This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The excellent Ken Burns series on the Roosevelts reminded me again as to why I'm a Democrat.
Though Teddy ran twice, once for vice president and for president in 1904 as a Republican, the series presented a Republican who was nothing like any other Republican President since Lincoln. He was despised by J.P. Morgan. and when McKinley died, Republican leader Mark Hanna was quoted as saying: "I told you he shouldn't have been nominated vice president, and now that cowboy is in the White House."
In reviewing his platform for a third term as the "Bull Moose" candidate, he certainly showed himself to be my kind of Democrat.
At this time of great disparity of wealth and the flood of billionaire money into elections, particularly to extremely conservative and tea party candidates, Americans must wake up to the accomplishments of progressives Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt and see the danger facing the middle and lower classes.
A much better future will be ours and our children and grandchildren if we as responsible citizens — particularly here in Utah — place less time consideration on issues such as abortion (changes which will not be altered by Utahns) or gay marriage (which will be determined by the Supreme Court) or fretting over how freely we can arm ourselves with assault weapons. We should worry more about restoring "All men are created equal" and "A government of the people, by the people and for the people."
Karl Swan
Roy