The Gender of Reform Politics: Theodore Roosevelt and the Culture of Masculinity Author(s): Arnaldo Testi Source: The Journal of American History, Vol. 81, No. 4 (Mar., 1995), pp. 1509-1533 Published by: Organization of American Historians Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2081647 . Accessed: 21/05/2013 10:18 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Organization of American Historians is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of American History. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Genderof ReformPolitics: TheodoreRooseveltand the Cultureof Masculinity ArnaldoTesti Theentrance ofwomenintothepolitical arenaandtheensuing passagefroman exclusively malepolitical universe to onein whichbothmenandwomenparticiofgeneral patedraiseneglected historical questions significance. Thesechanges still waitto be incorporated intoa comprehensive of thetransformation analysis of American democracy between theendofthenineteenth century and the1920s. Women's ofsuffrage in 1920cannotbe considered acquisition as simply theextensionofvoting rights to individuals whowerepreviously deniedthem.Suchan approach wouldbeinconceivable inanyserious investigation oftheadvent ofuniversal malesuffrage intheJacksonian ageorofsubsequent extensions ofcitizenship rights toimmigrants andformer slaves and,inthe1960s,todisfranchised southern blacks. common Historical senseconsiders theseevents epochalturning pointsinthepropandracialbasesofpolitics erty, ethnic, thatsubstantially changedlocal,regional, andnational haddramatic publiclife.Suchchanges visibleeffects. Theyproduced thatarestillwithus:thestorming vividimages oftheWhiteHousebya democratic at the1829presidential crowd thebirthofpopularpolitical inauguration; parties inthe1830s;theinvention ofethnic andimmigrant-based thedraurbanpolitics; ofemancipated maticemergence slavesas legislators duringblackReconstruction; ofthelily-white thebreakup Democratic Southandtheemergence ofa newRepubafter thecivilrights licanparty revolution. likethathappened Apparently nothing withwomeninthe1920s:no storming ofwomen, ofsymbolic locations bycrowds no building ofnew-style no women-dominated political organizations, machines, nosuddenupsurge ofwomen nopartisan Andyetitseems legislators, realignments. reasonable to supposethattheNineteenth and Amendment to theConstitution thelongjourney thegender of togetit,byupsetting base politics, hadimportant implications (invisible becauseunexplored as wellas unexplored becauseinvisible) forthewholepoliticalsystem. ArnaldoTestiisan associateprofessor ofPisa,Pisa,Italy.Thisessayreceived ofUnitedStateshistory attheUniversity the inauguralOrganizationofAmericanHistorians prizeforthe bestarticlepublishedin a languageotherthan English.Originallytitled"L'Autobiografia di TheodoreRoosevelt:La difficile costruzione di un fortee maschio carattere" itwaspub(TheodoreRoosevelt's The difficult construction ofa strongmalecharacter), Autobiography: lishedin Italianin Rivistadi StoriaContemporanea in January1991. I wouldliketo thankSusanArmeny, Meg Meneghel,and theJAHstaff fortheirvaluablehelp;David Thelen forhis warmhospitality in Bloomington;and MaurizioVaudagnaforhis encouragement. The Journalof AmericanHistory March1995 This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1509 1510 History ofAmerican TheJournal March1995 to adopt the languageof genderand it is necessary To developthishypothesis, whereit wasforged. beyondthe fieldofwomen'shistory to exploreitsusefulness workofan entiregenertheresearch thatseparates to breakthebarrier It is necessary both ofhistory, fromtheworkoftheotherpractitioners ationofwomen'shistorians has givenconyears,women'shistory male and female.Overthe past twenty-five experienceof women;it has renderedthe to the historical and visibility creteness and intoitnewactivesubjectswithan independent pastmorecomplex,introducing specificeyeon reality.More,byusingtheviewpointof thesesubjectsto interpret has also changedthe waythe pastmaybe observedand women'shistory history, it challenged its "partiality," explicitly affirmed perceived.When women'shistory it suggestedthat ofthemodernhistoriographical tradition; theallegeduniversality as we knowit nowis a history written by,for,and aboutmenand "humanhistory" questions,priorithatitsviewpointhas consequencesfortheshapingofhistorical underscored Whenwomen'shistory and exclusions. inclusions, ties,periodizations, it the social,dynamic,and relational(not natural)dimensionof femaleidentity, male identityand it and conflicting) raisedthe questionof a (complementary in thehistory of men as men; it createdtheconditionsfor sparkeda newinterest Iftaken ofa men'shistory equallyawareofitsownpartiality. thetimidbeginnings of the category gender and therefore women'shistory and men'shistory seriously, politwithotheranalytical categories (class,race,ethnicity, and thewaysitintersects maythrownewlighton questionscentralto ourso-called ical culture,nationality) of the meaningof the sexesand discussion.An understanding generalhistorical of of the in the rolesand sexualsymbolism gender and range past gendergroups in different tensions,and periodscan uncoverrelationships, societiesin different on the forcesthat thathave been invisibleand suggestnew hypotheses conflicts shapedthe socialorder,maintainedit, or fosteredchangein it., problem,that It is an obviousfact,a factoftentoo obviousto becomea historical intheUnited politicaluniverse markedtheoutlineofthedemocratic gendercriteria Electorsand electedwere ofthenineteenth century. Statesin thelastthree-quarters Amendmenthad made of the Fourteenth not abstractindividuals;as the writers into for time in the first all too clear 1868,introducing explicitsexualdistinctions the constitutional text,theywere"male citizens."Policychoices,techniquesof of whatpoliticswas and and conceptualizations mobilizationand participation, shaped,and changedpowerrelationreflected, whatitwasnot-all simultaneously and high suffrage shipsbetweenthesexes.In a regimedefinedbymale "universal" electoralturnout,the exerciseof the rightto votebecamean importantfactorin 1 JoanWallachScott,Genderand thePoliticsofHistory(New York,1988);LouiseA. Tilly,"Gender,Women's ofgender, Social ScienceHistory,13 (Winter1989),439-62. ForItaliandiscussions History, and Social History," (Rome, (Genderof representation) see MariaLuisaBoccia and Ida Peretti,eds., II generedella rappresentanza ed. ElisabettaVezzosi, byItalianScholars," Women'sHistory:EightContributions 1988);specialissue"American (Turin),5 (no. 2, 1988); specialissue"Uomini"(Men), Memoria(Turin)(no. 27, 1990); StoriaNordamericana In marginead alcunimanualidi storiadelledonne"(Partice storiauniversale: GiannaPomata,"Storiaparticolare (Bologna),25 (Aug. Quadernistorici textbooks), Aproposofsomewomen'shistory ularhistory and generalhistory: sul maschile"(Trendsand features dellastoriografia 1990),341-85;and MaurizioVaudagna,"Tendenzee caratteri (Turin),20 (Jan. 1991),3-18. Rivistadi storiacontemporanea of men'shistory), This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Theodore Roosevelt andtheCultureofMasculinity 1511 theinterclass ofmanhood.In a system definition basedon partypolitics,partywork ofmasculinity, wasa privilegeand an attribute and it wascarriedon in suchmale templesas lower-class saloonsand barbershops andmiddle-class socialclubs.Allpoliticaldiscourse wasinterwoven ofthatothermaleexperience, withtherhetoric war. of"theperfect WaltWhitman,althougha supporter equalityofwomen,"imagined as the triumphof manlinessor, moreprecisely, as the triumphof a democracy homoerotic community strengthened by"themanlyloveofcomrades." According creationofFinleyPeterDunne,"Politoa famousmaximofMr.Dooley,thesatirical ticsain'tbean bag. 'Tis a man'sgame;an' women,childer,an' pro-hybitionists'd do ofsexualstereotypes wasso strongas to condiwellto keepout ivit."The structure as well;"pro-hybitionists," that tionstylesand contentsofmale civicparticipation evenwhenofthepropersex,founditdifficult to legitimize their is,moralreformers, actions.The culturalfoundationof thislanguagewas the widespreadVictorian forthe sexes,two"spheres" middle-class doctrineof "naturalspheres"of activity in thepublicarenaand unifiedin and bythefamily. thatwereseparateand distinct Politics,readstrictly as electoraland partypolitics,and economics,understoodacand cordingto thecanonsoflaissez-faire, belongedto theaggressive, independent, of man. Management thehome,morals,ideals,culture,and educaself-sufficient woman.2 tion belongedto the virtuous,altruistic, fragile,and sensitive At theturnofthecentury, thisworldbeganto showvisiblecracks.Well before theadventofsuffrage, strongmass-basedwomen'smovements developeda critical to it theheritageoftheirownautonomous approachto male publiclife,bringing socialinstitutions and politicalpractices.These movements dealtwithissuesthat rhetoric rootedin theVictorian woman'ssphere(temperance and sexualpurity, welfareand socialreform, schooland education,consumerism) but thatwentbeyond it; theybuilt,and acted through,organizations (philanthropic societies,leagues and clubs,single-issue movements)alien to the acceptedcanonsof nineteenthcenturydemocratic politicalbehavior;theycarriedworldviewsthatchangedand enlargedthebordersofwhatcould be considered"public."Groupsofwomen,primarilyofmiddle-and upper-class origins,used thelanguageofmotherhood to includein politicaldiscourseareasofsocialand familylifethatuntilthenhad been placesoftheirownindividualor collective voluntary work.In thenameofdefense ofthefamily, theywentout oftheirfamiliesand chargedthestatewithproblems thatwereimportant to them.In the nameofdefenseoffeminine values,theyacquiredorganizational and leadershipskillsand projectedunconventional imagesof and self-confidence independence that,on one hand,wereassociatedwithmaleexperienceand, on the other,reflected stylesof activismbased on intensefemale 2 WaltWhitman,DemocraticVistas[1871]in WaltWhitman, ProseWorks 1892,ed. FloydStovall(2 vols.,New York,1964),II, 396; WaltWhitman,"ForYou 0 Democracy"[1860]in WaltWhitman,Leavesof Grass:ComprehensiveReader'sEdition,ed. HaroldW. Blodgettand SculleyBradley(New York,1965),117;FinleyPeterDunne, Mr.Dooley:In Peaceand War(1898; GrossePointe,Mich.,1968),xiii.On womenand theConstitution, see Ellen C. DuBois,Feminism andSuffrage: TheEmergence ofanIndependentWomen'sMovement inAmerica,1848-1869 (Ithaca,1978),60-61. On "naturalspheres," see Linda K. Kerber,"SeparateSpheres,FemaleWorlds,Woman's Place: The Rhetoricof Women'sHistory," JournalofAmericanHistory,75 (June 1988),9-39. