Jacob A. Riis (1849–1914). Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizen. 1904.
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| Board, “I have heard this thing, and I am told you said it. You know, of course, that it is a lie. I shall send at once for the man who says he heard you tell it, so that you may meet him; because you know if you did say it we cannot have you around here any more.” The man got out at once and never came back while Roosevelt was there. |
| It was all as simple as that, perfectly open and aboveboard, and I think he was buncoed less than any of his “wise” predecessors. There was that in his trust in uncorrupted human nature that brought out a like response. There always is, thank heaven! You get what you give in trust and affection. The man who trusts no one has his faith justified; no one will trust him, and he will find plenty to try their wits upon him. Once in a while Roosevelt’s sympathies betrayed him, but not to his discredit. They laugh yet in the section-rooms at the police stations over the trick played upon him by a patrolman whose many peccadilloes had brought him at last to the “jumping-off place.” This time he was to be dismissed. The President said so; there was no mercy. But the policeman had “piped him off.” He knew |