The History of Theodore Roosevelt

By Anna Richardson Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858. He was the Vice President of William McKinley. After McKinley was assassinated, Theodore Roosevelt became President. He was 42 years old when he was sworn in as President in 1901, making him the youngest president in history. He was the 26th President of the United States serving a term until the next election in which he was then re-elected. He was from New York City, New York. He was part of the Republican Party, and then started the Progressive Party in 1912. It lasted from then, until 1916. He died on January 6, 1919 only 60 years old. His resting place is Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, New York. Theodore Teddy Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family. Although he was very sickly, weak, had horrible asthma, and was terribly near-sighted, he was hyperactive and mischievous. He had a lifelong interest in zoology and that began at age seven when he saw a dead seal at a local market. After he obtained the seals head, young Teddy and two of his cousins formed what they called Roosevelt Museum of Natural History He filled this museum with animals caught or killed, which he studied then put on display. At age nine he had a sudden interest in insects,

and made a section in the museum entitled The Natural History of Insects. He grew out of his ailments and got glasses. He had kept up with his studies as a child, and that subsequently got him into Harvard University in 1876. His fathers death was an awful thing for him to go through in 1878, but it made him even more dedicated to his education. He failed miserably in Latin and Greek his whole educational career, which was quite interesting because he aced all the other classes he took. He had a photographic memory, and developed a lifelong habit of devouring books and remembering every detail. He read a lot of the time, and other times he was very social and humorous. He proposed to Alice Hathaway, and they married in the year 1880. They had a daughter at 3:30pm on February 12, 1884. Alice died of Kidney failure 48 hours later, and 11 hours previous, Theodores mother died in the same house. He lost his mother and beloved wife on the same day, February 14, 1884. That day, in his diary, he wrote a large X on the page and then, The light has gone out of my life. He named the baby girl Alice, and put her temporarily in the care of his sister, Anna, in New York City. He never spoke of Alice Hathaway Roosevelt, publicly or privately. He didnt even mention her name in his auto-biography. After he married his 2nd wife, Edith, he had five more children; four boys and a girl. Their names were Theodore III,

Kermit, Ethel, Archie, and Quentin. In total he had six children, all of whom have died. As far as personality goes, Roosevelt was a very kind, understanding person. He was also very generous and concerned about peoples feelings. He put others before himself and that was one thing that stood out about him. People recognized him as an honest, hard-working individual and also, very intelligent. Most people thought very highly of him. In fact, this showed at his re-election. When Theodore Roosevelt was re-elected, the results were outstanding. He went against Alton B. Parker, to which, he won 336 electoral votes while the runner up, Parker, had 140. Roosevelt also won the popular vote, at 7,626,593 (seven million, six hundred twenty six thousand, five hundred ninety three), while poor Alton only had 5,082,898 (five million, eighty two thousand, eight hundred ninety eight). Teddy was also a real sweetheart, and very romantic. In fact, when he first proposed to Alice, his 1st wife, he recorded in his diary: The aim of my whole life shall be to make her happy, and to shield her and guard her from every trial; and oh, how I love my sweet queen! How she, so pure and sweet and beautiful can think of marrying me I cannot understand, but I praise and thank God it is so.

Roosevelt was a very honorable person, and this showed with his wide variety of contributions to the United States of America. Theodore unsuccessfully ran for mayor of New York City, NY in 1886, and then decided hed like a larger title. So, in 1898 he ran for governor of New York. After two years, he was asked by McKinley to be his Vice President. When McKinley was assassinated, Theodore took over as president. He served a term until 1904, and in that election, he was reelected and served another 4 year term. He passed many acts, that are very important in modern day living, and he really made an impact on our governmental society. The majority of problems he suffered were deaths of loved ones. The deaths of his father, mother, and wife were awful for him to go through, but it only made him a stronger person. He got through them, each one equally painful for him. He grieved a long time, yet didnt let it affect his career by any means. Theodore Roosevelts most memorable moment was while he was giving a campaign speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 14, 1912. A saloonkeeper named John Schrank shot him; the bullet pierced his chest, only after penetrating his steel eyeglass case, and passing through a 50 page thick (folded-once) copy of the speech he was reciting from memory, and three inches into his chest. The bullet had not pierced his lung, so he went ahead and delivered his speech, with blood pouring out of his shirt. His opening

comment to the large crowd was, Ladies and Gentlemen, I dont know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. Then he presented the 90 minute speech and walked off the stage. He carried that bullet with him the rest of his life. As you can see, Theodore Roosevelt was a very interesting person, and had many accomplishments in his life. This is why he has gone down in history as an important public figure as well as one of Americas great Presidents. Sources: World Book of Americas Presidents, Robert O. Zeleny, World Book Incorporation: Chicago, IL 1982 http://www.infoplease.com : Information Please database