Teddy Roosevelt won the war with Spain. On this we can agree. He charged up San Juan hill and turned the tide of battle. It was the last time men on horseback would determine the outcome of a war involving the United States. But Roosevelt wasn't finished. Hew wanted to get his Rough Riders together again and turn the tide of World War I by charging the Germans. All he had to do was get permission from President Woodrow Wilson and he was ready to go overseas.
Roosevelt had become politically radioactive after losing the 1912 election for the Republicans. He had decided he wanted to run again and split the ticket. His hand picked successor William Howard Taft would have a been an easy win as Woodrow Wilson was an unknown quantity who had been President of Princeton and now the professorial Wilson was taking on a sitting President. Enter Roosevelt who decided he wanted to run again under his own party when he didn't get the nomination. The Bull Moose party Roosevelt formed was short lived and he handed the presidency to the Democrats.
So now he had to go to Wilson and plead to let him go commit suicide in France. World War I was vastly different than the war with Spain. Mustard gas, chlorine gas, tanks, flame throwers, machine guns. Millions of men died in a span of days. Roosevelt would not have gone five feet before he was cut down. But Teddy Roosevelt believed in action and he felt he could restore his political standing by winning the war for America. It was not to be. Woodrow Wilson said no. He did not want a dead president on his hands. Teddy Roosevelt never forgave him.
Forging A President
Roosevelt had become politically radioactive after losing the 1912 election for the Republicans. He had decided he wanted to run again and split the ticket. His hand picked successor William Howard Taft would have a been an easy win as Woodrow Wilson was an unknown quantity who had been President of Princeton and now the professorial Wilson was taking on a sitting President. Enter Roosevelt who decided he wanted to run again under his own party when he didn't get the nomination. The Bull Moose party Roosevelt formed was short lived and he handed the presidency to the Democrats.
So now he had to go to Wilson and plead to let him go commit suicide in France. World War I was vastly different than the war with Spain. Mustard gas, chlorine gas, tanks, flame throwers, machine guns. Millions of men died in a span of days. Roosevelt would not have gone five feet before he was cut down. But Teddy Roosevelt believed in action and he felt he could restore his political standing by winning the war for America. It was not to be. Woodrow Wilson said no. He did not want a dead president on his hands. Teddy Roosevelt never forgave him.
Forging A President
