"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants.
He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good
conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able,
and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely
necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts,
and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as
to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is
both base and servile.
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the
truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important
to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
-- Teddy Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star, May 7, 1918
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