I received the book "Theodore Rex" for Christmas in 2001 and while I was reading it, I also stumbled across the "American Experience" biography of Woodrow Wilson one night. This work is a comparison-contrast of the two leading figures of early 20th Century American history and how that history is sometimes shaped, often for the better, by adversarial relationships.

There they are, face to face,

Jowl to jowl, eye to eye.


A high-pitched man

of cowboy ways.

A vigorous man

in prince-nez glasses.


A studious man, tall and erect

The stern, gaunt glint

of the schoolmaster.

A Rough Rider challenging

a peaceful man who made war,

but could not win justice.


A Trust-buster who battled

a man of similar thoughts

over a far away conflict.


The coiner of weasel-words

who tried to open doors,

but fell to those around him.


The Republican warrior-patriot

who reminded us that

it is not the company

or the President who is

due unquestioning praise.


Through what eyes do the titans

of our story view each other?

Some, through the boyish awe

of hero worship, others through

the trusting gaze of family,


And yet others

through the steel-eyed

glare one reserves for foes.