1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,360 Speaker 1: This is a podcast from wor Here's Larry Minting with 2 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:08,559 Speaker 1: more of the WR Saturday Morning show, Welcome Back. Well, 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,879 Speaker 1: you know Brett Baer as the chief political anchor on 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Fox News. You watch him every day, but he's also 5 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: a best selling author on history. He's written his sixth 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: book in a series on US presidents, this one called 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: to Rescue the American Spirit, Teddy Roosevelt and the Rise 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: of a Superpower. Right, I'll tell you this is a 9 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: great honor. I watch you every night and I appreciate 10 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: the work you've done. I also read the Ronald Reagan 11 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: book Three Days in Moscow. You are a wonderful storyteller 12 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to your next book. Theodore Roosevelt 13 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: is a wonderful topic. I think that a lot of 14 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: people know his bluster and know him as this bigger 15 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: than life politician. I'm not sure people understand and what 16 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: a great conservationist he was as well. 17 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you for having me. Teddy Roosevelt is a character. 18 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 2: You know, he jumps off the page to your point. 19 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 2: He's so passionate and energetic, and it is just such 20 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 2: a rich character full of anecdotes that's easy to write about. 21 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 2: His life each one of these books. So this is 22 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 2: my sixth, believe it or not. I started with Eisenhower 23 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 2: three days in January, then Reagan three days in Moscow, 24 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 2: then FDR three days at the Brink, then Grant to 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 2: rescue the Republic, then Washington to rescue the Constitution, and 26 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 2: this one Teddy Roosevelt to rescue the American spirit. The 27 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 2: reason this is so relevant is each one of these 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 2: books I look at a soda straw moment in history 29 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 2: that maybe was overlooked or didn't get covered that much, 30 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 2: or history just forgot in the big picture of context. 31 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 2: And this one looks at despite all of the things, 32 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 2: including conservation, and I talk a lot about that in 33 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 2: the book, all the things that Teddy Roosevelt wanted to 34 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 2: do his legacy, he wanted it to be that America 35 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 2: was a global leader on the world stage, that we 36 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 2: were leading the way and at the turn of the century, 37 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 2: that was really key for the world to understand that 38 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,839 Speaker 2: America was in this pole position. And how he does 39 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 2: that is he sees Russia and Japan fighting a territorial 40 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,839 Speaker 2: dispute that's actually getting very intense and could devolve into 41 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 2: a world war. He reaches out to the leaders of 42 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 2: Russia and Japan. He sends them telegrams and letters and says, 43 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: I would like to host a peace negotiation in the US. 44 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 2: So he brings the leaders and their delegations to Portsmouth, 45 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 2: New Hampshire, and he sets up this entire logistics of 46 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 2: peace negotiations and sets up going back and forth to 47 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 2: the delegations, and he shuttles back and forth, and he 48 00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 2: eventually steers them to a peace treaty, gets him the 49 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 2: Nobel Peace Prize, and that after that America is put 50 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 2: on the map on the world stage. 51 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: Why who does that sound like trying to get the 52 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: Nobel Peace Prize. I guess his politics were different, but 53 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:16,520 Speaker 1: the personalities are similar, aren't they? 54 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 2: With three percent? You know, I wrote this well before 55 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 2: all of that started with the second Trump administration, So 56 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 2: I mean, it's not clairvoyance. Each one of these books 57 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 2: has a moment where I think it's really evident that 58 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 2: history is cyclical and it comes back around, and this 59 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 2: is a perfect thing that ties to that. There are 60 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 2: similarities between Teddy Roosevelt and Donald Trump. They're not one 61 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 2: to one. There's definitely different ideology and different thoughts, but 62 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 2: Teddy Roosevelt was called the human cyclone. I can tell 63 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 2: you that after ripping up a rundown in my news 64 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 2: show six times during a day, there's a little human cyclone. 65 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 2: To President Trump, he was again larger than life. He 66 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 2: used the press, He used the press and brought them 67 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 2: into everything he was doing. But he also went after 68 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,839 Speaker 2: the press. He called them muckrakers, and he really kind 69 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: of said, you're writing the wrong things. I mean, if 70 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 2: that doesn't sound like President Trump, I don't know what 71 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 2: it does. But I also think that there's a part 72 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 2: of it that you can't put him in a box. 73 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 2: You know, he was a conservative, he was a Republican. 74 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 2: He believed in capitalism, but he believed in capitalism for everybody, 75 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 2: and he really fought for the little guy and the worker, 76 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 2: especially the laborer. And it didn't go to type of 77 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 2: a Republican who was, you know, part of an elitist 78 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 2: family to begin with. 79 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, I love the name of the book, especially the 80 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: part the Birth of a Superpower. And one of my 81 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:54,840 Speaker 1: favorite stories about Teddy Roosevelt is the Great White Fleet. 82 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: Now let you tell it, but man, what an amazing 83 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: story that sounds Trump like. 84 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 2: By the way, it does doing something out of the ordinary, 85 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 2: out of the box, to show America's strength. Basically, President 86 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 2: Roosevelt says, this is after the Peace Treaty, after America's 87 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 2: kind of on the world stage. Japan is starting to 88 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 2: make rumblings again, and President Roosevelt says, we need to 89 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 2: do something to show America's prominence. And so he takes 90 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 2: the US Navy Naval fleet, all the ships that are 91 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 2: battleship gray, and he paints them gleaming white, and he 92 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 2: makes the Great White Fleet, and he sends an armada 93 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 2: of sixteen ships around the world to sail around the 94 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 2: world to show America's might. And Congress says, what are 95 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 2: you doing. We are not paying for this, and he says, 96 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 2: we'll figure that out later, and he sends them anyway. 97 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,679 Speaker 2: Eventually Congress gets on board. But they do sail around 98 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,679 Speaker 2: the world, and it is the message of peace through strength, 99 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 2: like look at this power. They come back ten days 100 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 2: before the end of President Roosevelt's term and it turns 101 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 2: out to be a success. The message was sent. 102 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: I always heard that. He said, I'll send them out. 103 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: I have the money to send them out. Congress can 104 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 1: come up with the money to get them back. Is 105 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: that a fable? 106 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 2: That's true. Yeah, he sent them out and there was 107 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 2: no funding to have keep them out, and Congress eventually 108 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 2: came around and paid for it. 109 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: You know, I have the Man in the Arena up 110 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: on the wall in my office at home. I always 111 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,280 Speaker 1: assumed he was talking about the media and which would 112 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: be more Trump like that he had this love hate 113 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,000 Speaker 1: relationship with them. 114 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's meet. It's called the Citizenship in the Republic, 115 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 2: but it becomes known as the Man in the Arena 116 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 2: And it's a classic, you know, it's it's about the 117 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 2: spirit of engagement. And you know, there's a lot of 118 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 2: people that look at it and see, say, what is 119 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 2: he talking about? You know, at the time he's left 120 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:02,840 Speaker 2: the president and he's delivering this speech, and believe it 121 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 2: or not, I think he's talking about himself because soon 122 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 2: thereafter he decides to get back in the arena and 123 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 2: run for president himself. 124 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: Brett, it was a pleasure to talk to you. Brett Baer, 125 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: chief political anchor for the Fox News Channel and the 126 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 1: anchor and executive editor of Special Report with Brett Bher also, 127 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: most importantly, author of To Rescue the American Spirit, Teddy 128 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: Roosevelt and the Rise of the superpower. Thank you so much, 129 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: it was an honor. 130 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 2: Thank you very much. This has been a podcast from 131 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 2: wor