Popular Culture Review Volume 29, Number 2, Summer 2018 | Page 93

Popular Culture Review 29.2
ton wrote , “ I just stood my ground and stared at him . I think Henry was surprised I didn ’ t go down or run off , because he laughed , slapped me on the back , and said I was okay .... I had learned again that I could take a hit and that there ’ s more than one way to stand against aggression ” ( Clinton 2004 43 ). Can anyone read that passage and not remember how Clinton remained firm and resolute during constant attacks that culminated in impeachment , and personal humiliation , coming back stronger than ever ?
THEODORE ROOSEVELT : BLACK BELT IN THE WHITE HOUSE
Roosevelt biographies recount terrible descriptions of TR ’ s father bundling the gasping child against the cold , racing his carriage through the streets , to force air into the boy ’ s asthmatic lungs . There also were numerous incidents in which TR ’ s frail body failed to match his powerful mind , leading to determination both of boy and father to build up the son ’ s physical strength . Ultimately , TR succeeded beyond anyone ’ s expectations , except perhaps , his own : vigorously boxing at Harvard and later , training intensely , throwing himself without reservation into violent physical activity , matching the roughest cowboys in the west at their ranching chores , punching out a bully in a bar who was terrorizing the other patrons , capturing two thieves after pursuing them for days through a Dakota blizzard , and even as president remaining frenetically active with his demanding “ scrambles ” through Rock Creek Park over and never around any obstacle�all the while conducting one of the most significant presidencies in American history . Biographer John Milton Cooper said TR pursued what historian Jacob Burkhardt had called “ the state as a work of art .” 1 Another TR biographer , the especially thoughtful William Harbaugh , wrote that TR “ had read the bulk of his own country ’ s literature and knew personally
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