Promise and performance
In an essay on politics and politicians, Theodore Roosevelt argues that politicians should not promise voters what they know to be impossible to achieve; they should only promise what they know can be achieved in the political system, and they should then strive to fulfill these realizable promises through practical politics. Roosevelt also asserts that compromise is often needed to secure the passage of legislation and that compromise should not be sneered at by politicians.
Three political cartoons depicting Roosevelt in 1884, 1889, and 1912 illustrate the essay.
