Progressivism 115In 1906,the twenty-sixthPresidentspeechifiedto a uniformlywhiteaudienceat Ox-
fordUniversity’s annualRomaneslecture,“Let us hopethat our ownbloodshallcontinue
in the land,that our childrenand our children’s childrento endlessgenerationsshallarise
to takeour placesandplaya mightyanddominantpartin the world.”^107 He saidelse-
wherethat “it is not onlyundesirablebut impossiblethat thereshouldbe racialintermin-
glingand the resultis sureto bringdisaster.”^108 On January3, 1913,he wroteto Charles
Davenport,“I agreewithyou...thatsocietyhas no businessto permitdegeneratesto
reproducetheirkind.... Someday,we willrealizethatthe primeduty,the inescapable
duty,of the goodcitizenof the righttype,is to leavehis or her bloodbehindhimin the
world;and thatwe haveno businessto permitthe perpetuationof citizensof the wrong
type.”^109 Finally,on the sameissue,TR publiclystatedin 1914,“I wishverymuchthat the
wrongpeoplecouldbe preventedentirelyfrombreeding.”^110 But antecedingTR’s expres-
sionof thatwish,WoodrowWilsonworkedto bringthatwishintoreality.Dueto their
anti-capitalist rhetoricandgovernistactions,H. L. MenckencharacterizesTheodore
Roosevelt,WilliamJenningsBryan,andWoodrowWilsonas “demagogues,”^111 andad-
mitsthatthe emergencypowersgrantedto WilsonduringWorldWarOnemadehima
“dictator” in that period.^112 “Of all the menwholivedin my time,” Menckenwrotein his
memoirs,“the mostrepellantto me wasthe late WoodrowWilson;he wasthe archetype
of everyhumantraitthatI detestanddespise.... Nextto himI rankTheodoreRoose-
velt.. .”^113
In termsof ideology,TR keptsomeotherinterestingcompany.It will be recalledfrom
chapter2 thatfor his advocacyof governisteugenics,AmericanzoologistMadisonGrant
receivedfan lettersfromAdolfHitler.It shouldherebe mentionedthatGrantreceived
fan lettersfromTR as well,and for the samereason.^114 In his ownfan letterto Grant,TR
waxedaboutthe zoologist’s manifesto,The Passingof the GreatRace. The bookadvocated
that white Europeans militarize against presumably and reflexively untrustworthy
Asians.Passing, remarkedthe RoughRider,is “a capitalbook;... in graspof the factsour
people[whites]mostneedto realize.... It is the workof an Americanscholarand
gentleman;and all Americansshouldbe sincerelygratefulto youfor writingit.”^115 Cas-
tletonCollegehistorianJonathanPeterSpironamesanothertraitthatTR sharedwith
Grant—the reasonfor whichGrant“embracedeugenicswasthat the movementappealed
to his progressiveinstincts.” Interestingly,exactlyas Grantbeseechedthe Stateto oppress
specificgroupsof humanbeings,Grantalsopioneeredin callingfor the Stateto preserve
endangeredspeciesat the forcibleexpenseof humanlandowners.Grantwas goodfriends
withSierraClubfounderJohnMuir,andthe twocollaboratedin theiractivism.As we
shallexaminein chapter9, that Grantwantedbothto oppressspecificracesand to elevate
endangeredspeciesabovehumanpropertyowners,is not as ironicas we mayinitially
assume.
AmericanThoughtclassifiesTheodoreRooseveltas a socialDarwinist.Thiscontradicts
RobertM. Rees’s definitionof a socialDarwinistas beingsomeonewhoevangelizeson
laissezfaire’s behalf.SDATapparentlytakesissuewiththe faithTR placedin militarism.
“In his historicalwork,The Winningof the West,” Hofstadterassesses,“Rooseveltdrew
fromthe storyof the frontiersman’s strugglewiththe Indiansthe conclusionthatthe
comingof the whiteswas not to be stayedand a racialwar to the finishwas inevitable....
Americandevelopmentrepresentsthe culminatingachievementof this mightyhistoryof
racialgrowth.”SDATassertsthe “ideaof inevitableAnglo-Saxondestinyfigured” in TR’s
philosophyquitestrongly.Subsequently,HofstadterdisapprovinglyquotesfromTR’s
1899 speech,“The StrenuousLife,” whichpronounces,“We cannotavoidthe responsibil-
itiesthat confrontus in... Cuba,Porto[sic]Rico,and the Philippines.All we can decideis
whetherwe shallmeetthemin a waythatwill redoundto the nationalcredit.... The...
over-civilizedman,whohas lost the greatfighting,masterfulvirtues,... whosesoulis