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In December 2019, as members of the U.S. House of Representatives gathered to vote on two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, a quote ostensibly uttered by President Teddy Roosevelt about patriotism and putting country above party circulated on social media: This format — a quote pasted on top of a photograph of a famous person — is frequently used to spread misattributed or completely fabricated quotes. In this case, however, this is a genuine quote from the former president. Roosevelt made this remark in an essay entitled Lincoln and Free Speech that was originally published in Metropolitan Magazine in May 1918. The full essay is available via the HathiTrust Digital Library. A screenshot showing the beginning of this essay (the viral comment is made in the opening paragraph) can be seen below: While the viral quote is correctly attributed to Roosevelt, it is a bit shorter than the original passage. Here's the full text of Roosevelt's opening paragraph in his essay Lincoln and Free Speech. This essay was published in 1918 toward the end of World War I. Roosevelt, who served as the 26th president of the United States between 1901 and 1909, was critical of President Woodrow Wilson for his reluctance to bring the U.S. into the war. Roosevelt also criticized the Wilson administration for playing partisan politics, suppressing critical voices, and for its largely successful effort to break down freedom of speech and freedom of the press by government action. Roosevelt elaborated a bit on why he penned this essay in his book, The Great Adventure: Present-day Studies in American Nationalism: In short, this viral quote — Patriotism means to stand with the country. It does not mean to stand with the president — was truly written by Roosevelt. It is also an idea that Roosevelt frequently expressed. In November 2016, we were asked about a similar quote that was ostensibly uttered by the 26th president: This, too, is a genuine quote from Roosevelt.
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