The Triumphant Life of Theodore Roosevelt edited by J. Martin Miller

40
ROOSEVELT THE PRESIDENT
for him, and then to spend some time in dictating letters, or
public messages and orders to Secretar}' Loeb, and then if he
finds the time to spare he goes horseback riding with Mrs.
Roosevelt or some personal friend. He is a splendid horse-
man, and in that respect he is the idol of the United States
cavalry. At Chickamauga Park on one occasion since his
induction into office, he made such a splendid figure on horse-
back and handled himself so well that every cavalry trooper
present swore by him and scattered praises of him through-
out the army of the United States.
SELDOM WITHOUT GUESTS
At dinner time, usually 7:30 o'clock in the evening, the
President is seldom without guests. His hours during the day
are so crowded with business that he has no time to talk with
personal friends and political associates on topics other than
governmental, and his habit is to invite his friends to dinner
with him. They sit at the table for some time, discussing
many matters, and then adjourn to the parlors of the White
House, where the President continues to talk with them until
a late hour. He never retires before midnight at any time,
and he is generally out of bed by eight o'clock in the morning.
Some of the most important conferences of President Roose-
velt's administration have been held in the private dining-
rooms and parlors of the White House. It is on these dinner
occasions that the President not only assembles around him
his close personal and political friends, but oftentimes the
wisest of the statesmen in Congress and the greatest of polit-
ical generals. There he obtains their views on whatever impor-
tant subject is pending. During the session of Congress the
policy to be followed by the party in legislation is most often