Teddy Bears for Terrorists

7/29/2019 Teddy Bears for Terrorists

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Teddy Bears for Terrorists:

President Theodore Roosevelt and

Americas First War on TerrorismMartin Scott Catino, Ph.D.

August 2009


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It was indeed a dark and gloomy hour as

President Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-

sixth President of the United States, said

during his State of the Union Message on

December 3, 1901. Roosevelt had assumedthat prestigious office not as result of a

popular decision accompanied by ebullient

crowds rejoicing in electoral blissthe usual

outcomes of a grand political victory marked

by flag waving and cheering admirers. On the

contrary, throngs of Americans wept in open

grief that fall as the funeral train carrying the

corpse of one of Americas most beloved

Presidents, William McKinley, made its

somber journey through the small industrial

towns and rural landscapes that usually colorand not darken the expressions of American

life.

The President had died in Buffalo, New

York, shot by an anarchist named Leon

Czolgosz during the Pan-American Exposition

in September of that year. Czolgosz, who1

had waited in line to meet the chief executive,

greeted his warmly extended hand by slapping

it away and firing two cold rounds of death at

point blank range from a .32 caliber revolver.

The white handkerchief that concealed the

deadly ambitions of his weapon burst into

flames as McKinleys bodyguards and James

Big Ben Parker, a huge African-American

waiter standing behind the assassin, likewise

burst into inflamed action, subduing the

assailant in an act of humanity as well as

patriotism. The mortally wounded President,

typical of his sublime character, cried out tothe outraged onlookers to spare the

beleaguered radical from harm.

As the dying president later slipped into

eternity singing nearer, My God, to Thee,

Roosevelt left his mountain climb in the

Adirondacks knowing that he had left

one mountain behind only to face another as

he arrived in Buffalo. Shortly thereafter,2

Roosevelt realized that his Presidency gained

through default would not be defined just by

the ability to manage the throes of the rapidly

industrializing nation he loved. He

understood that the radical political violence

that inadvertently swept him into office

threatened the safety of that entire nation as

well as its progress.

Long before the tumultuous events of

September 11, 2001, the smoldering ruins of

the Twin Towers of New York City which

triggered the Global War on Terrorism,

America under the leadership of President

Roosevelt undertook its first war on terrorism

with remarkable resolve and clarity. Although

the chief enemy is no longer anarchism and

radical socialism, the principles of that

struggle against hateful ideologies embeddedin human hearts remains salient.

If we seek victory in our present war

against extremists we cannot afford to pass

over carelessly the lessons of that generation

and its remarkable leadership during those

troubled times. President Roosevelt, who

President McK inleys funeral train leaves

Buffalo, New York on its way to Washington, D.C.


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inspired the creation of the teddy bear in 1903,

was anything but soft on terrorism. His life

serves as an excellent example of how to

fight radicalism while upholding thefundamentals of American liberty, and also as

a major source for developing a basic

framework in that struggle of humanity

against barbarity.

President Roosevelt Refused to Give EvenA Breath of Legitimacy to the Motives,

Cause, or Political Philosophy of Radicals.

The Progressive President faced

problems not very different from our presentfight against terrorism. More than a few

Americans in his time (as in our time)

detracted, sympathized, and opined when

they should have instead acted with

resolve,against the enemies of freedom and

security. Roosevelt dismissed misguided

public opinions and immediately addressed

the issue at hand, proving his character of

leadership as well as the depth of his

convictions and principles.

The first cowboy president did not shy

away from calling anarchists murderers,

criminals, base, and depraved. No, his3

indictments were not careless reviling,

impassioned invectives of a thoughtless

national icon. He knew that the true origins

of such radical behavior stemmed from

perverse instincts of individuals who

could discard freedom and progress and

embrace hate and murder without

conscience or concern. And what theAmerican public needed then (as now) was a

frame of reference to understand this

behavior. Roosevelt provided forthrightly

that reference.

Today, few historians dare to reveal the

dark inner world of the anarchists and

radical socialists of Roosevelts era. Instead,

extremists and social malcontents like

Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman,Rudolph Rocker--as well as Karl Marx and

Friedrich Engelshave emerged as heroes in

American schools and colleges, artificial

constructs of academic imaginations.