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1512 TheJournal ofAmerican History March1995 of theirspecificmissionsand qualities, In the nameoftheirdifference, solidarity. manywomencameto demandtherighttovote.Towinit,theyadoptedtechniques bypassedpolitical of mobilizationand influencethatignoredor,rather,virtually Historically, the requestforwomansuffrage partiesand theirelectoralstrategies. and thepoliticalunityofthefamily becauseitendangered had radicalimplications it wasonlythe Nevertheless, problemsforthewomenthemselves. createdidentity mostvisiblesignof a profoundsocial and politicalupheavalthatseemedto be changinghow the wholesystemfunctioned.3 Howmenreactedto thisassaultis a questionthatis justbeginningto be studied of men'shistory outlinea homogeinterpretations Some synthetic systematically. reactionamongmalesofall socialclasses,whoexperineousand notverysurprising as a challengeto theirestablished politicaland encedthisnewfemaleprotagonism their as a threattoseparatespheresthatwouldbothmasculinize sexualprerogatives, (one beingthefounding womenand attacktheirmasculinity. Withfewexceptions in 1910),meninitially thementrenched oftheMen'sLeagueforWomanSuffrage selves,resisted,or refusedto recognizethe issues;some of themfeared,as social LillianWald reported,that"whenwomenhad the votetheycut offtheir worker hair,theydonnedmen'sattire;theirvoicesbecameharsh."Later,theywereforced to thefactsoflife, in part,to compromise and accommodate themselves to redefine amendmentbymalelegisa processthatincludedthepassingoftheemancipation intoconcrete lativeassemblies.It is muchless clearhowall of thiswas translated of conflict and conflict strategies political,and institutional individual,collective, betweenthegendersand over resolution; howthe"battleofthesexes" theconflict ofthecountry's public development -shaped thecomprehensive genderdefinitions life.Was the modernwelfarestateperhapsbornof thisclash,withmanywomen, and civilservants at stateand federallevels, militantreformers as wellas employees ofthenewsocialpolicies?Is perhapstherein as activeproponents and beneficiaries crisisofpartiesand electoralpolihiddenone reasonfortheearlytwentieth-century ofa representative and symbolimaterially system tics,whichwerethefoundations of partypoliticsand as purelymale,and forthe transformation callyconstructed overthe genderofpoliticsshaping Was a conflict popularformsofparticipation? of"male"partypoliticsversus"female"reform politicsthatsomehow up, a conflict had to be resolvedin the new orderof the 1920sand 1930s?4 Feminism,1870-1930," as Strategy: FemaleInstitution Buildingand American "Separatism 3EstelleFreedman, and PoliticalActivism: FeministStudies,5 (Fall 1979),512-29;BlancheWiesenCook,"FemaleSupportNetworks thePast,ed. LindaK. Kerber LillianWald,CrystalEastman,EmmaGoldman,"in Women'sAmerica:Refocusing KishSklar,"Hull House in the 1890s:A Commu(New York,1987),273-94; Kathryn andJaneDeHart-Mathews ofPolitics:Women Signs,10(Summer1985),658-77; PaulaBaker,"TheDomestication nityofWomenReformers," and AmericanPoliticalSociety,1780-1920,"AmericanHistoricalReview,89 (June 1984),620-47. see ElizabethH. Pleck 4Lillian D. Wald, TheHouse on HenryStreet(New York,1915),266. Formen'shistory, andJosephH. Pleck,eds., TheAmericanMan (EnglewoodCliffs,1980); Donald G. Pugh,Sons ofLiberty:The Sex Rolesin America(Westport,1983); PeterG. Filene,Him/Her/Self MasculineMindin Nineteenth-Century ModernAmerica(Baltimore,1986);and MichaelS. Kimmel,ed., ChangingMen: New Directionsin Researchon Men and Masculinity (BeverlyHills, 1987). On womenand thewelfarestate,see SethKovenand SonyaMichel, "Genderand the Originsof the WelfareState,"RadicalHistoryReview(no. 43, 1989), 112-19. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions and theCultureofMasculinity Roosevelt Theodore 1513 dealtwiththeseproblemsinhisautobiofhowTheodoreRoosevelt An investigation an emanswers to thesequestions.In hismemoirshe constructed ographysuggests althoughwithgreat overcome, successfully ofcontradictions blematicpersonalstory himselfin an all-malepartywhoimmersed thestoryofa patricianreformer effort: ofa Republicanpartypoliticianwhobecamethefirst centeredplebeiandemocracy, party(the state,of the founderof a new-style modernpresidentof the reformed partyof 1912) thatacceptedwomeninto its ranks,includedfemale Progressive in itselecin itsplatform, and used masculinerhetoric and socialreform suffrage a symand reform, toralcampaign.Rooseveltwantedto be a championofvirility at the time; he succeededin bolic combinationthatwas quite unconventional and not onlyforthe Americanpublic. shapinghis public personato thiseffect, wassecond ofRoosevelt as a virilereformer theperception observers Amongforeign Duringtwoof his briefand onlyto the perceptionof him as a virileimperialist. sojournsin Italy,in spring1909and spring1910,the Italianpress verytheatrical greetedhimas "a manwitha masculineappearanceand a handsome,muscularand abroad of aggressive imperialism dynamicfigure,formidable Teddy,"a supporter He waspresented as theauthor combatant. reform at home,a powerful andvigorous Life,publishedin 1899and translated ofthatessay"boldlyentitled"TheStrenuous di He was salutedas the greatwhitehunter,an in vita. as Vigor 1904 intoItalian ofelephantsand lions";hisvisitsto Italyand to therestofEurope, "exterminator afterall, wereonlysecondarystopson his wayto and fromEast Africa,where himselfby huntingforbig game afterthe laborsof his justhe had refortified terms.5 concludedpresidential greetinghimat the Campidoglioin April1910,the mayorof Rome, Officially ErnestoNathan, emphasizedthatRoosevelt'sdisplaysof male virtueswerenot limitedto the equatorialjungles. thesavagebeastsofthe withhisusualaudacity, Thisman,whohasjusthunted, hislife, beastsandrisked moredangerous ofAfrica, forests hasalsohuntedmany theWhiteHouse, in hisnativeland.Ifhe entered and tranquility reputation, onehasto believethatit wasto makeit whiter. Nathan comparedhis Americanguestto the RomanemperorMarcusAurelius, notfarawayin CampidoglioSquare:a philosopher statuetowered whoseequestrian At the same receptionRooseveltcharmed a warrior-philosopher. and a warrior, wholaterbecamean admirerofBenitoMusGuido Podrecca,a Socialistjournalist solini.In the 1920smanyAmericanslikenedthe ItalianFascistduce to the old 5 "TeodoroRoosevelta Roma" (TheodoreRooseveltin Rome),La Stampa(Turin),April4, 1910;M. Prati, e il mnondo" (Roosevelt e lAmerica"(Roosevelt and America),ibid, March24, 1909;M. Prati,"Roosevelt "Roosevelt and theworld),ibid.,March14, 1909; "La giornatadell'ospite"(Our guest'sday),II Corrieredel/aSera(Milan), ibid.,April5, 1909.TheodoreRoosevelt, ourselves), April6, 1910;"Il momentodi farsionore"(Timetodistinguish the quotationsfromItaliansourcesinto Vigordi vita,trans.Hilda di Malgr! (Milan, 1904). I have translated English. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1514 The Journalof AmericanHistory March1995 gKdJECIVHJSNAt THE WISDOM OF THE WEST. presidentTheodoreRooseveltattemptsto infuse Duringhis 1910visit,former leadersof the enfeebledwesternEuropeannationswithvirileand energeticlife.LeonardRaven-Hill,Punch,May4, 1910. leadershipand forcharismatic RoughRider;bothmen seemedto havean instinct directactionand forplayingthe masculinehero of muscleand mind. In 1910 Podreccadescribedhis encounterwithRooseveltin languagemuchlikethatlater withMussolini: used forsimilarencounters This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Roosevelt and theCultureofMasculinity Theodore 1515 somuchfillsthegreat oftheUnitedStates, whoofhimself Theformer president no facial features. Blond moustache, faircomConfederation, has distinctive - rather thanforanEnglishman hecouldbemistaken plexion, Teutonic profile; fora good bureauchieffromZurichor Berlin.. . . But I was searching.I was for.Behindhisthickglasses, I found searching andI foundwhatI wassearching andprobes.An a strong, confident andinvestigative eye.An eyethatpenetrates as immense despiteitssmallness, acute,imperious, eyethatseesand foresees: An eyeofpolishedsteel,likehissoul.Behindhisglasses, as an emerald. bright I sawtheman,thegreatman.6 manners,and Roosevelt'sphysicalexuberance,spiritualpower,aristocratic formeda mixture thatgalvanizedhisItalianobactivity familiarity withintellectual servers beginningin September1901,whenhe appeared,suddenlyandundertragic on the nationaland international politicalstage.The firstharried circumstances, but "harmoniously" portraits clearlydramatizedhis qualitiesas "contradictory" He was "a man devotedto sportand study,a vigilant temperedbyhispersonality. a mixand untiring hunter,a courageoussoldierand talentedwriter, administrator In additionhe had the tureofa learnedman and a knighterrantof theprairies." "blue-blooded"family ''greatcourage"to be bornofparentsfroma distinguished and to haveattendeda privateschool,"themostundemocratic thingsimaginable in a democratic wholookedformanlyadventure, republic."He wasan intellectual a HarvardUniversity graduatewhocoulddrinkanyoneunderthetable,a