Roosevelt, Theodore -- Essay (1918-05), “Lincoln and Free Speech,” Metropolitan Magazine, Vol. 47, No. 6

Dave — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 18:02:06 +0000

One form of servility consists in a slavish attitude — of the kind incompatible with self-respecting manliness — toward any person who is powerful by reason of his office or position. Servility may be shown by a public servant toward the profiteering head of a large corporation, or toward the anti-American head of a big labor organization. It may also be shown in peculiarly noxious and un-American form by confounding the President or any other official with the country and shrieking “stand by the President” without regard to whether, by so acting, we do or do not stand by the country.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Essay (1918-05), “Lincoln and Free Speech,” Metropolitan Magazine, Vol. 47, No. 6

On censorship actions by the Wilson Administration taken against critics of its handling of war efforts.

Reprinted in Appendix C of his The Great Adventure (1918), and as ch. 7 of that book in Vol. 21 of The Works of Theodore Roosevelt (1925), The Great Adventure

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Roosevelt, Theodore -- Essay (1918-05), “Lincoln and Free Speech,” Metropolitan Magazine, Vol. 47, No. 6