He knew they never
had failed to back up their leader in the White House. He knew
that no President need worry about loyalty when he tells America
that a foreign enemy is making threats. He had seen his courageous
predecessor, Grover Cleveland, rouse America, as one man, over
another Venezuelan incident, a dozen or more years before. And he
knew that the only occasion when America had ever seemed about to
fall into doubt and hesitation in time of danger, was when that
doubt and hesitation began in the White House,--in the
administration of Buchanan, before the Civil War. America will
always support her President, if war threatens,--but America
expects him to show leadership. Timidity in the leader will make
timidity in the nation.
So the Kaiser changed his mind and gave in,--why? Because he knew
that there was a President in the White House whose words were
easy to understand; they did not have to be interpreted nor
explained. And moreover, when these words were uttered, the
President would make them good, every one.
CHAPTER XI
THE LION HUNTER
Other important events of President Roosevelt's administration
will best be described farther on. For their importance increased
after he was out of office, and they had a great influence upon a
later campaign.
Here, it should be said that in 1904, as the term for which he was
acting as Mr.
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