A TIME 100 Symposium

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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

(6 of 17)

RATHER: Well, here's the case for Theodore Roosevelt. The 20th Century was the American century. And without Theodore Roosevelt it very well may not have become the American century. He teed up, he set it up. Many of the things Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, flowed from Theodore Roosevelt's accomplishments. He was also a man far ahead of his time. Talk about someone with vision. I was struck by Mr. Kristol saying, strong leaders, important leaders in history are people who have visions. And Theodore Roosevelt you can argue had as much or more vision than any other American president.

ROSE: How about going —

ISAACSO:N I want to say Theo — Theodore Roosevelt created the modern presidency. He created the activist President, the President as leader, not simply someone who presided over Congress, negotiated with Congress, and in the sense every President since has been judged as to whether he is activist or non-activist. We don't really respect non-activist Presidents. But it, it was Theodore Roosevelt who created the mold. He created the term, bully pulpit. Even just to speak as a leader was his discovery. And, so, yes, I mean there was no question he was a great President, even if he was a Republican.


[Laughter]

KRISTOL: The notion that Dan says that he teed up the century and that you're saying that he's activist is a truly why, I think you could almost make an argument he may have been the most important President of this century. He sets up the notion of government intervention in the economy and guiding capitalism and carving out a bit of the rough edges of capitalism which has been the theme of this century, Franklin Roosevelt to Reagan, still the theme. Secondly, that America engages in the world, engages in the world with a big stick. Thirdly, rugged individualism that that's the theme of America and why it's going to be an American century and even the notion of environmentalism, the four great themes of the century, all coming from Teddy Roosevelt.

[Simultaneous conversation.]

RATHER: It's just such an important point.

RICE: Go ahead.

RATHER: I beg your pardon. Such an important point that the rise of the State at the expense of the individual was perhaps the dominant story of the middle part of the century, beginning with Lenin and going through Stalin, going through Hitler. Roosevelt staked out the century as an American century primarily because the rugged individualism. It's the individual that counts more than the State. Now, the rise of the State happened in the middle part of the century but now we look at the century, as a whole, as we come to an end, and the rise of the State, I would argue, has abated and the rise of the individual now begins anew as we look toward the 21st Century which is one of the reasons Theodore Roosevelt, I think deserves strong consideration as the person of the century.

RICE: Well, while Teddy, while Teddy's on stage I will just add one more thing for him. He's now getting gathering support.

[Laughter]

RICE: I think that what he did was —

ROSE: There may be a book there.

[Laughter]

RICE: —I think what he did was to show what happens when a leader energizes social movements in his time and, therefore, the social movements help to pressure the government to do things. The Progressive Movement was a very exciting, vital movement that people all over the society were part of. They wanted to change capitalism to help the industrial base that was creating terrible problems for working people. So, the minimum wage, the maximum hours, child labor regulations, all the things that began to happen he gave voice to them, he helped to energize them and we've seen that other times in our century. When a President can combine with a social movement that's out there, that's where real change takes place. So, you had him and the Progressive Movement and you had Roosevelt and the whole movement that occurs during the '30s, you had John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and that movement in the '60s and the problem with much of the rest of the century is that that when those movements are not there and I'm not sure you'd agree because I love these movements —


[Laughter]

RICE: —but anyways, when those movements are not there, then you've got people acting isolated from the country at large. Most change occurs from the bottom up whether it's the women's movement or the civil rights movement or the environmental movement, but we need the leaders to give voice to them and to give them expression and Teddy did do that.

[Simultaneous conversation.]

ROSE: Go ahead.

KEARNS-GOODWIN: I actually think it's a little bit worse than the movements not being there. I think what we're seeing in the latter part of the century is the tendency to try to get, to ride the tiger of a movement, or to not to shape it and channel it and give it political voice but rather through polling to figure out where it is and then to be on the right side of it. And that is one of the most important differences with really great leaders is that they're very often just slightly ahead. They sense a rightness of those movements. They then channel and give voice to them, energize them as you say, and then you get real political change. And I do think that —

ROSE: What's the best example of that?

KEARNS-GOODWIN: Well, I think Theodore Roosevelt, joining the bandwagon now, that Theodore Roosevelt is really a very good example of that.

[Simultaneous conversation.]

ROSE: Governor Cuomo.

[Simultaneous conversation.]

CUOMO: Let me disagree.

KEARNS-GOODWIN: Ronald Reagan, too, by the way I would argue is an example of that.

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