Many historians fail to underscore a

central fact: these radicals all targeted

innocent people for murder, caring only for

the raw power gained by such actions.

Innocent bystanders were likewise treatedwith contempt, dismissed readily as

unwitting contributors to notions of a better

future. For instance, Berkman remarked in

cold discourse so commonly found on

radical lips:

The Peoplethe toilers of the world, the

producers comprise, to me, the universe.

They alone count. The rest are parasites,

who have no right to exist. But to the People

belongs the earthby right, if not in fact. Tomake it so in fact, all means are justifiable;

nay, advisable, even to the point of taking

life.4

Adding to this inhumanity was a variety

of evils putrefying in anarchist life: free

sex, thievery, personal violence (not just

Emma Goldman


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political), hatred of the traditional family

and its roles, betrayals, vicious political

infighting, and a host of other behaviors

associated with criminality rather thanlegitimate politics. Radicals throughout5

modern history thus share a common bond

with ordinary criminals, the only difference

is that one chooses crime to feed selfish

political ambitions, the other selfish

individual ambitions.

Roosevelt knew this fact and declared at

length:

Anarchy is no more an expression ofsocial discontent than picking pockets or

wife beating. . . . For the anarchist himself,

whether he preaches or practices his

doctrines, we need not have one particle

more concern than for any ordinary

murderer. He is not the victim of social or

political injustice. There are no wrongs to

remedy in his case. The cause of his

criminality is to be found in his own evil

passions and in the evil conduct of those

who urge him on, not in any failure byothers or by the state to do justice to him or

his. He is a malefactor and nothing else. 6

President Roosevelt Effectively Challengedthe Philosophy of Radical Socialists and

the Anarchists.

Roosevelts era was rightly named

progressive, for rapid gains in the quality

of life stemmed from energetic reforms at

the grassroots of American life and

principled leadership in government.

Prosperity in the United States spread not

just in the country but abroad as the

maturing nation began to assert its role as a

major participant in global trade, providing

resources and products while riding and

churning the wave of technological advances

in travel and communications: railways,

steamships, and overseas cable.

T.R. proudly championed the nations

progress. Among the most powerful of the

Presidents counter-terrorism tactics

involved his ability to underscore this

progress and prosperity in the United States

and to redirect public attention to it. Radical

propaganda, designed to distract public

attention by focusing on failures and

problems within the capitalist system, tried

to muddle public information. Roosevelts7

bold challenge to anarchist thought,

exposing its falsity, countered effectively theappeal of specious arguments of the Left,

leaving these extremists isolated on barren

grounds created by their vehement trampling

of truth over graves of their own making.

He remarked in his State of the Union

Address:

It is not true that as the rich have grown

richer the poor have grown poorer. On the

contrary, never before has the average man,

the wage-worker, the farmer, the small

trader, been so well off as in this country and

at the present time.8

More than a few leading social scientists

agreed. Werner Sombart, a European non-

violent socialist who undertook a study of

Roosevelts America, called attention to this

prosperity and the failure of socialism in

America. His study published in 1906 aptly

stated the question of the times in the title:

Why Is There No Socialism in the United

States? His answers revealed the obvious:

It is not only in his position vis--vis the

material world (that is, in his material

standard of living) that the American worker

is so much more favoured than his European

counterpart. In his relations to people and to


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social institutions, and in his position to

society -- in short, in what I call his social

position -- the American is also better-off

than he would be in the contrastingEuropean situation. For him "Liberty" and

"Equality" (not only in the formal political

sense but also in the economic and social

sense) are not empty ideas and vague

dreams, as they are for the European

working class; for the most part they are

realities.9

Roosevelt was truly a skilled politicaldebater who frequently refuted radical

ideology with solid logic and sound rhetoric.Yet his ideological strength was not

grounded in abstractions, but rather in the

existence of realities benefitting workers and

owners (industrial growth, available work,

higher wages, and increased purchasing

power). The combination of reform and

strong anti-terrorism policies proved

effective in Americas first war on terrorism.

