofthe traditional restraints on sitting presidents.They didnot go out on the hustings, where Roosevelt was at hisbest.So Roosevelt wrote letters, instead, to supporters,which were made public
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