Since the 1930s to honor the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. And this year we have a special opportunity to hear from an extraordinary speaker. And in introducing him i would like to repeat something that he said at the First NationalRepublican Convention that he attended as a young man in 1884. He was part of a reform wing of the Republican Party, and they had an insurgent candidate to be temporary chair of the convention, taking on the candidacy of the Republican National committee. That candidate happened to be the africanamerican congressman from mississippi, john r. Lynch. Here is some of what our speaker said. It is now less than a quarter of a century since in this city, chicago, the Great Republican Party organized for victory and nominated Abraham Lincoln of illinois who broke the fetors of the slaves and rant them asunder forever. It is a fitting thing for us to choose to preside over this convention one of that race whose right to sit within these walls is due to the blood and the treasures so lavishly spent by the founders of the Republican Party. So, it is a great honor and pleasure to introduce the 26th president of the United States no. He asked me to introduce him differently. It is a tremendous honor to introduce to introduce colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Bully, bully ha, ha, ha, ha bully, president elliff, thank you very much, sir. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, i am Theodore Roosevelt, and i am delighted to be here this evening with the Lincoln Group of the District Of Columbia and northern virginia. Oh, how its done my heart good to share fellowship with you this evening. So many of you recognized me upon my arrival and greeted me accordingly. Hello, teddy. Greening, mr. President. I asked president elliff. My friends in my Retirement Call me colonel. For my brief time in the volunteer cavalry. History remembers us as the rough riders in the fight against the spanish monarchy for the freedom of the cuban people. All of the greetings tonight historically accurate stand in stark contrast to the young man yesterday, he saw me with my top hat and pointed at me and said, look, there is the monopoly dude. [ laughter ] ha, ha quite humbling for an old politician, i assure you. If he knew his history as well as mr. Obrien and the historians here, he would have known i was the antimonopoly dude. The great trust buster. Well, i am here to salute Abraham Lincoln. Of course, i was a little boy born in 1858. We just did celebrate my 159th birthday. I am here to make each and every one of you, even those with a bit of snow atop the peak, im here to make you feel young. As a little boy, what a hero Abraham Lincoln was to me. Even with some caution from your chief executive here, i wanted to share with you, of course, what you already know. I am a famous nicker balker through and through. I am half georgen. My great grandfather was the revolutionary governor of georgia. Bully. You might know mrs. Rose as a daughter of georgia. Now the bull oks. Some historians say, if not for the stories i heard as a young boy, an uncle to crossed the river to fight a duel to the demise of his opponent, of those who marched off to florida to fight in the seminole war. Were it not for the stories that i would have never been your president. I might have just grown up to be another boring dutch reform businessman in new york city as generations of roosevelts had been before. I can indeed prove my southern stock. My grandfather and my grandmother were sweethearts as children. My grandfather, James Stevens bullock. And my grandmother, Martha Stewart, now Martha Stewart was the i thought you might catch on there. Martha stewart was the youngest daughter of general daniel stewart. A hero of the revolutionary war and the war of 1812. It was he who marched off to seminole, the seminole wars in florida with his six sons, all of whom were 6 feet tall or taller leaving young Martha Stewart behind. He didnt want to leave her unmarried. In this regard my grandfather had proposed to my grandmother but, as a lady of the day did, she refused the first proposal. My grandfather apparently didnt have much patience in these issues of ma tri money so he married a young and eligible la lady in savannah, esther eltiot. A week lady my grandmother married john elliott who would go on to be a oneterm United States senator from South Carolina. And my grandmother, Martha Stewart elliott at that time was a wonderful hostess here in washington, d. C. After the term in congress and the term in Senate Senator elliott returned for retirement in South Carolina but did not prevail long. Two years after his retirement he died. Shortly thereafter, Esther Elliott bullock died. At which point my grandfather successfully proposed to my grandmother. At which point when they married my grandfather was marrying his stepmother in law. If that doesnt make me a southerner, nothing will. [ laughter ] indeed my parents were married at bullock hall in roswell, georgia, nearby to atlanta, in 1953. If your travels take you nearby to atlanta i hope youll visit bullock hall and see some of the wonderful history kept alive there. I myself would visit bullock hall in 1905 during my trip through the south. When i toured the south i bragged about my southern heritage. Of course, i had two uncles that were prominent amongst the confederacy. My