Kermit Roosevelt

Kermit Roosevelt was an American explorer, soldier, businessman, and writer, best known as the second son of President Theodore Roosevelt. He accompanied his father on the famed Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition to the Amazon basin and served with distinction in both World War I and World War II with the American Expeditionary Forces and the British Army, respectively. His later life involved business ventures with the Roosevelt & Son investment bank and diplomatic work in Argentina, though it was marred by personal struggles. His death by suicide in Alaska during wartime service concluded a complex life shaped by immense family legacy and personal ambition.

Early life and family

Born at the family estate, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, New York, he was the second son of Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Roosevelt. He attended the prestigious Groton School in Massachusetts before following his father and older brother, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., to Harvard University. His early years were steeped in the vigorous, adventurous ethos of his father, joining him on a post-presidential hunting expedition to British East Africa and participating in the challenging River of Doubt exploration in Brazil. In 1914, he married Belle Wyatt Willard, daughter of the American ambassador to Spain, Joseph Edward Willard, further connecting him to diplomatic circles.

Military service

His military service spanned two world wars and two nations. During World War I, he was commissioned as a captain in the United States Army and served with the 1st Infantry Division in France, seeing action at the Battle of Cantigny. Demonstrating relentless drive, he later transferred to the British Army, serving with the King's Royal Rifle Corps in the Mesopotamian campaign and the Dunsterforce mission in Persia. In World War II, he again volunteered for the British Army, was commissioned as a major, and was posted to Fort Richardson, Alaska with the U.S. Army Air Forces' Air Transport Command, where he worked on logistics for the Lend-Lease program to the Soviet Union.

Political career and diplomacy

Though never holding elected office, he engaged in significant diplomatic and intelligence work. In the 1920s, he served as a vice president at the Roosevelt & Son bank, which facilitated contacts in international finance. During the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his distant cousin, he undertook a sensitive diplomatic mission to Argentina in 1942, aimed at countering German influence in the region and encouraging the government of Ramón Castillo to break with the Axis powers. This work intersected with the efforts of the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Business ventures and later life

After World War I, he pursued various business interests, including a directorship with the United States Lines steamship company and involvement in the American Ship and Commerce Corporation. He also worked for the Sinclair Oil Corporation and attempted to establish rubber plantations in Guatemala. His later years were increasingly troubled by financial difficulties, bouts of depression, and struggles with alcoholism. Despite these challenges, he continued to write, authoring books about his travels and family, and remained active until his redeployment to Alaska during the early years of World War II.

Personal life and legacy

He and his wife, Belle Wyatt Willard, had four children: Kermit Roosevelt Jr., a noted Central Intelligence Agency officer involved in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état; Joseph Willard Roosevelt; Belle Roosevelt; and Dirck Roosevelt. His life was a constant negotiation with the towering legacy of his father, Theodore Roosevelt, and the achievements of his siblings, including Theodore Roosevelt Jr., a Medal of Honor recipient. Plagued by ill health and depression, he died by suicide at Fort Richardson, Alaska in 1943. He is interred at Fort Richardson National Cemetery. His story is often cited in biographies of the Roosevelt family and studies of early twentieth-century exploration and wartime service.

Category:1889 births Category:1943 deaths Category:Roosevelt family Category:American explorers Category:American military personnel of World War I Category:American military personnel of World War II