The Man with the Muckrake Theme of Lies and Deceit

In Teddy's own words, "The liar is no whit better than the thief" (17).

The main damage that TR seems to be concerned about in "The Man with the Muckrake" is slander. It's also a speech mostly targeting journalists, and there's pretty much only one kind of weapon in their "wrong-doing" arsenal.

Just like a certain boy who cried out about a certain lupine animal, Teddy Roosevelt's afraid that, if there's a general atmosphere of lies and slander, then nobody will believe the truth—or even believe in truth at all. Given his outlook on life, particularly in the absolute truth department, he has a vested interest in making sure this doesn't happen.

1. What does he think lies will do when used against corrupt businessmen or politicians?
2. Does he think lying is as bad as other crimes?
3. What will an atmosphere of lies prevent good people from doing?
4. He mentions that lies can be used against the upper class, but does he mention lies being used against the lower class?

Roosevelt's fears of deceit in the newspaper stemmed heavily from the fact that, during that time period, there was a vast multitude of newspapers in the pockets of whomever could afford to own one. Not only that, but if you owned a newspaper, you got to dictate the content. Beyond a scout's honor promise of journalistic integrity, there was nothing compelling newspapers to publish the unvarnished truth and even less compelling them not to exaggerate headlines to make a buck—headlines that today might look like, "16 Reasons Why Carnegie Steel Put Down the Homestead Strike, and Number 5 Will Surprise You!"

One of the reasons Teddy Roosevelt hates deceit so much is because of how much he values the individual American character. His politics are all about trying to make the system fair for everybody and asking people in return to be stand-up human beings.