This post isn't about his accomplishments as a president, which you could write an entire encyclopedia about, this is about his attitude and outlook on life, and how he personified these ideas of manhood. [b][i]I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph[/i][/b] -Teddy Roosevelt Teddy was diagnosed with asthma at a young age, a condition which back then could even mean death for a child. His father told him that he must make his body strong, for without the body, the mind cannot go far. So young teddy began to build himself up despite his condition. He boxed, lifted weights, and even hiked and climbed mountains. In college he rowed and boxed competitively. Even after that, his doctor diagnosed him with a serious heart condition and told him he should take it easy and get a desk job. You know what he did? He climbed the Matterhorn. Clearly [url=http://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2008/02/young-teddy-roosevelt.jpg]taking his dad's advice to heart[/url]. This man -blam!-ing threw off his physical ailments through willpower and hard work, and thusly had 0 tolerance for pansies. [b][i]A mere life of ease is not in the end a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ultimately unfits those who follow it for serious work in the world.[/i][/b]-Teddy Roosevelt This man didn't just talk the talk, he walked the walk in everything he did with a zest for life and enthusiasm for all his endeavors. A perfect example of this badass being a badass is when in Milwaukee he was shot in the chest while standing in the back of a railway car. He put his fingers to his lips and since blood was not coming out of his mouth he knew the bullet hadn’t perforated his lung. The bullet, slowed by a steel eyeglasses case and a copy of a speech, lodged in his rib. Roosevelt insisted on proceeding to the auditorium where 10,000 people were waiting to hear his speech. Mounting the stage he showed the audience his bloody shirt and said: [b][i]I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose.[/i][/b] He then proceeded to talk for 90 minutes before consenting to going to the hospital. Teddy believed in living the strenuous life, and did so. Here's just some of the things his hard work brought. 1. Work as state legislator, police commissioner, and governor in New York 2. Own and work a ranch in the Dakotas 3. Serve as Assistant Secretary of the Navy 4. Fight as a Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War 5. Serve as President for two terms, then run for an unprecedented third term 6. Become the first President to leave the country during his term in order to see the building of the Panama Canal 7. Write 35 books 8. Read tens of thousands of books-several a day in multiple languages 9. Explore the Amazonian rainforests 10. Discover, navigate, and be named after a completely uncharted Amazonian river over 625 miles long 11. Volunteer to lead a voluntary infantry unit into WWI at age 59. Teddy was a one of the greatest presidents we've ever had, but to me, even more impressive is that he was and continues to be one of the greatest men in American history, and a personal inspiration to me. [i][b]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, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows 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.[/i][/b] -Teddy Roosevelt [b][u]GET YOUR ASS IN THE ARENA.[/u][/b]