boxerwho had "something ofa bouquetmuchlikeWilhelmII." Fortheseaspectshe wasexalted by the Milan daily paper,II Corrieredel/aSera, as a "Modern!Terribly president.Roosevelt, however, truly"neo-American" Modern!"man and as thefirst had notalwaysbeen thiskindofman. If he wasa gentlemanbynatureand birth, he had becomea cowboybyartifice, The story and puredetermination. calculation, thathe had been "bornwitha weakconstitution, frailand sickly, [and thatonly] a rigorousphysicaleducationhad turneda weakboyintoa strongadolescent,accustomedto all exercises, to all labors"wasalreadyan essentialaspectofRoosevelt's public biography.7 in constructed biography Rooseveltbroughtup all theelementsofthiscarefully In thefirst hisexemplary chaptershe sketchedtheoutlinesof 1913autobiography. and yeteventually difficult a manlyeducationthatwasmuscularas wellas spiritual, borrowed triumphant, allowinghimtoenjoythe"VigorofLife"(a phrasehe joyfully delicate" of TheStrenuous fromtheItaliantranslation Lzfe).He had beena "sickly, and a general"clumsiness fromasthma,nearsightedness, childwho had suffered an avidreader a childoftoomanyand too"effeminate" and awkwardness," readings, he grew"nervousand timid,"with"no of booksforgirls.Broughtup in comfort, 6 "II ricevimento in theCampidoglio. reception in Campidoglio.II discorsodi Nathan"(Roosevelt's di Roosevelt in Campidoglio"(The American Nathan'saddress),La Stampa(Turin),April7, 1910;GuidoPodrecca,"Lamericano betweenRooseveltand BenitoMussoliniin in theCampidoglio),Avanti!(Milan),April9, 1910.Forcomparisons 1972),61-63,226-27. the 1920s,seeJohnP. Diggins,MussoliniandFascism:The ViewfromAmerica(Princeton, 7 "Roosevelt," what com'e"(TeddyRoosevelt, II Corriere deltaSera(Milan),Sept. 17-18,1901;"TeddyRoosevelt, is he like),ibid., Sept. 21, 1901. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1516 TheJournalof AmericanHistory March1995 YOURE AMAN OFIITYPE! ,.1 /#~~~A TIHE COMPLIMENT SUPREME Duringhisspring1910travels, former president Theodore Roosevelt wasreceived headsofstate,including byEuropean KaiserWilhelm II ofGermany. This cartoon impliesthatthemutualadmiration ofthesetwo"terribly on similar modern" malesrested constructions ofmanhood. NelsonHarding, Brooklyn Eagle,c. 1910. naturalbodilyprowess," incapableof holdinghis own "whenthrownintocontact withotherboysofrougherantecedents." He admiredfearless, masculinefictional heroesand thefeatsofhisownsouthern he wantedto emulatethem,but ancestors; untilhe was fourteenyearsold thatdesireremainedonlya daydream.Then a changeoccurred, a trueturningpointin thenarrative ofRoosevelt's life:afterone of his recurrent asthmaattacks,as he sat in a stagecoachthatwas takinghim on vacation,he meta coupleofboyswhowerehisownage butmuchmorecompetent and mischievous thanhe. Roosevelt becamethepreordained victimof immediately theircrudejokes,incapableofreactingand defending himself;worstofall, he recalled,wasthediscovery that"eitherone singlycouldnotonlyhandleme witheasy This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ofMasculinity andtheCulture Roosevelt Theodore 1517 contempt,buthandleme so as notto hurtme muchand yetto preventmydoing in return." This humiliationleftitsmark.YoungRoosevelt anydamagewhatever whathe lackedas innatetalent.With decidedto tryto conquerthroughwillpower in his he beganto boxand veryslowlyacquiredconfidence permission hisfather's and climber a and wrestler, excellent boxer not ownbody;he becamea good but a tennisand polo player.The emphasison laborand and hunter, hiker,a horseman gifted,body, to trainan indocile,not naturally hardwork,on the determination the guidingthreadof thistroubledjourney.8 constitutes tohim,there According Roosevelt gainedlifelonglessonsfromtheseexperiences. derivedfromtalent,a prizeforfew;thesecond weretwotypesofsuccess:thefirst desiredit. His successes and steadfastly waswithinreachofanyonewhosufficiently the planning," wereofthesecondtype,obtainedthrough"hardlabor"and "careful and the"moral"as well:rationaljudgment, virtues ofthephysical laborioustraining in him,"he wrote, "Ifthemanhas therightstuff emotionaldiscipline,self-control. witheach exerciseof it."These expenditures and stronger "hiswillgrowsstronger had a precisegoal. Rooseveltwantedto be acceptedby of energyand intelligence men as a friendand companion,as one of them,"on an equal footing."But the men withwhomhe wishedto measurehimselfwerenot of his social class.They wereneitherhis fellowHarvardstudentsnorthe youngupper-classfriendsfrom and intellectual habits.The "real"menwerethe NewYorkwhosharedhislife-style coarseboyswho had humiliatedhim in the carriageduringhis adolescence,his theRoughRidershe wouldlead to Cuba, thelowerboxingand ridinginstructors, slums,the prairiecowboys.He had classpartypoliticiansfromthe metropolitan duringthe 1880s,leadingon hisDakotaranch"a freeand livedamongthecowboys a lifewithoutfencesthat"taughta man selfhardylife,withhorseand withrifle," reliance,hardihood,and thevalueofinstantdecision."Amongthesemen"ofhigh he finallycelebratedthe apotheosisof his acquiredmasculinity, animalspirits," -despite his glasses.He good-naturedly and theirrespect earningtheirfriendship shoulderedmockinginsults(suchas thenickname"FourEyes"),providedthathis exWhentheinsultswentbeyondgood-natured wasnotmisunderstood. amiability I've got if I've to, got "Well, inwardly, were Murmuring his reactions sharp. changes, to,"Rooseveltrecalled,"I struckquickand hardwithmyrightjust to one side of out,and thenagainwith thepointofhisjaw,hittingwithmyleftas I straightened myright."9 rolein thestoryofthemasculineeducationofthefuture The Westplaysa critical presidentof theUnitedStates.That the "outdoorlife"in the wildwesternlands he testified freelyand personaltransformation wasthe sourceof his extraordinary often:"You know,"he confidedto an Italianjournalist,"thatI publisheda book 8 TheodoreRoosevelt, (New York,1913),58, 17,22, 20, 32-33. "The TheodoreRoosevelt:An Autobiography Vigorof Life"is the titleof chapter2. that"anyintensified maintains 9 Roosevelt, 59, 38, 132,103,106,110,136.David Leverenz TheodoreRoosevelt, fordominance. in a worldofmalerivalry responseto fearofhumiliation" ideologyofmanhoodis a compensatory See David Leverenz,Manhoodand theAmericanRenaissance(Ithaca,1989),4. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1518 ofAmerican TheJournal History March1995 aboutmylifeout there;youshouldreadit."To talkand to writeaboutsuchadventureswasprobablythemaingoal ofso muchpassion,as anotherItaliansuspected in 1901:"Assoon as he finishedcollege,did he fleeto theWestand indulge,for life?Yes,butonlytofindmateromantic and vagrant a fewmonths,in a shepherd's rialforstoriestakenfromreallife."Rooseveltknewtoo wellthattheWestwasno longer"wild,"thatit had becomea place forsportand summerhobbies;he knew even in black Africa, that the wildernesshad disappearedalmosteverywhere, overrun bytoo manyhuntingpartieslikehisown."There,menhavecivilizedeven Roosevelt, as his authe beasts!"he commentedin 1909.10What reallyinterested tobiography clearlystates,was theFarWestof Owen Wister'sstoriesand Frederic worldthatwas a legendary Remington's drawings, ofBillytheKid and PatGarrett, gonenow,'gonewithlostAtlantis,' goneto theisleofghostsand ofstrangedead mythology to shape use ofnatureand offrontier memories";itwasthetherapeutic his own masculinity. Roosevelt'sWestis the mythicWestexploredby Leslie A. Fiedler,theundisputedrealmof thewhitemale,a man withoutwomen,indeed, in orderto avoid a manwhoshunswomen,whosearchesfortheultimateadventure in It and maturity, civilization. is, Roosevelt'sown sex, marriage,responsibility, thatoffered community him,thecivilizedeasterngentleman, words,a "patriarchal" tragicdeaths.It is a chastesingle-sex refugefromthepainofhiswife'sand mother's wheremenaremenbecausetheyhaveonlythemselves, andwheremale community and perhapswitness is freeto letitselfgo in some"roughhorse-play" aggressiveness the excitinginterludeof a shoot-out." muscularmale camaraderie that Roosevelt's Westwasa sphereofself-sufficient, the"worldofloveand ritual"thatdefinedbourgeois mirrored and complemented women'sculturein the nineteenth century, a symbolicsphere,gender-segregated trace ofa heterosexual sentimental educaand sexually There is no underdeveloped. in the autobiography. tion anywhere Marriageappearssuddenlyas a taken-fordutyforanyman";sex privilegeand greatest grantedriteofpassage,"thegreatest forhusbandand surfaces onlyin the call to "thesinglestandardof sex-morality" values.The autobiogwithVictorianas wellas western-hero wife,a call consistent and defenseofthe raphyalso presentssexand marriageas a meansofprocreation seemedto masculinity race,ofgreat-power politics.As a matteroffact,Roosevelt's notaroundan adultdesireto seducetheothersex,but aroundan be constructed, that hisown."Youmustalwaysremember and reassure infantile needtoreconstruct Britishambassadorto the the Presidentis about six,"wroteCecil Spring-Rice, 10 "Un'intervista II CorrieredeltaSera (Milan),April6, 1909; withRoosevelt), con Roosevelt"(An interview hunting nell'Africa Equatoriale"(Roosevelt's "TeddyRoosevelt, come,"ibid.,Sept. 21, 1901;"Le caccedi Roosevelt collex tripsin equatorialAfrica),La Stampa (Turin),April4, 1909; "I Sovranid'Italia a Messina.L'incontro in Messina.A meetingwithex-president Roosevelt), La Nazione(Florence), presidente Roosevelt" (Italy'ssovereigns April7, 1909. 