The Bull Moose at Bay - Mike Resnick, ebook
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//-->The Bull Moose at Bayby Mike Resnick_I don't care what may be his politics, I don't care what may be his religion, I don't care what may be hiscolor. I don't care who he is. So long as he is honest, he shall be served by me._-- Theodore RooseveltSpeech at Cooper Union Hall,New York, N.Y., October 15, 1886_Personally I feel that it is exactly as much a "right" of women as of men to vote. I always favoredwoman's suffrage, but only tepidly, until my association with women like Jane Addams and FrancesKellor changed me into a zealous instead of a lukewarm adherent to the cause._-- Theodore RooseveltAUTOBIOGRAPHY (1913)****The date was October 27, 1916.It was a birthday party, but it resembled a wake.The President had invited only his family and a few close friends to his retreat at Sagamore Hill on this,his 58th birthday. He walked from room to room in the huge old mansion, greeting them, trying to jokewith them, but unable to keep a dark scowl from periodically crossing his face. Even Alice, his oldestdaughter, who had distracted her share of cabinet meetings and press conferences, seemed unable todistract him tonight."Well?" demanded the President at last."Well, what, Theodore?" asked his wife."Why is everyone tiptoeing around me?" he demanded. "I'm not dead yet. There are worse things thantaking an enforced vacation." He paused. "Maybe I'll go back to Africa again, or explore that river theBrazilian government has been asking me to map for them.""What are you talking about, Mr. President?" said Elihu Root. "You're going to spend the next four yearsin the White House.""This isn't a political rally, Elihu," answered Roosevelt. "It's a quiet party, and you're among friends." Hesighed deeply. "You've seen the papers, you've heard what the pundits say: I'll be lucky to win six states.""I believe in you, Mr. President," insisted Root."You're my Secretary of War," said Roosevelt, managing one of his famous grins. "You're _supposed_ tobelieve in me." The grin vanished, to be replaced by a frown. "I wish I could say the same of theRepublican Party.""They're still angry at you for running and winning as a Bull Moose four years ago," said Edith, standing infront of her husband and stroking his hair lovingly. "Some of them probably wish that fanatic who tried toshoot you in Milwaukee had been a better shot. But when they're faced with a choice between you andMr. Wilson, they'll do what's right."Roosevelt shook his head. "If I can't win the Congress to my cause, how can I expect to win thepeople?" He strode restlessly across the parlor. "The choice isn't between me and Mr. Wilson; if it wasthat simple, I'd have no fear of the outcome. It's a choice between their principles and their prejudices,and given the splendid example of the Congress" -- he spat out the word -- "it would appear that theirprejudices are going to win, hands down.""I just can't believe it," said Gifford Pinchot."Gifford, you're a good man and a loyal man," said Roosevelt, "and I thank you for the sentiment." Hepaused. "But you're my Director of National Parks, and trees don't vote. What do you know about it?""I know that you came into office as the most popular American since Abraham Lincoln -- probablysince Jefferson, in fact -- and that you managed to win the war with Germany in less than a year. We'vebecome a true world power, the economy's never been stronger, and there aren't any more trusts left tobust. How in God's name can they vote you out of office? I simply refuse to believe the polls.""Believe them, Gifford," said Roosevelt. "You've got less than three months to find employmentelsewhere.""I've spoken to Hughes, and he thinks you're going to win," persisted Pinchot."Charlie Hughes is my running mate. It's in his best interest to believe we're going to win." Rooseveltpaused. "That's one thing I'm especially sorry about. Charlie is a good man, and he would have made anexcellent President in 1920. A lot better than that fat fool from Ohio," he added, grimacing at the thoughtof William Howard Taft, who had succeeded him the first time he had left office."Speaking of Charlie," said Root, surveying the room, "I don't see him here tonight.""This is a birthday party, for my friends and my family," answered Roosevelt. "I'm sick of politicians.""