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The Speech of the Century: Remembering Teddy Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” - Public Discourse

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The recent anniversary of Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena” speech provides an opportunity to reflect on the enduring relevance of his insights into the role of virtue and action in education, the importance of family life that is ordered towards the creation and formation of the next generation, a

April 23 marked the anniversary of one of the finest speeches ever given, President Theodore Roosevelt’s “Citizenship in a Republic,” usually remembered as “The Man in the Arena.” During my years teaching high school history, I received an annual reminder of the speech’s stunning prescience and relevance in countless roundtable discussions with students. To be sure, Roosevelt can be a polarizing figure and he is not without his faults. But his insights into education, family, and politics are needed now more than ever. In 1910, the year after he left the presidency, Roosevelt embarked on a…

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