11Roosevelt, community, see reference to a "patriarchal" TheodoreRoosevelt,103,131-32,110.ForRoosevelt's byFrederic NewYork,1985),6. Thisbookis illustrated TheodoreRoosevelt, RanchLifeandtheHunting-Trail(1896; thatbegins,"Oh, ourmanhood'sprimevigor!" Remington and prefacedwitha quotationfromRobertBrowning On themythic West,see LeslieA. Fiedler,Loveand Death in theAmericanNovel (New York,1966); and Leslie American(New York,1968). A. Fiedler,TheReturnof the Vanishing This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Roosevelt andtheCultureofMasculinity Theodore 1519 Italian ofRoosevelt's childlikeemotions.The observers UnitedStates,ofRoosevelt's his "ruddyface,"his (his "cheerfulness," sojournsteasedhim forhis childishness tohunt,loadeddownwithmoregearthanevenAlphonse noisylaughter, hiscraving lingeredwiththe Daudet'sTartarin de Tarascon!)and forthewayhe (too affably) he jokes";theynotedthat wasthe "delightof ladiestelling(too many)"charming theAmericanmisses"on Romanholidays,buthe wasmorea jollyold friendthan Lifehad "charmed a sexsymbol.Itwastrue,as someonerecalled,thatTheStrenuous women"whotranslated it,CountessHilda Francesetti thesoulsoftwoexceptional in France.Yet Hilda di Malgra di Malgrain Italyand PrincessFrancigny-Lusinge officer who had died on a military the book in homageto herbrother, translated pageswerethe lasthe read and a sourceof inspiration dutyin Korea.Roosevelt's - physical, Roosevelt was moral,and commanding." forhismeditations on "strength had carriedtheessay struckbythisepisode,and he recalledthata Japaneseofficer it forhis countrymen. theManchuriancampaignand latertranslated throughout wasmeantforofficers, notforgenIn sum,Roosevelt's unabasheddisplayofvirility byit.12 tlewomen;it was men who-wereoverpowered In Italy,manynationalists greetedRooseveltas a figurewho could infusewith and miserly "virileand energetic" lifethemenoftheirenfeeblednation,"cowardly his wouldoffer hopedthathisautobiography Italy."In theUnitedStates,Roosevelt sophisticated owncompatriots combinedmasculineenergy, an imageofadmirably autobiography, ofcourse,is thatofa pedigree.Roosevelt's culture,and aristocratic as a politicianand publicman,and a largepartof it is dedicatedto his activities and propaedeutic, themostpersonalpagesremaincritical statesman. Nevertheless, and theyfurnishan interpretive lifeas keyto the coherentschemeof Roosevelt's he wantedto describe(or invent)it. Much male autobiographical writingof oftheclassquestion,thatis,ofclass Roosevelt's timedealtwithpersonalexperiences Dizzyingclimbsto the top of the economichierarchy mobilityand classconflict. proMoremodestsocialpromotions wereexaltedin exemplary "Carnegiestories." of the formationof the modernmiddle class: flightfromthe duced narratives of a formaleducationand professional nostalgiafor prestige, country, attainment 12 Roosevelt, "TheFemale 62, 216,58. For"loveand ritual,"see CarrollSmith-Rosenberg, TheodoreRoosevelt, Signs,1 (Autumn1975), WorldofLoveand Ritual:RelationsbetweenWomenin Nineteenth-Century America," and the TheAmericanPoliticalTradition see RichardHofstadter, 1-29. Forthe commentbyCecil Spring-Rice, see "TeodoroRoosevelta Napoli" Men WhoMade It (New York,1948),233. ForcommentsbyItalianobservers, (TheodoreRooseveltin Naples), II CorrieredeltaSera (Milan),April6, 1909; "La festosaaccoglienzadi Napoli La Stampa(Turin),April6, 1909; welcomefromNaplesto TheodoreRoosevelt), (A cheerful a TeodoroRoosevelt" on Messina's meetingwithRoosevelt sullerovinedi Messina"(Our sovereigns' "L'incontro dei SovraniconRoosevelt ruins),II CorrieredeltaSera(Milan),April7, 1909;"TeodoroRoosevelta Roma"(TheodoreRooseveltin Rome), visitwiththe kingof Italy), La Stampa(Turin),April4, 1910;"La visitadi Rooseveltal Re dItalia" (Roosevelt's ibid.,April5, 1910;"La giornatadell'ospite"(Our guest'sday),II CorrieredeltaSera(Milan),April6, 1910;"Le visits),La Nazione (Florence),April6, 1910;and "Lultimagiornata (The ex-president's visitedell'ex-Presidente" lastdayin Rome),II CorrieredeltaSera(Milan),April7, 1910.Forthereference di Roosevelt a Roma"(Roosevelt's to "twoexceptionalwomen,'see "La giornatadell'ospite"(Our guest'sday),ibid., April6, 1910.D. Mantovani, to "strength," see Roosevelt, book as an inspiration La Stampa(Turin),Nov. 15, 1904.On Roosevelt's "Roosevelt," nella Vigordi vita,trans.Malgri,vii-viii.See also GiuseppeGadda Conti,"WilliamJamese TheodoreRoosevelt stampaitaliana"(WilliamJamesand TheodoreRooseveltin the Italianpress),Studiamericani(Rome),25-26 (1979-1980),167-68. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1520 TheJournal ofAmerican History March1995 cultural with cosmopolitanand consumeristic identification a lost community, workingclassceleof a multiracialand multiethnic codes. The autobiographies Patricians or of radicalmilitancy. and Americanization bratedcasesof integration oftheirworldsand lamentthedissolution suchas HenryAdamscouldcomplacently Socialmobility, corresponded to Roosevelt's. theirselves.None oftheseexperiences polittroubledhimas problemsofprimary and classstratification socialuprooting, norchangedhis status. but theyneithertouchedhimpersonally ical importance, and developed He had been bornintotheuppercrust,fullyenjoyeditsprivileges, is elseit offered. The dramaticcenterof his Bildungsroman all the possibilities of a male identityin a societyof rapidlychanging where,in the reconstruction notofa is theautobiography, languagesand behaviors.Roosevelt's gender-related self-mademan, but of a self-mademale.13 reconifwe wantto understandthisdetailedoperation,Roosevelt's Nevertheless, we cannotignorehowclosely,in his eyes,genderroles ofa male identity, struction fuland to the effective weretied to the propermaintenanceof socialhierarchies The rightsof citizenshipand the call to filmentof citizens'politicalprerogatives. politicalleadershipofmenofhisstation,theculturedand well-to-doupperclass, Although ideal of"character." on thenineteenth-century werefoundedhistorically wasan essential forall men,"character" and a possibility presentedas an aspiration of bourgeoismanhoodin a societybased on laissezcomponentof the definition it impliedcourage,honor,loyalty, male independence, faireand universal suffrage; theabilityto command,senseofduty, self-control, boldness,anti-intellectualism, Rooseand politicalparticipation. a benevolent patriarchate, defenseofthefamily, waschanging, thathad nourishedsuchrhetoric veltbelievedthatthesocialuniverse and "luxury" The "effeminacy" and he fearedthattheidealitselfwasdisintegrating. Life, in whichwealthy familiesand theirchildrenlived,he wrotein TheStrenuous to defendand develop forthecountry could notproducetheleadershipnecessary and a permanent democracy(underminedas it was by monopolisticplutocracy arena.Likeancient itsmissionin theinternational at homeand tofulfill proletariat) "a thoroughly manly Rome,theUnitedStatesneededmorethaneverto reconstruct and all his Roosevelt'sautobiography race- a race of strong,virilecharacter." stronglypersonalizedpublic biographyprovideda model of strictindividual in it offered an obsessedcelebration, forhisgoal. Of the "virilecharacter" training anxieties interwoven with were and classconsciousness deep whichgenderidentity 1954);Thomas 13 Irvin G. Wyllie,TheSelfMadeManin America:TheMythofRagstoRiches(NewBrunswick, in America(Columbus,1976); ThomasG. Couser, Cooley,EducatedLives: TheRise ofModernAutobiography and theMaking 1979);RobertF. Sayre,"Autobiography Mode (Amherst, TheProphetic AmericanAutobiography: and Critical,ed. JamesOlney(Princeton,1980), 146-80.For EssaysTheoretical ofAmerica,"in Autobiography: del see LorenzaGiorgi,"Limmaginedegli StatiUniti nelle rivistefiorentine commentsbyItaliannationalists, in century), periodicalsof the earlytwentieth (The imageof the UnitedStatesin Florentine primonovecento" (Italyand Americafromthe eighteenthcenturyto the all'etddell'imperialismo Italia e Americadal settecento ed. GiorgioSpini et al. (Venice,1976),430-31, 446. age of imperialism), This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ofMasculinity Roosevelt andtheCulture Theodore 1521 about who would exercisepoliticalpowerand how theywould exerciseit in a changing society.14 had neverbeenconceived because"character" Training had alwaysbeennecessary Throughout thenineteenth self-discipline. as innate;ithad to be acquiredthrough pagesechotheirdidactic to teachhow,and Roosevelt's century, handbooksoffered tones.Training and sermonizing duringinfancy and adolescence(discussionofthis politcriticaltransitional age wasjust beginning)appearedan especiallynecessary that an eramarkedbythealarmingperception icaldutyat theturnofthecentury, schoolsand families wereinadequateto transmit maleculturalvaluesand Victorian bypressingworksuburbanfather, evermoredistracted identity. The middle-class in his own a stranger had becomea "Sundayinstitution," relatedcommitments, An house;publicschoolshad been invadedby "a vasthordeof femaleteachers." of male childrenriskedgrowing entiregeneration up withouta paternalfigurein dominatedby the constanteducationalinfluenceof women,be an environment or teachers. by"themostdamnable Societyriskedbeingoverwhelmed theymothers to BasilRansom,thesouthern and aristocratic, reactionary, according feminisation," explicitly male chauvinistheroof the 1886 HenryJamesnovel,The Bostonians. Ransomadded: is womanised; The wholegeneration themasculine toneis passingoutofthe a nervous, chattering, canting age,an age of hysterical, world;it'sa feminine, andcoddledsensibilandexaggerated solicitudes hollow phrases andfalsedelicacy ifwedon'tsoonlookout,willusherin thereignofmediocrity, of ities,which, thefeeblest andthemostpretentious thathaseverbeen.Themascuandflattest to todareandendure, toknowandyetnotfearreality, linecharacter, theability queerandpartly very looktheworldinthefaceandtakeitforwhatitis-a very -that is whatI wanttopreserve, orrather, as I maysay,torecover; basemixture ofyouladieswhile andI musttellyouthatI don'tintheleastcarewhatbecomes I maketheattempt!'5 Thisprogramseemedmade forRoosevelt, whohatedJamesbut notnecessarily hisfictional He madea personalcommitment ofthe to a malerecapture characters. to promotepublic institutions that domesticspace and a politicalcommitment forthemissingpaternalfigure.Rooseveltemphatically refusedto wouldsubstitute not be an absentfather.He wrotethatfora man thereis no greatersatisfaction, in a house eventhatof killinggrizzlybearsand lions,thanthe joysof paternity fullofchildren;"children arebetterthanbooks."Tospendtimewiththem,he postRoosevelt's triedto act as "vice-mother." poned statedinnersand, whennecessary, mainintentas "themasculineparent," however, wasto inculcatethemanlyvirtues. "thepropermixture ofthe offreedomand controlin themanagement Advocating he couldconsentto havinga good time(he playedwithhis childrenin children," 14 TheodoreRoosevelt, The StrenuousLife:Essaysand Addresses[1899]in The Worksof TheodoreRoosevelt (26 vols.,New York,1906),XX, 150, 117. 