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McClure's Magazine (cover, Jan, 1901) published many early muckraker articles.

For other meanings, see Muckraker (disambiguation)

A muckraker is a journalist, author or filmmaker who investigates and exposes societal issues such as political corruption, corporate crime, child labor, conditions in slums and prisons, unsanitary conditions in food processing plants, fraudulent claims by manufacturers of patent medicines and similar topics. Download high resolution version (660x948, 200 KB)This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... Download high resolution version (660x948, 200 KB)This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... Look up muck in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... Authorship redirects here. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... World map of the Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. Blue colors indicate little corruption, red colors indicate much corruption In broad terms, political corruption is the misuse by government officials of their governmental powers for illegitimate... In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes either committed by a corporation, i. ... Child laborers coming out of a dye factory, Dhaka, Bangladesh Child labor is the employment of children under an age determined by law or custom. ... In the broadest sense a fraud is any crime (or civil wrong) for gain that utilises some deception practiced on the victim as its principal method. ... Patent medicine is the term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were for the most part actually trademarked medicines, not patented. ...

Generally, muckraking tends to be targeted at forces in power and the established institution of society, often in a sensationalist and tabloid manner.

The term muckraker is most usually associated with a group of American investigative reporters, novelists and critics from the late 1800s to early 1900s, but also applies to contemporary persons who follow in the tradition of those from that period. See History mom of American newspapers for Muckrakers in the daily press. Investigative journalism is a branch of journalism that usually concentrates on a very specific topic, and typically requires a lot of work to yield results. ...

Although the term muckraking might appear to have negative connotations, muckrakers have most often sought, in the past, to serve the public interest by uncovering crime, corruption, waste, fraud and abuse in both the public and private sectors. In the early 1900s, muckrakers shed light on such issues by writing books and articles for popular magazines and newspapers such as Cosmopolitan, The Independent, and McClure's. Public interest is a term used to denote political movements and organizations that are in the public interest&#8212;supporting general public and civic causes, in opposition of private and corporate ones (particularistic goals). ... < [[[[math>Insert formula here</math>The public sector is that part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the [[government </math></math></math></math> Direct administration funded through taxation; the delivering organisation generally has no specific requirement to meet commercial... The private sector of a nations economy consists of all that is outside the state. ... Look up cosmopolitan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... McClures or McClures Magazine was a popular United States illustrated monthly magazine at the turn of the 20th century, often compared to the longer-running The Atlantic Monthly. ...

An example of a contemporary muckraker work is Ralph Nader's Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) and one of the more well known from the early period is Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, (1906) which, respectively, led to reforms in automotive manufacturing and meat packing in the United States. Some of the most famous of the early muckrakers are Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, and Ray Stannard Baker. Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American attorney and political activist in the areas of consumer rights, humanitarianism, environmentalism and democratic government. ... Exhibit featuring the book at Henry Ford Museum, Detroit Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile by Ralph Nader, published in 1965, is a book detailing his claims of resistance by car manufacturers to the introduction of safety features, like seat belts, and their general... Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. ... The Jungle (1906) is the title of the book of socialist American author Upton Sinclair. ... Ida Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857 - January 6, 1944) was an American author and journalist, known as one of the leading muckrakers. ... Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American journalist and one of the most famous and influential practitioners of the journalistic style called muckraking. ... Ray Stannard Baker, (April 17, 1870-July 12, 1946), American journalist and author, was born in Lansing, Michigan. ...

The rise of muckraking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries corresponded with the advent of Progressivism yet, while temporally correlated, the two are not intrinsically linked. This article is about Progressivism. ...

History of term muckraker

U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt coined the term 'muckraker' in 1906

President Theodore Roosevelt is attributed as the source of the term 'muckraker.' During a speech in 1906 he likened the muckrakers to the Man with the Muckrake, a character in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (1678). Image File history File links Theodore Roosevelt File links There are no pages that link to this file. ... Image File history File links Theodore Roosevelt File links There are no pages that link to this file. ... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... John Bunyan. ... The Pilgrims Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (published 1678) is an allegorical novel. ...

While Roosevelt apparently disliked what he saw as a certain lack of optimism of muckraking's practitioners:

...the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward, with the muck-rake in his hand; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.

