The sudden call from tragedy’s darkened hour,
He takes the chair no victor sought to claim;
A nation mourning places in his power
The duties left by one who bore the name.
No crown commands, no ancient royal flame,
Yet energy now fills the office grand—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
The youngest chief to hold the nation’s trust,
He brings a voice both forceful and direct;
A presidency of action, bold and just,
Where public problems face executive effect—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
The trusts have grown beyond the people’s reach,
Their influence spreading through the nation’s frame;
He calls the government to serve and teach
That private power must answer to its name.
The courts and laws become the means by which
The federal role expands across the land—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
The Square Deal promises a balanced way,
Where labor, capital, and public stand
May find a measure fairer in the day—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
The mines grow still when workers’ voices rise,
The president enters where others had stayed;
He seeks a settlement before it dies,
And shows the power his office may display.
No longer distant from the public fray,
The executive becomes a guiding hand—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
The laws of safety, food, and medicine
Reflect a government more closely planned;
Reform takes root beneath his discipline—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
Beyond the shores, his vision turns abroad,
The oceans open pathways for his view;
He sees a nation bearing greater weight,
A power among the nations it must do.
The canal through Panama becomes a sign
Of reach extending past familiar strand—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
The hemisphere receives his warning clear,
That foreign powers should not gain command;
America’s influence grows near and far—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
Yet strength itself must answer to restraint,
For power wielded boldly carries cost;
The line between protection and constraint
May blur when greater authority is crossed.
A nation gaining influence may be lost
If force alone becomes its guiding brand—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
Still history marks the change his term revealed:
The presidency no longer merely planned,
But used its power where problems must be healed—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
So stands the twenty-sixth within the line,
A chief who made the office larger still;
He saw executive power as a sign
Of what a nation’s leadership could will.
The modern presidency began to fill
A broader role across the public land—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
And those who follow inherit what he made,
A stronger office shaped by his command,
A precedent that cannot be unmade—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.
Envoi:
O steward of a restless nation’s span,
You seized the office with a vigorous hand;
Through reform, resolve, and force of plan,
You changed the reach of executive command—
He leads the nation with a vigorous hand.