Theodore Rex

by Edmund Morris

Speak softly and carry a big stick was a West African proverb Roosevelt had tried out once, as Vice President, and memorized as a personal mantra. Perhaps the current situation would enable him to test its effectiveness, starting with the soft speech. “If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble; but neither will speaking softly avail, if

back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.”

He reiterated his distaste for national “boasting and blustering.” In