Theodore Roosevelt: Difference between revisions

Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr.

Born into a wealthy family in New York City, Roosevelt was a sickly child who suffered from

on a platform of high tariffs, the gold standard, imperialism, prosperity at home and victory abroad.

In 1901, President

At the end of his second term, Roosevelt promoted his friend

Family

Parents

Roosevelt often described his ancestry as "half Irish and half Dutch."

Theodore Roosevelt was distantly related by birth to the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (they were fifth cousins), and he was the uncle and guardian of Franklin D. Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Childhood

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, in a

.

Sickly and asthmatic as a child, Roosevelt had to sleep propped up in bed or slouching in a chair during much of his early years, and had frequent ailments. Despite his illnesses, he was hyperactive and often mischievous.^[14] His lifelong interest in zoology was formed at age seven upon seeing a dead seal at a local market. After obtaining the seal's head, the young Roosevelt and two of his cousins formed what they called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Learning the rudiments of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught, studied, and prepared for display. At age nine, he codified his observation of insects with a paper titled "The Natural History of Insects".^[15]

Encouraged by his father, the boy began exercising and boxing to combat his poor physical condition.^[16] Two trips abroad had a lasting impact: family tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt 1872 to 1873.

Theodore, Sr. had a tremendous influence on his son, who wrote of him, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness."^[17]

Education

Young "Teedie", as he was nicknamed as a child, was mostly

, but deficient in mathematics, Latin and Greek.

He matriculated at

. He was runner-up in the Harvard boxing championship.

Upon graduating, Roosevelt underwent a physical examination, and his doctor advised him that because of serious heart problems, he should find a desk job and avoid strenuous activity. He chose to embrace strenuous life instead.

First marriage

In 1880, Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee (July 29, 1861 — February 14, 1884), daughter of George Cabot Lee and Caroline Watts Haskell. She died young of an undiagnosed case of kidney failure (in those days called Bright's disease) two days after their infant Alice Lee Roosevelt was born. Her pregnancy had masked the illness. Theodore Roosevelt's mother Mittie died of typhoid fever on the same day, at 3:00 am, some eleven hours earlier, in the same house. After the nearly simultaneous deaths of his mother and wife, Roosevelt left his daughter in the care of his sister, Anna "Bamie/Bye" in New York City. In his diary, he wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light has gone out of my life."

For the rest of his life, Roosevelt rarely spoke of his wife Alice publicly or privately and did not write about her in his autobiography. As late as 1919, when Roosevelt was working with Joseph Bucklin Bishop on a biography that included a collection of his letters, Roosevelt did not mention either of his marriages.^[23]

The Naval War of 1812

While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the nascent

Early political career

State Assemblyman

Roosevelt was a member of the

, which he had purchased the previous year while on a buffalo hunting expedition.

Cowboy in Dakota

Roosevelt built a second ranch, which he named Elk Horn, thirty-five miles (56 km) north of the boomtown of Medora, North Dakota. On the banks of the Little Missouri, Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope, and hunt. He rebuilt his life and began writing about frontier life for Eastern magazines, as well publishing three books:

• Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1885 ISBN 1-58734-042-9
• Ranch Life and the Hunting-Trail, New York: The Century Co., 1888 ISBN 1-58734-044-5
• The Wilderness Hunter, New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893 ISBN 0-8398-1765-7

As a deputy

While searching for a group of relentless horse thieves, Roosevelt met Seth Bullock, the famous sheriff of Deadwood, South Dakota. The two would remain friends for life.^[31]

Return to New York

After the uniquely severe U.S.

on Long Island, which was his home and estate until his death.

In 1886, Roosevelt ran as the Republican candidate for mayor of New York City, portraying himself as "The Cowboy of the Dakotas." Due to information on the in-progress election, Republican insiders warned voters that George was leading and that Roosevelt was likely beat, thus causing a last-minute defection of Republican voters to the Democratic candidate Hewitt. Theodore Roosevelt took third place. The election results showed Hewitt (D) with 90,552 votes, George (United Labor) with 68,110, and Roosevelt (R) with 60,435.[33]

Second marriage

On December 2, 1886, T.R. married

.

Reentering public life

Civil Service Commission

In the

, described Roosevelt's assault on the spoils system:

The very citadel of spoils politics, the hitherto impregnable fortress that had existed unshaken since it was erected on the foundation laid by Andrew Jackson, was tottering to its fall under the assaults of this audacious and irrepressible young man.... Whatever may have been the feelings of the (fellow Republican party) President (Harrison) — and there is little doubt that he had no idea when he appointed Roosevelt that he would prove to be so veritable a bull in a china shop—he refused to remove him and stood by him firmly till the end of his term.[37]

During this time, the New York Sun described Roosevelt as "irrepressible, belligerent, and enthusiastic"^[37]

Despite Roosevelt's support for Harrison's reelection bid in the

New York City Police Commissioner

Roosevelt became president of the board of

. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed 1,600 recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications and not on political affiliation, established meritorious service medals, and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board. He also had telephones installed in station houses.

