frog&fog (IX), Revised
Theodore Roosevelt had once been a brave soldier, a true cowboy, an unparalleled police commissioner, and even a judo champion. He was a distant relative of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would later lead America out of the Prohibition-era depression and through World War II. People customarily called Theodore Roosevelt by his nickname, "Teddy."
Charlie was the English pronunciation of the name Charles. The "Imperial Peacock," Charlie Bonaparte, should properly have been called Charles Joseph Bonaparte-Patterson. He was the most devout of Puritans, a conservative who preferred traveling by carriage rather than automobile and rejected progressivism, even refusing to allow electricity into his Baltimore home. Yet this figure, ignored by the twenty-first century, was the founder of the FBI. He and Teddy became friends through their shared fight against crime.
At the start of the twentieth century, America's economy made enormous strides. Accelerating industrialization in the North further dismantled the old colonial system of the South. The first Ford automobile rolled off an assembly line in Detroit, and urbanization began to accelerate. At the same time, relations between workers and the ruling class had reached a breaking point. To achieve monopolies and cement their own powerful positions, some trust companies began bribing officials, while crime rates in new cities also rose rapidly. Al Capone, John Dillinger, and Baby Face Nelson spent most of their childhoods in this era. Without legal constraints, the federal government was powerless to deal with society's transformation, and local police were often forced to assist with special matters. To barely maintain social order, the federal government could only rely on its pitifully small budget and agents to carry out exceptionally thorny tasks. Charlie Bonaparte said, "The nation's laws are the bulwarks of wartime. If built well, they can help good citizens fulfill their duties."