And now, America's number one show on pop culture and politics.

This is the Michael Medved Show.

And another great day in this greatest nation on God's Green Earth, a great day to face the great question.

What is it that is so fascinating about Theodore Roosevelt? Why is he next to Lincoln, the one

president whose image is most vivid for people today. It's a hundred years after his death in 1919. And yet he's with us.

And I would submit that part of the reason for that is because he remains incurably youthful,

optimistic, dynamic, and purposeful, very much like the country he loved and served. In fact,

he remains Theodore Roosevelt, the all-American boy.

And certainly part of the fascination with Roosevelt was his amazing accomplishments.

I mean, he did build the Panama Canal.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating European war as president of the United States.

He won an astonishingly lopsided victory. He enjoyed

amazing popularity during his seven and a half years as president. But Theodore Roosevelt's

personality is part of what commanded the attention of the world.

And part of that personality was a great love and reverence for what he called the manly

virtues.

He saw himself as a warrior, his whole life.

He enjoyed boxing.

He even took an early interest in jujitsu.

And yet, it was not until he was 39 years old that he actually was able to experience

combat and insisted that he do so.

At the time, he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and basically

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