The
cruise attracted to the American navy the admiration of the world;
it immensely increased the usefulness of the Navy itself by the
experience it gave the officers and men; and it served warning
upon anybody who needed it (and some folk did need it) that
America was not a country of dollar-chasing Yankees, rich and
helpless, but that it had the ability to defend itself.
This was an illustration of Roosevelt's use of the old saying:
"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." When he
first repeated this, it was seized upon by the newspapers for its
amusing quality, and he was henceforth pictured as carrying a
tremendous bludgeon, of the sort which giants usually bore in the
tale of "Jack the Giant Killer." Timid folk thought that it proved
their worst fears about his fondness for a fight. They failed to
notice the "Speak softly" part of the saying. It was only a vivid
way of advising his countrymen to be quiet and polite in their
dealings with other nations, but not to let America become
defenseless. What hasty and shallow critics denounced as the
threat of a bully, proved in practice to be the sagacious advice
of a statesman, whose promise when he took office, to preserve the
peace and honor of his beloved country, was kept faithfully and
precisely.
And he was able to keep the peace, to fill the office of President
for seven years without having a shot fired by our forces, because
he made it clear that this country would not submit to wrong,
would not argue or bicker with foreign trespassers, kidnappers,
highwaymen or murderers, but would promptly fight them.
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