15 Henry Fathering James,TheBostonians:A Novel (New York,1886), 333-34;JosephH. Pleck,"American in ChangingMen, ed. Kimmel,88. in HistoricalPerspective" This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1522 History TheJournal ofAmerican March1995 at the ofhiscountry residenceand joinedin pillowfights thewoodsand haystacks White House) and thenrequireobedience,study,and hard work.Outside the whereboys, Roosevelt foughtto defendand createseparatemale territories family, Forhim,organizedsports, and adultmencouldfreelyinteract. male adolescents, fromcollegefootballto themorepopularbaseballand morebrutalboxing,reprelifeproperly:"Hit the sentedan areawhereyoungmalescould learnto confront linehard;don'tfouland don'tshirk,buthitthelinehard."The YoungMen'sChrisinspiredbyJesusChrist's withitsideal ofa muscularChristianity tianAssociation, anothersucharea. He encouragedyoungChristoffered manliness," "magnificent iansto practiceboxing;"I do notlike,"he wrote,"tosee [them]withshouldersthat slope likea champagnebottle."Of the BoyScoutsof America,foundedin 1910, a memberofthenationalcouncil(with wasan ardentsupporter, the ex-president he-mensuchas Adm. GeorgeDeweyand Gen. LeonardWood), and a hero.The inthemythofDaniel enshrouded first articleoffaithoftheseweekendfrontiersmen whothirsted fashion,and guidedbyscoutmasters Boone,organizedin paramilitary was the main goal of education16 was thatmanhood,not knowledge, forvirility, boyscould let go of theirmothers'apronstrings. Throughtheseorganizations, males)had to confront Liketheirsons,adultmales(aboveall, adultmiddle-class seemedto conof new the The century a problemoffemaleinvasion. New Woman in familyrelationsas in stitutea concretethreatto thesemen'spowerand security, in thesphereofsexuality. Womenwereoccupying publiclifeand,moreintimately, theworldofwork,and they male identity, one bastionofthe nineteenth-century thereform weremakinginroadsinthatotherbastion,politics,demandingsuffrage, to solvesocialproblems.Somewomen's ofpoliticalparties,and publicintervention militantly attackedsuchplacesofmalesocializationas brothels reform movements than basedon desire,rather ofa positivefemalesexuality and saloons.The discovery oflicentiousness and accusations themeekacceptanceofmaritalpassion,generated and therightto sexual terror ofimpotence.Iftheworkethic,politicalcitizenship, initiativeno longerdefinedmanhood,whatwas left?Troubledbythesedifficult crisisthat a masculinity questions,manymenfeltbesiegedand beganto experience mena nervousinstability similarto thatprediffused amongmiddle-class ironically Roosevelt's responseto these femalenervousness. to generically viouslyattributed glance,linearand withoutnuance.Foradultsas forchilchallengesappears,at first and identity of gendersolidarity strengthening dren,he proposeda therapeutic returnto therigid He also proposeda conservative associations. throughseparatist sexualdemarcations.17 bourgeoisnineteenth-century 16 Roosevelt, TheodoreRoosevelt,364, 375, 370. Formentionof"a champagnebottle,"see ibid.,49; for"hit StrenuousLife,158. Fora discussionof the BoyScoutand YoungMen'sChristian the line hard,"see Roosevelt, in theAmericanBoy:TheBoyScouts, see David I. Macleod,BuildingCharacter Association(YMCA)movements, "TheBoyScoutsandtheValidaP. Hantover, 1870-1920(Madison,1983);andJeffrey YMCA,andTheirForerunners, in AmericanMan, ed. Pleckand Pleck,285-301. tionof Masculinity," in AmericanMan, ed. Pleckand Pleck,303-20; and theMasculinity Crisis," 17 JoeL. Dubbert,"Progressivism Rotundo,"Bodyand Soul: ChangingIdealsofAmericanMiddle-ClassManhood,1770-1920,"Journal E. Anthony of Social History,16 (Summer1983), 23-38. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ofMasculinity Theodore Roosevelt andtheCulture 1523 which ofexclusively male institutions, The flourishing at theturnofthecentury hasbeenreadas a "desperate madethoseyears"theheydayofmen'spublicculture," at the universes flourished sublimation" ofthemasculinity crisis.All-malefantasy Tarzanbooks,spectator sametime,as thesuccessofwestern novels,E. R. Burroughs's wasa protagonist ofall theseculsports,and warpropagandatracts shows.Roosevelt male "artificial" placestoreestablish turalphenomena.He sawinmen'sassociations namely, onlyin veryparticular situations, bonds,bondsthatcouldarise"naturally" waror thefrontier. ForRooseveltmale bondinghad to be capableof overcoming socialdivisions.Fromthispointofview,theCivilWarhad been an excellentexpeontothebattlefields and left dient;it had carriedadultmalesfromall extractions to form.The them therelong enough for a (natural)feelingof brotherhood Warof 1898had done thesamethingand something more,beSpanish-American menin a commonpride and southern causeithad unifiedthechildrenofnorthern in theirvirileexploits.Now thattheseexperiences belongedto thepast,it wasstill as wasdonein an exemplary fashionbyveterans' theirmemory, possibleto cultivate or to turnto (artificial) substitutes. Especiallyin thelargeindustrial associations, centers,the best substitutewas providedby workirna politicalparty.Roosevelt ofpoliticallife,and of theassociations thatit brings,is ofvery wrote,"The effect and a keenerfellow-feeling greatbenefitin producinga betterunderstanding wouldknowone anothernotat all, or elseas members amongmenwhootherwise of alien bodiesor classes."'18 exwomenwereto be actively Fromthisworldofveterans and militantfighters, ofseparate cluded,drivenbackintotheir"natural"sphere.The Victorianrhetoric Manlinesswasdefinedin opposphereshelda precisenormative valueforRoosevelt. as had beencommonin early notin oppositionto childishness sitionto femininity, nineteenth-century language;it wasdefinedin relationto a radicalOtherand not in relationto a phase of a man'slifecyclethathe could slowlyoutgrowwiththe inthewallofsexualdifference ofmaturity. would acquisition Anybreachwhatsoever and nationaldisaster.HenryAdamswasfascinated bringtheend ofmale identity new women"createdsince 1840," by thesebreachesopened by the mysterious knownonly womenwho werestillunknownto themselvesbecause historically movement ofsex,history maleeyes.He wrotethat"without understanding through Adamsadmittedthathe "owedmoreto theAmerseemedto himmerepedantry." ican womanthanto all the Americanmen he everheardof."He recognizedher and "feltnotthesmallestcall to defendhissex";he spokepassionately superiority ofhertragiclibertyin a worldwherehertraditional domesticrolewasdead ("the ofman. wasextinct likechivalry") andsheriskedbecominga sexlessimitation family "The womanhad been setfree,"he wrote,"volatilizedlikeClerkMaxwell'sperfect gas; almostbroughtto thepointof explosion,likesteam."It wasthiscompressed 18 Roosevelt, ofmaleinstitutions, as the"heyday" StrenuousLife,82. Fordiscussionoftheturnofthecentury in AmericanMan, ed. Pleckand Pleck,28; for see ElizabethH. Pleck and JosephH. Pleck,"Introduction," see Filene,Him/Her/Self, 94. Forall-maleassociationsin thelate nineteenth century, "desperatesublimations," America(New Haven, 1989). see MarkC. Carnes,SecretRitualand Manhoodin Victorian This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1524 TheJournal ofAmerican History March1995 destructive energythatRooseveltwantedto keepundercontroland bringbackto whathe consideredtraditional channels.In 1899,Rooseveltwrote: Themanmustbe gladtodo a man'swork, to dareandendureandtolabor;to keephimself, andtokeepthosedependent uponhim.Thewomanmustbe the mother ofmany house-wife, thehelpmeet ofthehomemaker, thewiseandfearless war,whenwomen healthy children.... Whenmenfearworkorfearrighteous fearmotherhood, theytremble on thebrinkofdoom.19 In hisautobiography did notstandagainstwomansuffrage. Roosevelt, however, he calledhimselfa zealoussupporter ofthecause,evenifhe admittedthathe had To somewhatchangedhis views,thatin thepasthe had favoredit "onlytepidly." him the separationof sphereswas not reallycontradicted forwomen, bysuffrage iftheyused it,notto masculinizethemselves, but,he said, "to renderbetterand moreefficient service"to thenationas mothers and wives,in accordwithhisunderas Jane Addamsand Frances standingof the teachingsof such social reformers theenjustified Kellor.20 Nevertheless, thecontradiction did exist.WhenRoosevelt and retranceofwomenintotheelectoralarenawiththelanguageofmotherhood form(exactlyas Addamsand manysuffragists did), he tookintoaccountchanges and in the in the relationships betweenthe sexesas well as in the classstructure ofpolitics.He believedthatthesurvival ofthesocialand politicalorder definition in theUnitedStatesofhistime-a country oftrustsand greatriches,ofgreatpovworking ertyand politicalcorruption, of the laborquestionand a multinational class-depended upon menofhisclasspromoting radicalchange.Onlybycreating an interventionist politicalparties and bureaucratic welfarestateand reorganizing could thosemen redefineand reaffirm theirownpositionas a rulingelite.To do so theyhad to includein the politicaldiscoursethemesand issuesthathad been "feminine." Reform elaboratedbywomen'smovements and wereusuallyconsidered the dichotomiesbetweenman'ssphereand woman'ssphere, impliedovercoming thepoliticalparty thepublicsphereand theprivatesphere,thestateand thefamily, and philanthropy, dichotomies thathad givenmeaningto thenineteenth-century In thiscontext Roosevelt's and "thestrenuous maleidentity. exaltation of"character" a it is also,however, life"oftenappearsas a patheticdefenseof the lastfrontier; in a changed ofbourgeoismasculinity carefully plannedcallforthereconstruction society.The model of upper-classpoliticianhe proposedcould unitetraditional manlyVictorian virtueswithsuchwomanly virtuesas socialcompassionand underreform Those zeal. womanlyvirtuesdid not threatenhis manhood standingand activism, onlybecausehe blendedthemwithhiscan-doattitude, hisoverwhelming and his aggressive masculinestyle,stolenfromthe lowerclasses. 