We do not intend that this Republic shall ever fail as those republics of olden times failed, in which there finally came to be a government by classes, which resulted either in the poor plundering the rich or in the rich exploiting and in one form or another enslaving the poor; for either event means the destruction of free institutions and of individual liberty.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)

Speech, Union League Club, Philadelphia (30 Jan 1905)