Impressionist visits Strasburg Rail Road

By Larry Alexander
Intelligencer Journal
October 4, 2008

You’ve heard Sen. Barack Obama. You’ve heard Sen. John McCain. Now hear President Theodore Roosevelt.

In this time of political speeches, the 26th president of the United States will make a stop this weekend at the Strasburg Rail Road, riding the rails with voters and giving whistlestop speeches from the rear platform of the President’s Car.

“During his campaign in 1912, he did hundreds of railroad stops,” said Gib Young, who has been portraying Roosevelt for the past seven years.

A living historian and Civil War re-enactor, Young said he had often been told he bore a strong resemblance to Roosevelt. Then one day he ran into Richard “Fritz” Klein, one of America’s top Abraham Lincoln impressionists, who told Young the same thing and asked if he’d ever thought about portraying Roosevelt.

“He said if I ever think about getting into it seriously I should let him know, because he could get me work,” Young said in a phone interview from his home in Indiana.

Young decided that if an artist of Klein’s caliber thought he could do it, he’d give it a try.

“I decided if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right,” Young said, “I truly admire Roosevelt. I don’t necessarily agree with all of his politics, but I admire the type of man he was tremendously.”

To do the impression properly, Young studied rare film and audio clips of Roosevelt in order to perfect the president’s mannerisms and vocal style.

“Actually, he had a very high-pitched voice,” Young said. “Audibly, his voice was irritating.”

To give people an historical interpretation of Roosevelt, he portrays the Republican and former Bull Moose Party candidate circa 1915, four years before his death at age 61.

“I don’t do the lean, mean fighting machine who charged up San Juan Hill or the cowboy,” Young said. “I’m Theodore Roosevelt, the explorer and naturalist.”

He stays in first person and does not acknowledge questions like “When did you die?” or inquiries about today’s politics.

“If someone asks ‘Who are you going to vote for?’ I say ‘Theodore Roosevelt, of course,’” Young said.

Young has been to Strasburg before, both as Roosevelt and as a tourist, bringing his grandchildren along to ride the rails.

“The people there are super,” he said. “I tell people wherever I go, ‘Strasburg should be your big vacation spot at least once.’ ”

As Roosevelt, Young will pose for photographs and sign autographs.

“I can sign his name better than I can sign my own,” he said.

Young travels the country doing Roosevelt, including a stop in South Dakota at Mount Rushmore, where he appears with Klein and two other men who impersonate George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He said audiences love his impression.

“I have not been anywhere where I have not been joyfully, positively and happily accepted,” Young said. “People like TR.”