Teddy “Trust-Buster” Roosevelt might’ve taken a great interest in this year’s election.  In 1901, he became the first President* to invite an African American, Booker T. Washington, to dine with him at the White House.  The historical weight this Presidential and Vice Presidential race brings with it is inspiring.  Our most recent issue portrays Roosevelt in Wyoming looking entirely “presidential,” with his striking pose, dapper attire, right hand aloft in gesticulation, left hand comfortably tucked in his pocket, his expression mirrored in the framed self-portrait that hangs just next to him.  In the lower right-hand side of the frame, we see the serious faces of women who’ve caught the picture taker in action.

In 1869 the Wyoming territory constitution granted women the right to vote and to hold public office, and thus 1892** was the first United States presidential election in which women cast legal votes, though we all recall that it wasn’t until 1920 that all American women of age were granted the right to vote.

With a female Vice Presidential candidate and a bi-racial Presidential candidate just weeks away from possible election, the excitement in this country is palpable.  Poet Lore honors this historical time by reminding us how we got here, and how far we’ve come.

I encourage you to check out the newest issue of Poet Lore, available now for purchase.  Inside are poems about past figures, present tensions, future predictions.  Consider it an investment in your literary future.  Its value is not measured by the Dow Jones,  nor will its worth fluctuate with the market.  Poet Lore is here to share the voices of poets yet unread, as well as new thoughts by those we’ve grown to love.  The literary discourse in America seems to thrive only in University settings, but it is important to spread the joy, the perspective, and the vision that is found in tremendous poetry throughout the world.

All you have to do to become a part of the international poetry scene is to open the magazine and take it in, for, as Theodore Roosevelt so aptly put it: I am a part of everything that I have read.

*There were rumors that Grover Cleveland is the first President to have an African American guest at the White House, but Teddy gets the credit for doing it publicly, with the stipulation that you include some mention of dinner.

**Interestingly, 1892 was the year Grover Cleveland was elected, to bring him back again.