mothers halfbrother, uncle jimmy bullock, was the head of the Confederate Secret Service in europe. He built the css shenandoah and the css alabama in liverpool. My uncle irvine was said to be the man who fired the last cannon off the alabama in its fateful fight off the coast of france. Both men refused to sign a loyalty oath to the union and are buried with symbols of the confederacy on their graves in england. I grew up nearby grammarcy park. My father found no way to fight against my mothers family. My father. Yes, its true, he said for two substitutes to fight in his place during the war. But my father wanted to fight wanted to serve the union cause. He was a founder of the Union League Club of new york city. And along with mr. Choate and others of new york, they had an idea which sent my father to the Nations Capital. And through the offices of john hay, president lincolns private secretary, my father was seen in to visit with the president. Their idea was for the allotment commission. You, of course, here know the allotment commission. This was the first time in our history when, through legislation, the soldier was allowed to sign up to have a portion of his pay sent home for the support of spouse and children. In previous wars when the man went to fight the war, very often the family was left at home destitute, reliant upon local charity and the church for support. My father was successful in seeing congress adopt the legislation creating the allotment commission. It took a while. Congress in the early years of the war, they werent familiar with a man coming to Lobby Congress for an idea in which there wasnt a motive of selfprofit. But my father wanted to serve, so much so that he became an allotment commissioner for the state of new york. During the war years my father travelled wherever there were troops from new york, in the south, the north, in the west. My father travelled by train and horseback, very often to his own peril to get the soldiers to sign up to send a portion of their pay home for support of spouse and children. When my father was away from our home, our home at 28 east 20th street was a bevy of proconfederate activity. Not only was my mother a southern woman but my aunt anna and grandmother lived with us. Three southern women beneath the roof. When my father was away the women of the family would have the children in the basement kitchen preparing packages of bandages, medicine, clothing and cash to make its way to the wharf and via blockade runner bring aid to family and friends in the south. There was great relief in the roosevelt household when the terrible war came to utits conclusion. You perhaps more than others know that when i was a little boy i witnessed the sad funeral parade that came through new york city bearing the body of our martyred president on the way back to springfield. A historian brought a photo of the parade to the attention of my widow. The picture was a picture of the parade as it passed by my grandfathers house at union square. In the second floor window of my grandfathers house you see the silhouettes of two small boys. Thats me. And my brother elliott. Eleanor roosevelts father, later in history, watching the parade below. What you do not see is that my future bride, edith carow is locked in the closet. She had been crying at the sad sights of the Wounded Soldiers and the music. It was annoying me and elliott greatly. We picked her up and locked her in the closet. A sin for which she apparently forgave me. I began my career as a young republican as a young student at harvard college. Today harvard university, cambridge, massachusetts. You good common sense people of the Nations Capital must understand me when i tell you, i did not learn much of practical value at harvard. Most of my classmates majored in the issue of night life across the Charles River in boston. It was my own father who had sent me from new york city to cambridge my freshman year with these words. He said, first take care of your morals. Second, your health. And third, your studies. I graduated four years later, phi beta kappa. Mag na cum laude. When i was away my father died of stomach cancer. At a young man of 45. I was in a terribly foul mood. I wrote in my diary and to my family i thought i might go insane with sadness. I sought refuge in the forests of maine. We climbed to the highest point in maine famous today as the northern terminus of the great appalachian trail. We visited the lumber camps where my vocabulary was greatly expanded. Each and every morning before our adventures i took my canoe where the west branch of the river is joined by first brook. In the Early Morning lights by the sound of the waters joining gently i began each and every day as my late father would have me do, with bible devotion. In the years hence the people in the state of maine have seen to name that little point of land a state Historic Site called bible point. Named for the man that i as a young man sought and found the wisdom and comfort and solace of the good book there. I would later in life say a thorough knowledge of the bible was worth more than a college education. And when i said so, i had in mind that great scholar of the good book, Abraham Lincoln. I hope that i have left my camp ground cleaner than i found it. That at some point during my 7 1 2 years as your president that i might have done some good for which you still might be