Teddy Roosevelt, Sarah Palin and a Bull Moose
One of the things that I know I have done right in my homeschooling is reading aloud to my children. It was one of the first and best blessing our family experienced because of Elissa’s dyslexia. We read biography after biography after biography. We spent a lot of time discussing each character’s strengths and flaws. And somewhere during all of that reading, I fell in love with Teddy Roosevelt. He became one of my heroes.
I think I discovered this when I read about his campaign for president in 1912. He was speaking at a train station in Milwaukee and was shot in the chest. Because of all of his anatomical knowledge (he was homeschooled, by the way) he was able to correctly determine that the bullet had not hit his lung and was probably not life threatening. People begged him to go to the hospital. Instead, he spoke for an hour and a half. He started his speech by saying, “I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.” The bullet had gone through three inches of tissue and then lodged in his chest muscle. They decided it would be more risky to remove it than to leave it.
I love the stories about how he rid the government of corruption at every turn. I love the bravery he displayed while digging the Panama Canal. He is my hero.
And now, I have someone else to look up to. A woman, A WOMAN, who can hunt, kill and field dress a bull moose. Sarah, my twelve-year-old, and I were recently reading Captivating aloud together. The author recalled a story about her encounter with a bull moose. Do you know that more people are killed in national parks by moose than by any other animal? They are incredibly dangerous creatures. I am not positive, but I can’t think of a more powerful animal that is native to our continent than the moose.
And Sarah Palin eats them for breakfast. (Or at least she could.) Now, I have absolutely no desire to hunt like Teddy had and Sarah has but I do have a desire to live fearlessly; to not be afraid of the “Bull Moose” situations that are in my life.
Overflow of the Heart 
September 6, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Your post is spot on. Anyone with a whit of knowledge about American history would agree with your assessment.
I would like to comment on John McCain’s speech at the convention on Thursday. His was a MOVING, sincere and humble speech by a man of GIANT STATURE in impeccable integrity.
It takes a great man to be willing to let others take some of the credit for his hard work. I noticed the proud gleam of a father’s eye when he introduced us all to Sarah Palin as his Vice President and protege.
Within a very short time of sitting under his leadership and tutelage, Sarah Palin will be well prepared for any duty she may be required to assume, including the presidency. THIS IS HONOR. From looking at her family photos at http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/09/01/sarah-palin-the-female-teddy-roosevelt/, it is obvious that her family brought her up in the true AMERICAN FRONTIER TRADITION. Who knew it was still possible in the 21st Century?
For a long time, this country has been HUNGRY FOR LEADERS, NOT BUREAUCRATS.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are true LEADERS.
I pray for them every day – especially that God will help them weather the brutal abuse of the main stream media and the wiles of George Soros’s “Chosen One.”
Perhaps America has not forgotten about the millions of our forbears who have paid for our freedom with their very lives. I know John McCain hasn’t forgotten.
September 7, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Just finished TR bio of his early life – Mornings on Horseback, a great book He was two years a governor when selected as McKinley’s VP
September 10, 2008 at 11:47 am
Have you been to any of the presidential libraries? Your dad and I just went to the Harry S. Truman one in Independence, MO and it was fascinating. Perhaps more interesting to us as we grew up when he was around and remember the cold war, etc.
October 25, 2008 at 5:27 am
I’ve recently been looking into the McCain/Roosevelt comparison, because from my “whit” of U.S. history, I really couldn’t understand the relationship between the Bull Moose Party and the Republican ticket in this election. In that search I stumbled upon this site. So far, what I’ve looked into doesn’t really suggest that connection exists on policy. The Progressives of 1912 stood for, among other things, increasing taxes on the upper class, specifically on income and wealthy inheritances; they read the Constitution as an amendable, living document, rather than from an originalist perspective; and wanted a strong government which regulated industry . . . TR was, after all, a trust-buster. The Bull Moosers even advocated limiting the exponentially expanding navy at the time, and as a man personally consumed with preserving our Nation’s natural beauty, I am hard-pressed to believe TR would have been for off-shore or Alaskan drilling. I’m really just curious about where, beyond their war hero status, the connection lies?
February 11, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Anthony asked about “where, beyond their war hero status, the connection lies [between TR and JM]?”
There is none, Anthony, absolutely none.