ROOSEVELT, THEODORE 1858-1919
President of the united states, 1901-1909
A Modern President
As president, Theodore Roosevelt embodied the new century, full of boundless energy and endless possibilities. His dynamic personality overshadowed the accomplishments of both his predecessor, William McKinley, and his successor, William Howard Taft.
Roosevelt's youthful vigor and active lifestyle personalized the presidency to an extraordinary degree. Public focus shifted away from the party to the man in office, as Roosevelt continued McKinley's efforts to modernize the presidency and aggressively exercised his executive powers instead of playing the part of "caretaker president." Roosevelt used the office as his "bully pulpit," lecturing his fellow citizens on moral, ethical, and political issues. America's power and presence on the world stage expanded further under Roosevelt's "Big Stick" diplomacy, while his writings and speeches also had a major impact on domestic issues. By the time he left office, the presidency had been permanently transformed.
Background
Theodore Roosevelt was born on 27 October 1858 in New York City to Theodore Roosevelt Sr., a wealthy glass importer, and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, a southerner whose relatives had fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. The elder Theodore Roosevelt hired a substitute to serve in his place during that war—an action that influenced his son to seek active duty in times of military crises. Young Theodore was a sickly child. Afflicted with asthma, he was forced to spend much time indoors during his young years, but his illness did not prevent him from becoming an expert amateur naturalist. He began collecting and embalming animals, a passion he maintained the rest of his life. He also became a voracious reader. At thirteen he was given glasses to correct his poor eyesight, which fueled his enthusiasm for collecting and reading. Yet his illness also aroused a desire to strengthen his body, fostering a life-long love of sports and what he later called "the strenuous life." Encouraged by his father, he took up sports such as boxing, swimming, horseback riding, calisthenics, and shooting, eventually overcoming his asthma.
Harvard, Marriage, and Politics
Until he entered Harvard University in 1876, Theodore (who did not like to be called "Teddy") was privately educated by tutors. At Harvard he briefly considered becoming a naturalist or scientist before deciding to study history. His father's death from cancer in early 1878 came as a severe blow, but he managed to enjoy his remaining time in college. In the fall of his junior year, he met Alice Hathaway Lee, a delicate seventeen-year-old from a well-to-do Boston family. After a persistent courtship, she finally agreed to marry him and did so on his twenty-second birthday. After graduation in 1880, Roosevelt studied law at Columbia University, invested in cattle ranching in the Dakota Territory, and wrote The Naval War of 1812 (1882), the first of his many books on subjects such as history, politics, and nature. Elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican in 1881 and reelected in 1882 and 1883, he sponsored legislation to improve the working conditions of cigar makers in New York City, opposed railroad baron Jay Gould, and even tangled with Gov. Grover Cleveland. Roosevelt's splashy entrance into politics caused some problems with the Republican leadership, but from the beginning of his political career he cultivated the press, helping to shape his image and get his message out.
Tragedy and Decisions
The year 1884 was one of immense struggle for Roosevelt. His wife died only hours after giving birth, and his mother died of typhoid fever in the same house on the same day. Roosevelt left his daughter, named Alice after her mother, in the care of his sister while trying to get his life back together. After creating a memorial for his wife, he never mentioned her again and never allowed anyone else to discuss her in his presence. That same year James G. Blaine received the Republican presidential nomination. When Blaine, who was disliked by eastern Republicans for his financial dealings and close association with the party's conservative faction, received the nomination, some of Roosevelt's friends urged him to join them in bolting the party to support the Democratic nominee, Grover Cleveland. In the end he and his friend Henry Cabot Lodge from Massachusetts decided that staying in the party was the best thing for their political careers. After his wife's death, Roosevelt began dividing his time between New York and his Dakota ranch. He ended up losing most of his investment in the ranch, some 20 percent of his estate; yet as Lewis L. Gould has noted, "The gains in his physical well-being, emotional release, and political appeal lasted throughout his life." In Dakota he battled storms, punched cattle, killed grizzlies, and served as deputy sheriff—in all, collecting enough experiences to fill three new books.
