Exploring the National Parks · Wednesday, August 5, 2026
John draws a parallel between Theodore Roosevelt's life and the American ideal of the self-made man, tracing this narrative back to Benjamin Franklin. He explains how Franklin's rise from humble beginnings to international renown established a cultural narrative that continues to inspire Americans to believe in limitless potential.
“And so nowadays, people think of him as like the origin of the rags to riches story or like a self-made man, the original self-made man.”
“And he lived out that story that we tell ourselves as Americans is possible. And our culture just took it and 250 years later, everybody's like, you can be whatever you want when you grow up.”
“Why is America different from England in that way? Like, why do we tell our kids that if they work hard, that they can be whatever they want when they grow up? And then they believe us.”