Theodore Roosevelt Quotes
My experience has taught me that in such a case a quick decision prevents bitterness.
Presidents have radically differed on their approach to key appointments. Roosevelt’s approach of swiftness was at one extreme, while William Clinton consulted with many and was extremely slow to make up his mind. In this particular case, Hanna wanted to establish his authority and the President, to diminish it. Roosevelt took the position that speed was necessary and there was not time to consult Hanna. Today, modern communications make that position untenable.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, 26th President of the United States (Republican, NY), Reply to Mark Hanna, the titular Republican leader, who had complained to the President about his not being consulted before Roosevelt appointed Oliver Wendell Holmes to the Supreme Court vacancy that appeared early in Roosevelt’s presidency, 1901
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Responding to criticism that he was not consulting sufficiently with the Congress:
Whithead’s view which seems intuitively right to most citizens, tends to be the one that the majority espouses but the minority opposes. At the time, the Republicans controlled the White House and there were a number of polarizing issues, where the Republicans could not obtain consensus and then decided. However, then the Democrats gained control of the White House and Congress the next year, it was the Democrats who claimed that they had to decide. The Republicans, now in the majority, argued that significant changes in America should not be made by narrow majorities and major issues should be tabled if there was no substantial majority. That was the position that the Democrats had espoused when they were in the minority.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr., often referred to as Teddy or his initials T. R., was an American statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer, who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900 and the 25th vice president of the United States from March to September 1901. Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.
