MEDORA, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Members of Congress rarely agree on anything, but North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican, and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, agreed the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora can be a place for healing.
During a Friday panel discussion about Roosevelt’s legacy, both members of Congress shared how the strength that he received during his time in Medora is transferable.
In 1884, Roosevelt traveled to Medora after his wife and mother died on the same day in order to find himself and renew his purpose.
“It’s not surprising that he came here to strengthen himself, to strengthen his mind, soul, and his spirit,” she said.
Gillibrand said Roosevelt tried to learn from every experience he had in life to better himself, which is something she has tried to emulate as a public servant. She added that she admired Roosevelt enough to name her oldest son Theodore.
Cramer said his own family has experienced grief in recent years.
“This place that drew Roosevelt here to heal has the same effect on just about anybody that comes here,” Cramer said. “When they are in this place, this place being the Badlands of North Dakota, they get it immediately. They feel the calm of it.”
The lessons Roosevelt learned during his time in politics are also needed in today’s political environment.
Gillibrand said Roosevelt railed against corruption, the “insider,” and the accumulation of power. She added that he would eventually learn that you need to work with everyone to get anything of consequence accomplished.
“By the time he became president, he understood a lot of his role was to bring people together,” Gillibrand said. She and Cramer go to weekly bible study and prayer breakfasts together while being from opposite political parties, she said.
Gillibrand has a lot of Roosevelt’s qualities, Cramer said.
“One of them is persistence,” he said.
Cramer said the problem with modern politics is that bipartisanship is being demonized.
“You are rewarded more for being a jerk than you are for being a friend,” Cramer said. “We have to work on that by example, but I hope this place … can absolutely build on that theme.”
Both senators agreed that conservation and being proper stewards of the land — foundational in Roosevelt’s life — is also something that people of all political stripes can still get behind.
The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opens to the public on Saturday.
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