appreciative today. The facial givnation gives me c the National Parks. Perhaps erroneously so. Yellowstone, 1872. President grant and a republican congress. It took an act of congress to name a National Park. Therefore, i was only able to double the number of National Parks from five to ten. I on this issue of the conservation of our natural resources, i was a progressive. And i discovered that very often the opposite of progress was congress. But i hope that you enjoy the National Parks and, of course, when we think about the National Parks, we must think of president Abraham Lincoln, who made a condition of california statehood in 1864 the maintenance and preservation of yosemite as a National Park by the state. And during my administration, when we discovered that the California Parks Commission was not living up to the responsibility of maintaining that National Park, we refedderalized much of the park and expanded the park. A park i visited with john muir during my administration in 1903. There is a great deal of my administration, of course, that has its origin during the lincoln administration. The railroad act, settling of the west, and my own adventures to the dakota territory would not have occurred without the great progressive legislation and, of course, many are the north Dakota Farmers still to this day come tell me that theyve got on their homestead deed my signature. But that would not have occurred without the homestead act passed during the lincoln administration. When i was your president , there wasnt a major controversy, a major issue which i wouldnt look up at the picture that i had in my office of Abraham Lincoln, a photograph of an unbearded lincoln, dating to the time of the lincoln and douglas debate. I sort of wish that the president would not have grown his chin whiskers myself. I would look up at that picture and think, what would president lincoln do in this circumstance. Well, as fantastic as it may sound, it gave me great comfort to put myself in the mind of Abraham Lincoln during the small controversies compared to the great controversies which the rail splitter dealt. I was proud to be a member of the Republican Party, and for any of the republicans in the audience, i know you may blame me for eight years of wilson. But when the nomination i had won eight of the 12 primaries in 1912 when i sought the republican nomination against my old friend, my handchosen successor, William Howard taft. The reason i ran against taft was in great part for the fact that he had divorced himself from the grass roots of lincolns Republican Party, the common man, the shop keeper, the mechanic, the farmer, but he was doing quite while by the special interests of wall street, the men that i call the malfactors of great wealth and land robbers. The Republican Party stole the nomination for taft. Not the first nor the last time that something politically was stolen in chicago. We returned weeks later, and i accepted the nomination of the progressive party. My nomination seconded by jane adams. The great social reformer of chicagos whole house, a future Nobel Peace Prize winner. How delighted i was to know that her father, mr. Adams of northwestern illinois, was a dear friend of Abraham Lincolns and known as his double d adams, for the spelling of the family name. The lincoln administration, how we wish it had lasted longer than it had, but it wasnt to be. We are inspired still by that greatest of men. We were weakened as you heard at Theodore Roosevelt island. During the civil war the island was occupied by United States colored troops. And it was a freemans village, in the later years of the war and in the years right after the war. The island was known then as mason island, the revolutionary pay trot george mason, his family owning the island through those years. There is a wonderful bit of connection through history. I love the way that we find that history has these wonderful webs that are woven to remind us that we are all indeed connected. On that island, a mason owned the island during the war of 1812, and mason served the descendant of the original mason. Mason served as the commissioner in charge of exchange of prisoners with the british. So he was sought after by Francis Scott key. It was mason that gave Francis Scott key his permission papers to go negotiate for the release of prisoners out side of ft. Mchenry during the fateful battle and we have our national anthem, the star spangled banner, written as a result of he taking that commission. I first served the American People in federal office as your United StatesCivil Service commissioner. Appointed by president benjamin harrison. I fought against corruption in his own republican regime. I did so well in fighting against republican corruption that i was appointed by the democrat grover cleveland. Then i fought corruption in his democratic regime just as well. You may know that the author of the United StatesCivil Service act, known as the pendleton act. George pendleton of ohio, the president ial nominee with general mcclellan in 1864. George pendletons wife, alice key, the daughter of Francis Scott key. I have been told so much history that i didnt know by your members, i thought i might share a little bit that i knew with you today. I hope that i lived up to the aspirations of the American People for my presidency. I sadly came to the presidency through the graveyard. On