08/07/2026
in 1899, New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt delivered an address titled "Practical Politics and Decent Politics" at the Summer School of Theology in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
Before a crowd of over 10,000 people, Roosevelt urged Americans to take a more active role in political life, which he saw as inextricably linked to social and religious life. He promoted a steady approach to politics, warning against reactionary or revolutionary action, preferring incremental change.
"We have a right to demand from our good citizens that they apply themselves, not intermittently but steadily, to their public duties; that they make it their business to know how their public representatives stand and what they do, and that they keep our politics at a constantly high level. We never can have politics on a satisfactory basis in this country until we make it understood that dishonesty in a public servant is an unpardonable sin; that corruption of any kind will not be condoned for any consideration of party expediency. When it is thus understood that the first requisite of a public servant will be honesty, when we rule out once for all any system that is corrupt, then, and not till then, will we have the road free for our political development, for the fighting out of political issues on the proper plane."
Roosevelt also took the opportunity to promote more specific political positions, including denouncing the corruption of the Tammany Hall political machine and promoting aggressive American action in the Philippines.
Roosevelt's address was published not only in public newspapers but also in Christian periodicals, including the Christian Science Sentinel: https://sentinel.christianscience.com/issues/1899/8/1-52/roosevelt-to-methodists
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