iv Introduction 



as with an unwavering conviction and a wholesome 

 philosophy of work and courage, those views of 

 politics, citizenship, and organized social and eco 

 nomic life to which the best conscience and intelli 

 gence of his fellow-countrymen have made sympa 

 thetic response. These essays, it is true, set forth 

 no abstract scheme of political or social philosophy. 

 Yet out of them there might be evolved a systematic 

 body of doctrine relating to the duties of citizenship 

 in a democracy, and to the ethics of administration 

 and government. The explanation is that the doc 

 trines and principles have come to be embodied in 

 the character and convictions of the man himself; 

 and thus the essays and addresses have not been the 

 mere intellectual products of a man addicted to the 

 use of the pen or to the phrasing of sentences, but 

 rather the direct and wellnigh spontaneous expres 

 sion of the man himself in relation to topics rendered 

 timely by events and occasions. 



In like manner, and in an even higher sense, these 

 later speeches here collected, made under the sober 

 ing sense of responsibility that must come with the 

 holding of so great an office as the Presidency, 

 express Mr. Roosevelt's convictions respecting our 

 American life and citizenship in such manner as to 

 form a sort of record for the study of the psychology 

 of the nation at the beginning of the twentieth cen 

 tury. 



Furthermore, these addresses and public papers, 