_I'm_ a politician, Theodore," said Root."And if that's all you were, you wouldn't be here," answered the President."What about _him_?" asked Root, nodding toward a tall, well-dressed young man who seemeduncomfortable in his surroundings, and viewed the world through an elegant _pince-nez_.Roosevelt sighed. "He's family.""He's also a Democrat.""At least he's still speaking to me," said Roosevelt. "That's more than I can say for a lot of Republicans.""He's too busy looking down his nose to speak to anyone," commented Pinchot."He's young," answered Roosevelt. "He'll learn. And he's got a good wife to teach him."A tall, grizzled man clad in buckskins entered the room. Everyone stared at him for a moment, then wentback to their drinks and conversations, and he walked across the parlor to where the President wasstanding."'Evening, Teddy," said Frank McCoy."Good evening, Frank," said Roosevelt. "I'm glad you could come.""Brought some of the stuff you asked me to hunt up," said McCoy."Oh?"McCoy nodded, and pulled a wrinkled folder out of his rumpled jacket. "Two hundred thousand acresadjoining the Yellowstone, a couple of lakes, nice little river flowing through it, even got some buf andgrizzly left, and yours for the asking.""You don't say?" replied Roosevelt, his eyes alight with interest."And I found another one, out by Medora in the Dakota Bad Lands, right near where you used to own aranch.""Medora," repeated Roosevelt, a wistful smile crossing his face. "It's been a long time since I've thoughtof Medora." He paused. "Stick around when the party is over, Frank. I'd like to go over these brochureswith you.""I won't hear of it!" snapped Pinchot. "You're going to be the President of the United States for fourmore years!""So who says the President can't own a ranch out near the Yellowstone?" asked McCoy."You should be out campaigning for him, not finding retirement homes," continued Pinchot angrily."Gifford, I've always been a realist," said Roosevelt. "I'm going to lose. It's time to start planning the nextphase of my life.""I won't hear of it!" said Pinchot."I admire your loyalty, but I question your grasp of politics," said Roosevelt gently. "The people willspeak one week from today, and neither you nor I are going to like what they have to say -- but we'regoing to have to abide by it, and I'm going to have to find something to do with myself.""But you're _right_!" said Pinchot. "Can't they see it?""Evidently not," answered Roosevelt."If it wasn't for that bastard Morgan..." began Root."It isn't J. P. Morgan's fault," said Roosevelt. "He's opposed me for years, and I've always beaten him.No, you can lay the blame for this at the doorstep of the Republican Party. They're still bitter than I ranas a Bull Moose and beat Bill Taft -- but they're slitting their own throats to have their revenge on me,and I can't seem to make them understand it." He sighed again. "Or maybe it's my own fault.""You're not backing off what you've been fighting for, are you, Teddy?" asked McCoy, arching a bushyeyebrow."No, of course not," answered Roosevelt. "But obviously I didn't get my message across to the peoplewho count -- to the voters.""How could you?" asked Root, taking a drink from a liveried servant as he passed through the room witha large tray. "The Republicans own three-quarters of the newspapers, and the rest think that God speaksdirectly to Woodrow Wilson.""I should have realized that it was in their best interest to oppose me and gone out on the stump andspoken to the people directly. I've done it often enough before." The President shook his head. "What Ican't understand is why the Democrats didn't grab this issue and wave it like a flag once the Republicanswouldn't have anything to do with it."Root snorted contemptuously. "Because they're Democrats.""And maybe they were afraid if they took _it_, they'd have to take _you_, too," added McCoy with anamused grin."It could turn their party around," said Roosevelt seriously. He looked across the room at the tall,well-dressed young man who was carefully inserting a cigarette into its holder. "Look at my cousin," hesaid, lowering his voice. "An effete blue-blooded snob, who dabbles in politics the way some men dabblein stamps and coins. Yet if he came down on the right side of this single issue, he could be in the WhiteHouse fifteen or twenty years from now.""God forbid!" laughed Pinchot in mock horror."Mark my words," said Roosevelt. "This is an issue that isn't going to go away. You and I may wind up inhistory's ashcan, but not what we fought for. It's an inevitable as the stars in their courses, and I