Americana
TRThursday: Great Thoughts vs. Great Actions
This #TRThursday should be a challenge for all of us. Every man has opinions, but fewer of us are action oriented. We want to see change in the world but we don’t seek opportunities to make those changes happen. We would rather not be inconvenienced, leave it up to the professionals or the ...
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TRThursday: The Glory of Work and the Joy of Living
“The man who learns to love hard work will enjoy all of life.” – Unknown
This #TRThursday we will look at a passage from the Colonel’s autobiography where he reflects on his Badlands-Cowboy days. He writes the following in 1913, 55 years old, 4 years after leaving the office of the ...
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Apr 23, 2015
TRThursday: Teddy’s Single-Stick Fighting in the White House
“No game was ever yet worth a rap, For a rational man to play, Into which no accident, no mishap, Could possibly find its way.” – Adam Lindsay Gordon, Australian Poet, 1833-1870
Shortly after taking the office of U.S. President, Roosevelt was nearly killed in a carriage ...
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TRThursday: Get Action! Do things! Be Sane!
Sometimes I read the things Theodore yelled at people and think, “I wish I had the guts to say that!” I may never get used to the kind of confidence he had in himself and his beliefs. The sort of conviction that moves him to say what ought to be said in the ...
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TRThursday: Bill Sewall – Roosevelt’s Manly Mentor
“I could see not a single thing that wasn’t fine in Theodore, no qualities that I didn’t like. Some folks said that he was headstrong and aggressive, but I never found him so except when necessary; and I’ve always thought being headstrong and aggressive, on occasion, was a pretty good thing.” – Bill Sewall, The ...
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TRThursday: That Time Teddy Stabbed a Cougar to Death
This #TRThursday article is a bit difficult for me to write, because each time I start a line my imagination goes haywire. As I’m sitting under the spring sun, typing, I see a young Theodore Roosevelt leaping from his horse, bowie in hand, gleaming in the sun, into a pack of mad dogs, snapping ...
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TRThursday: Cooler Than You and Me by Age 15!
Most accounts of Theodore Roosevelt’s life gloss over his early years. His battle and victory over his health issues are generally included, particularly asthma and cholera morbus (a bacterial attack on the bowels resulting in what one would expect), then jump into his Harvard boxing days and see our hero transformed into a fit, ...
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TRThursday: A Pistol With a History!
“This is a pistol with a history,” he said, fondling his revolver affectionately. “It was taken from the wreck of the Maine. When I took it to Cuba, I made a vow to kill at least one Spaniard with it, and I did…” – Theodore Roosevelt, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Edmund Morris
...
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TRThursday: Play Your Part, Manfully!
There is a lot of cynicism in today’s culture and media. Cynicism is different from sarcasm, for sarcasm is a play on truth and leaves the door open for humor or a way out, but cynicism is merely hopeless. Growing up, Ronald Regan was my president, and the message from him was almost ...
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The American Rustics
As I believe I have mentioned before, I am working on a book on various men of history titled something along the lines of “# Men of History: And the Character Every Man Should Cultivate.” The # will be the actual number of men in the book (originally it was going to be ...
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Feb 26, 2015
TRThursday: The Winchester – Theodore Roosevelt’s Rifle of Choice
“Personally, I have always preferred the Winchester. I now use a 45-90, with my old Buffalo gun, a 40-90 Sharps’ as spare rifle. Both, of course, have specifically tested barrels, and are stocked and sighted to suit myself.” – Theodore Roosevelt and his rifle of choice, from Hunting Trips of a Ranchman
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George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
George Washington was such a great man and I am honored to live in a nation that was founded by men such as he. I love to look back on our history and imagine a nation that would have heard these words and agreed, wholeheartedly. The uncommon amount of intellect and honor and heroic feats found ...
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