The Constitutional Alamo

In a recent speech by National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman, the “Artist in Chief” was described as the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar.  More disturbing was the fact that Landesman dared compare Obama to the “Rough Rider.”

by Michael Naragon

Much has already been made of Landesman’s comparisons of Obama to Julius Caesar.  As a teacher and lifelong student of history, I find that comparison amusing on various levels.

Caesar was an accomplished military leader whose campaign through Gaul was the subject of his major literary work, still available in your local Barnes and Noble.  Barack Obama is an indecisive teleprompter reader whose book will certainly be long forgotten 2,000 years from now.  Julius Caesar’s actions as leader of Rome turned the Republic into a dictatorial empire that later spawned such rulers as Nero and Caligula.  Might the Messiah, who, like Caesar purports himself to be god-like, also be the one who finally eliminates the last vestiges of our Republic?

Aside from this utterly uninformed comparison between this president and the ruler of Rome, the part of Landesman’s speech that disturbed me more was when he likened Obama to one of the greatest and most active presidents the nation has ever seen, Theodore Roosevelt.

“There is a new president and a new NEA,” Landesman explained.  “The president first. This is the first president that actually writes his own books since Teddy Roosevelt and arguably the first to write them really well since Lincoln.”

Not only does Landesman compare our current office-holder to Roosevelt, he implies that Obama was a better writer.

Before becoming president, Barack Obama lived in Hawaii, then lived in Indonesia, went to college at Harvard, became a lawyer/teacher of radicalism/community organizer.  During his career, he wrote two books, Dreams Of My Father and The Audacity of Hope, in which he demonstrated his views on many topics, including his internal struggles with racism.  He then served as a state senator, and as a U.S. Senator for nearly one term, using his time in office to campaign for president.

Theodore Roosevelt had a significantly more accomplished road to the presidency.  As a young man, Roosevelt faced personal tragedy when his wife and mother died of typhus on the same day.  Rather than wallow in self-pity, the future president traveled to the West to live and work on a ranch.  His interactions with the cowboys and Indian tribes became the subject of one of his early books, Ranch Life and Hunting Trail, which was widely popular.  Roosevelt had already written a critically acclaimed work on U.S. naval warfare during the War of 1812 and biographies of Thomas Hart Benson and Gouverneur Morris.

Roosevelt served as police commisioner of New York, among other things, before being appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by William McKinley.  When war broke out between the U.S. and Spain, Roosevelt resigned and, along with Leonard Wood, formed the famous “Rough Riders” volunteer corps.  Under fire at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt proved his mettle, leading his motley collection of Indian fighters, cowboys, and privileged youths over the Spanish fortifications and into the history books.  He later wrote Rough Riders, a well-received book that described his adventures in Cuba during the war.

Upon his return to the States, Roosevelt was practically drafted into the race for governor of New York.  Using his growing popularity, Theodore won the election and made himself a political player on the national stage.  When McKinley’s vice president died in office, the president tapped Roosevelt, with his national name recognition, to serve in that role.  In the election of 1900, the “Rough Rider” campaigned relentlessly and helped bring victory for McKinley, who was shot six months later, handing the presidency to the young New Yorker.

As chief executive of the nation, Roosevelt sprang into action, attacking monopolies like the Northern Securities Company of financial magnate J.P. Morgan.  Morgan, whose importance on Wall Street had earned him the nickname “Jupiter,” visited the White House and explained to Roosevelt that such a legal attack could not be made.  Morgan tried to entice the president with offers of money and luxury items in exchange for dropping the issue.  Roosevelt not only pursued the case, but the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, much to the chagrin of “Jupiter.”

Roosevelt didn’t bother telling people how he would “change” the country, he simply did it.  During his presidency, a black leader was first invited to dinner at the White House, European nations were warned away from the Americas, the Panama Canal was begun, and the world became aware of the strength of the United States Navy.

After leaving office, Roosevelt went on safari in Africa, rubbed shoulders with dignitaries in Britain, and then returned to the United States to run once again for president in 1912.  The Republican establishment was made up of the same type of stodgy, fearful politicians that populate the party today, denying Roosevelt a chance at the nomination for president despite his overwhelming victories in states with direct primaries.  Roosevelt, undeterred, ran as an independent with his Progressive, or “Bull Moose,” Party.  At a campaign stop in Minnesota, Roosevelt was shot by a would-be assassin.  Rather than seek medical aid, the former president climbed the stage and delivered his speech in a time long before teleprompting.

Roosevelt came in second in the 1912 race, the only third-party candidate ever to have such success.  Five years later, the “old lion” was sitting in the White House, begging Woodrow Wilson to send him to France to serve in the First World War.  Wilson refused, but Roosevelt wasn’t done.  He campaigned for Republicans in 1918, helping the party gain majorities in the House and Senate, majorities which were instrumental in keeping the United States out of Wilson’s League of Nations.

Before his death, Roosevelt had written over 20 books, most of which were met with popular acclaim.

So the head of the NEA would like to compare Barack Obama to Theodore Roosevelt?  They are alike in one respect: like Obama, the “Rough Rider” won a Nobel Peace Prize.  The difference?  Roosevelt received his for ending the Russo-Japanese War.  Obama won his for ending the American experiment.