When Theodore Roosevelt first saw the Grand Canyon, he spoke the words that would become his philosophy for national parks: “Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.”

According to documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, the lasting value of this spontaneous statement illustrates “what presidential greatness can be.”

Burns discussed and showed clips from his new film “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” Friday in Sanders Theater to kick-off Harvard’s celebration of the 150th anniversary of Roosevelt’s birth. Rossevelt graduated from the College in 1880.

Introducing Burns, Harvard College Librarian Nancy M. Cline commented on the relevance of Roosevelt’s presidential legacy in this electoral season.

“It’s an appropriate time for us to pause and reflect on TR’s leadership and times,” she said.

“What defines a capable president?,” Cline asked. “It is an interesting contrast to look at TR, and especially his leadership on issues like conservation and the establishment of the national parks, forests, and preserves, and to see a man who just simply acted on his conviction.”

Burns’s film, which will air on PBS in the fall of 2009, considers the first national parks and the man who envisioned them.

“Everybody who worked on this film fell in love with Theodore Roosevelt,” Burns said. “I saw in Roosevelt a kind of energetic and authentic leadership, and when you get that it’s difficult to see anything more.”

Burns said he hopes to convey a larger truth about the impact of Roosevelt’s character on history and that the medium of film is uniquely equipped to deliver this message.

“We have the ability in the collision of words and images and music to suggest those higher emotions,” Burns said.

Burns has been often recognized for his skill in capturing historical documents through film.

“One of Ken’s greatest accomplishments has been to solve the puzzle of how to bring a subject to film which is documented almost entirely by photographs,” Tweed Roosevelt ’64, Theodore’s great-grandson, said before the screening.

Historical photographs of the president, his trips West, and National Parks will appear in am exhibit opening in Pusey Library this week entitled “Through the Camera Lens: Theodore Roosevelt and the History of Photography.”

After last night’s event in Sanders, Burns led a crowd of invited guests to a preview of the exhibit, which also celebrates Roosevelt’s anniversary.

At the photography exhibition, Burns talked about his film’s relevance to contemporary politics.

He compared letting the American government drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—which both Barack Obama and John McCain have opposed—to “giving an alcoholic a gift certificate to the corner bar.”

Noting Sarah Palin’s support for the drilling, Burns said, “I think she’s the least qualified person in the history of the Republic to hold political office.”