9 David Greenberg, “Theodore Roosevelt and the Image of Presidential Activism,” Social Research 78 (W (.)Ĥ As a master manipulator of his own reputation, Theodore Roosevelt cultivated each of the three images-the masculine leader, the benign figure, and the champion of social justice-assiduously, recognizing that all were essential for political success in the modern age.

8 Kathleen Dalton, Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life (New York: Knopf, 2004), 97-102 Watts, Rough (.).

7 Sarah Lyons Watts, Rough Rider in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Desire (C (.).

6 Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Modern Library, 2001), 144.

The continued resonance of memories of Roosevelt as a hero, champion of social justice, and benign friend demonstrates that while not immune to periods of national self-reflection, many Americans revert reflexively to historical memories that reaffirm their own stature, capacity for progress, and good intentions, even at the expense of moving toward a truer, and more usable, understanding of the past. It argues that the interplay between memories and counter-memories of Roosevelt is indicative of the relative discursive power of various social groups. 5 By analyzing memories of Roosevelt in popular culture, politics, and scholarship from his death to the present day, this article draws broader conclusions. Collin, “The Image of Theodore Roosevelt in America (.)ģ To date, scholars have analyzed memories of Roosevelt in discrete spheres-historiography, film, or foreign policy, for example-or over narrow time periods. 5 On Roosevelt and historiography, see Richard H.According to the sociologist Barry Schwartz, “very society.displays, and perhaps even requires, a minimal sense of continuity with the past.” Collective memories, according to Schwartz’s interpretation, are built around a central kernel successive generations may revise, but will never wholly obliterate, past conceptions. Maurice Halbwachs, the French sociologist whose work is foundational for all theorists of memory, argues that memories are socially constructed: collective memories are formed through the interaction of groups, whether organized by family, religion, or class and each group reconstructs a version of the past that is adapted according to “contemporary exigencies.” 1 Halbwach’s theories have led some scholars to ascribe the production of memories primarily to an “evanescent present.” 2 But others have challenged this interpretation. David Middl (.)ġ Our memories are a representation of the past and a production of the present. 3 Barry Schwartz, “The Reconstruction of Abraham Lincoln” in Collective Remembering, eds.2 Jan Vansina, Oral Tradition as History (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), xii.1 Maurice Halbwachs, On Collective Memory, ed.

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