 Remember a hallmark card when you carry enough to send the very best. And this is James Hilton. Tonight on our hallmark playhouse we present a dramatization of the life story of one of America's most colorful and also in a very real sense one of her youngest presidents, Theodore Roosevelt. For this purpose we have used a very fine biography by Henry F. Pringle which won the Pulitzer Award. And we have sought to highlight something of the character and achievement of a great man who not only saw America as it was in his own time, but also had a vision of what destiny might have in store. Today something of that destiny is on us. Theodore Roosevelt died 32 years ago, but then there never was a time when it was more fitting for Americans to remember him. To play such an important role we have been lucky to get last year's Academy Award winning actor, Broderick Crawford. And now a word about hallmark cards from Frank Goss before we begin the first act of the story of Theodore Roosevelt. There are hallmark cards for every memorable occasion on your calendar. For birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. Yes, for every occasion that calls for remembrance, for a friendly greeting, a word of good cheer, an expression of sympathy. There is a hallmark card that says just what you want to say, the way you want to say it. And that identifying hallmark on the back. Well, that says you cared enough to send the very best. Now hallmark playhouse presenting Henry F. Pringle's Theodore Roosevelt, starring Broderick Crawford. The babery bush struggled and shook with some inner excitement. In a moment a small freckled face versed forth and almost collided with another face. A much older one, notable for the large straggly mustache and the intense blue eyes peering through rimless glasses. Well, hello. Do you need a hand out of that bush? What's your name, son? Bobby. What do you got there, Bobby? Oh, come on now. You're not frightened of me, are you? It's not very neighborly, is it? I'm just the old fella who lives in that big house up on the hill. I suppose we see what you got in your pocket there. Well, what do you know? Frogs. Oh, no, I won't take them away from you. I used to catch frogs myself when I was your age. Didn't know that, did you? I even kept them in my room. Oh, Mother Ray's cane about it says she couldn't have things hopping all over the place, so there was nothing for me to do but stuff them. That makes us friends, doesn't it? Uh-huh. Well, I suppose we rest a while on this old log and have a look at that frog. When was it? 50 years ago? It has to be. But frogs and boys never change. Or sisters. Connie and Bicey always squealed and ran whenever I appeared with a new frog or some remarkable beetle or garden snake. The biggest was different, perhaps because she wasn't my sister. I think that's just the most wonderful mouse I've ever seen, Dee Dee. There's nothing wonderful about it except my...my...taxi durmi. That means stuffing. When I grew up I'm going to be a naturalist and stuff lions and bears. Uh-huh. Let's see some more. Well, I've got a crow. You have. My mother put it up there on the top shelf. You can see it's tail, though. We can get it down, Dee Dee. You just lift me up. Well, I want to pet it feathers, Dee Dee. Well, all right. Lift anything. Everybody says you're weakling. All right. I won't show you my crow. Go on that and play with the girl. I never want to see you again. I was a weakling. Thin, sickly and nervous. But in the next ten years I did something about it. The punching bag. Only the strong or free. When the right time came, my steador, a young fellow of family education and position just doesn't go into politics. Why, the honest men get nowhere. Then it's high time they did, Tom. Honesty will always get nowhere until it starts somewhere. Dear Dee Dee, a long time ago a very young gentleman told a very young lady that he never wanted to see her again. But he didn't forbid her to write her well wishes to a new assemblyman in Albany. Mr. Speaker. Roosevelt from the 21st district. Mr. Jones in the parking. Sir, reminds me of the donkey that was jealous of the zebra for wearing stripes. Then one day the two animals swapped skins with the chains fooled no one. Because you can always tell the donkey by his he-haw. Mr. Speaker, there are no zebras in public life, but there are some who ought to be wearing stripes. Now with your permission I now submit a bill to win certain wrongs committed against the people of the state of New York. You have my congratulations. For what, sir? For the speech you just made. And for reminding some of us here in Albany that the price of being a real American is to be a man without a price. Thank you for your letter. I have a very bad memory and it has been five years. Now may I call on you in the next five days? The Auckland's are giving a party on Monday evening. Care will be moved to you and I was too heavy. All right, down you go. Goodness. Yes, come