Fromentin said of Peter Paul Rubens, one of the greatest masters who ever used brush and paint to interpret human character: “He is systematic, methodical and stern in the discipline of his private life, in the ordering of his work, in the regulating of his intelligence, in a kind of strong and sane wholesomeness of his genius. He is simple, sincere, a model of loyalty to his friends, in sympathy with every one of talent, (and) untiring and resourceful in his encouragement of beginners * * *.” The same might have been said with equal truth and propriety of Theodore Roosevelt.  
Of all the great leaders of this country, he was the most typically American. The grief and melancholy that seized him following the death of his first wife drove him into Dakota. Here upon the range he found surcease from sorrow and sufficient time off from his duties as manager of his ranch to write about the West. This work won instant recognition and not only established his place among the literary men of his day but made him the idol of the Great West. The cowboys with whom he rode the night herd liked and admired him, and even the roughnecks soon learned to respect his cool courage and resourcefulness. One encounter with him did not give encouragement to a second.
 
But he was more than a frontiersman and writer. He represented all that was best in the home, in business and in government. He was energetic, intelligent and purposeful. He had an aim in life and drove hard and steadily toward his goal. His enemies seldom outmaneuvered him and he knew how to strike when a bold stroke was required to accomplish a desired end. His association with men of all types and his keen observation gave him an insight into men that enabled him to distinguish quickly and accurately the spurious from the real. Surface indications or social position had for him little meaning. He would rather associate with an uneducated but quick-witted cowpuncher than with the dull and unimaginative. This accounts for his friendship with men and women in all walks of life. Talent and ability, usefully employed, always had for him a special appeal but he was bored and annoyed by the pretentious commonplace.
 
He was by instinct and inclination a reformer and sought to improve all that was best in public morals, both spiritually and politically. No man struggling as mightily as he could escape making mistakes, but he was great enough to recognize them and fair enough to seek to rectify any injustice that had resulted. His enthusiasm, zeal and sureness of himself sometimes led him to pursue hopeless and occasionally ill-considered causes that he later had reason to regret, but by the large he was a most useful and inspiring personality.
 
Two outsta............