On April 23, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt gave what would become one of the most widely quoted speeches of his career. In it, the nation's 26th president brought his hyperbolic oratory to bear on the themes of leadership and loneliness.
"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," Roosevelt said.
While most of the guests on this show will be public officials, our debut episode features humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson. He explores the context of the quote, which inspired the name of this podcast, and how it fits in Roosevelt's world view of power, persuasion and politics.
"It's probably the most frequently quoted thing that Roosevelt ever said, and if you go into the boardrooms of major corporations or to the offices of CEOs and politicians, anywhere where there is some need for power to assert itself, you almost invariably find that quotation tacked to the wall," says Jenkinson.
Listen to the full interview below. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or bookmark the "In the Arena" page.
Featured on This Episode:
- Project - Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation
- Book by Clay S. Jenkinson, A Free and Hardy Life: Theodore Roosevelt’s Sojourn in the American West
- Public Radio Show - "The Thomas Jefferson Hour" with Clay Jenkinson
Future Guests:
- Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles (June 13)
- Themis Klarides, majority leader of Connecticut House (June 20)
- Greg Fischer, mayor of Louisville, Ky. (June 27)
- Acquanetta Warren, mayor of Fontana, Calif. (July 11)
- Kristen Cox, executive director of Utah Office of Management and Budget (July 18)