on, let's go out in the balcony. They adore? Yes. Tell me about that ranch you bought out west. That's another world, Edith. You can really breathe out there and the people are real. And the wildlife where I've seen wolves, prairie dogs, wildcats, buffaloes. When I go up I'm going to be a naturalist and stuff lions and bears. Oh no, Edith. I was only joking. You know I've done a lot of looking around, a lot of thinking. I've got two ambitions. Yes? The United States must really be a united country, Edith. Out West people feel that they're the step-children of the East. We've got to be one family. We've got to be strong and respected by the whole world. But it's going to take a lot of work. But your second ambition. Well, Edith, let me go back in. Edith, remember those horrible stuff shrugs I used to show you and that ragged old crow you wanted to pet? I was thinking about them. When? Just now. Strange that we should both be, I mean, those were happy times, weren't they? They were. You know, I've still got that collection of horrors in an old trunk. I thought that someday if I have a boy, well, well, sons like that sort of thing. Some daughters might, too. Yes, if they were like you. Edith, you know my second ambition. That's mine, too. Theodore. These and daughters, five of them. They were fun, wonderful fun. Only I could have spent more hours with them. But there was so much to be done. Theodore, you can't be police commissioner of New York City 24 hours a day. It's almost midnight. Yes, dear. And lawbreakers work at night. Now it's up to me to see that our police force keeps after them. No other police commissioner ever has? Exactly, Edie. Our patrolmen are lazy, inefficient, corrupt, simply because their superiors think too much of a night's sleep. Oh, there's no sleep for me either, knowing that you're prowling some dark street all alone. Well, now, Edie, you're just tired. I'm just a woman worrying about her husband, Theodore. If President McKinnon gives you that appointment, we can go away for a vacation, can't we? Good night, dear. All right, mister, run along before I fan you one. All right, you came looking for it. The eyeglasses, I've seen them in the cartoons. It's Teddy. My phone call came from Washington. You shouldn't have come out of this hour and in this district. And why not? By time I knew Assistant Secretary of the Navy got a good night's sleep. The symbol in steel and men of the United States. It was a weak and confused symbol, but it could be made strong. It had to be. America was no longer a second-rate power. The world had to learn that, especially Spain. Yes, and even Mr. Long, the Secretary of the Navy. I don't believe so, Mr. Long. I think you have. I've just been told that you've been ordered huge amounts of ammunition without authorization and placed the entire fleet on war footing. Perhaps, sir. I regard the sinking of the Maine as an act of war. Perhaps it is, but we can't be foolish. It's never foolish, sir, to be prepared. The day is coming. It's here now when the Western Hemisphere must be free of European domination. Look at this map, sir. Here. Here is Cuba, a Spanish military stronghold menacing the whole East Coast of Central America. There can never be an Isthmus Canal with what one entrance dominated by a European power. And the French have spent 15 years, thousands of lives, and almost $300 million in the jungles of Panama. And still, there is no canal. There will be, sir, but it must be an American canal. The Pacific Coast must grow and develop, and it can. Only if American ships can reach it easily and cheaply. The Pacific must be defended, and it can if our warships have a shortcut. There will be a canal, Mr. Long. There must be. Theodore, you have too many ideas for an Assistant Secretary of the Navy. I'm afraid you're right, sir. I'm resigning. What? Now, Theodore, we need you. At any moment, we may be at war. And when we are, sir, I'll be in Cuba. In just a moment, we'll return to the second act of Theodore Roosevelt starring Broderick Crawford. It was the Greek poet Homer who first used the expression winged words. In fact, the idea must have really caught his fancy because he repeated the phrase no less than 46 times in the Iliad and 58 times in the Odyssey. Unfortunately, most of us are not poets. We feel, but we find it difficult to put our feelings in words. Yet we are quick to recognize words that do express our meaning, and on seeing them usually say to ourselves, well, that's it, that's it, exactly. And this is exactly the remark you hear most often around the hallmark display counters at stores everywhere. For the makers of hallmark cards know that a greeting card must be of good design, must be in good taste, but above all, must say what you want to say in the way you want to say it. And hallmark cards do just that. They give wings to your thoughts. That's why every day, more and more folks when selecting a greeting card look for the hallmark on