Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt
source
Name	Theodore Roosevelt
Caption	Roosevelt c. 1904
Order	26th
Office	President of the United States
Term start	September 14, 1901
Term end	March 4, 1909
Vicepresident	None (1901–1905), Charles W. Fairbanks (1905–1909)
Predecessor	William McKinley
Successor	William Howard Taft
Order2	25th
Office2	Vice President of the United States
Term start2	March 4, 1901
Term end2	September 14, 1901
President2	William McKinley
Predecessor2	Garret Hobart
Successor2	Charles W. Fairbanks
Office3	33rd Governor of New York
Term start3	January 1, 1899
Term end3	December 31, 1900
Lieutenant3	Timothy L. Woodruff
Predecessor3	Frank S. Black
Successor3	Benjamin Barker Odell Jr.
Birth date	27 October 1858
Birth place	New York City, U.S.
Death date	6 January 1919
Death place	Oyster Bay, New York, U.S.
Party	Republican (1880–1912, 1916–1919), Progressive (1912–1916)
Children	6, including Alice, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin
Education	Harvard University (AB), Columbia Law School
Occupation	Author, conservationist, explorer, historian, naturalist, police commissioner, politician, soldier, sportsman
Branch	United States Army
Serviceyears	1882–1886 (New York National Guard), 1898
Rank	Colonel
Commands	1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry
Battles	Spanish–American War, • Battle of Las Guasimas, • Battle of San Juan Hill

Contents

Early life and education
Early political career
Presidency (1901–1909)
Post-presidency and later life

Theodore Roosevelt was an American statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under William McKinley and as the 33rd governor of New York. Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century. His presidency is noted for its energetic advocacy of the "Square Deal" domestic policies, his "big stick" foreign policy, and his enduring legacy in conservation.

Early life and education

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, at 28 East 20th Street in Manhattan, New York City, to Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and Martha Stewart Bulloch. His family was wealthy and prominent, with roots in Dutch and Scottish heritage. A sickly child with debilitating asthma, he overcame his physical weaknesses through a strenuous regimen of exercise and outdoor activity, developing a lifelong passion for what he called "the strenuous life." He was homeschooled and developed intense interests in zoology and natural history, eventually creating what he called the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History." Roosevelt entered Harvard University in 1876, where he studied biology, boxed, and rowed, graduating magna cum laude in 1880. He briefly attended Columbia Law School but abandoned his legal studies to pursue a career in public service. In 1880, he married Alice Hathaway Lee of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Early political career

Roosevelt began his political career in 1881 when he was elected to the New York State Assembly as a member of the Republican Party, quickly gaining a reputation as a reformer fighting corruption. Following the tragic deaths of his mother and his wife, Alice, on the same day in 1884, he retreated to his ranch in the Dakota Territory, where he worked as a frontiersman and deputy sheriff. He returned to New York City in 1886, ran unsuccessfully for mayor, and married his childhood friend, Edith Kermit Carow. Roosevelt served as a member of the United States Civil Service Commission under Presidents Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland, and later as president of the New York City Board of Police Commissioners, where he gained national attention for rooting out corruption. In 1897, President William McKinley appointed him Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a role in which he aggressively prepared the United States Navy for potential conflict, which materialized with the Spanish–American War in 1898.

Presidency (1901–1909)

Roosevelt's rise to the presidency began when he was elected Governor of New York in 1898, and he was then selected as McKinley's running mate for the 1900 election. He became president on September 14, 1901, following McKinley's assassination in Buffalo, New York, becoming the youngest person to assume the office at age 42. Domestically, he championed his "Square Deal," promising fairness to the average citizen through regulation of corporations, exemplified by his aggressive use of the Sherman Antitrust Act against monopolies like Northern Securities Company. He was a dedicated conservationist, establishing the United States Forest Service and creating numerous national parks, national monuments, and wildlife refuges. In foreign policy, he advocated for a strong global presence, summarized by his proverb "speak softly and carry a big stick." He oversaw the construction of the Panama Canal, mediated an end to the Russo-Japanese War (for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize), and issued the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, asserting U.S. police power in the Western Hemisphere. He was elected to a full term in his own right in the 1904 election.

Post-presidency and later life