His speech strongly advocated in favor of the muckrakers:

There are, in the body politic, economic and social, many and grave evils, and there is urgent necessity for the sternest war upon them. There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man whether politician or business man, every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine, or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful."

List of muckrakers and their works

Early muckrakers

• Helen Hunt Jackson (1831–1885) — A Century of Dishonor, U.S. policy regarding American Indians
• Samuel Hopkins Adams (1871–1958) — The Great American Fraud, exposed false claims about patent medicines
• Ray Stannard Baker (1870–1946) — 'Race issues
• Nellie Bly (1864 – 1922) Ten Days in a Mad-House
• Burton J. Hendrick (1870–1949) — "The Story of Life Insurance" May -November 1906 McClure's Magazine
• Frances Kellor (1873-1952) — Studied chronic unemployment in her book "Out of Work"
• Thomas W. Lawson (1857-1924) Frenzied Finance (1906) on Amalgamated Copper stock scandal
• Frank Norris (1870 -1902) The Octopus
• Fremont Older (1856 - 1935) San Francisco corruption and the case of Tom Mooney
• Charles Edward Russell (1860–1941) — investigated Beef Trust, Georgia's prison
• Upton Sinclair (1878–1968) — The Jungle (1906), U.S. meat-packing industry, and the books in the "Dead Hand" series that critique the institutions (journalism, education, etc.) that could but do not prevent these abuses.
• John Spargo, (1876–1966) — American reformer and author, Bitter Cry of Children (child labor)
• Lincoln Steffens (1866 – 1936) The Shame of the Cities (1904)
• Ida M. Tarbell (1857 – 1944) expose, The History of the Standard Oil Company
• Westbrook Pegler (1894–1969) — exposed crime in labor unions in 1940s
• I.F. Stone (1907–1989) — McCarthyism and Vietnam War, published newsletter, I.F. Stone's Weekly
• George Seldes (1890–1995) — Freedom of the Press (1935) and Lords of the Press (1938), blacklisted during the 1950s period of McCarthyism
• Jessica Mitford (1917–1996) — author of The American Way of Death (US Funeral Industry) and Making of a Muckraker (collection on various topics including writing schools and prisons)
• Casey Swint (1904-1999) - Weekly editor of Atlanta Journal Constitution, wrote Keys to the City (non-fiction book about influence of political bosses on Atlanta politics). Early Civil Rights advocate.

Helen Maria Hunt Jackson (October 18, 1831-August 12, 1885) was an American writer. ... Samuel Hopkins Adams (1871&#8211;1958) was an American writer, best known for his investigative journalism. ... Patent medicine is the term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were for the most part actually trademarked medicines, not patented. ... Ray Stannard Baker, (April 17, 1870-July 12, 1946), American journalist and author, was born in Lansing, Michigan. ... Nellie Bly (May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922) was an American journalist, author, industrialist, and charity worker. ... Burton J. Hendrick wrote the Age of Big Business, an enthusiastic look at the foundation of the corporation in America and the rapid rise of the United States as a world power. ... McClures or McClures Magazine was a popular United States illustrated monthly magazine at the turn of the 20th century, often compared to the longer-running The Atlantic Monthly. ... Frances Alice Kellor was an American sociologist. ... Thomas William Lawson (February 26, 1857 - February 7, 1925) was an American businessman and author. ... Benjamin Franklin Norris (5 March 1870, Chicago – 25 October 1902) was an American novelist during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. ... The Octopus may be: The octopus, Octopus (genus) Titled work: The Octopus (Frank Norris), 1901 novel subtitled A California Story The Octopus, Italian mafia TV series originally entitled La Piovra See also The Amorous Octopus, edition of Japanese woodcut The Dream of the Fishermans Wife Tako the Octopus, character... Fremont Older (30 August 1856 - 3 March 1935) was born in a log cabin in Wisconsin. ... Thomas Joseph Mooney (December 8, 1882 - March 6, 1942) was a U.S. labor leader. ... Russell as drawn by Art Ward in 1912. ... Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. ... The Jungle (1906) is the title of the book of socialist American author Upton Sinclair. ... John Spargo (31 January 1876 – 1966) was a British progressivist writer and muckraker whose exposé The Bitter Cry of Children explores the living conditions of children in poverty stricken households. ... Joseph Lincoln Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American journalist and one of the most famous and influential practitioners of the journalistic style called muckraking. ... The Shame of the Cities was a work published in 1904 by Lincoln Steffens that sought to expose public corruption in many major cities throughout the United States. ... Ida M. Tarbell, 1904 Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857–January 6, 1944) was a teacher, an author and journalist. ... The History of the Standard Oil Company is a book written by journalist Ida Tarbell in 1904. ... Westbrook Pegler (2 August 1894 - 24 June 1969) was a United States journalist and writer. ... Isador Feinstein Stone (better known as I.F. Stone) (December 24, 1907 &#8211; July 17, 1989) was an iconoclastic American investigative journalist best known for his influential political newsletter, . Stone was born in Philadelphia. ... A 1947 comic book published by the Catechetical Guild Educational Society warning of the dangers of a Communist takeover. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... George Seldes (November 16, 1890 – July 2, 1995) was an influential American investigative journalist and media critic. ... The Honourable Jessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford, known to friends and family as Decca (September 11, 1917–July 22, 1996), self-described muckraker and political radical, was one of the noted Mitford sisters, daughters of David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, the 2nd Baron Redesdale. ...

