Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Influential Leaders
Today's topic is to write about influential leaders in our lives. I don't think I have had an all out perfect leader that I have admired, but there are many leaders that I have admired that have created a patchwork of great leadership. If I had to narrow it down to one leader, then first and foremost to me would be Theodore Roosevelt. From what I read about this man, he was one of the last great presidents our country has had. I admire the dichotomies of his personality and relationships. Researching his life on the internet, he is a hero of conservatives and liberals, international world order and separatists, integrationists and segregationists. A man of war who charged San Juan hill, killing an enemy with vengefulness using a gun recovered from the bombed and sunken U.S.S Maine, yet receiving the Nobel Peace Prize several years later ending Japans relentless assault on Russia.
Fiercely passionate about his causes, he was tireless in just about any fight (Seems about the only person to get to him was my great, great, great uncle, Frank Frantz, Roosevelt's Company A Captain on the charge of San Juan Hill and last territorial governor of Oklahoma, who had knocked Roosevelt out 3 times boxing with him at the White House). At one point, when attempting to run for a third term, an assassin shot him, yet he continued his speech, as fierce as ever. Since I started studying his life, I admired how he turned his life around. Set backs did not phase him. A sickly and asethmatic child, he fought to gain strength. As a young adult, he lost his mother and wife on the same day, but remained strong and was able to rebuild his life. I admire the life he led as a positive (although sometimes overbearing father) role model to his children. I admire how he was able to negotiate major changes in government, from anti-trust legislation, to breaking up of the political machines that dominated New York. I also admire his scientific mind. I would love to have a photographic memory and book smarts that he had. As a child, he created his own scientific drawings of wildlife and a keen sense of strategy. At 21, he was able to write a landmark book on the strategy of Naval Warfare of 1812. A book that was regarded one of the top in the field even 40 years later. Another area was break from the status quo. He did not like to be a member of the old political machines of the time. Tammany Hall, noted in Scorcese's "Gangs of New York" was a major target of Roosevelts throughout his career, but even the Republican machine did not fair much better. Also, I admire his ability to seek both sides of a story. Although he publicly dismissed Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" as socialist propaganda, Roosevelt still requested private investigations into the claims that lead to sweeping regulations in the meat packing industry.
Lastly underneath it all, I admire his ethics and morals. Although I do not have the same moral fiber as him, I think his underlying foundations made him the strongest of the modern presidents. Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, even Bill Clinton did some great things in their time, but their underlying moral and ethical issues played against them in the overall scheme of things. I am fascinated that Scorcese will be directing the "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt". I think this will give a modern audience a view into a legendary man and leader that time was hiding his great impact on this country.
Fiercely passionate about his causes, he was tireless in just about any fight (Seems about the only person to get to him was my great, great, great uncle, Frank Frantz, Roosevelt's Company A Captain on the charge of San Juan Hill and last territorial governor of Oklahoma, who had knocked Roosevelt out 3 times boxing with him at the White House). At one point, when attempting to run for a third term, an assassin shot him, yet he continued his speech, as fierce as ever. Since I started studying his life, I admired how he turned his life around. Set backs did not phase him. A sickly and asethmatic child, he fought to gain strength. As a young adult, he lost his mother and wife on the same day, but remained strong and was able to rebuild his life. I admire the life he led as a positive (although sometimes overbearing father) role model to his children. I admire how he was able to negotiate major changes in government, from anti-trust legislation, to breaking up of the political machines that dominated New York. I also admire his scientific mind. I would love to have a photographic memory and book smarts that he had. As a child, he created his own scientific drawings of wildlife and a keen sense of strategy. At 21, he was able to write a landmark book on the strategy of Naval Warfare of 1812. A book that was regarded one of the top in the field even 40 years later. Another area was break from the status quo. He did not like to be a member of the old political machines of the time. Tammany Hall, noted in Scorcese's "Gangs of New York" was a major target of Roosevelts throughout his career, but even the Republican machine did not fair much better. Also, I admire his ability to seek both sides of a story. Although he publicly dismissed Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" as socialist propaganda, Roosevelt still requested private investigations into the claims that lead to sweeping regulations in the meat packing industry.
Lastly underneath it all, I admire his ethics and morals. Although I do not have the same moral fiber as him, I think his underlying foundations made him the strongest of the modern presidents. Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, even Bill Clinton did some great things in their time, but their underlying moral and ethical issues played against them in the overall scheme of things. I am fascinated that Scorcese will be directing the "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt". I think this will give a modern audience a view into a legendary man and leader that time was hiding his great impact on this country.