the back. Next time, why don't you? It's certainly a comfortable feeling to know you can find a greeting card that truly expresses your thoughts while it reflects your good taste. And to know at the same time that when you send the card with hallmark on the back, your friends will know immediately you cared enough to send the very best. Now back to James Hilton in the second act of Theodore Roosevelt starring Broderick Crawford. Theodore Roosevelt resigned as assistant secretary and history took him for one of her own. Colonel Roosevelt, the rough writer, San Juan Hill, then peace and home again to another victory, the governorship of the state of New York. Two years later, history moved once more. In the second inaugural of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of vice president of the United States. It was a little hazy for me now. Naturally, he didn't have children loved Washington. They thought it all very exciting. But they didn't have to preside over the Senate. Yes, dear. Well, I'm exhausted. Edie, there's no greater punishment for me than to have to listen to 90 senators talk and talk and talk and never get a word in myself. Well, here's the sound. At least you can talk at me. Edie, are you happy here? If you are. I'm not sure. There's so much to be done that isn't being done. We're a great nation now. We freed Cuba. The Philippines and a dozen islands scattered across the Pacific. We need that canal more than ever, and yet nothing happens. Too many people want to dig the canal with speeches. Please don't wave your glasses at me, dear. There's little he can do about them. Only the president or Congress. And then in a matter of a few terrible seconds, everything was changed. Mr. McKinley was speaking at the temple of music in Buffalo. I had lost a good friend, an America, a great man. We were a solemn and shaken group that gathered in a friend's house in Buffalo. The place had been shut up for the summer and the furniture in the library was draped with dust sheets. But someone found a Bible. I placed my left hand on the open pages. I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States. And will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Just the other night, you were telling us a bedtime story. I think it was only three outlaws, dear. I probably told you about them three times, and three times three makes nine, you see? Well, doesn't it? Yes, Daddy. All right, now suppose you run along until the boys to be quiet. I'm trying to write my first message to Congress. All right. Vacation spelled with two Fs? One F, dear. Your father is busy. Yes, Mother. Oh, spelling and mathematics, Edie. They give me more trouble than a delegation of Congressmen. How is your message coming, dear? Oh, boy, I'm right in the middle of recommending immediate reconstruction of the canal. And by George, I mean to see it through. I know you will, but right now... Another thing, it's got to be conservation of our natural resources. Dear Dore. Our forests are dying under the lumberman's axe. I say the National Parks are the only answer to... Dear Dore, please. Oh, I was at it again, wasn't it? I came to tell you, dear, that there are others waiting to hear your remarks. The newspaper men are in the red room. I've never gotten across to the voters. I like them all, even those who disagreed with me, or rather those whose employer is disagreed with me. A lot of businessmen seem to be frightened of you. We can't live in the past, gentlemen. Let me say that Russia is not the friend of the United States. And whatever happens, Russia must not dominate China and the Orient. You may print the fact that I've called the representatives of Russia and Japan to meet with me. Comments, sir, on the award to you of the Nobel Peace Prize? Well, I'm honored naturally, but let me add, it's better to prevent a war than to end one. In the near future, I intend to propose that the nations of the world unite in an organization to settle injustices by reason rather than ruin. If reason will not prevail, then an international police force must stop my desk. It's moving day, you know. I know. Theodore, you should have run for another term in office. Oh, please, Tom, I've been through all of that before. What are your plans? I don't know. I'd like to spend some more time with my family, travel. I've had Africa on my mind most of my life. Africa? You see, when I grew up, I was going to be a naturalist. The boy who studied frogs and mice is going to meet his first lion. Theodore, you remember the day you told me you were going into politics? Let me see. I said you were crazy that honest men got nowhere. For 30 years, you've been making me eat my own words. Listen, they're getting ready for the parade. Hail to the Chief. In another hour, I'll ride down Pennsylvania Avenue for the last time. There will be a new Chief. There's only one Chief. In this world, people know you and love you. You stand for America, and it's one of the greatest