Contemporary muckrakers

• Wayne Barrett — investigative journalist, senior editor of the Village Voice; wrote on mystique and misdeeds in Rudy Giuliani's conduct as mayor of New York City, Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11 (2006)
• Richard Behar — investigative journalist, two-time winner of the 'Jack Anderson Award'. Anderson himself once praised Behar as "one of the most dogged of our watchdogs"
• Barbara Ehrenreich — journalist and author - Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
• Juan Gonzalez (journalist) — investigative reporter, columnist in New York Daily News; authored book on Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush administration's handling of the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and illnesses from Ground Zero dust: Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse (2004)
• Amy Goodman — broadcast journalist, host of Pacifica Network's program Democracy Now!
• John Howard Griffin (1920–1980) — white journalist who disguised himself as a black man to write about racial injustice in the south
• Seymour Hersh — My Lai massacre, Israeli nuclear weapons program, Henry Kissinger, the Kennedys, 2003 invasion of Iraq, Abu Ghraib abuses
• Malcolm Johnson — exposed organized crime on the New York waterfront
• Kevin Keating — director and producer of Giuliani Time, the 2006 documentary on the career of Rudy Giuliani
• Jonathan Kwitny (1941–1998) — wrote numerous investigative articles for the The Wall Street Journal
• Stephen Mayne — shareholder-activist and founder of crikey.com.au
• Joshua Micah Marshall - writer and journalist, operates the muckraking blog TPM Muckraker, responsible for helping to break the 2006-2007 US Attorney firing scandal, the Duke Cunningham corruption case and others.
• Mark Crispin Miller — professor and writer; has written on 2000 and 2004 contested elections
• Michael Moore — documentary filmmaker, director of Roger and Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 911, and SiCKO
• Ralph Nader — consumer rights advocate; Unsafe at Any Speed (1965), exposed unsafe automobile manufacturing
• Allan Nairn — Dili Massacre, US backing of Haitian death squad FRAPH
• Jack Newfield — muckraking columnist; wrote for New York Post; and wrote The Full Rudy: The Man, the Myth, the Mania[about Rudy Giuliani] (2003) and other titles
• Greg Palast — politics and elections issues, Exxon Valdez, corporate crime, corruption
• John Pilger — award-winning war correspondent, film maker and author
• Geraldo Rivera — exposed abuse of mentally retarded patients, led to reforms
• Eric Schlosser — author of Fast Food Nation, an exposé of fast food in American culture
• Morgan Spurlock — American Filmmaker; exposed through example the dangers of McDonalds in his documentary Super Size Me
• Studs Terkel — Legendary Chicago writer, journalist, DJ, and historian
• Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) — American journalist and author credited with the invention of gonzo journalism
• Gary Webb (1955–2004) — investigated Contra-crack cocaine connection, published as Dark Alliance (1999)
• Gary Weiss — exposed the Mob on Wall Street, described by Barron's Magazine as "an old-time gumshoe, with a soupçon of little-guy champion Jimmy Breslin and a dash of 1950s bad-boy comic Lenny Bruce"
• Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein — breakthrough journalists for Washington Post on the Watergate scandal; authors of All the President's Men, non-fiction account of the scandal

