DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Saturday that if he's elected, he wants "to carry the big stick" by increasing the size of the nation's military.

The former Massachusetts governor said his plans include boosting the size of the military by at least 100,000 troops and increasing the military budget.

Romney recalled the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, who said the United States should "Speak softly and carry a big stick," in its foreign relations.

"I want to carry the big stick," Romney told about 200 people at an event in Dubuque. "I hope I don't have to use it, but I want to make sure we have it so that people understand we are a nation of strength."

"If you look across the world you can recognize that there is terror going on," Romney said. "... There is a worldwide effort of different people all intent on bringing down modernity and, replacing it, in some respects, with barbarism."

Romney defended President Bush's performance, noting his policies extend beyond Iraq. He called Bush a statesman who has shored up the nation's economy, expanded renewable energy capabilities and chosen appropriate U.S. Supreme Court justices.

"Everything he does, he does from the standpoint of what is best for the American people," Romney said.

His wife, Ann, gave the crowd a scare, falling a couple of inches from the platform stage. After the noisy tumble, which elicited a loud gasp from the crowd, she got up quickly with help from her husband and those around. She joked "that I ride horses, that was nothing."