Ol’ Teddy

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite president was Theodore Roosevelt, Hands Down. Now, I could sit and tell you hundreds of reasons why I look up to him so much, but since it is the time of year to give some much deserved love to all those who founded our great country,  I thought instead I would tell you a story that my history professor in college told to the class, which led me to one of my favorite sayings and mindsets.

So, for those of you who don’t know, Theodore Roosevelt was born very sickly. In fact, it was thought that he would never make it to adulthood due to his breathing. And this is actually what Roosevelt attributes many of his biggest accomplishments to. He overcame these debilitation by taking on a very strenuous lifestyle of health and fitness. Often when people look at pictures of him, they think he looks portly, but the truth was, he was a big, healthy and powerful man.

During Roosevelt’s presidency a French ambassador came to visit him at the White House. Before he arrived, Theodore found out that this ambassador was into health and fitness, so Roosevelt decided that he would show the ambassador his own workout routine and they could do it together.

When the Ambassador arrived, Roosevelt wasted no time and they started by running around the white house for an hour. They then took to swimming laps in the pool for an hour. Then they did weight training for two hours. After lunch they did more weight and cardio training for two more hours. Then immediately moved into playing tennis.

After all of this Teddy turned to the ambassador and asked “What would you like to do next?” and the ambassador, exhausted and trying to catch his breath, looked up at Theodore and said “If it’s all the same to you, Mr. President, I would like to lay down and die.” To this, Teddy burst out laughing and pat him on the back. Then, together they moved on to the less demanding sport of skeet shooting.

So now any time that I am worn out and there is more that I have to do, I think to myself “If it’s all the same to you, Mr. President, I would like to lay down and die” And I think of Ol’ Teddy just laughing and patting me on the back… because quitting is never an option.

Fun Fact: When President Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep in 1919, Thomas R. Marshall, the then Vice President, was quoted saying “Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.”

If you liked this story, I have another patriotic story for you called: Real Hero’s. Check it out!