Critics And Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. Although he was weak and asthmatic as a child, he became a driven and robust man. And although blind in one eye, he was still athletic and courageous. He was a scholarly man. He was a man of faith. He was a Christian. He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He knew the Word of God. He had studied and taught it as a young man. Roosevelt had enemies. He had critics. On October 14, 1912, he was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He was campaigning for a third term as President. While he was making a speech, a man shot him in the chest. It was aimed at his heart. He was wounded. He spoke for a whole hour while wounded. He had lost a great deal of blood. Just before he finished speaking he said: "I am going to have to stop now, the inside of my boots are full of blood, it takes more than one bullet to stop a bull moose." At the end of his speech he was taken to the nearest hospital for treatment. He survived, but he was defeated for the Presidency by Woodrow Wilson the following month. He was a tough man. The following is a paragraph written by him as a response to those who severely criticized him.

"It is not the critic who counts, not that man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doers of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."