19 HenryAdams, The Educationof HenryAdams: An Autobiography (Boston,1918),442-45; Roosevelt, StrenuousLife,5-6. On definitions of manliness,seeJosephF. Kett,RitesofPassage:Adolescencein America, 1790 to the Present(New York,1977), 173. 20 Roosevelt,TheodoreRoosevelt,180. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions and theCultureofMasculinity Roosevelt Theodore 1525 to sortout linksbetweenclassand It is usefulto returnto Roosevelt'sbiography politics. fordemocratic genderstylesand projectsforchangeand theirimplications Rooseveltreceivedhis politicaleducationin the New Yorkcirclesof the patrician (LiberalRepublicansof 1872,Mugwumpsof 1884)whoin thepost-Civil reformers and of Americandemocracy War decadesradicallycriticizedthe "degeneration" ofmass-basedpartyorcauses:thepractices whattheyconsideredto be itsprimary ganizationsand their precondition,universalmale suffrage.The upper-class withneitherprinciplesnorproattackedexistingpartiesas institutions reformers realproblems,led byignorantand grams,incapableofdealingwiththecountry's onlyin thespoilsofpower. politicianswhowereinterested professional corrupted They describedpartiesin apocalypticand elitisttones as shameless,honorless ofthecrowdand, throughfraudand machinesthatappealedto theworstinstincts Machines and a fetishistic cultofthemselves. loyalties deception,instilledirrational crushedthehonest,wise,and independentmenwhowere(in theliberalreformers' code) "the bestmen."To defeattheseevilsand weakenpartyinfluence, linguistic municipaland (as againstthespoilssystem), advocatedthemeritsystem reformers capabilities. the extensionof stateexecutiveand administrative electoralreforms, theyproposedthemodel partyloyalties, to popularand collective As an alternative voterwho paid moreattentionto nonpartisan ofan independent, discriminating, theindividualqualitiesofthecandidatesthanto partylabels.In thenameofthese belonged, theyboltedtheRepublicanparty,to whichtheyhistorically principles, nominee,GroverClevein 1884and campaignedforthe Democraticpresidential land. In anotherdecisiveturnto his lifeand anotherof the symbolicepisodesof Rooseveltdid notfollowthem;he voted thetwenty-six-year-old hisautobiography, forhis party'scandidate,JamesG. Blaine.21 "regularly" In a societythatviewedpartypoliticsas themoralequivalentofwarand party wasreceivedbyRepublicanpoliticians as a secularchurch,theMugwumpdefection enough,someoftheinsultswereframedin the witha volleyofinsults.Coherently Otherparticuand "apostates." "renegades," languageofwarand religion:"traitors," "political larlyintenseinsultswereframedin the languageof sexualdifference: who "effeminates "man-milliners," "politicalhermaphrodites," "Miss-Nancy," flirts," are notmenwithoutbeingwomen,""theneutergender,""thethirdsex."In constaltrast,the RepublicancandidateBlainewas presentedas that"thoroughbred of partypoliticiansappealedto lion."Byquestioningthemanhood thereformers, 21Thisdiscussionis basedon ArnaldoTesti,"Is NothingMorePowerful thanPartyAllegiance?The American ParlorsoftheGildedAgetoTwentieth-Century FromtheVictorian SpecterofthePartyMachineand PartyLoyalty: (Turin),3 (no. 2, 1986),7-32; ArnaldoTesti,"La crisidei partitipolitici PoliticalScience,"StoriaNordamericana di massanegliStatiUniti"(The crisisofmasspoliticalpartiesin theUnitedStates),Quadernistorici(Bologna), Storia 24 (Aug. 1989),493-536; ArnaldoTesti,"Once Again,WhyIs ThereNo Socialismin theUnitedStates?," (Turin),7 (no. 1, 1990), 59-92; and ArnaldoTesti,"Questipartitiselvaggie voraci:JamesBryce, Nordamericana e l'immaginedel partitoamericano"(These savage,wolfishparties:JamesBryce,MoiseiOsMoiseiOstrogorski, and theimageoftheAmericanpoliticalparty),inIlpartitopoliticoamericanoe l'Europa(The American trogorski, politicalpartyand Europe),ed. MaurizioVaudagna(Milan, 1991),52-79. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1526 ofAmerican History TheJournal March1995 the of separatespheres;accordingto thesestereotypes, the ingrainedstereotypes and moralizingMugwumpshad gonebeyondtheboundaries idealist,intellectual, and perhapssomeoneelse'sterrioftheirsexualrole,had entereda no-man's-land activity. tory.Thissymboliccrossingof genderborderswas not unusualin reform In somepoliticalnovelsoftheperiod,mostnotablyin HenryAdams'sDemocracy, explicitly assumedthe pointof viewof a female publishedin 1880,male writers favored (fromtheoutsidein) at theworld.Malereformers character to lookcritically organizations(clubs, leagues, ad hoc committees, nonpartisanand extraparty associatedwithwomen's movements, presscampaigns),whichwerefirst single-issue in bureaucratic work,whichwasconsidTheyplacedmuchconfidence movements. to thetradimen.In contrast thedomainofwomenand effeminate eredunmanly, tionalpartisanapproach,theyintendedto solvesocial problemsthroughsocial science,which,accordingto a leaderof the AmericanSocial ScienceAssociation, with Theysharedresponsibility was "thefemininegenderof PoliticalEconomy." as reforms such temfor controversial moral and political women manyupper-class men It wasno coincidencethat"long-haired peranceand votingrightsrestrictions. definitions areHenryJames's)groupedtowomen"(thesarcastic and short-haired gether.22 a traitaswasfedbyanti-intellectualism, The partypoliticians'vauntedvirility and a good century, bythesecondhalfofthenineteenth sociatedwithmasculinity Whentheliberalreformers proposedto "uplift"thetone doseofsocialresentment. to theircode ofpurityand shedtheirpartyloyalty, theytoo ofpubliclifeaccording thenormsoftheir theirelitistprejudices.Theyalso infringed impudently affirmed as thewomenwhoweredemandingtherightto voteingenderroleas stridently fringedtheirs.Rooseveltcould agree withpartsof the partymen's assaulton and sexualinnuendoes. reformers, and he joinedthechorusofpoliticalaccusations he describedthe silk-stocking reformers he knewso well as In his autobiography who shooktheirheadsoverpolitical whowereverynice,veryrefined, "gentlemen and parlors,butwhowerewhollyunand discusseditin drawing-rooms corruption "ofcultivated tastes, abletograpplewithrealmenin reallife."Theyweregentlemen werebackbiting"; theywere"hostileto manliness"and to whosepet temptations anydisplayof "nationaland individualvirility." of men;theyfeltill at easein thecompany Theywerenotrobustorpowerful timidity. They men;oftentheyhad in thema veinofphysical rough,strong to themselves foran uneasysubconsciousness oftheirown avengedthemselves in cloistered-or, pleasantly upholstered-seclurather, shortcomings bysitting at andlyingaboutmenwhomadethemfeeluncomfortable. sion,andsneering An AmericanNovel(New York,1880);Baker,"Domesti22James, Bostonians,72; HenryAdams,Democracy: Anti-intellectualism in AmericanLife of insults,see RichardHofstadter, cationofPolitics," 636. Fordiscussions Blodgett,"The MugwumpReputation,1870to thePresenti"JournalofAmer(NewYork,1963),185-91;Geoffrey icanHistory, 66 (March1980),883-84; MichaelE. McGerr,TheDeclineofPopularPolitics:TheAmericanNorth, ofAmerica:Cultureand Society TheIncorporation 1865-1928(New York,1986),44-45; and Alan Trachtenberg, in the GildedAge (New York,1982), 163-64. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ofMasculinity andtheCulture Roosevelt Theodore 1527 finding ratherthanformoralreasons," Theydislikedpartypoliticians"foraesthetic of the needs, slightest understanding had not the and they and vulgar, themcoarse of the people not belongingto their waysof thought,and convictions interests, decisionto enterpartypolitics laughedat youngRoosevelt's caste.Thesereformers werenot controlled and toldhim "thatpoliticswere'low'; thatthe organizations horse-car conductors, thatI wouldfindthemrunbysaloon-keepers, by'gentlemen'; theyassuredme thatthe men I metwouldbe and the like . . . ; and, moreover, roughand brutaland unpleasantto deal with."23 amusement and exwhatRoosevelt wanted.With"considerable Thatwasexactly Republicanclubs plebeianlifeofManhattan he plungedintotherestless citement," thatmetin premisesfilledwiththe symbolsthatprovokedMugwumpdisgust:a dingybenches(bourgeoissalons?),picbarnlike roomovera saloon(temperance?), spittoons.In theslumswhere turesofGen. UlyssesS. Grant(thegreatcorrupter), and dangerousclasses,ominoussignsof othershad seenonlymoraldegeneration the destinyof Americancivilization,Rooseveltwentto look formembersof a class"and to nourishand provehis manhood.He found democratic"governing whowasbornin Irelandand grewup strongand vigorousmensuchasJoeMurray, activistforthe Republicanmachineand a barefooton FirstAvenue,a grass-roots oftheWild years.Amongthesepartymen,as amongthecowboys friendforthirty in of of the end, being"adfoundhimselfcapable surviving and, West,Roosevelt In thatintensely masculine,physand thento leadership." mittedto comradeship, as an upperforhiscommitment world,he foundnewdirections ical,and muscular who neitherdeniednorhid hisownrootsas wellas good reasonsto classreformer theforms oflower-class politics:goodreasonsforthepartymachine,forparty justify and evenforthe partybosseswho wereso detestedbyhis class.Roosevelt loyalty, reachedtheconclusionthat"thereis oftenmuchgoodin thetypeofboss"whowas oftheirpeoplein themetFriendsand protectors blamedforcorruption. generally fortheneedyand preserved essentialservices jungle,thebossesfurnished ropolitan "humanrelations"withall; withtheirdailyand widespreadwork,theyfostered amongthe men of the morepopularneighborhoods strongpartisanattachments ("and an outragehad to be veryrealand verygreatto shakethemevenpartially to the voterswereinsensitive Theselower-class loosefromtheirpartyaffiliations"). well as hostile reformers as that the liberal "of mere delighted personalities" fights tomanyoftheirproposals.Roosevelt quicklyrealizedthatforsuchvotersthe"virtue wasa ofcompleteindependence"wasno virtueat all and thatpartyorganization politics.Indeed, requisiteforanytypeofpolitics,includinghisownbelovedreform reform politics.24 he presentedhimselfas a newkindofchampionofa "reformed" a journey system, wasa journeyintothe bowelsofthesociopolitical Roosevelt's they werealso making.Collectively, thatothermen and womenofhis generation in political developeda newimageofurbanpartypoliticsthatwaslaterconsecrated 23 24 Roosevelt,TheodoreRoosevelt,96, 162-63, 302, 63. Ibid, 63, 69, 166, 304, 305, 94. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1528 TheJournal ofAmerican History March1995 journalismwith Lincoln Steffens's Autobiography, publishedin 1931, and in academiawithpost-World WarII functionalist which sociologyand historiography, Therewas, however, restedon the notionof the machine's"latentfunctions." a difference betweenmen and women.Social activistwomensuchas JaneAddams and LillianWald,who in the lastyearsof the nineteenth foundedsettlecentury ofChicagoand New York,recognizedand dementhousesin poorneighborhoods character of local politicsand its abilityto giveimscribedthe communitarian mediateanswersto urgentneeds in exchangefor loyaltyand votes.Far from ifhe, "because Addamsaskedherself demonizingthepartybossforhiscorruption, werenot"ona moreethicallineofsocialdevelopment he is democratic in method," whobelievesthatthepeoplemustbe madeoverby'goodcitizens' thanthereformer, Yetbothwomenalmostautomatically and governed foundthemselves by'experts."' battlingthemachinesand supporting independent movements, althoughtheyfelt werealiento thecommunity. Of course,as women,Addamsand thosemovements Waldhad no rightto vote,althoughas suffragists theydemandedit. Theybelieved had the responsibility and thatgovernment agencies,not partisanorganizations, Theirpubliccommitment foundoutlets,perforce dutyto lookaftercitizenwelfare. notin electedpositions, butintheappointedoffices ofthepublic and bypreference, Theirattitude,therefore, wasnotthatofantagonists administration. to partypolitoit. Andtheyunderstood tics,butthatofoutsiders why:Thepartyformtheyknew as a maleentity and in thevenuesofmalesocialiconstructed had beenhistorically its own identity. zation(above all the saloon) continually Addams strengthened wrotein Democracyand Social Ethics,publishedin 1907: All the social lifeof the voterfromthe timehe was a littleboy . . . has been onthissenseofloyalty founded inwithhisfriends. andofstanding Nowthathe isa man,helikesthesenseofbeinginsidea political organization, ofbeingtrusted withpolitical gossip, ofbelonging toa setoffellows whounderstand things, and whoseinterests arebeingcaredforbya strong friend in thecitycouncilitself. Admittance intothesegender-segregated areaswasa riteofpassageto adultmanhood thatAddamsunderstood butlookeduponwithunderstandable detachment. Not so Roosevelt, who was fascinatedon the spot.25 In hisautobiography, as inhisarticles written fromthe1880son,Roosevelt clearly triedto givecredibility to theimageoftheupper-class politiciancapableofhappily theroughmanlinessofpartydemocracy combining withthelofty intellectual ideals ofthereformers. He intendedtoredeemreform politicsfromMugwumpsentimentalismand elitismand to proposea versionof it that would be effective and democratic, yetconsistent withtheaspirations and interests ofthemenofhisclass. This was a complexand delicateoperationin whichthe languageof masculinity 25 LincolnSteffens, TheAutobiography ofLincolnSteffens (New York,1931);JaneAddams,Democracyand SocialEthics,ed. AnneFirorScott(Cambridge,Mass.,1964),270,268;JaneAddams,Twenty Yearsat Hull-House, withAutobiographical Notes(New York,1910),315-20;JaneAddams,"EthicalSurvivalsin MunicipalCorrupofEthics,8 (April 1898), 273-91; Wald, House on HenryStreet,255-62. tion,"InternationalJournal This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Theodore ofMasculinity Roosevelt andtheCulture 1529 playeda criticalrole.The compatibility of the new-modelreformer withthemachinepoliticianfoundimportant in a sharedmanhoodand groundsofconfirmation in theritualsofgendersolidarity actedout in clubs,taverns, and streets. Thiswas truenotforRoosevelt alone.Steffens's forexample,is markedbyan autobiography, obsessingdesireto tellofhis belongingto theworldofmale camaraderie ofparty men,he-menwithwhomitwaspossibleto sharea manly,honest,hard-boiled, and street-wise skepticismtowardlife. By attendingthe locales of popularpolitics, upper-and middle-class politicians couldfreethemselves fromeffeminacy and reappropriate a solidsexualidentity. LikeRoosevelt, at thebeginning ofthecentury Sen. AlbertBeveridgeof Indianaexplicitly advisedpartyworkas intensive for therapy all maleyouthofgoodstock."Getoutoftheexclusive ofyourperfumed atmosphere he wrote,quoting from"a politicalleader" who was probably surroundings," Roosevelt himself, "jointhehardestworking politicalclubofyourpartyin yourcity; reportto the local leaderforactivework;minglewiththosewho toil and sweat." In theend,a regainedidentity instrument fortheruling wasa necessary rhetorical classto meetnotonlythecountry's newimperialgoals(warincluded)but also its of the public adurgentinternalchanges.Forsuchmen eventhe reorganization ministration becamea worthy partof a "strenuous life."Beforehe brandished his manlybig stickon theinternational scene,Rooseveltdid it on thedomesticscene; in 1894he helda conference and Manliat HarvardUniversity on "TheMeritSystem nessin Politics."26 In all thesecontexts, the languageof masculinity was supposedto help reconstruct theboundariesofsexualdifference in a politicaluniverse shakenbywomen's newactivepresence.This languagegavethe characters of a male and "character" enterprise to a reform movement first perceivedas female;it appropriated reform to theman'ssphereand gaveita non-elitist interpretation byappealingto an interclassconceptof gender.Roosevelt's of manhood,however, definition wasfarfrom classless;it includedprecisepoliticaland classdistinctions withingender.As we have seen, that definitionallowedRooseveltto distancehimselffromdisliked ofhis classand implicitly to answerto hisfriend spokesmen JamesBryce'sfamous problem,"Whythebestmendo notgo intopolitics." Roosevelt's answerwouldhave been, becausetheyare not men enoughto acceptthe rulesof massdemocracy. Roosevelt's definition also allowedhim to gauge the distancethatseparatedhim fromlower-class menand to markexplicitly thelimitsofhisinterclass rhetoric. Like otherobservers ofthetime,he had descendedintotheunderworld ofurbanpolitics with all the racistambiguityof the Victorianexplorerfascinatedby "native" customs.He explainedlower-class behaviorbycomparingit to thatof "primitive people stillin the clan stageof moraldevelopment." Personaland clan loyalty nourishedlower-class men'spoliticalpassions,nottheintellectual evaluationofin26 Hofstadter, in AmericanLife,194; AlbertJ.Beveridge, Anti-intellectualism The YoungMan and the World (New York,1906),353-54. ForRoosevelt's articlesfromthe 1880sand 1890s,see TheodoreRoosevelt, Essayson PracticalPolitics(New York,1888); TheodoreRoosevelt, AmericanIdeals and OtherEssays,Social and Political (New York,1897); and Roosevelt,StrenuousLife. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1530 TheJournal ofAmerican History March1995 terests, principles, and programs thatRooseveltbelievedonlya restricted elitelike his own could perform.Macho anti-intellectualism was not forhim; intellectual workwasessentialto hismasculinity. Dedicationto readingand writing, to artand literature, to scienceand history wasan important componentofhisstrenuous life; being surroundedby good books (and, of course,Roosevelt'slibraryincludeda remarkable selectionof bookson big gamehunting)wasa conditionofthejoyof lifein hiselegantcountry houseat SagamoreHill. ForRoosevelt a culturedand informedapproachto realitydistinguished the bourgeoismale fromthe plebeian politician;a similarapproachcouldrestoreidealism,dignity, and respectability to reformed partypoliticsand createthepremises forrenewedparticipation in politics bythe "best"men fromthe upperclasses.27 ofthestrenuous By1912,according tothehistorian PeterFilene,"eventhatpreacher life,that advocateof womanhoodas motherhood,that 'Bull Moose' Theodore Roosevelt wasdeferring toJaneAddams'sdemandsfora variety offeminist planks in his Progressive These demands,drawnup byAddamsand a partyplatform." groupofwomenwhoactively participated in foundingtheparty,includedwoman forwomenand children, nationallaborand healthlegislation the"protecsuffrage, tionof home life"bya nationalwelfareand healthcaresystem,and the rightto "menand women."Theywerepartof a generalprogram organizeforall workers, dedicatedto "socialand industrialjustice"througha reformed state.Roosevelt's deference to women'spoliticsand socialreform had been preparedbyhisprevious in his autobiography publicactivity and accurately narrated (whichwaspublished rightafterhispresidential bid, in 1913);sucha deference waspossible,notdespite his macholanguage,butjust becauseofit. Nobodycould accusehimof beingan