Some of Washington's biggest political heavyweights attended an event hosted by the UAE embassy to celebrate the launch of a new biography of Teddy Roosevelt, the larger-than-life American former president who was known for straddling political ideologies.
Roosevelt is revered in Washington circles and beyond thanks largely to his diversity of viewpoints and philosophies. A naturalist who created the Forest Service, America's 26th president was also a strong advocate of military might and US expansionism.
Highlighting his broad bipartisan appeal, something often lacking in the polarised US capital, prominent Democrats and Republicans mingled over canapes and drinks at the swish Cafe Milano in the exclusive Georgetown neighbourhood on Thursday to mark the launch of To Rescue The American Spirit: Teddy Roosevelt And The Birth Of A Superpower, written by Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier, along with Catherine Whitney.
Among the Republicans at the launch were UN ambassador Mike Waltz, Dr Mehmet Oz, who serves as administrator of the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Senator Joni Ernst. Democratic senators John Fetterman, Mark Warner and Amy Klobuchar also attended.
Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Minister of State and the country's long-standing ambassador to the US, is a good friend of Baier. Mr Al Otaiba used his introductory speech to draw parallels between Roosevelt and UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
“Both were nation-building visionaries. They were state builders who believed deeply in national unity and in modernisation,” Mr Al Otaiba said. “Both combined personal charisma with pragmatic governance that bridges tradition and progress.
“President Teddy Roosevelt and Sheikh Zayed understood that true nation building means investing in people, fostering unity and creating a legacy for future generations."
Roosevelt was vice president in 1901 when his boss William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist. Roosevelt went on to serve as president for nearly eight years and issued more than 1,000 executive orders that touched many aspects of American life.
Baier said a lot of people focused on Roosevelt's fighting in the Spanish-American War, when he led the so-called Rough Riders, a regiment of cowboys and other volunteers. But Roosevelt, who died in 1919, also won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for forging a peace treaty between Russia and Japan.
“He wanted his legacy to be that America was a strong force and a global power at the turn of the century,” Baier told The National.
He also drew parallels between Roosevelt and US President Donald Trump, who is moving at breakneck speed to reshape modern life through executive orders – he has so far signed more than 200 in his second term.
“Anybody that thought that the Trump administration was going to be very inward-looking, I think it's much more like Teddy Roosevelt envisioned, which is getting involved to try to bring peace,” Baier said.
The Roosevelt biography is Baier's sixth book about a US president.