can'tseem to make a single Republican Senator or Congressman see it!"An almost animal growl of anger came forth from the President's lips, and Edith immediately approachedhim, bringing him a soft drink, straightening his tie, smoothing his hair."You must try to control yourself, my dear," she said soothingly."What for?" demanded Roosevelt. "I thought I was supposed to be among friends tonight, not politicians.If a man can't express disgust for the Congress to his friends, then who _can_ he express it to?""Please, Theodore," said Edith. "You don't want to make a scene.""Why not?" he said irritably. "A President has the right to make a scene if he wants to."Edith shrugged. "He's all yours, gentlemen," she said to Root, McCoy and Pinchot. "I can't do a thingwith him when he's like this."She walked off to supervise the butler and servants."What is everyone staring at?" demanded Roosevelt, for all talk had stopped when Edith had approachedhim. "Isn't a beaten candidate allowed his tantrums?""You're not beaten yet, Father," said Alice.Roosevelt shook his head impatiently. "Of course I am," he said, addressing the room at large. "But that'snot the issue. _I'm_ not important. I've put in eleven years at this job. It's time I moved on to other things:I've still got books to write and distant lands to see. The important thing is what's going to happen to thecountry." The President's voice rose in anger. "You can't simply disfranchise sixty percent of it and expectthings to run as they've always run.""My cousin, the Samaritan," muttered the tall man with the _pince-nez_ and the cigarette holder, and anumber of people around him chuckled in amusement."Laugh all you want!" thundered Roosevelt. "That's what the Congress did, too. You want to vote me outof office? Go ahead, that's your right -- _if_ you happen to be a male of the Caucasian race." He glaredat them. "Doesn't it bother you that more than half the people in this room _can't_ vote me out of officeno matter how much they disagree with me?""It bothers _me_, Cousin Theodore," said a plain-looking woman, who had been standing unobtrusivelyin a corner, reading some of the framed letters from other heads of state that were displayed on the wall."Well, it ought to bother _all_ of you," said Roosevelt. "How can we build a country based on theprinciple that all men are created equal, and then refuse to give women the vote? We freed the slavesmore than half a century ago -- and we've erected so many barriers that more Negroes voted _before_the Civil War than vote now!" He paused. "How can I be President of all the people when six out ofevery ten of them can't vote for me or against me?""I believe we've heard this song before," said one of the guests, a one-time hunting companion from theRockies."Well, _I_ don't believe you've heard a word of it!" snapped Roosevelt. "What makes someone anAmerican, anyway?""I don't think I understand you," said the hunter."You heard me -- what makes you an American?""I ... ah...""You were born here and you're breathing!" said Roosevelt. "Does anyone know of any otherqualification?" He glared pugnaciously around the room. "All right, now. What do you think makes youbetter than any other American?""I consider that an insulting question, Mr. President.""You'd consider it a lot more insulting if you were a woman, or a Negro, or an immigrant who receivedhis citizenship papers but can't pass a literacy test at the polls -- a test that nine out of ten collegegraduates couldn't pass!"Roosevelt paused for breath. "Don't any of you understand? We're not living in a Utopia here. Wehaven't reached a plateau of excellence from which we will never budge. America is a living, growingexperiment in democracy, and sooner or later, whether you like it or not, women _are_ going to get thevote, and Negroes are _not_ going to be harassed at the polls, and immigrants are going to be_welcomed_ into a political party.""If it's inevitable, why are you so worked up about it?" asked a distant relative. "Why did you let it costyou the presidency?""He hasn't lost anything!" snarled a younger man. "Those are fighting words! Step outside and -- ""He's right," interrupted Roosevelt. "It did cost me the election.""But Mr. President -- ""That's a fact," continued Roosevelt. "And facts can be many things, pleasant and unpleasant, but the onething they always are is true.""Then I repeat -- why did you let it cost you the presidency?"
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