Theodore Roosevelt--His Problematic Character--He Offers Me an Appointment--His _Bonhomie_ and Chivalry--Proud of His Rebel Kin I It is not an easy nor yet a wholly congenial task to write--truthfully, intelligently and frankly to write--about Theodore Roosevelt.

He belonged to the category of problematical characters.

A born aristocrat, he at no time took the trouble to pose as a special friend of the people; a born leader, he led with a rough unsparing hand.

He was the soul of controversy.

To one who knew him from his childhood as I did, always loving him and rarely agreeing with him, it was plain to see how his most obvious faults commended him to the multitude and made for a popularity that never quite deserted him.
As poorly as I rate the reign of majorities I prefer it to the one-man power, either elective or dynastic.