Roosevelt wrote this in January 1900, when he was Governor of New York, to Henry H. Sprague – a Massachusetts lawyer, and President of the Masscahusetts Senate – expressing his satisfaction on forcing New York's Republican committee to pull support away from a corrupt financial adviser. Later that year he was elected Vice President, and on 2 September 1901 he expressed the same sentiment publicly in an address to the Minnesota State Fair, entitled National Duties: "A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb: 'Speak softly and carry a big stick – you will go far.'" Four days later William McKinley was assassinated, whereupon Roosevelt succeeded him as President.
© Haydn Thompson 2021