• LovingHippieCat@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    23 hours ago

    Two of these guys are much more complicated. Most people have already pointed out Lincoln but Teddy is more complicated than how he viewed Native Americans. He was out first Trust Buster as President. The robber barons thought they had bought him but once he was in office, after the death of McKinley, he went after them. He broke up Standard Oil. He went after those fuckers with his big stick and helped a lot of people because of it. He also created National Parks, which is complicated but still more positive than the destruction of the land that was happening.

    Of course he was also racist, but there are presidents who are complicated and manage to do both terrible and actually very positive things at the same time. Teddy wasn’t perfect and he was often an asshole, but he did good things too.

    • Vandals_handle@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      15 hours ago

      "I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are the dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.” Not complicated, Roosevelt was an awful human.

    • kandoh@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      16 hours ago

      He also personally invaded cuba with the intention of conquering it for the united states but changed his mind when he saw how many black people were in cuba