We have dwelt in this narrative principally upon Colonel Roosevelt’s fighting qualities; perhaps because they are the most picturesque and appeal more to the imagination of author and public. Yet the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s life would be indeed lacking if it did not emphasize the fact that underneath his philosophy of conflict for that which was right there lay an abiding love of peace and a desire for world brotherhood.
Roosevelt’s experiences taught him that in the era in which he lived war at times was essential to establish justice. He did not believe in surrendering to the blusterer, or to the ruler who tried to overrun his neighbor’s boundaries by force. He trained himself to be a warrior and a hunter because he believed that a strain of the primitive man was necessary to combat the too often debilitating influences of modern life.
His sons, in their manhood, became warriors like himself, but in their youth he trained them to love animals and to deal kindly with men. His advice to them under all circumstances was “Be kind!”
The man who was sneered at by his political foes as “The Man on Horseback” became “The Great Peacemaker.”
His own words form the best illustration of his attitude toward world amity:
“Whenever on any point we come in contact with a foreign power, I hope that we shall always strive to speak courteously and respectfully of that foreign power. Let us make it evident that we intend to do justice. Then let us make it equally evident that we will not tolerate injustice being done us in return. Let us further make it evident that we use no words which we are not prepared to back up with deeds, and that while our speech is always moderate we are ready and willing to make it good. Such an attitude will be the surest possible guarantee of that self-respecting peace the attainment of which is and must ever be the prime aim of a self-governing people.”
His acts while President bore out his preaching. When The Hague Tribunal of Arbitration was established, a large part of the work, so far as this nation was concerned, fell to Roosevelt.
When the old Alaskan boundary dispute between Great Britain and the United States arose again, at Roosevelt’s suggestion the matter was settled for all time by a joint commission that met in London. This commission decided in favor of America.