Wayne Barrett is a writer for the Village Voice. ... The Village Voice is a New York City-based weekly newspaper featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. ... Rudolph William Louis Giuliani III, (born May 28, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, businessman, and Republican politician from the state of New York. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Richard Behar is an investigative journalist who has written on the staffs of leading magazines including Forbes, Time and Fortune over a twenty-two year period from 1982-2004. ... jack donald anderson (september 156, 1995 and wasted himself with a gun; december19, 1999) was an American newspaper columnist and is considered one of the fathers of modern investigative journalism. ... Barbara Ehrenreich (born August 26, 1941, in Butte, Montana) is a prominent American writer, columnist, feminist, socialist and political activist. ... Cover of the 2001 Metropolitan Books edition Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a book authored by Barbara Ehrenreich. ... Juan Gonzalez is an American investigative journalist. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... September 11 from space: Manhattan spreads a large smoke plume Into 2006 there has been growing concern over the health effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the Financial District of lower Manhattan. ... Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Amy Goodman (b. ... Democracy Now! logo. ... John Howard Griffin (June 16, 1920 - September 9, 1980) was a white journalist and author who wrote largely in favor of racial equality. ... Seymour Myron Sy Hersh (born April 8, 1937 Chicago) is an American Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, DC. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters. ... The My Lai Massacre ( , approximately ) (Vietnamese: thảm sát Mỹ Lai) was the mass murder of 347 to 504 defenseless Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children, conducted by U.S. Army forces on March 16, 1968, in the hamlet of My Lai, during the Vietnam War. ... Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923) is a German-born American diplomat, and 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. ... John, Robert, and Edward Kennedy The Kennedy family is a prominent family in American politics and government descending from the marriage of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. ... The subject of this article is the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... Map of Iraq highlighting Abu Ghraib The Abu Ghraib prison or Abu Ghurayb prison is in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city 32 km west of Baghdad. ... Malcolm Johnson (September 24, 1904 – June 18, 1976) was a noted investigative journalist of the 1940s and 1950s. ... Giuliani Time is a muckraking documentary by Kevin Keating about Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, NY. The Village Voice called this 2006 documentary an incisive portrait of power seizure and class combat as it was performed, by the numbers, on the municipal level. ... Jonathan Kwitny is an American writer. ... The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company in New York City, New York, USA, with Asian and European editions, and a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million as of 2006, with 931,000 paying online subscribers. ... Stephen Mayne (born July 23, 1969) is an Australian journalist and self-described shareholder activist, who also ran unsuccessfully as a People Power Party candidate in the Victorian legislative election, 2006. ... Look up crikey in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Categories: Stub | 1969 births | Bloggers ... Talking Points Memo (or TPM) is the name of a popular center-left political blog created and run by Josh Marshall. ... Randall Harold Cunningham (born December 8, 1941), usually known as Randy or Duke, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Californias 50th Congressional District from 1991 to 2005. ... Mark Crispin Miller is professor of media studies at New York University and the author of the book: Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Elections. ... Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American political-activist, a film director, author, social commentator, and political humorist. ... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... Movie Poster for Michael Moores documentary Roger and Me Roger & Me is a 1989 American documentary film directed and reported by independent filmmaker/journalist Michael Moore. ... Bowling for Columbine is a controversial documentary film written, directed, produced by, and starring Michael Moore. ... Fahrenheit 9/11 is a documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore, which had a general release in the United States and Canada on June 25, 2004. ... For the pop punk band, see Sicko (band). ... Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American attorney and political activist in the areas of consumer rights, humanitarianism, environmentalism and democratic government. ... Allan Nairn Allan Nairn (b. ... The Dili Massacre was the shooting of East Timorese protesters, in the Santa Cruz cemetery in the capital, Dili, on 12th November, 1991. ... // A death squad is an armed squad of men that kills civilians. ... The Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH) (French: Front pour lAvancement et le Progrès Haïtien) was a paramilitary death squad organized with U.S. backing in Haiti in mid-1993 to terrorize the Haitian people by murder, public beatings, arson raids on poor neighborhoods... Jack Newfield, (1938-2004), was a muckraking journalist, employed by the New York Post. ... The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and the oldest to have been published continually as a daily. ... Greg Palast is a New York Times-bestselling author[1] and a journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation[2] as well as the British newspaper The Observer. ... This article is about the tank vessel Exxon Valdez. ... John Pilger John Pilger (born October 9, 1939) is an Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker from Sydney, primarily based in London, UK. // Life and career Pilgers career in journalism began in 1958, and he has developed his reputation through both his reporting and the various books and documentary films... For the British bandleader see Gerald Bright Gerald Michael Riviera[1] (born July 4, 1943), known by his TV name Geraldo Rivera or simply Geraldo, is an American television journalist, attorney, and former talk show host. ... Eric Schlosser (born 1959) is an American journalist and author. ... For the film, see Fast Food Nation (film). ... Morgan V. [1] Spurlock (born November 7, 1970) is an American independent documentary film director, TV producer, and screenwriter, known for the documentary film Super Size Me, in which he attempted to demonstrate the negative health effects of McDonalds food by eating nothing but McDonalds three times a day... McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants [1]. Although McDonalds did not invent the hamburger or fast food, its name has become nearly synonymous with both. ... Super Size Me is an Academy Award-nominated 2004 documentary film, directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, an American independent filmmaker. ... Louis Studs Terkel (born May 16, 1912) is an American author, historian and broadcaster. ... Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author. ... Hunter S. Thompsons famous Gonzo logo. ... Gary Webb Gary Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) was a controversial American investigative journalist, best known for his 1996 Dark Alliance investigative report series, written for the San Jose Mercury News. ... Look up contra in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A pile of crack cocaine ‘rocks’. Crack cocaine is a highly addictive form of cocaine. ... Gary Weiss is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of Born to Steal and Both books are harshly critical humorous examinations of the ethics and morality of Wall Street, often tinged with humor. ... Barrons magazine is an American weekly newspaper covering U.S. financial information, market developments, and relevant statistics. ... Bob Woodward signs his book State of Denial after a talk in March 2007. ... Carl Bernstein (left) and Bob Woodward (right)This image is pending deletion. ... ... “Watergate” redirects here. ... Cover of 2005 printing All the Presidents Men is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the two journalists investigating the Watergate first break-in and ensuing Watergate scandal for the Washington Post. ...