This hero of the Spanish-American War

understood well the political, ideological,

and economic weapons at his disposal, anddid not hesitate to use them against

terrorists.10

Lost in a metaphysical world of utopic

dreams, the violent malcontents belching out

hate could not compete with self-evident

truths befriending the leader of the

Progressive era. A simple fact revealed

rarely in modern histories of that time is

this: Radical reformers fought the progress

of the American system and despised thegains made by average Americans. For real

progress, measured in tangible increases in

standard of living, posed a significant

challenge to the claims, power, and very

existence of extremist movements.

President Roosevelt Attacked the EntireRadical System Rather Than J ustResponding to Events, Prosecuting

Individuals, and Addressing Symptoms ofTerrorism.

The tactics of violent anti-capitalists

varied greatly yet characteristically used and

manipulated the very American system that

they despised. American freedom of

expression, assembly, press, and movement

became high volume avenues traversed by

Bolsheviks and others seeking to destroy

democracy and freedom while lifting the

flag of oppression forcefully over the heads

of the majority.11

Roosevelt would have none of this. He

fought the very entry of radicals into the

country, individuals hiding amid the sea of

decent immigrants coming to America in

hope of a better life. Teddy prosecuted

rigorously the rhetoric, organization, and

very sanctuary of these extremists of the

early 20 century. Regarding the latter, heth

deported anarchists and others who

threatened the safety and welfare of honest

Americans. 12

President Theodore Roosevelt knew that

without firm and unwavering prosecution of

radicalism there is little hope of securing the

individual liberties and happiness of the bulk

of Americans. The lesson is relevant for

today.

Long Before Multi-lateralism Became a

Common Foreign Policy Practice of theUnited States, President Roosevelt Soughtto Develop International Support AgainstRadicalism.

The Teddy Bear President again proved

his savvy when he underscored the need to

marshal international support against


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radicalism. Comparing it to the vilest of

international crimesslavery and piracyhe

knew that the issue at hand was not local or

even national, but rather international. Henoted:

Anarchy is a crime against the whole

human race; and all mankind should band

against the anarchist. His crime should be

made an offense against the law of nations,

like piracy and that form of man-stealing

known as the slave trade; for it is of far

blacker infamy than either. It should be so

declared by treaties among all civilizedpowers. Such treaties would give to the

federal government the power of dealing

with the crime.13

Anarchists, like modern-day terrorists,

used overseas sanctuaries, global financial

networks, and propaganda and information

resources abroad. Roosevelts vigilance

uncovered these driving factors of terrorism

and sought to undercut them. He thustargeted root causes rather than just

symptoms and thereby made the critical link

between foreign and domestic terrorism. Not

ironically, nearly a century later Americans

can find this policy employed by Presidents

George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Thenecessity of such an approach is

unquestionable in the post-9/11 world.

President Roosevelt Would Not

Disassociate Social Issues From Security

Problems, Knowing that the Strength of

American Security Rested on the Vibrancy

of National Character.

Moreover, Roosevelt differed markedlyfrom modern American leaders in that he

saw the great evil of poor national character

and how it harmed domestic security. The

President was concerned particularly about

the failure of many people in the United

States to assimilate into the lofty ideals of

American life. Confident in the integrity of

American values, and keenly observant of

the problems created by selfish or misguided

ideology, he knew that without vibrant

patriotic beliefs--selfless attitudes that

promoted national unity--national security

and character would decline in direct

relationship.

Preaching and extolling the virtues of

pure patriotism from the bully pulpit,

Roosevelt both chided those who betrayed

American values and called attention to thequalities that constituted the finest aspects of

the American spirit. He exhorted:

Americanism is a question of spirit,

conviction, and purpose, not of creed or

birthplace. The politician who bids for the

Irish or German vote, or the Irishman or

A Chair, A Deep V oice, and Deep Convictions

Animated the Presidents Message to America


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German who votes as an Irishman or

German, is despicable, for all citizens of this

commonwealth should vote solely as

Americans; but he is not a whit lessdespicable than the voter who votes against

a good American, merely because that

American happens to have been born in

Ireland or Germany. 14

Roosevelts warnings were an integral

part of building the national character

necessary for creating security in twentieth

century America. He repudiated narrow

ethnic politics that precluded the needs of

the whole country, selfish local perspectives

that sacrificed broader public interests,

effeminate and pleasure-seeking attitudes

attendant to a capitalist life of prosperity,

and cynical perspectives of American

progress--the social decay that erodes

national security. Thus the President who

took pride in his prowess as a big-game

hunter likewise hunted skillfully the bestialsocial attitudes that roamed wildly on

American ground.

