I was ever a fighter, so—one fight more,The best and the last!I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,And bade me creep past.
On the fifth of January in 1919, after sixty years of life, full of unwearied fighting against evil and injustice and falseness, he "fell on sleep." The end came peacefully in the night hours at Sagamore Hill. But until he laid him down that night, the fight he waged had known no relaxation. Nine months before he had expected death, when a serious mastoid operation had drained his vital forces. Then his one thought had been, not for himself, but for his sons to whom had been given the precious privilege, denied to him, of taking part in their country's and the world's great fight for righteousness. His sister, Mrs. Corinne Douglas Robinson, tells how in those shadowy hours he beckoned her to him and in the frailest of whispers said, "I'm glad it's I that lie here and that my boys are in the fight over there."
His last, best fight was worthy of all the rest. With voice and pen he roused the minds and the hearts of his countrymen to their high mission in defense of human rights. It was not given to him to fall on the field of battle. But he went down with his face to the forces of evil with which he had never sought a truce.
The reader who is primarily interested in the career and personality of Roosevelt would do well to begin with his own volume, "Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography". But it was written in 1912, before the great campaign which produced the Progressive party.
"Theodore Roosevelt the Citizen" (1904), by Jacob A. Riis, was published just after Roosevelt became President. It is an intimate and naively enthusiastic portrait by a man who was an intimate friend and an ardent admirer.
There are two lives written since his death that are complete and discriminating. They are "The Life of Theodore Roosevelt" (1919), by William Draper Lewis, and "Theodore Roosevelt, an Intimate Biography" (1919), by William Roscoe Thayer.
"Impressions of Theodore Roosevelt" (1919) is a volume of first-hand experiences, written by Lawrence F. Abbott of "The Outlook". The author was closely associated with Roosevelt on "The Outlook"; and after the African hunting trip met him at Khartum and went with him on his tour of the capitals of Europe.
A small volume by Charles G. Washburn, "Theodore Roosevelt, the Logic of His Career" (1916), contains the interpretation of a long-time friend and sincere admirer.
Collections of Roosevelt's writings and speeches covering the years from his becoming Governor of New York to the end of his Presidential terms are found in "The Roosevelt Policy", 2 vols. (1908) and "Presidential Addresses and State Papers", 4 vols. (1904). "The New Nationalism" (1910) is a collection of his speeches delivered between his return from Africa and the beginning of the Progressive campaign. His writings and speeches during the Great War are found in several volumes: "America and the World War" (1915); "Fear God and Take Your Own Part" (1916); "The Foes of Our Own Household" (1917); "The Great Adventure" (1919).
Material on the Progressive movement and the Progressive party are to be found in "The Progressive Movement" (1915), by Benjamin Parke De Witt, "The Progressive Movement, Its Principles and Its Programme" (1913), by S. J. Duncan-Clark, "Presidential Nominations and Elections" (1916), by Joseph Bucklin Bishop, and "Third Party Movements" (1916), by Fred E. Haynes. The story of La Follette is set forth at greater length in his "Autobiography; A Personal Narrative of Political Experiences" (1918). Three other autobiographies contribute to an understanding of politics: "The Autobiography of Thomas C. Platt" (1910); J. B. Foraker, "Notes of a Busy Life", 2 vols. (1916). S. M. Cullom, "Fifty Years of Public Service" (1911).
The history of the country during the years when Roosevelt became a national figure is recounted by J. H. Latane in "America as a World Power" and by F. A. Ogg in "National Progress", both volumes in the "American Nation" Series. Briefer summaries of the general history of at least a part of the period treated in the present volume are to be found in Frederic L. Paxson's "The New Nation" (1915), and Charles A. Beard's "Contemporary American History" (1914).
The prosecution of the trusts may be followed in "Trust Laws and Unfair Competition" (Government Printing Office, 1916). Much useful material is contained in "Trusts, Pools and Corporations", edited by W. Z. Ripley (1916). W. H. Taft in "The Anti-Trust Law and the Supreme Court" (1914) defends the Sherman Act as interpreted by the courts during his administration.
The progress of social and industrial justice is outlined in "Principles of Labor Legislation" (1916), by John R. Commons and John B. Andrews. The problems of conservation and the history of governmental policy are set forth by C. R. Van Hise in "The Conservation of Natural Resources in the United States" (1910).
The "American Year Book" for the years 1910 to 1919 and the "New International Year Book" for the years 1907 to 1919 are invaluable sources of accurate and comprehensive information on the current history of the United States for the period which they cover.
Willis Fletcher Johnson's "America's Foreign Relations", 2 vols. (1915) is a history of the relations of the United States to the rest of the world. A shorter account is given in C. R. Fish's "American Diplomacy" (1915).
But much of the best material for the historical study of the first decade and a half of the twentieth century is to be found in the pages of the magazines and periodicals published during those years. "The Outlook", "The Independent", "The Literary Digest", "Collier's", "The Review of Reviews", "The World's Work", "Current Opinion", "The Nation", "The Commoner", La Follette's "Weekly"—all these are sources of great value. The Outlook is of especial usefulness because of Mr. Roosevelt's connection with it as Contributing Editor during the years between 1909 and 1914.