Sound Familiar? A 1910 New York Times Editorial Condemning Teddy Roosevelt’s “New Nationalism” Speech.
Yesterday, President Obama delivered a major speech in Kansas, in the same city, Osawatomie, where, on August 31, 1910, “Colonel” Teddy Roosevelt gave his now immortal New Nationalism speech as part of the dedication of the John Brown (“Battle of Osawatomie”) Memorial Park. [To read both speeches] Although the speeches were for differing purposes (TR’s to unite a fractured Republican party; Obama’s to urge Congress to act on his job creation proposals), both men used populism and progressivism as their context. Both, for example, urged tax policies that require the wealthiest Americans to pay an equitable share of taxes. . .
Unsurprisingly, both men were attacked by those who supported a hands-off federal policy. Hands off taxes. Hands off business practices. Hands off employer/labor relations. Hands off the “job creators.” Hands off hedge funds. And on and on.
Here’s a representative, and well-written, September 1910 New York Times editorial dedicated to very politely kicking “New Nationalism” in the groin, there’s no nicer way to express it. In the days to come President Obama’s message will suffer equally. It’s important to remember that Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal” was very much the exception to the norm in American political thought . . . the Tea Party hands off “ethic” is as old as our ancient forebears’ invasion of these lands.
New York Time’s editorial (09-11-1910) criticism Of Teddy Roosevelt’s New Nationalism speech
