Verse 1:
Theodore Roosevelt had a thrill
When he led the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill.
His favorite saying if you had to pick, was
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."
And when McKinley died,
Theodore Roosevelt really tried
To do his best, to be first rate,
As the 26th President of the United States.
Bridge:
The Panama Canal he started to build
He won the Nobel Peace Prize, what a thrill.
His principles he wouldn't compromise;
Teddy cut the large corporations down to size.
Teddy was re-elected in 1904;
Everybody loved him even more.
Such a colorful President, and so active.
To America, Teddy had so much to give.
Verse 2:
The next President was William Taft
Who had served the country doing many tasks.
Here at home and in the Philippines
He was no stranger to responsibility.
Taft created Arizona and New Mexico;
We were up to 48 states, you know.
He served one term -- that was too short
Then became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Bridge:
Woodrow Wilson wanted
peace for everyone.
He tried to keep us out of
World War One.
But war was declared in 1917,
And America fought against Germany.
In 1918 came victory.
Wilson had a great idea, you see,
To found a League of Nations; that was wise.
For that he won the Nobel Prize.
Rap:
We got Prohibition, we got income tax,
Women got the right to vote that up 'til then they lacked.
Wilson was a man who worked so hard
The nation held him with such high regard.
Verse 3:
Warren Harding came to be
A victim of great tragedy
In his government a scandal grew,
And nobody really knew what to do.
'Cause Harding had become quite ill,
His Presidency went unfulfilled
He died in 1923
And Calvin Coolidge made history.
Bridge:
This was America's time in the sun.
The "Roaring Twenties" had begun.
How long it would last was anybody's guess"
"The business of America is business."
Those were the words that Coolidge spoke,
And the feeling was shared by every folk.
We were at peace and so content
When Calvin Coolidge was President.
Rap:
"A chicken in every pot,
A car in every garage"
Herbert Hoover wanted,
But it was a mirage.
'Cause in 1929,
The stock market crashed,
Left many unemployed
And without any cash.
Verse 4:
Hoover did everything he humanly could,
To stop the worst Depression we'd ever withstood.
By 1932, it was easy to see That so many people lived in misery.