We Need More Than Teddy Bears for

Terrorists

It would be overly simplistic to assert that

what America needs today is another

Theodore Roosevelt. What is needed is the

popular support for men and leaders likehimsupport rooted in the very best of

American patriotic values. When we as

Americans confidently assert our highest

national values, promote reform and justice

for all Americans, and uphold freedom and

security in mutual support of each other, no

domestic threat can overtake us.

As long as our country entangles itself in

the sentiments, fears, guilt, distractions, and

equivocations that allow terrorists to

promote their agendas, recruit others to their

vile cause, prolong their missions in the

United States, find sanctuary here, and evade

prosecution, security and justice will remain

elusiveas well as national honor andrespect abroad. If President Roosevelt were

alive today, perhaps he would remind us that

talking softly, is not enough, for there is

also a need to carry a big stick.

President Roosevelt: A Tireless Friend of the

American People

Ma rtin Scott Catino, Ph .D. is a specia list in

United States foreign and security policy. The

views expressed in this article do not necessarily

represent the opinions of the Department of

De fense or oth er organizations associa ted with the

author.


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H.H. Kholsaat,From McKinley to Harding: Personal Recollections of Our Presidents (New1

York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1923), 93-94. Charles G. Dawes,A Journal of the McKinley

Years (Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1950), 279-281.

Theodore Roosevelt,An Autobiography (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913), 378-2

379.

Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Message, December 3, 1901, http://www.theodore-3

roosevelt.com/sotnl.html(accessed December 13, 2008).

Alexander Berkman,Propaganda by the Deed, in Marshall S. Shatz, ed., The Essential Works4

of Anarchism (New York: Qadrangle Books, 1972), 361-363.

The reader should examine not just the poor ethics underpinning radical ideology but also the5

inhumane treatment that these reformers meted out on each other. See Marshall S. Shatz, ed.,The Essential Works of Anarchism (New York: Qadrangle Books, 1972). See also Ersel Aydinli,

Before There Were Jihadists There Were Anarchists: A Failed Case of Transnational Violence,

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 31:10, 903.-923; Wallace Dunn, The Reds in America

From the Standpoint of the Department of Justice, http://www.marxists.org/

history/usa/government/dept-justice/1920/0200-dunn-redsinamerica.pdf (accessed July 26,

2007). Originally published in The Review of Reviews, Feb. 1920, pp. 161-166.


roosevelt.com/sotnl.html (accessed December 13, 2008).

A common tactic of extremists, then and now, is to dominate public information by controlling7

topics, debates, and issues.



Werner Sombart, Why is There No Socialism in the United ? (New York: Sharpe, 1906).9

See Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913).10

For instance, The Pittsburgh Proclamation. Adopted by the Founding Congress of the11

American Federation of the International Working Peoples Association,October 14, 1883,"http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/parties/anarchist/1883/1014-iwpa-pittsburgh.pdf(accessedJuly 26, 2007. This document noted: Fellow-workingmen, all we need for the achievement

of this great end is ORGANIZATION and UNITY! There exists now no great obstacle to that

unity. The work of peaceful education and revolutionary conspiracy well can and ought to run in

parallel lines.

Notes
http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.marxists.org/http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.marxists.org/http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.html


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Eric Rauchway, Lessons From the Last War on Terror,Financial Times, January 21, 2003,12

p.19.

Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Message, December 3, 1901, http://www.theodore-

13


Theodore Roosevelt, True Americanism, April 1894, http://www.theodore-roosevelt. com14

/trta.html (accessed December 13, 2008).
http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt./http://www.theodore-roosevelt./http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.htmlhttp://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/sotnl.html

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Teddy Bears for Terrorists