One of the most significant dates in the [Minnesota State] fair’s history was September 2, 1901, when then-Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was visiting and first uttered the famous phrase, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Roosevelt became president just 12 days later, after William McKinley was assassinated.
I spent the remainder of my youth in travelling, in visiting courts and armies, in holding intercourse with men of different dispositions and ranks, in collecting varied experience, in proving myself in the different situations into which fortune threw me, and, above all, in making such reflection on the matter of my experience as to secure my improvement.