External links

• Project Gutenberg - Classic muckraker texts and magazines including issues of McClure's.
• The Center for Investigative Reporting- describes itself as "a nonprofit news organization dedicated to exposing injustice and abuse of power through the tools of journalism."
• The Center for Public Integrity - nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization that conducts investigative research and reporting on public policy issues in the United States and around the world.
• What Do The World and People Deserve? Len Bernstein on the Life and Work of Jacob Riis

Princeton Online Library - Muckraker

Roosevelt Speech Reference Note

Theodore Roosevelt Describes the Muckrakers, 1906

"In Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" you may recall the description of the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward, with the muck-rake in his hand; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.

In "Pilgrim's Progress" the Man with the Muckrake is set forth as the example of him whose vision is fixed on carnal instead of on spiritual things. Yet he also typifies the man who in this life consistently refuses to see aught that is lofty, and fixes his eyes with solemn intentness only on that which is vile and debasing. Now, it is very necessary that we should not flinch from seeing what is vile and debasing. There is filth on the floor, and it must be scraped up with the muck-rake; and there are times and places where this service is the most needed of all the services that can be performed. But the man who never does anything else, who never thinks or speaks or writes, save of his feats with the muck-rake, speedily becomes, not a help to society, not an incitement to good, but one of the most potent forces for evil.

There are, in the body politic, economic and social, many and grave evils, and there is urgent necessity for the sternest war upon them. There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil man whether politician or business man, every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine, or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful.

• Source: The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt, Condensed from the Original Edition, Supplemented by Letters, Speeches, and Other Writings, Wayne Andrews editor (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913, rep. 1958) pages 246-247...

See also

• History of the United States (1865-1918)