I Love Him Even More

I did not think it could happen, but after my visit last week to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, I can honestly say I am an even bigger whore for TR. (See my blog from June 26, 2026)

It was a Disneyland of the life and beliefs of our 26th President. I did not think I could know more about his life having read close to every book written about him, including some of his own. How wrong was I!!

Hats off to the people who made this happen and to the historians who curated the exhibits. It is overwhelming in the breadth and scope of his life and so inclusive of all of us lucky enough to tour the facility.

It opened on July 4, 2026, and when I arrived on September 10 (and 11), 2026 over 100,000 people have been through the campus. It has been sold out most of those days and so I was grateful to have reserved my tickets in June.  Thank goodness I listened to the nice library lady I spoke with in June and booked two days. It would be difficult to thoroughly take it all in on one visit.

While it is a celebration of President Roosevelt and his progressive ideas, it is also balanced as to the prevailing beliefs and prejudices of the late 19th and early 20th Century. As “The Colonel” points out in the highlighted passage “The Man in the Arena” from his amazing speech “Citizen in a Republic “delivered in 1910 at the Sorbonne,

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who know great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

The library is filled with his quotes and beliefs. The movies created to represent aspects of his life from the Badlands to Cuba to the Amazon are informative and engaging. The chance to chat with him at the White House is wonderful and I found my fellow attendees’ questions to be informative and covering a wide variety of topics. The wristband you wear allows you to have your photographs created in period clothing (although it should be noted we felt that the choice of “pants” rather than “skirt” on arrival to be the better one as the men seem to be younger in the photos), make campaign posters or have TR call you by name.

It may be in the middle of nowhere, but it is worth the trip. I leave you with a few quotes to contemplate. If you want more, make your reservations.

“Believe you can and you are halfway there.”

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing…and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

“Patriotism means stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president.”