Free Hope Takes Flight by Gilbert Morris

symbol of American energy and dynamic willingness to dare all things. He had even taken on the crooked and corrupt monopolies and smashed them to bits, gaining the title of “The Trust-Buster.”
    â€œSit down! Sit down! Tell me what you’ve been doing,” Roosevelt boomed. His voice seemed to echo, filling the room, as if he were speaking in a large arena.
    Amos sat down and said at once, “Well, sir, if you’ll let me off, I’d much rather hear what you’ve been doing.”
    Roosevelt stared at him, a sharp light in his eyes. “You’re here to find out what I think about this European war. Isn’t that so, Stuart?”
    Amos shrugged and smiled slightly. “Sir, I think I know how you feel. I’ve been listening to you for a long time. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear it directly.”
    â€œMind? Of course I don’t mind,” Roosevelt said, shaking his head. He looked around the room at the many trophies; at the trophies of a lifetime, really, spent fighting for this country he loved so dearly. “We’ll have to fight, Stuart,” he said without hesitation. “No way out now. It’s got to be. Everyone seems to know that, pretty much…” he paused, then shrugged his husky shoulders. “That is, everyone except President Wilson and Secretary of State Bryan.”
    Amos took out his pencil and made notes rapidly as Roosevelt restated all that had gone on in the past few months. He pointed out that the German decision to sink without warning any Allied ships found in waters around the British Isles was in itself an act of war. “How,” he said, “are those U-boat commanders going to be able to tell the difference between a ship full of munitions and a ship full of passengers?” He got up and began to pace the floor, voicing his opinions loudly and defiantly as he always did.
    â€œWilson is a good man,” he said finally, “and Bryan’s a good man.” He turned to Amos and smiled suddenly, baring his huge teeth again. “Both of them elders in the Presbyterian Church. They have a lot in common. But this is war,” he said vehemently. “The longer we stay out of it, the longer it will last. The French and the English will fight with all they’ve got, but Germany has built up a magnificent war machine, and it’s time to smash it!” He pounded his fist into his palm. “Smash them once and for all! And make this world a fit place to live again!”
    He continued for nearly an hour, Amos taking notes now and then, not really needing to, for he had heard it all before from Teddy Roosevelt. He knew that if Roosevelt, who had lost narrowly to Woodrow Wilson in the last election, were President of the United States, there would be men on the way to France and elsewhere in Europe right now. Probably, he thought with a grim smile, with Teddy leading the way, waving his sword and his pistol as he did when he charged up San Juan Hill .
    When Mr. Roosevelt wound down, he took on an apologetic tone. “I’m sorry to have dumped all this on you, Stuart. But you’ve always been wise in the ways of politics, and you’ve always had a good feel for what’s going on in America.” He took off his pince-nez and asked in a low voice, “What do you think the president will do?”
    Amos sighed. “He won’t declare war until he’s tried every other way out. That’s what I think, Mr. Roosevelt.”
    Roosevelt grunted and got to his feet. “You’re probably right, my boy. Probably right.”
    Later, as Amos left the grounds, he looked back and spotted Teddy Roosevelt playing in the yard with his granddaughter and wondered if anyone would listen to the old lion.
    The country watched Woodrow Wilson closely. What would he do about the Germans? Would he go to war with them? Or would he build a moat around this country and declare,