VALENTINE'S MANUAL

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was an Old New Yorker in the
best sense of the word. His family for generations were
New Yorkers, and they were not citizens only but citi¬
zens who, in each generation, took an active and impor¬
tant part in the affairs of the city and of the state. Go¬
ing back to pre-revolutionary times, we find a predecessor
among the City Fathers and later another an officer in
the Continental Army. In the history of our city a
Roosevelt has always figured in some important position
of public service. The father of the ex-President was
an Alderman, an Assemblyman, a Justice of the Sup¬
reme   Court and represented   New   York   in Congress.

Theodore, the strenuous, came quite naturally by his
fervent patriotism and his burning earnestness of pur¬
pose. No other man could approach him in setting forth
the virtue of pure Americanism, or as he graphically
called it 1(X) per cent Americanism, and no one could
listen to or even read his appeals without being stirred
to a deep and lasting conviction of his duty. Theodore
Roosevelt was a man who never swerved in the slightest
degree either to the right side or to the left. His course
was straight toward the goal and his step was unfalter¬
ing. No difficulty aft'righted or even disturbed him, and
he went forward with a strenuous confidence and courage
against which nothing could prevail. To the public he
was a man of rugged strength and sound wisdom with
an inspiring personality which drew men instinctively
around him, and in private he was a genial and kindly
friend. New York was proud of her illustrious son and
will cherish his memory as one of her most precious pos¬
sessions.

It is gratifying to know that the Roosevelt traditions
have been so splendidly continued and upheld by the four
sons of the "Great American."

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