living Americans. Listen to children. And then the African Big Game Safari. Afterwards, in Europe, there were more serious matters. I rode horseback with the German Kaiser, prowled through the English countryside with Britain's Minister of Foreign Affairs. What about the United States? In August 1914, all of Europe repeated the question. And in August 1915, part of the answer was given. The great canal locks of cartoons swung open. Man's play can and salute it. Panama Canal was a reality. The Pacific states were 8,000 water miles near it in New York. The United States were truly united by the cargo ships of peace and the warships of our liberty. When 1917 came, we were ready to get off into other things. We? Yeah, both in the same post. Franklin, I think his name is. I wonder. We've seen it all together. From the day of our first course. 1919. At first, it was almost impossible for the nation to believe that its famous son had stopped breathing. But he does live on in the fiber of millions of trees which he saved for the generations to come. In the great sea rays of the Panama Canal. In a better way of life for all. His key to achievement was summed up in one line. Don't flinch. Don't foul. Hit the line hard. All that renowned English man of letter, Samuel Johnson. It was Johnson, you know, who said, we must keep our friendships in constant repair. And at the time he said it, that wasn't easy. A visit to a friend 40 miles away was a day's trip. One letter met hours with a sheet of paper and a feather quill, and often took weeks to reach its destination. How much easier it is nowadays, especially with all the help we get from the folks who sell hallmark cards. For instance, right now, there is gift for you from these fine stores that help to friendship I know. It's the Hallmark Date Book, a small, conveniently arranged day-by-day calendar of every month and the year. There's space beside each day for names of friends you want to remember on that day. There are birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduation and the like. There are separate pages for names and addresses of all your friends. A good way to keep your Christmas card list. Yes, the Hallmark Date Book and the fine stores that sell hallmark cards certainly help us all to keep our friendships in constant repair. Ask for your free Hallmark Date Book tomorrow. Here again is James Hilton. I think you'll all agree with me that Brotherick Crawford did a splendid job at St. Orwell Roosevelt tonight. Your portrayal, Brotherick, was an excellent reminder of the need there was then as there is now for great men to work wholeheartedly for a stronger and better America. Thank you, Mr. Hilton. You know, as Frank Goss just said a few moments ago, there are times when it's hard to put into words just exactly what you want to say. I guess the best practice is to say as fast as your Hallmark cards do. I sincerely enjoyed appearing on the Hallmark Playhouse and I think the choice of Teddy Roosevelt's life story was a very appropriate one because he left us a heritage of faith and strength and courage that is just as alive in America and Americans today as it was when he lived. Tell me, what have you planned for next week, Mr. Hilton? Next week we shall have a charming story by one of America's most popular writers, Edna Ferber. It's called Farmer in the Dell and tells of the life of a middle-western farmer and the problems he has when his children grow up and move away to the big city. And we're happy to welcome as our star Charles Bigford. Our Hallmark Playhouse is every Thursday. Our director producer is Bill Gay. Our music is composed and conducted by Lynn Murray and our story tonight was adapted by Leonard Sinclair. Until next Thursday then, this is James Hilton saying, Good night. And stores that have been carefully selected to give you expert and friendly service. Remember Hallmark cards when you carry enough to send the very best. Roderick Crawford may currently be seen with Judy Holiday and William Holden in the Columbia picture born yesterday. The part of Edith tonight was played by Lorraine Tuttle. Secretary Long was Ted Osborne. The part of Tom was played by Tom Tully. This is Frank Goss saying, Good night to you all until next week at the same time. When James Hilton returns to present Charles Bigford in Edna Ferber's The Farmer in the Dell. And the week following, James Ronald's old soldiers never die, starring Raymond Massey. And the week after that, Kurt Carroll's the golden herd on the Hallmark Playhouse. This is here, the Columbia Broadcast. This is KMBC, Kansas City, Missouri. Stay tuned for the lineup. When you ride Kansas City public service cars and buses, you save yourself all driving and parking worries. But that's not all. You save your auto. And you save money too. Police headquarters in a great American city will pass before us the innocent, the vagrant. Just so you can identify him. No, I can do that. I'd know him any place.