WIST Quotations7h ago

A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

Under the spoils system a man is appointed to an ordinary clerical or ministerial position in the municipal, Federal, or State government, not primarily because he is expected to be a good servant, but because he has rendered help to some big boss or to the henchman of some big boss. His stay in office depends not upon how he performs service, but upon how he retains his influence in the party. This necessarily means that his attention to the interests of the public at large, even though real, is secondary to his devotion to his organization, or to the interest of the ward leader who put him in his place.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 5 “Applied Idealism” (1913)

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/8…

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Roosevelt, Theodore - Autobiography, ch. 5 "Applied Idealism" (1913) | WIST Quotations

Under the spoils system a man is appointed to an ordinary clerical or ministerial position in the municipal, Federal, or State government, not primarily because he is expected to be a good servant, but because he has rendered help to some big boss or to the henchman of some big…

WIST Quotations
WIST QuotationsJun 4

A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

   Civil Service Reform had two sides. There was, first, the effort to secure a more efficient administration of the public service, and, second, the even more important effort to withdraw the administrative offices of the Government from the domain of spoils politics, and thereby cut out of American political life a fruitful source of corruption and degradation.
   The spoils theory of politics is that public office is so much plunder which the victorious political party is entitled to appropriate to the use of its adherents. […] Yet there were many flagrant instances of inefficiency, where a powerful chief quartered friend, adherent, or kinsman upon the Government. Moreover, the necessarily haphazard nature of the employment, the need of obtaining and holding the office by service wholly unconnected with official duty, inevitably tended to lower the standard of public morality, alike among the office-holders and among the politicians who rendered party service with the hope of reward in office.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 5 “Applied Idealism” (1913)

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/8…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #teddyroosevelt #theodoreroosevelt #administration #civilservice #corruption #duty #government #immorality #partisanship #plunder #politicalparty #politics #publicservice #spoilssystem

Roosevelt, Theodore - Autobiography, ch. 5 "Applied Idealism" (1913) | WIST Quotations

Civil Service Reform had two sides. There was, first, the effort to secure a more efficient administration of the public service, and, second, the even more important effort to withdraw the administrative offices of the Government from the domain of spoils politics, and thereby cut out of American political life…

WIST Quotations
MathiasTCK.bsky.socialJun 4
I am describing current US policy as the opposite of: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_sti... #BigStick ideology (also known as big stick diplomacy, big stick philosophy) was a political approach used by the 26th president of the United States, #TheodoreRoosevelt.
Big stick ideology - Wikipedia

earlymusicTOJun 3
#Steinway art-case #grandpiano no.100,000 – the 1st #WhiteHousePiano (photo: #Steinway&Sons)... to celebrate Steinway’s 50th ann... presented to #TheodoreRoosevelt The casework incorporates seals of the orig 13 states, and the painting on the lid depicts America welcoming the 9 Muses. Each leg features an American eagle. Cost: $20,000... now in the #SmithsonianInstitute. https://www.worldpianonews.com/historical/white-house-piano/
ResearchBuzz: FirehoseMay 31

KNSI: The controversies surrounding the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. “In case you haven’t heard the very bully news, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library—which opens on July 4 in the tiny town of Medora, North Dakota—is a stunning architectural, archival, and multimedia achievement, a world-class memorial to a president who became the first great champion of […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/05/31/knsi-the-controversies-surrounding-the-new-theodore-roosevelt-presidential-library/
KNSI: The controversies surrounding the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

KNSI: The controversies surrounding the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. “In case you haven’t heard the very bully news, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library—which opens on…

ResearchBuzz: Firehose
WIST QuotationsMay 28

A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

He had not learned that the majority in a democracy has no more right to tyrannize over a minority than, under a different system, the latter would have to oppress the former; and that, if there is a moral principle at stake, the saying that the voice of the people is the voice of God may be quite as untrue, and do quite as much mischief, as the old theory of the divine right of kings. The distinguishing feature of our American governmental system is the freedom of the individual; it is quite as important to prevent his being oppressed by many men as it is to save him from the tyranny of one.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Thomas Hart Benton, ch. 6 (1886)

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/2…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #teddyroosevelt #theodoreroosevelt #autonomy #civilrights #democracy #freedom #individual #liberty #majority #personalfreedom #tyranny #tyrannyofthemajority #voxpopuli

Roosevelt, Theodore - Thomas Hart Benton, ch. 6 (1886) | WIST Quotations

He had not learned that the majority in a democracy has no more right to tyrannize over a minority than, under a different system, the latter would have to oppress the former; and that, if there is a moral principle at stake, the saying that the voice of the people…

WIST Quotations
Church of JeffMay 22
#CitizensUnited #OverturnCitizensUnited #MoneyInPolitics #EndDarkMoney #DemocracyNotForSale #FreeSpeechForPeople #CampaignFinanceReform #CorporationsAreNotPeople #FixOurDemocracy #TheodoreRoosevelt #TeddyRoosevelt #CampaignFinance #CorporateInfluence #PoliticalHistory #GetMoneyOut #ProgressiveEra #USPolitics #PoliticalMemes #TR
Craig ConstantineJul 4, 2014

Victorious effort

We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

slip:4a11.

#ManhoodAndHonor #Quotes #TheodoreRoosevelt
Craig Constantine

Presence, not pursuit.

Craig Constantine
WIST QuotationsMay 14

A quotation from Theodore Roosevelt

The most important factor in getting the right spirit in my Administration, next to the insistence upon courage, honesty, and a genuine democracy of desire to serve the plain people, was my insistence upon the theory that the executive power was limited only by specific restrictions and prohibitions appearing in the Constitution or imposed by the Congress under its Constitutional powers. My view was that every executive officer, and above all every executive officer in high position, was a steward of the people bound actively and affirmatively to do all he could for the people, and not to content himself with the negative merit of keeping his talents undamaged in a napkin. I declined to adopt the view that what was imperatively necessary for the Nation could not be done by the President unless he could find some specific authorization to do it. My belief was that it was not only his right but his duty to do anything that the needs of the Nation demanded unless such action was forbidden by the Constitution or by the laws. Under this interpretation of executive power I did and caused to be done many things not previously done by the President and the heads of the departments. I did not usurp power, but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power. In other words, I acted for the public welfare, I acted for the common well-being of all our people, whenever and in whatever manner was necessary, unless prevented by direct constitutional or legislative prohibition.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 10 "The Presidency" (1913)

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/3…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #theodoreroosevelt #teddyroosevelt #authority #Constitution #executivepower #government #legaltheory #limitsofpower #power #presidency #president

Roosevelt, Theodore - Autobiography, ch. 10 "The Presidency" (1913) | WIST Quotations

The most important factor in getting the right spirit in my Administration, next to the insistence upon courage, honesty, and a genuine democracy of desire to serve the plain people, was my insistence upon the theory that the executive power was limited only by specific restrictions and prohibitions appearing in…

WIST Quotations
WIST QuotationsMay 8

A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of a plutocracy.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Autobiography, ch. 22 “The Big Stick and the Square Deal” (1913)

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/2…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #teddyroosevelt #theodoreroosevelt #government #oligarchy #plutocracy #power #tyranny #wealth

Roosevelt, Theodore - Autobiography, ch. 22 "The Big Stick and the Square Deal" (1913) | WIST Quotations

Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of a plutocracy.

WIST Quotations