In 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Riis, the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New York's rich to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as, How the Other Half Lives. In Riis' autobiography, he described the effect of his book on the new police commissioner:

When Roosevelt read [my] book, he came....No one ever helped as he did. For two years we were brothers in (New York City's crime-ridden) Mulberry Street. When he left I had seen its golden age.... There is very little ease where Theodore Roosevelt leads, as we all of us found out. The lawbreaker found it out who predicted scornfully that he would “knuckle down to politics the way they all did,” and lived to respect him, though he swore at him, as the one of them all who was stronger than pull....that was what made the age golden, that for the first time a moral purpose came into the street. In the light of it everything was transformed.^[41]

Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure they were on duty.^[42] As Governor of New York State before becoming Vice President in March 1901, Roosevelt signed an act replacing the Police Commissioners with a single Police Commissioner.^[43]

Emergence as a national figure

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

Roosevelt had always been fascinated by naval history. Urged by Roosevelt's close friend, Congressman

War in Cuba

On April 19, Congress passed joint resolution demanding Spanish withdrawal from Cuba and authorized the President to use as much military force as he thought necessary to help Cuba gain independence from Spain. President McKinley signed the joint resolution on April 20, 1898, and the ultimatum was sent to Spain. In response, Spain severed diplomatic relations with the United States on April 21. On the same day, the U.S. Navy began a blockade of Cuba.^[49] Spain declared war on April 23. On April 25, Congress declared that a state of war between the U.S. and Spain had existed since April 21, the day the blockade of Cuba had begun.^[49]

On that same day, April 25, Roosevelt resigned from his position as assistant Secretary of the Navy and with the aid of

. The newspapers called them the "Rough Riders."

Assembling the Rough Riders in Texas

In planning the regiment in Washington, San Antonio, Texas, was selected as the regiment’s mobilization site and their encampment was established in the San Antonio's International Fair Grounds, now called Roosevelt Park. On May 5, Colonel Wood arrived in and set up a recruiting table next to the bar of the Menger Hotel. ^[50] After securing modern multiple round Krag smokeless carbines in Washington thanks to Wood and Roosevelt s influence with the War Department, Roosevelt arrived on May 16th and joined the regiment’s training. The Rough Riders received their horses and equipment from Fort Sam Houston’s Quartermaster Depot but as in other aspects, their gear was unusual. They worn brown canvas stable fatigues for field service, carried machetes in lieu of sabers and had a dynamite gun and Colt Machine guns. These last were a gift from some of the educated East Coast Rough Riders, including Woodbury Kane of William Tiffany.

Diversity was an understatement for Roosevelt's incredible mix of men in the regiment that included Ivy Leaguers, football and baseball atheletes, golf and polo players, gentlemen from the most exclusive clubs in New York and Boston, cowboys, frontiersmen, full-blooded and mixed-blooded Indians, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, sheriffs and assorted adventurers.

On 28 May, orders came through from the War Department and Roosevelt and his men debarked on trains from San Antonio and began a grueling train ride for Tampa Florida.

Leaving Tampa and Landing in Cuba

The Rough Riders were part of the Cavalry Division commanded by the former dashing Confederate cavalry officer turned US representative, Joseph Wheeler. Wheeler was given command of the Cavalry Division which was one of 3 divisions that were part of V Corps under Lt General William Rufus Shafter. After loading the ships and a delay of almost a week in the Tampa Bay because of reports of the Spanish Navy being nearby, Roosevelt and his men departed Tampa on June 13^[51] and landed in Daiquiri on June 23, 1898, the Rough Riders quickly marched past the 1st Infantry Division commanded by Civil War veteran and Geronimo fighter, General Henry Ware Lawton and got to Siboney, Cuba one day later. With Shafter still at sea, Wheeler as senior general, was in command of ground forces. Not willing to be put on the march toward Santiago de Cuba behind the Infantry and hearing of Spaniards dug in at Las Guasimas, Cuba, without waiting for a change of orders from Shafter who said that the Cavalry Division was supposed to trail behind the infantry and that no one was to move forward until all soldiers had landed, after a conference with Cuban General, Calixto García. Hearing from Garcia, that Cuban insurrecto had clashed with the Spaniards left and right flanks that straddled the Camino Real road that went from Siboney to Santiago de Cuba, Wheeler was told that there were two largely parallel roads from the beaches of Siboney to Las Guasimas. Wheeler decided in a secret meeting with his brigade commanders late on 24 June that the following morning, 25 June 1898, that he would send elements of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and the 1st Volunteers, "Rough Riders," commanded by Wood and Roosevelt and future Arizona territorial governor, Alexander Brodie as his two squadron commanders on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler would leave one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong.

Las Guasimas

The Rough Riders met the Spaniards on the left trail (hardly more than a bridle path) just after the Regulars came within cannon fire distance of the Spaniards on the parallel Camino Real to their east. The ensuing fight was to be known as the Battle of Las Guasimas. While seen by some as a minor skirmish it was the first test of the new volunteer cavalry regiment under fire. The Rough Riders handled themselves fairly well and even though the Spaniards lines initially ran almost in an upside-down "U" shape around them, they fought their way through Spanish resistance and together with the Regulars forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions earlier than previously planned.^[51]

San Juan Hill

Originally, Roosevelt held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and served under Colonel Wood. In Roosevelt's own account, The Rough Riders, "after General Young was struck down with the fever, Wood took charge of the brigade. This left me in command of the regiment, of which I was very glad, for such experience as we had had is a quick teacher."^[51] Accordingly, Wood was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteer Forces, and Roosevelt was promoted to Colonel and given command of the Regiment.^[51]

Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for dual charges up

on July 1, 1898 (the battle was named after the latter "hill," which was the shoulder of a ridge known as San Juan Heights). Out of all the Rough Riders, Roosevelt was the only one with a horse, as the troopers' horses had been left behind because transport ships were scarce. He rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged in absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill on foot, because of barbed wire entanglement and after his horse, Little Texas, tired.

For his actions, Roosevelt was nominated for the Medal of Honor, which was later disapproved. As historian John Gable wrote, "In later years Roosevelt would describe the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898, as 'the great day of my life' and 'my crowded hour.'..... (but) Malaria and other diseases now killed more troops than had died in battle. In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home."

In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. He was the first and, to date, is the only President of the United States to be awarded America's highest military honor, and the only person in history to receive both his nation's highest honor for military valor and the world's foremost prize for peace.

]

After return to civilian life, Roosevelt preferred to be known as "Colonel Roosevelt" or "The Colonel." As a moniker, T.R. remained much more popular with the public, despite the fact he found it vulgar and called it "an outrageous impertinence."[53] Political friends and others working closely with Roosevelt customarily addressed him by his rank.

File:TR-Cowboy.JPG

Governor and Vice-President

On leaving the Army, Roosevelt was elected governor of New York in

Presidency 1901–1909

On September 6, President McKinley was shot while at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Initial reports in the succeeding days suggested his condition was improving, so Roosevelt embarked on a vacation at Mount Marcy in northeastern New York. He was returning from a climb to the summit on September 13 when a park ranger brought him a telegram informing him that McKinley's condition had deteriorated, and he was near death.^[55]

Roosevelt and his family immediately departed for Buffalo. When they reached the nearest train station at North Creek, at 5:22 am on September 14, he received another telegram informing him that McKinley had died a few hours earlier. Roosevelt arrived in Buffalo that afternoon, and was sworn in there as President at 3:30 pm by U.S. District Judge John R. Hazel at the Ansley Wilcox House.

Roosevelt kept McKinley's Cabinet and promised to continue McKinley's policies. One of his first notable acts as president was to deliver a 20,000-word address to Congress^[56] asking it to curb the power of large corporations (called "trusts"). For his aggressive attacks on trusts over his two terms, he has been called a "trust-buster."

In the

.

Roosevelt also dealt with union workers. In May 1902,

went on strike to get higher pay wages and shorter workdays. He set up a fact-finding commission that stopped the strike, and resulted in the workers getting more pay for fewer hours.

In August 1902, Roosevelt was the first president to be seen riding in an automobile in public.

Electric Victoria Phaeton, manufactured in Hartford. The police squad rode bicycles alongside the car. (The reference includes a photo of the event.)

In 1905, he issued a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which allows the United States to "exercise international policy power" so they can intervene and keep smaller countries on their feet.

The 1st Roosevelt stamp
Issue of 1925

Roosevelt helped the wellbeing of people by passing laws such as The

The Gentlemen's Agreement with Japan came into play in 1907, banning all school segregation of Japanese, yet controlling Japanese immigration in California. That year, Roosevelt signed the proclamation establishing Oklahoma as the 46th state of the Union.

Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities. After noticing the White House reporters huddled outside in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing.^[59] The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage.^[59]

He chose not to run for another term in

.

Roosevelt appointed a record 75 federal judges. Roosevelt appointed three Justices to the

.

Post-presidency

African safari

In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for a

caliber stocked and sighted for him, a Fox No. 12 shotgun, and the famous Pigskin Library, a collection of classics bound in pig leather and transported in a single reinforced trunk.

Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,400

Although the safari was ostensibly conducted in the name of science, it was as much a political and social event as it was a hunting excursion; Roosevelt interacted with renowned professional hunters and land-owning families, and met many native peoples and local leaders. Roosevelt became a Life Member of the National Rifle Association, while President, in 1907 after paying a $25 fee.^[62] He later wrote a detailed account in the book African Game Trails, where he describes the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science.

Republican Party schism

Roosevelt certified

William Loeb, Jr.

carries the "Big Stick"

Unlike Roosevelt, Taft never attacked business or businessmen in his rhetoric. However, he was attentive to the law, so he launched 90 antitrust suits, including one against the largest corporation, U.S. Steel, for an acquisition that Roosevelt had personally approved. Consequently, Taft lost the support of antitrust reformers (who disliked his conservative rhetoric), of big business (which disliked his actions), and of Roosevelt, who felt humiliated by his protégé. The left wing of the Republican Party began agitating against Taft. Senator

was in league with big timber interests. Conservationists sided with Pinchot, and Taft alienated yet another vocal constituency.

Emperor Wilhelm II

(May, 1910)

Roosevelt, back from Europe, unexpectedly launched an attack on the courts. His famous speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, in August 1910 was the most radical of his career and openly marked his break with the Taft administration and the conservative Republicans. Osawatomie was well known as the base used by John Brown when he launched his bloody attacks on slavery. Taft was deeply upset. Roosevelt was attacking both the judiciary and the deep faith Republicans had in their judges (most of whom had been appointed by McKinley, Roosevelt or Taft). In the 1910 Congressional elections, Democrats swept to power, and Taft's reelection in 1912 was increasingly in doubt. In 1911, Taft responded with a vigorous stumping tour that allowed him to sign up most of the party leaders long before Roosevelt announced.

Election of 1912

Republican primaries

Despite his new doubts about Taft's leadership abilities, Roosevelt still was friendly towards him^[64] and was in favor of his re-election. On October 27, 1911, however, Roosevelt and Taft's deteriorating friendship officially came to an end when Taft's administration filed an antitrust suit against US Steel,^[64][65] which Roosevelt labeled as a "good trust". After he finally broke with Taft, Roosevelt saw himself as the only person who could save the Republican party from defeat in the upcoming Presidential election and announced himself as a candidate for the Republican nomination.^[64] Roosevelt, however, had delayed too long, and Taft had already won the support of most party leaders in the country. Because of LaFollette's nervous breakdown on the campaign trail before Roosevelt's entry, most of LaFollette's supporters went over to Roosevelt, the new progressive Republican candidate.

Roosevelt, stepping up his attack on judges, carried nine of the states that held preferential primaries, LaFollette took two, and Taft only one. The 1912 primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary, a reform achievement of the progressive movement. However, these primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not nearly as pivotal as primaries became later in the century. There were fewer states where a common voter had an opportunity to express a recorded preference. Many more states selected convention delegates at state party conventions, or in caucuses, which were not as open as they later became. While Roosevelt was popular with the public, most Republican politicians and party leaders supported Taft, and their support proved difficult to counter in states without primaries.

Formation of the Bull Moose Party

At the

To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the

Mr. Taft

.....

Assassination attempt

While Roosevelt was campaigning in

Because of the bullet wound, Roosevelt was taken off the campaign trail in the final weeks of the race (which ended election day, November 5). Though the other two campaigners stopped their own campaigns in the week Roosevelt was in the hospital, they resumed it once he was released. The bullet lodged in his chest caused his

Washington

; he did not win any southern states.

1913–1914 South American Expedition

Roosevelt's popular book Through the Brazilian Wilderness

, promising to bring back many new animal specimens.

Once in South America, a new far more ambitious goal was added: to find the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida, the

). The initial expedition started, probably unwisely, on December 9, 1913, at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, 1914.

During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two of his crew's canoes from smashing against the rocks.

Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the by then poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue.

Despite Roosevelt's continued decline and loss of over 50 pounds (20 kg) of his original 220, Commander Rondon had been repeatedly slowing down the pace of the expedition in dedication to his commission's mapmaking and other geographical goals that demanded regular stops to fix the expedition's position by sun-based survey.

Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue. Roosevelt wrote to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. He might not have known just how accurate that analysis would prove. For the rest of his few remaining years he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe that they would require surgery.[78]^[79]

Before Roosevelt had even completed his sea voyage home, doubts were raised over his claims of exploring and navigating a completely uncharted river over 625 miles (1,000 km) long. When he had recovered sufficiently he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D.C. by the

.

World War I

When World War I began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights.^[80] In 1916, he campaigned energetically for Charles Evans Hughes and repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans who Roosevelt said were unpatriotic because they put the interest of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Roosevelt sought to raise a volunteer infantry division, but Wilson refused.^[81]

Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the off-year elections of 1918. Roosevelt was popular enough to seriously contest the 1920 Republican nomination, but his health was broken by 1918, because of the lingering malaria. His family and supporters threw their support to Roosevelt's old military companion, General Leonard Wood, who was ultimately defeated by Taft supporter Warren G. Harding.^[82]

His youngest son Quentin, a daring pilot with the American forces in France, was shot down behind German lines in 1918 at the age of 20. It is said the death of his son distressed him so much that T.R. never recovered from his loss.^[83]

Death

Despite his rapidly declining health, Roosevelt remained active to the end of his life. He was an enthusiastic proponent of the Scouting movement. The Boy Scouts of America gave him the title of Chief Scout Citizen, the only person to hold such title. One early Scout leader said, "The two things that gave Scouting great impetus and made it very popular were the uniform and Teddy Roosevelt's jingoism."^[84]

On January 6, 1919, Roosevelt died in his sleep at Oyster Bay of a coronary thrombosis (heart attack), preceded by a 2½-month illness described as inflammatory rheumatism,^[85] and was buried in nearby Youngs Memorial Cemetery.^[86][87] Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archie telegraphed his siblings simply, "The old lion is dead."^[83] The U.S. vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight."^[88]

Political positions and speeches

Theodore Roosevelt introduced the phrase "Square Deal" to describe his progressive views in a speech delivered after leaving the office of the Presidency in August 1910. In his broad outline, he stressed equality of opportunity for all citizens and emphasized the importance of fair government regulations of corporate 'special interests'.

Roosevelt was one of the first Presidents to make

In the Eighth Annual Message to Congress (1908), Roosevelt mentioned the need for federal government to regulate interstate corporations using the Interstate Commerce Clause, also mentioning how these corporations fought federal control by appealing to states' rights.

Positions on immigration, minorities, and civil rights

In an 1894 article on immigration, Roosevelt said, "We must Americanize in every way, in speech, in political ideas and principles, and in their way of looking at relations between church and state. We welcome the German and the Irishman who becomes an American. We have no use for the German or Irishman who remains such..... He must revere only our flag, not only must it come first, but no other flag should even come second."^[91]

Roosevelt was the first president to appoint a representative of the Jewish minority to a cabinet position – Secretary of Commerce and Labor, Oscar S. Straus, 1906–09.

In 1886 he said: "I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth. The most vicious cowboy has more moral principle than the average Indian. Turn three hundred low families of New York into New Jersey, support them for fifty years in vicious idleness, and you will have some idea of what the Indians are. Reckless, revengeful, fiendishly cruel, they rob and murder, not the cowboys, who can take care of themselves, but the defenseless, lone settlers on the plains. As for the soldiers, an Indian chief once asked Sheridan for a cannon. "What! Do you want to kill my soldiers with it?" asked the general. "No," replied the chief, "want to kill the cowboy; kill soldier with a club." He later became much more favorable.^[92][93]

Regarding African-Americans, Roosevelt said, "I have not been able to think out any solution of the terrible problem offered by the presence of the Negro on this continent, but of one thing I am sure, and that is that inasmuch as he is here and can neither be killed nor driven away, the only wise and honorable and Christian thing to do is to treat each black man and each white man strictly on his merits as a man, giving him no more and no less than he shows himself worthy to have."^[94]

Roosevelt appointed numerous African Americans to federal office, such as

Contrasting the European conquest of North America with that of Australia, Roosevelt wrote: "The natives [of Australia] were so few in number and of such a low type, that they practically offered no resistance at all, being but little more hindrance than an equal number of ferocious beasts";[96] however, the Native Americans were "the most formidable savage foes ever faced ever encountered by colonists of European stock."^[97] He regarded slavery as "a crime whose shortsighted folly was worse than its guilt" because it "brought hordes of African slaves, whose descendants now form immense populations in certain portions of the land."^[98] Contrasting the European conquest of North America with that of South Africa, Roosevelt felt that the fate of the latter's colonists would be different because, unlike the Native American, the African "neither dies out nor recedes before their advance", meaning the colonists would likely "be swallowed up in the overwhelming mass of black barbarism."^[99]

Starting in 1907

Writer

Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. American poet, Robert Frost said of TR, "He was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. He knew poetry."^[101]

As an editor of Outlook magazine, he had weekly access to a large, educated national audience. In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books (each in several editions), including his Autobiography,^[102] The Rough Riders^[103] History of the Naval War of 1812,^[104] and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West, which connected the origin of a new "race" of Americans (i.e. what he considered the present population of the United States to be) to the frontier conditions their ancestors endured throughout the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries.

In 1907, Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. A few years earlier, naturalist John Burroughs had published an article entitled "Real and Sham Natural History" in the Atlantic Monthly, attacking popular writers of the day such as Ernest Thompson Seton, Charles G. D. Roberts and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife. Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs' criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism.^[105]

Ted, Archie, Alice, Kermit, Edith, and Ethel

Character and beliefs

Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy," and was quick to point out this fact to those who used the nickname, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career. He attended church regularly. Of including the motto "In God We Trust" on money, in 1907 he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements." He was also a member of the

Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an 1899 speech, "

File:ROLES2.JPG

He was an enthusiastic

Legacy

Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation's political system by permanently placing the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues. His notable accomplishments include trust busting and conservationism. However, he has been criticized for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". His friend, historian

Memorials

Roosevelt was included with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln at the Mount Rushmore Memorial, designed in 1927 with the approval of Republican President Calvin Coolidge.

For his gallantry at San Juan Hill, Roosevelt's commanders recommended him for the

).

Roosevelt's legacy includes several other important commemorations. The United States Navy named two ships for Roosevelt: the USS Theodore Roosevelt (SSBN-600), a submarine that was in commission from 1961 to 1982; and the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), an aircraft carrier that has been on active duty in the Atlantic Fleet since 1986.

On November 18, 1956, the United States Postal Service released a 6¢ Liberty Issue postage stamp honoring Roosevelt.

The Roosevelt Memorial Association (now the Theodore Roosevelt Association) or "TRA", was founded in 1920 to preserve Roosevelt's legacy. The Association preserved Roosevelt's birthplace, "Sagamore Hill" home, papers, and video film. In 1941, it published the Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia, a compendium of Roosevelt's key writings, sayings and conversations, which is available online.

In 2008 Columbia Law School awarded a law degree to Roosevelt, posthumously making him a member of the class of 1882.

.

The

Roosevelt Hotel

in New York City.

In Chicago, the city renamed 12th Street to Roosevelt Road four months after Roosevelt's death.^[114] In Philadelphia, Roosevelt Boulevard, also known as U.S. 1, was named in his honor in 1918.

In popular culture

Roosevelt's 1901 saying "

" is still quoted by politicians and columnists in different countries—not only in English but also in translation to various other languages.

A quote from Roosevelt's 1912 Progressive Party platform was cited as an epigram by Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, in his 2006 manifesto: "Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government, owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day."^[115][116]

Roosevelt's lasting popular legacy, however, is the stuffed toy bears—teddy bears—named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Roosevelt famously ordered the mercy killing of a wounded black bear. After the cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman illustrated the President with a bear, a toy maker heard the story and asked Roosevelt if he could use his name on a toy bear. Roosevelt approved, and the teddy bear was born. Bears and later bear cubs became closely associated with Roosevelt in political cartoons thereafter.^[117]

On June 26, 2006, Roosevelt, again, made the cover of TIME magazine with the lead story, "The Making of America—Theodore Roosevelt—The 20th Century Express": "At home and abroad, Theodore Roosevelt was the locomotive President, the man who drew his flourishing nation into the future."^[118]

In 1905, Roosevelt, an admirer of various western figures, named

Roosevelt has been portrayed many times in film and on

Perdicaris incident

of 1904.

In the play Arsenic and Old Lace, and the 1944 film of the same name, the character Teddy Brewster is convinced he's Roosevelt. He is enlisted in this role by his aunts to bury their victims' bodies in the cellar by asking him to dig "another lock for the Panama Canal", then telling him someone has died of yellow fever and needs to be buried. When he runs up the stairs brandishing an imaginary sword and yelling "Charge!", his aunt Abby Brewster explains to Officer Brophy, "The stairs are always San Juan Hill". His bugle-blowing at all hours is the primary reason the aunts are being pressured to have him committed to a sanitarium.

He was also portrayed by actor

Frank Albertson played Roosevelt in the episode "Rough and Ready" of the CBS series My Friend Flicka."^[122]

Peter Breck played Roosevelt in 1961 episode "Yankee Tornado" of the ABC series Bronco.^[123]

Robin Williams portrayed Roosevelt in the form of a wax mannequin that comes to life in Night at the Museum and its sequel Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.

Roosevelt was portrayed in several episodes of the comic book story The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: the young Scrooge McDuck first meets Roosevelt in his Badlands years, later in a fictional siege of Fort Duckburg and finally in Panama during the construction of the Panama Canal.

George Burroughs Torrey painted a portrait of him.

Famed fictional

special agent.

Since 2000, Roosevelt has been portrayed by a number of reprisers including historian and Rhodes Scholar,

at TR's 150th Birthday.

Theodore Roosevelt is

and is regarded as one of the most esteemed Presidents in United States (alternate) history.

Media

Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents whose voice was recorded for posterity. Several of his recorded speeches survive.[124] A 4.6-minute voice recording,^[125] which preserves Roosevelt's lower timbre ranges particularly well for its time, is among those available from the Michigan State University libraries. (This is the 1912 recording of The Right of the People to Rule, recorded by Edison at Carnegie Hall). In what some consider the best example of Roosevelt's animated oratorical style, an audio clip^[126] sponsored by the Authentic History Center includes his defense^[127] of the Progressive Party in 1912 wherein he proclaims it the "party of the people" in contrast with the other major parties.

• Roosevelt goes for a ride in
  Arch Hoxsey
  's plane in October 1910

Ancestry

Family of Theodore Roosevelt

16. Jacobus Roosevelt 8. James Jacobus Roosevelt 17. Annatje Bogart 4. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. 10. Robert Barnhill 5. Margaret Barnhill 11. Elizabeth Potts 1. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. 24. Archibald Bulloch 12. Captain James Bulloch 25. Mary De Veaux 6. Major James Stephens Bulloch 26. John Irvine 13. Ann Irvine 27. Ann Elizabeth Baillie 3. Martha Bulloch 14. General Daniel Stewart 7. Martha Stewart 30. Joseph Oswald Jr. 15. Susannah Oswald 31. Anne Carter

^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Electoral history of Theodore Roosevelt
• First inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt
• Second inauguration of Theodore Roosevelt
• Indian Head eagle, coin designed by Roosevelt
• List of United States political appointments across party lines
• Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
• Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
• US Presidents on US postage stamps
• William Allen White

References

Bibliography

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Biographical

• Blum, John Morton. (1954). The Republican Roosevelt. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. how TR did politics OCLC 310975
• Brands, Henry William. (1997). T.R.: The Last Romantic. New York: Basic Books. Reprinted 2001, full biography OCLC 36954615 ISBN 9780465069583
• ISBN 978-0-06-056528-2
  .
• Chace, James. 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft, and Debs – The Election That Changed the Country. (2004). 323 pp. ISBN 9780743203944
• Cooper, John Milton
  The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt. (1983) ISBN 9780674947511, a dual scholarly biography
• Dalton, Kathleen. Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life. (2002) ISBN 0-679-76733-9, full scholarly biography
• DiSilvestro, Roger, Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands: A Young Politician's Quest in the American West, Walker & Co, 2011. ISBN 9780802717214
• Dorsey, Leroy G. "The Frontier Myth and Teddy Roosevelt's Fight for Conservation". in Myth America: A Historical Anthology, Volume II. 1997. Gerster, Patrick, and Cords, Nicholas. (editors.) Brandywine Press, St. James, NY. ISBN 1-881089-97-5
• Fehn, Bruce. "Theodore Roosevelt and American Masculinity." Magazine of History (2005) 19(2): 52–59.
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  . Full text online at Ebsco. Provides a lesson plan on TR as the historical figure who most exemplifies the quality of masculinity.
• Gluck, Sherwin. "T.R.'s Summer White House, Oyster Bay." (1999) Chronicles the events of TR's presidency during the summers of his two terms.
• Gould, Lewis L. Theodore Roosevelt (2012) 105pp, very short biography by leading scholar
• Gould, Lewis L. The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. (1991), standard history of his domestic and foreign policy as president
• Harbaugh, William Henry. The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt. (1963), full scholarly biography
• Keller, Morton, ed., Theodore Roosevelt: A Profile (1967) excerpts from TR and from historians.
• Kohn, Edward. "Crossing the Rubicon: Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and the 1884 Republican National Convention." Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 2006 5(1): 18–45. Issn: 1537-7814 Fulltext: in History Cooperative
• Millard, Candice. River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey. (2005)
• McCullough, David. Mornings on Horseback, The Story of an Extraordinary Family. a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt. (2001) popular biography to 1884
• Morris, Edmund The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, to 1901 (1979); vol 2: Theodore Rex 1901–1909. (2001); vol 3: Colonel Roosevelt (2010); Pulitzer prize for Volume 1.
• "Mowry, George. The Era of Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modern America, 1900–1912. (1954) general survey of era; online". Retrieved October 5, 2010.
• Mowry, George E. Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement. (2001) focus on 1912
• O'Toole, Patricia. When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House. (2005). 494 pp.
• Powell, Jim. Bully Boy: The Truth About Theodore Roosevelt's Legacy (Crown Forum, 2006). Examines TR policies from conservative/libertarian perspective. ISBN 0-307-23722-2
• Pringle, Henry F. Theodore Roosevelt (1932; 2nd ed. 1956), full scholarly biography
• Putnam, Carleton Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography, Volume I: The Formative Years (1958), only volume published, to age 28.
• Renehan, Edward J. The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War. (Oxford University Press, 1998), examines TR and his family during the World War I period
• Testi, Arnaldo (1995). "The Gender of Reform Politics: Theodore Roosevelt and the Culture of Masculinity," Journal of American History, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 1509–1533. in JSTOR
• Watts, Sarah. Rough Rider in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Desire. 2003. 289 pp.
• Yarbrough, Jean M. Theodore Roosevelt and the American Political Tradition (University Press of Kansas; 2012) 337 pages; TR's political thought and its significance for republican self-government.
• Zacks, Richard. Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York (2012)

Foreign policy

• Beale Howard K. Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power. (1956). standard history of his foreign policy
• Holmes, James R. Theodore Roosevelt and World Order: Police Power in International Relations. 2006. 328 pp.
• Jones, Gregg. Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dream (2012) excerpt and text search
• Marks III, Frederick W. Velvet on Iron: The Diplomacy of Theodore Roosevelt (1979)
• McCullough, David. The Path between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914 (1977).
• Ricard, Serge. "The Roosevelt Corollary." Presidential Studies Quarterly 2006 36(1): 17–26. Issn: 0360-4918 Fulltext: in Swetswise and Ingenta
• Ricard, Serge. "Theodore Roosevelt: Imperialist or Global Strategist in the New Expansionist Age?" Diplomacy and Statecraft, Dec 2008, Vol. 19 Issue 4, pp 639–657
• Rofe, J. Simon. "'Under the Influence of Mahan': Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and their Understanding of American National Interest," Diplomacy and Statecraft, Dec 2008, Vol. 19 Issue 4, pp 732–745
• Tilchin, William N. and Neu, Charles E., ed. Artists of Power: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Their Enduring Impact on U.S. Foreign Policy. (Praeger, 2006). 196 pp.
• Tilchin, William N. Theodore Roosevelt and the British Empire: A Study in Presidential Statecraft (1997)

Primary sources

• Auchincloss, Louis, ed. Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders and an Autobiography (Library of America, 2004) ISBN 978-1-931082-65-5
• Auchincloss, Louis, ed. Theodore Roosevelt, Letters and Speeches (Library of America, 2004) ISBN 978-1-931082-66-2
• Brands, H.W. ed. The Selected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt. (2001)
• Harbaugh, William ed. The Writings of Theodore Roosevelt (1967). A one-volume selection of Roosevelt's speeches and essays.
• Hart, Albert Bushnell and Herbert Ronald Ferleger, eds. Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia (1941), Roosevelt's opinions on many issues; online version at TheodoreRoosevelt.org
• Morison, Elting E., John Morton Blum, and
  Alfred D. Chandler, Jr.
  , eds., The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, 8 vols. (1951–1954). Very large, annotated edition of letters from TR.
• Roosevelt, Theodore (1999). Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography. online at Bartleby.com.
• Roosevelt, Theodore. The Works of Theodore Roosevelt (National edition, 20 vol. 1926); 18,000 pages containing most of TR's speeches, books and essays, but not his letters; a CD-ROM edition is available; some of TR's books are available online through Project Bartleby
• "Theodore Roosevelt books and speeches on Project Gutenberg". Retrieved October 5, 2010.
• Roosevelt, Theodore. Original Handwritten and Typed Letters, Notes, and Documents by Theodore Roosevelt. Shapell Manuscript Foundation.
• Roosevelt, Theodore, The Naval War of 1812 Or the History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of the Battle of New Orleans (1882) (New York: The Modern Library, 1999). ISBN 0-375-75419-9.

External links

• United States Congress. "Theodore Roosevelt (id: R000429)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "East of the Sun and West of the Moon – by Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt".
• "Biography from WhiteHouse.gov".
• "Theodore Roosevelt entry at NobelPrize.org".
• "Theodore Roosevelt – Congressional Medal of Honor entry; including citation and pictures".
• "Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide from the [[Library of Congress]]". {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
• "Theodore Roosevelt Dies Suddenly at Oyster Bay Home; Nation Shocked, Pays Tribute to Former President; Our Flag on All Seas and in All Lands at Half Mast". The New York Times January 6, 1919
• Detailed biography from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911)
• "Theodore Roosevelt Association – Founded in 1920 by Roosevelt's friends and admirers to preserve his legacy. Online resources and bibliography".
• Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
• Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
• Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
• Hunting in Many Lands: The Book of the Boone and Crockett Club (1895), Roosevelt, Theodore (Editor). Project Gutenberg. (Also contains a chapter written by Theodore Roosevelt.)
• Theodore Roosevelt at C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits
• Theodore Roosevelt at C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
• Booknotes interview with Nathan Miller on Theodore Roosevelt: A Life, February 14, 1993.
• View works on Natural History by Theodore Roosevelt online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
• Roosevelt, Theodore (1911). "Revealing and concealing coloration in birds and mammals". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 30 (Article 8): 119–231.