My First Post

"The stoutest and truest Americans are the very men who have the least sympathy with the people who invoke the spirit of Americanism to aid what is vicious in our government or to throw obstacles in the way of those who strive to reform it."

This line is extracted from a speech given in April of 1894 by Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was a member of the Republican Party but his legacy differs greatly with the party's platform today.

Roosevelt was a clear champion of labor and the labor movement.....

"Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."

"It is essential that there should be organizations of labor. This is an era of organization. Capital organizes and therefore labor must organize."

He advocated the conservation of wildlife and natural resources.

"I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us."

He favored governmental regulation in business....

"Such increased supervision is the only alternative to an increase of the present evils on the one hand or a still more radical policy on the other."

He also endorsed equal rights for women.....


"Viewed purely in the abstract, I think there can be no question that women should have
equal rights with men.... Especially as regards the laws relating to marriage there should be
the most absolute equality between the two sexes"

All of these positions place him squarely in the Progressive Camp which today is diametrically opposed to the Republican Party's platform.

So why do Republicans claim to be the benefactors of his legacy? Theodore Roosevelt is considered to be one of the most successful Presidents in history.As such it lends legitimacy to the Republican Party, a legitimacy which recently has been eroded by misguided ideology. Their claim to Lincoln is similarly ridiculous since his policies do not square with their party's disastrous policies toward minorities. So it is insincere for Republicans to claim both
Roosevelt and Lincoln because by today's standards they would be called "far-left radicals"

The speech True Americansim defines the conduct required of each American. New Americanism is a re-dedication to these principles and the purpose and name of this blog. I hope in the coming days and weeks that my view of current events through the prism of New Americanism will inspire a few of you to thought and possibly action.

The Founding Father's established this country on the principle that governments are established for the benefit of its citizens and to that end the citizens have a duty to be involved in their government.