effeminate reformer. Duringthe 1912campaignhe continuedto use histrademark as partofthisstrategy, whichhad somesuccessin a stillprevalently manlyrhetoric maleelectorate. topersonalestimates According byhisfriendWilliamAllenWhite, of the fourmillionvoteshe receivedabout one millionwere"Teddyvotes-votes ofmenwhohad confidence in youpersonally withouthavinganyparticular intelligentreasonto givewhy;exceptthatyouwerea masculinesortofa personwithexmasculinevirtuesand palpablymasculinefaults." Roosevelt's tremely unquestioned to thefemalepublic, also allowedhim to appeal withself-confidence masculinity whichwasbecominga politicaltargetforhim.As presidenthe had agreedto diccolumnfortheLadies' tate,duringthedailymaleriteofbeingshaved,a monthly read HomeJournal.He wantedto reachwomenwho,he believed,did notnormally hismessagesas carriedin men'smagazinesand papers;he wantedto informthem "on thosenationalquestionswhichaffect ofthe home."Forthe thevitalinterests same magazine,in 1916,he wrotea regularanonymouscolumncalled "Men."28 27 Roosevelt, TheodoreRoosevelt,166, 355-64; Roosevelt,StrenuousLife,4-5; JamesBryce,The American (2 vols.,New York,1891),II, 64. Commonwealth 28 Filene,Him/Her/Self; 76; Donald B. Johnson,ed., NationalPartyPlatforms(2 vols.,Urbana, 1978), I, This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ofMasculinity Theodore Roosevelt andtheCulture 1531 social Roosevelt's preaching waseffective becauseitwasinkeepingwithimportant and political changes,whose full design is just beginningto emerge.The identification ofmanhoodand certainforms ofpoliticalactionthathad takenshape in the nineteenthcenturyhad lost much of its normative power,in waysthat Roosevelt's autobiography helpsto makeclear.New-modelmale politicianswere ofthe"bestmen."The takingover,moremodernand yetstillsociallyeliteversions but bettereducatedand newpoliticians,lesspatricianthanthe liberalreformers werenotafraidto blendelectoral moremiddle-class thanthemachinepoliticians, politics,social reform,and intellectualwork.Theywereproud of theircollege withimportant sectorsofacademia.Presidents such degreesand theircooperation as theHarvardUniversity and thePrincetonian Woodrow Wilson graduateRoosevelt ofa politicalculturethatwasrenouncing wereonlythemostvisiblespokesmen antiofmasculinity. In 1915the intellectualism and takingon reform as a qualification male editorof theLadies' HomeJournal,EdwardBok, observedperhapstoo enchanged that"thestandingofa manin theworldofmenhas entirely thusiastically withinthe lastfewyears,untiltodayhe is beginningto be judged not alone for as he theapplicationsofhis capacitiesto themakingofmoney,but in proportion ofhisfellowmen."Thesenewmendid parappliesthoseabilitiestothebetterment fromthetraditional ritesofcamaraderie tisanwork,whiletheydistancedthemselves suchas RobertM. LaFolletteand GeorgeW. Norrisfought Politicians and loyalty. and politicalreform withouthavingto endurea fortheirparties'organizational had alreadydone publicdebateovertheirmanhood;others,includingRoosevelt, itforthem.In 1915Waldnotedthatbythenall majorpartieshad insertedin their humanwelfare measures"thatin thedaysofourinitiation wereregarded platforms as dreamsand ridiculedas beyondthe realmof practicality." By then,she wrote, "thetendency phaseofthistransi[was]to acceptwomenin politicsas a necessary of the old relations."29 tionalperiodand the readjustment redistributed Whetherthat"readjustment" powerin partyand electoralpolitics waswon,partiesrestructured their remainsan openquestion.Afterwomansuffrage representative bodiestomakeroomfortheothersex,aboveall forelectoralreasons; nevertheless, it was by othermeans that women gained positionsof political influence in the 1920sand 1930s.Theydid not fightforaccessto electiveoffices, and theyremainedmarginalto theupperechelonsofpartyleadership.Instead,at leastin Wilson'sand AlfredE. Smith'sDemocraticparty,a smallgroupofwomen activistsachieved"the reality,but neverthe appearance(exceptto insiders),of of solidarity likethemamongfemalereformers power"by developingnetworks 175-82;WalterJohnson, ed., SelectedLetters ofWilliamAllen White(NewYork,1947),144-45;EdwardW. Bok, The Americanization of EdwardBok: The Autobiography of a Dutch Boy FiftyYearsLater(New York,1922), 273-83. Forwomenand the 1912Progressive party,seeJaneAddams,The Second TwentyYearsat Hull-House, September1909to September1929,witha Recordofa GrowingWorldConsciousness (New York,1930), 10-48. 29 ForBok'sremark, see Filene,Him/Her/Self 76. Wald,House on HenryStreet,261,266. FortheProgressive A PersonalNarrativeof politicians'newreform attitudes,see RobertM. LaFollette,LaFollette'sAutobiography: Liberal:TheAutobiography PoliticalExperiences (Madison,1913);and GeorgeW. Norris,Fighting ofGeorgeW Norris(New York,1945). This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1532 History ofAmerican TheJournal March1995 and beassociations voluntary via gender-based politics selves,whohad entered legislation. onlythrough couldbe accomplished lievedthattheirsocialprograms topressure Committee National oftheDemocratic Division TheyusedtheWomen's and,in offices publicadministrative ofwomento important fortheappointment state. ofa welfare creation voters tosupport female tomobilize theNewDeal years, visihad given that separatism of gender tradition in the to work Theycontinued inthetradition ofdiffidence movements, women's totheprewar andauthority bility democracy. ofrepresentative forms nineteenth-century from, toward, andalienation who partypoliticians, bythemosttraditional wasreciprocated Thatdiffidence women whether worried lineups and political established an of upsetting feared from patriarchal identities theirpartisan wouldvoteliketheirmen,wouldborrow compoliticians bythenew-model waswelcomed Thatdiffidence relationships. thatwouldbreakup thoseestabandcoalitions newmovements tobuilding mitted of "independence" fromthegreater on profiting lishedlineups;theyhadcounted The party whowerefreeofold partyloyalties. Progressive of new(female)voters party,officially new-model itselfas the quintessential 1912,whichpresented itappealedfor andofnecessity bytradition" thatitwas"unhampered proclaimed affiliations." Women, to previous "without political ofcitizens regard thesupport of view ideal were from this affiliation at point all, no political whohad previous tothe didnotcontribute theiremancipation andonemightaskwhether citizens, afterWorldWar1.30 thatwasso evident ofpartisan dissolution loyalties rule,thenineteenth-century ofuncontested almosta century Bythe1920s,after Like evenformalepolitics. andrelevance hadlostcentrality ofparty politics version themiddleclass,andthestrongest business, womenbefore them,manymenfrom toolsinprofesoftheworking classhadfoundmoreadequateorganizational sectors movead hocleaguesandsingle-issue andinterest associations, sional,trade-union, state. andadministrative withthenewwelfare relationships andmoredirect ments, and create new to market partiesandtheelectoral Theywerethusableto bypass eventheexercise oftheright In thiscontext, andsocialloyalties. identities political of element "dutyofman,"theconstitutive to voteceasedto be thefundamental From1904 culture. century's political manhoodthatit had beenin theprevious sucthegrowing paralleled perfectly participation on,thedeclineinmaleelectoral inthe1920s, Theexplosion ofthenon-vote movement. ofthewoman suffrage cesses about Amendment was enacted,gaveriseto complaints afterthe Nineteenth pointhad taken turning butthecritical women's wantofpoliticalsocialization, voters didhavea responmen.Thenewwomen anditconcerned placemuchearlier, in couldbe interpreted butthisresponsibility forthedeclinein turnout, sibility 30Johnson,ed., NationalPartyPlatforms, politicians'reactions versusnew-model I, 175, 182. Fortraditional Reform(New York,1973),156-62;and and Progressive to womenvoters,seeJohnD. Buenker,UrbanLiberalism Era,"PoliticalScienceQuarterly, to Reform:The Legacyof theProgressive "RegionalReceptivity MartinShefter, Belle Moskowitz: "power," see ElisabethIsraelsPerry, on womenactivists' 98 (Fall 1983),474. Fortheobservation FemininePoliticsand theExerciseofPowerin theAge ofAlfredE. Smith(New York,1987),xii. See also Susan and theNew Deal Politics(New Haven,1987); and SusanWare, and I: MollyDewson,Feminism, Ware,Partner Womenin the New Deal (Cambridge,Mass., 1981). BeyondSuffrage: This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ofMasculinity Theodore Roosevelt andtheCulture 1533 a different frameofreference. Perhapswhatkeptwomenawayfromthepollswas less their"laggingbehind"thantheirlack of identification witha representative machinery thathad beenhistorically constructed and perceivedas exclusively male evenamongitsownnaturalaudience.Womengot and thatwaslosinglegitimacy and partyorganizations whendemocratic accessto electiveinstitutions politics,of whichpartieswereconstituent elements,was rockedby a deep crisisand was dressedup in therhetoric changinginto"a politicsofoligarchy and processes ofdemocracy." Thisraisesanotherquestion:Is it possiblethatthissynchronism wasnot correlation betweenthe twophenomena?Was casual,thattherewas a significant the extensionof the rightto votelinkedto the weakeningof itsinfluence?31 31 LauraBalbo,"Rappresentanza e nonrappresentanza" (Representation and nonrepresentation), inRappresentanza e democrazia(Representation and democracy), ed. Gianfranco Pasquino(Bari, 1988),78; Paul Kleppner, "WereWomento Blame?FemaleSuffrage and VoterTurnout," JournalofInterdisciplinary History,12 (Spring 1982),621-43.For"politicsofoligarchy," see WalterD. Burnham,"The TurnoutProblem," in ElectionsAmerican Style,ed. A. JamesReichley(Washington, 1987), 118. This content downloaded from 131.114.161.125 on Tue, 21 May 2013 10:18:47 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions