Theodore Roosevelt

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This article is about the 26th president of the United States. For other people with
the same name, see Theodore Roosevelt (disambiguation).

Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt c. 1904

26th President of the United States

In office

September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909

None (1901–1905)[a]
Vice President
Charles W. Fairbanks

(1905–1909)

Preceded by William McKinley

Succeeded by William Howard Taft

25th Vice President of the United States

In office

March 4, 1901 – September 14, 1901

President William McKinley

Preceded by Garret Hobart

Succeeded by Charles W. Fairbanks

33rd Governor of New York

In office

January 1, 1899 – December 31, 1900

Lieutenant Timothy L. Woodruff

Preceded by Frank S. Black

Succeeded by Benjamin Barker Odell Jr.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

In office

April 19, 1897 – May 10, 1898

President William McKinley

Preceded by William McAdoo

Succeeded by Charles Herbert Allen

President of the New York City Board of Police Commissioners

In office

May 6, 1895 – April 19, 1897[1]

Preceded by James J. Martin

Succeeded by Frank Moss

Minority Leader of the New York State Assembly

In office

January 1, 1883 – December 31, 1883

Preceded by Thomas G. Alvord

Succeeded by Frank Rice

Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 21st district

In office

January 1, 1882 – December 31, 1884

Preceded by William J. Trimble

Succeeded by Henry A. Barnum

Personal details

Born Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

October 27, 1858

 New York City, New York, US

Died January 6, 1919 (aged 60)

Oyster Bay, New York, US

Resting place Youngs Memorial Cemetery, Oyster Bay, New

York, U.S.

Political party Republican (1880–1911, 1916–1919)

Other political Progressive "Bull Moose" (1912–1916)

affiliations
Alice Lee
Spouse(s)

(m. 1880; died 1884)

Edith Carow

(m. 1886)

Relations Roosevelt family

Children Alice

Theodore III

Kermit
Ethel

Archibald

Quentin

Parents Theodore Roosevelt Sr.

Martha Stewart Bulloch

Education Harvard University (AB) Columbia Law School

Profession Author

conservationist

explorer

historian

naturalist

police commissioner

politician

soldier
 sportsman

Civilian awards
 Nobel Peace Prize (1906)

Signature

Military service

Branch/service  New York Army National Guard

Years of service 1882–1886, 1898

Rank Colonel

Commands 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry

Battles/wars Spanish–American War

Battle of Las Guasimas

Battle of San Juan Hill

Military awards  Medal of Honor

(posthumously; 2001)

This article is part of

a series about
Theodore Roosevelt

 Political positions
 Electoral history

 Early life
 Family
 The Naval War of 1812
 Rough Riders 
o Battle of San Juan Hill
 1886 New York City mayoral election

Governor of New York

 Governorship
 "The Strenuous Life"

Vice President of the United States

 1900 McKinley-Roosevelt campaign

 "Speak softly and carry a big stick"

President of the United States

 Presidency 
o Timeline

First term

 McKinley assassination
 1st inauguration
 Square Deal
 West Wing
 Coal strike
 Booker T. Washington dinner
 Venezuela crisis 
o Roosevelt Corollary

Second term

 1904 campaign 
o Election
 2nd inauguration
 Conservation
 Antiquities Act
 Forest Service
 Pure Food and Drug Act
 FDA
 Swift & Co. v. United States
 Meat Inspection Act
 Treaty of Portsmouth
 Nobel Prize
 FBI
 Panama Canal
 Great White Fleet

 1912 election

 Republican Convention
 Progressive Party 
o Convention
 New Nationalism
 Assassination attempt
 Post Presidency

 African Expedition
 River of Doubt Expedition
 "Citizenship in a Republic"
 WWI volunteers
 Legacy
 Memorials

 v
 t
 e

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (/ˈroʊzəvɛlt/ ROH-zə-velt;[b] October 27, 1858 – January 6,

1919), often referred to as Teddy Roosevelt or his initials T. R., was an American
statesman, politician, conservationist, naturalist, and writer, who served as the
26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as
33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900 and the 25th vice president of the
United States from March to September 1901. Roosevelt emerged as a leader of
the Republican Party and became a driving force for the anti-trust policy while
supporting Progressive Era policies in the early 20th century. His face is depicted
on Mount Rushmore alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
and Abraham Lincoln.
Roosevelt was a sickly child with debilitating asthma, but he overcame his health
problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle, as well as growing out of his asthma
naturally in his young adult years. He integrated his exuberant personality, a vast
range of interests and world-famous achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined
by robust masculinity. He was home-schooled and began a lifelong naturalist
avocation before attending Harvard College. His book The Naval War of 1812 (1882)
established his reputation as a learned historian and as a popular writer. Upon
entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New
York's state legislature. His wife and his mother both died in rapid succession, and
he began to frequent a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He served as Assistant Secretary
of the Navy under President William McKinley, but he resigned from that post to lead
the Rough Riders during the Spanish–American War, returning a war hero. He was
elected governor of New York in 1898. After Vice President Garret Hobart died in
1899, the New York state party leadership convinced McKinley to accept Roosevelt
as his running mate in the 1900 election. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously, and the
 McKinley–Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of peace,
prosperity, and conservation.
Roosevelt took office as vice president in March 1901 and assumed the presidency
at age 42 after McKinley was assassinated the following September. He remains
the youngest person to become President of the United States. Roosevelt was a
leader of the progressive movement, and he championed his "Square Deal"
domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts,
regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. He made conservation a top priority
and established many new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to
preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central
America where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded
the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project the United States'
naval power around the globe. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-
Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. He avoided controversial tariff
and money issues. Roosevelt was elected to a full term in 1904 and continued to
promote progressive policies, many of which were passed in Congress. He groomed
his close friend William Howard Taft to successfully succeed him in the 1908
presidential election.
Roosevelt grew frustrated with Taft's brand of conservatism and belatedly tried to win
the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out, and founded
the so-called "Bull Moose" Party which called for wide-ranging progressive reforms.
He ran in the 1912 election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow
Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, Roosevelt led a two-year expedition
to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I,
he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war with Germany, and his
offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He considered running for president
again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate and he died in 1919. He is
generally ranked in polls of historians and political scientists as one of the five best
presidents.[3]
Contents

 1Early life and family

 2Education
o 2.1Naval history and strategy
 3First marriage and widowerhood
 4Early political career
o 4.1State Assemblyman
o 4.2Presidential election of 1884
 5Cowboy in Dakota
 6Second marriage
 7Reentering public life
o 7.1Civil Service Commission
o 7.2New York City Police Commissioner
 8Emergence as a national figure
o 8.1Assistant Secretary of the Navy
o 8.2War in Cuba
o 8.3Governor of New York
o 8.4Vice President
 9Presidency (1901–1909)
 o 9.1Domestic policies
 9.1.1Trust busting and regulation
 9.1.2Coal strike
 9.1.3Prosecuted misconduct
 9.1.4Railroads
 9.1.5Pure food and drugs
 9.1.6Conservation
o 9.2Foreign policy
 9.2.1Japan
 9.2.2Latin America and Panama Canal
o 9.3Media
o 9.4Election of 1904
o 9.5Second term
 10Post-presidency
o 10.1Election of 1908
o 10.2Africa and Europe (1909–1910)
o 10.3Republican Party schism
 10.3.1Dispute over arbitration treaties
o 10.4Election of 1912
 10.4.1Republican primaries and convention
 10.4.2The Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party
 10.4.3Assassination attempt
 10.4.4Farewell manifesto
 10.4.5Election results
o 10.51913–1914 South American expedition
 11Final years
o 11.1League of Nations
o 11.2World War I
 12Death
 13Writer
 14Character and beliefs
o 14.1Strenuous life
o 14.2Warrior
o 14.3Religion
 15Political positions
 16Legacy
o 16.1Persona and masculinity
o 16.2Memorials and cultural depictions
 17Audiovisual media
 18See also
 19Notes
 20References
 21Bibliography
o 21.1Full biographies
o 21.2Personality and activities
o 21.3Domestic policies
o 21.4Politics
o 21.5Foreign and military policies
o 21.6Historiography
o 21.7Primary sources
 22External links
o 22.1Official
 o 22.2Organizations
o 22.3Libraries and collections
o 22.4Media
o 22.5Other

Early life and family

Theodore Roosevelt at age 11

The Roosevelt coat of arms as displayed on Theodore Roosevelt's bookplate, featuring three roses in a
meadow (in reference to the family name, which means "rose field" in Dutch). [4]

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th
Street in Manhattan, New York City.[5] He was the second of four children born to
socialite Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch and businessman and
philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (brother of Robert Roosevelt and James A.
Roosevelt, all sons of Cornelius Roosevelt). He had an older sister (Anna,
nicknamed "Bamie"), a younger brother (Elliott) and a younger sister (Corinne).
Elliott was later the father of First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of
Theodore's distant cousin, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His paternal
grandfather was of Dutch descent;[6] his other ancestry included primarily Scottish
and Scots-Irish, English[7] and smaller amounts of German, Welsh and French.
[8]
 Theodore Sr. was the fifth son of businessman Cornelius Van Schaack "C.V.S."
Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. Theodore's fourth cousin, James Roosevelt I, who
was also a businessman, was the father of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Mittie was the younger daughter of Major James Stephens Bulloch and Martha P.
"Patsy" Stewart.[9] Through the Van Schaacks, Roosevelt was a descendant of
the Schuyler family.[10]
Roosevelt's youth was largely shaped by his poor health and debilitating asthma. He
repeatedly experienced sudden nighttime asthma attacks that caused the experience
of being smothered to death, which terrified both Theodore and his parents. Doctors
had no cure.[11] Nevertheless, he was energetic and mischievously inquisitive. [12] His
lifelong interest in zoology began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local
market; after obtaining the seal's head, Roosevelt and two cousins formed what they
called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". Having learned the rudiments
of taxidermy, he filled his makeshift museum with animals that he killed or caught; he
then studied the animals and prepared them for exhibition. At age nine, he recorded
his observation of insects in a paper entitled "The Natural History of Insects". [13]
Roosevelt's father significantly influenced him. His father was a prominent leader in
New York's cultural affairs; he helped to found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and
had been especially active in mobilizing support for the Union during the Civil War,
even though his in-laws included Confederate leaders. Roosevelt said, "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." Family
trips abroad, including tours of Europe in 1869 and 1870, and Egypt in 1872, shaped
his cosmopolitan perspective.[14] Hiking with his family in the Alps in 1869, Roosevelt
found that he could keep pace with his father. He had discovered the significant
benefits of physical exertion to minimize his asthma and bolster his spirits.
[15]
 Roosevelt began a heavy regime of exercise. After being manhandled by two older
boys on a camping trip, he found a boxing coach to teach him to fight and strengthen
his body.[16][17]
6-year-old Theodore and 5-year-old Elliott watch Lincoln's funeral procession from the second-floor window
of their grandfather's mansion (at top left, facing the camera), Manhattan, 25 April 1865

A 6-year-old Roosevelt witnessed the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from

his grandfather's mansion in Union Square, New York City where he was
photographed in the window along with his brother Elliott, as confirmed by wife Edith
who was also present.[18]

Education

Roosevelt's taxidermy kit[19]

Roosevelt was mostly homeschooled by tutors and his parents. Biographer H. W.

Brands argued that "The most obvious drawback to his home schooling was uneven
coverage of the various areas of human knowledge". [20] He was solid in geography
and bright in history, biology, French, and German; however, he struggled in
mathematics and the classical languages. When he entered Harvard College on
September 27, 1876, his father advised: "Take care of your morals first, your health
next, and finally your studies."[21] His father's sudden death on February 9, 1878,
devastated Roosevelt, but he eventually recovered and doubled his activities. [22]
He did well in science, philosophy, and rhetoric courses but continued to struggle in
Latin and Greek. He studied biology intently and was already an accomplished
naturalist and a published ornithologist. He read prodigiously with an almost
photographic memory.[23] While at Harvard, Roosevelt participated in rowing
and boxing; he was once runner-up in a Harvard boxing tournament. [24] Roosevelt
was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi literary society (later the Fly Club), the Delta
Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and the prestigious Porcellian Club; he was also an editor
of The Harvard Advocate. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated Phi Beta Kappa (22nd of
177) from Harvard with an A.B. magna cum laude. Biographer Henry Pringle states:
Roosevelt, attempting to analyze his college career and weigh the benefits he had
received, felt that he had obtained little from Harvard. He had been depressed by the
formalistic treatment of many subjects, by the rigidity, the attention to minutiae that
were important in themselves, but which somehow were never linked up with the
whole.[25]
Roosevelt's birthplace at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City

After his father's death, Roosevelt had inherited $125,000 (equivalent to $3.3 million
in 2019),[citation needed] enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life. Roosevelt gave up
his earlier plan of studying natural science and instead decided to attend Columbia
Law School, moving back into his family's home in New York City. Roosevelt was an
able law student, but he often found law to be irrational. He spent much of his time
writing a book on the War of 1812.[26]
Determined to enter politics, Roosevelt began attending meetings at Morton Hall, the
59th Street headquarters of New York's 21st District Republican Association. Though
Roosevelt's father had been a prominent member of the Republican Party, the
younger Roosevelt made an unorthodox career choice for someone of his class, as
most of Roosevelt's peers refrained from becoming too closely involved in politics.
Roosevelt found allies in the local Republican Party, and he defeated an incumbent
Republican state assemblyman closely tied to the political machine of
Senator Roscoe Conkling. After his election victory, Roosevelt decided to drop out of
law school, later saying, "I intended to be one of the governing class." [26]
Naval history and strategy
While at Harvard, Roosevelt began a systematic study of the role played by the
young United States Navy in the War of 1812.[27][28] Assisted by two uncles, he
scrutinized original source materials and official U.S. Navy records, ultimately
publishing The Naval War of 1812 in 1882. The book contained drawings of
individual and combined ship maneuvers, charts depicting the differences in iron
throw weights of cannon shot between rival forces, and analyses of the differences
and similarities between British and American leadership down to the ship-to-ship
level. Upon release, The Naval War of 1812 was praised for its scholarship and
style, and it remains a standard study of the war.[29]
With the publication of The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 in
1890, Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was immediately hailed as the world's
outstanding naval theorist by the leaders of Europe. Roosevelt paid very close
attention to Mahan's emphasis that only a nation with the world's most powerful fleet
could dominate the world's oceans, exert its diplomacy to the fullest, and defend its
own borders.[30][31] He incorporated Mahan's ideas into his views on naval strategy for
the remainder of his career.[32][33]

First marriage and widowerhood

On his 22nd birthday in 1880, Roosevelt married socialite Alice Hathaway Lee.[34]
[35]
 Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born on February 12, 1884. Two days
after giving birth, Roosevelt's wife died due to an undiagnosed case of kidney
failure (called Bright's disease at the time), which had been masked by the
pregnancy. In his diary, Roosevelt wrote a large 'X' on the page and then, "The light
has gone out of my life." His mother, Mittie, had died of typhoid fever eleven hours
earlier at 3:00 a.m., in the same house. Distraught, Roosevelt left baby Alice in the
care of his sister Bamie in New York City while he grieved. He assumed custody of
his daughter when she was three.[36]
After the death of his wife and mother, Roosevelt focused on his work, specifically by
re-energizing a legislative investigation into corruption of the New York City
government, which arose from a concurrent bill proposing that power be centralized
in the mayor's office.[37] For the rest of his life, he rarely spoke about his wife Alice
and did not write about her in his autobiography. While working with Joseph Bucklin
Bishop on a biography that included a collection of his letters, Roosevelt did not
mention his marriage to Alice nor his second marriage to Edith Kermit Carow.[38]