A large banner featuring Theodore Roosevelt’s image and an inspirational quote adorns the facade of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) building in downtown Washington, D.C., as part of the city’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. However, historians and Roosevelt scholars dispute the attribution of the phrase to the 26th president, saying there is no evidence he ever uttered or wrote the words.

The banner displays the quote, “Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength,” beneath Roosevelt’s portrait. Despite the widespread online association of the phrase with Roosevelt, experts maintain it is a misattribution. Michael Patrick Cullinane, co-director of the Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University, which preserves and verifies quotes from Roosevelt’s extensive speeches and writings, confirmed that the phrase does not appear in any authenticated sources linked to Roosevelt. “What I can say for certain is that the quote did not originate with Theodore Roosevelt,” Cullinane said. The center plans to include the statement in its database of misattributed Roosevelt quotes.

When asked about the banner, OPM spokesperson McLaurine Pinover said it was one of several signs displayed to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial. She acknowledged that the quote is “commonly attributed to Roosevelt” and added that it “captures the spirit of the federal workforce.” Pinover expressed surprise over the scrutiny of the banner during a major national celebration.

The discovery of the questionable attribution came from Steven Herman, executive director for the Jordan Center for Journalism Advocacy and Innovation at the University of Mississippi, who spotted the prominent Roosevelt banner on the OPM building while attending an event nearby. A longtime Roosevelt enthusiast, Herman photographed the banner but soon noticed the phrase was unfamiliar from his prior reading of Roosevelt’s works. Subsequent research found no evidence supporting the connection. “This one, there was just no evidence,” Herman said, calling the misquote “inexcusable” given the federal government’s role in promoting historical accuracy and civic literacy.

Some online sources have also credited the quote to Napoleon Bonaparte, but leading Napoleonic scholars reject this as well. Historian Michael Broers, an author of a multivolume biography of Napoleon, described the phrase as “too idealistic” and inconsistent with Napoleon’s known rhetoric.

Cullinane suggested the quote may be a “Franken-quote,” likely emerging from later popular culture rather than historical record. He pointed to a 1990s self-help book, “The Mourning After,” which includes a nearly identical phrase on dealing with grief, as a possible origin. Despite the banner’s message resonating with themes of perseverance and courage, experts agree it should not be attributed to Theodore Roosevelt without evidence.