Teddy Roosevelt:  A Singular Life

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum

Theodore Roosevelt’s Inaugural Address

Instructions:  Read Theodore Roosevelt’s 1905 Inaugural Address, and then answer the following questions.

1.      What was the exact date of Roosevelt’s 1905 Inaugural Address?

2.      Why didn’t President Roosevelt give an inaugural speech in 1901?

3.      President Roosevelt mentions that we (Americans) have “duties to others and to ourselves.”  What does he mean by this?  Give an example from his administration that would demonstrate this quotation.

4.      How many years is a century and a half?

5.      In his speech, President Roosevelt speaks about a nation of tremendous wealth and obligations.  What kind of obligations did he think we had to the rest of the world?

6.  President Roosevelt says that “They did their work, they left us the splendid heritage we now enjoy.  We in our turn have an assured confidence that we shall be able to leave this heritage unwasted and enlarged to our children and our children’s children.”  What did he mean?  Is this possible related to his conservation efforts?  Explain.