The August Day Plutocracy Would Love Us to Forget

By Sam Pizzigati

Created 08/31/2010 - 11:38am

Today marks the 100th anniversary of what may be the most ‘radical speech’ an American ex-President has ever delivered. The words of that former President, Theodore Roosevelt, still ring incredibly true today.

By Sam Pizzigati and Chuck Collins

Ex-Presidents almost always follow a small number of well-worn scripts. Some rush to cash in on their celebrity. Some do charitable good deeds. Some just lay low.

Exactly one century ago, on August 31, 1910, we had an ex-President who took a brash and bold leap that took him far beyond these narrowly circumscribed roles. On that day, in the middle of Middle America, a former President — Theodore Roosevelt — essentially called on his fellow citizens to smash the nation’s rich down to democratic size.