answers: U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
context: Cowboy diplomacy Cowboy diplomacy is a term used by critics to describe the resolution of international conflicts through brash risk-taking, intimidation, military deployment, or a combination of such tactics. It is criticized as stemming from an overly simple, dichotomous world view. Overtly provocative phraseology typically centralizes the message. One of the earliest known applications of the term was in 1902, when it was used by the American press to describe U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policies. Roosevelt had at the time summarized his approach to international diplomacy as "Speak softly and carry a big stick", an adage that was engraved </s> an address to the Minnesota State Fair, entitled "National Duties", on September 2, 1901: Four days later, President William McKinley was shot by an assassin; his death a further eight days later elevated Roosevelt to the presidency. Roosevelt's attribution of the phrase to "a West African proverb" was seen at the time as evidence of Roosevelt's "prolific" reading habits, but the claim that it originated in West Africa has been disputed. No earlier citation for the phrase has been found, and there is no record of the phrase being used in West Africa before Roosevelt's time. It has been therefore </s> wooden staffs, which can either bear a single crest at the top or be fully carved with heraldic clan crests of the chief or hereditary political spokesman. The staffs can include shell inlay. The staffs resemble small totem poles and are still used ceremonially today. At gatherings, especially potlatches, a chief or his designated speaker holds the talking stick and publicly announces message. The speaker thumps the stick on the ground for emphasis. A feather has been used as a stand-in for the talking stick. Talking sticks are a contemporary Northwest Coast art form with great symbolic importance. Tsimshian woodcarver
question: who said speak softly and carry a big stick