Fighting Corruption
In 1886 New York City Republicans asked him to run for mayor against land reformer Henry George and Democrat Abram S. Hewitt. He finished a poor third but served the purpose of keeping the office from George. That December he married a childhood sweetheart, Edith Kermit Carow. After the hard winter of 1886-1887 he had lost most of his Dakota investment, and in 1892 he gave up ranching for good, settling with his wife and daughter at Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, Long Island. After Benjamin Harrison was elected president in 1888, he appointed Roosevelt to the Civil Service Commission. During his six years at this post he learned about national politics and party patronage from the inside. In 1895 he asked for and received an appointment as one of four New York City police commissioners. His nighttime undercover expeditions around Manhattan to find on-duty policemen sleeping or drinking in saloons became the stuff of legend and great copy for the press. His effectiveness in cleaning up the department helped to create a new image for the city police, "New York's Finest," but his vigor in enforcing unpopular prohibition laws that closed saloons on Sunday met with resistance.
War
The election of Republican William McKinley to the White House in 1896 brought Roosevelt an appointment as assistant secretary of the navy, which he helped to modernize in preparation for war with Spain. Though in favor of overseas expansion and a greater role for the United States in world affairs, he did not hasten the war with Spain, as some biographers have asserted. He
did not have a large role in the conduct of McKinley's diplomacy, nor did he create the tensions that led to the Spanish-American War of 1898. On 25 February 1898 he sent a telegram ordering Adm. George Dewey, in the event of hostilities with Spain, to bottle up the Spanish navy in Asia and then attack the Philippines. Yet the order stemmed from war plans dating back to 1895 and was part of the ongoing preparations for war at that time. Once the war began, Roosevelt volunteered immediately, entering the army as a lieutenant colonel in a volunteer regiment commanded by Col. Leonard Wood. The mix of western cowboys, eastern aristocrats, and Indians in the regiment made great copy for the newspapers, which were soon calling it "Roosevelt's Rough Riders." After a month's training, they landed in Cuba to oust the Spanish. In July, during the American assault on the San Juan Heights around the city of Santiago, Roosevelt, who had been promoted to colonel, led his men, including some African American troops, in attacks on Kettle and San Juan Hills, killing at least one Spaniard. The experience became "the great day of my life," and he long believed afterward that he deserved the Medal of Honor. The war in Cuba ended shortly thereafter, and he returned home in August 1898 to popular acclaim and a nomination as the Republican candidate for governor of New York. A narrow margin of victory and the tenuous support of party regulars did not keep him from carrying out policies such as conservation and the use of publicity to regulate corporate power. Feeling the pressure from campaign contributors, party leaders maneuvered to get Roosevelt out of New York and onto the national ticket as President McKinley's running mate in 1900. Little did they know that the assassination of the president in September 1901 would elevate Roosevelt to the presidency six months into McKinley's second term.
The Roosevelt White House
Roosevelt's actions as chief executive—both official and unofficial—made great newspaper copy. His energy seemed boundless. He hiked, camped, hunted, and played tennis with almost reckless enthusiasm. He had little respect for a man who refused to join him in such pursuits. The president's practice of jujitsu sparked a national rage for the martial art, and after his refusal to shoot a small bear on a November 1902 hunting trip in Mississippi, a toy manufacturer created one of the most popular toys of all time by naming a stuffed bear the "Teddy Bear." Roosevelt's young family also became a great political asset for him, capturing the nation's attention and holding it for eight years. Edith Roosevelt often commented that the president was simply the oldest of her children. He was frequently found playing cowboys and Indians with his children and their friends or helping them feed their veritable zoo of pets. His eldest daughter, Alice, so entranced "high society" that a shade of blue was named for her and quickly became fashionable. When she married Congressman Nicholas Longworth on 17 February 1906 in a White House ceremony, the wedding made international news. A learned couple, the Roosevelts entertained a wide array of people at the White House, all of whom could expect to hear the president speak knowledgeably on almost any topic.
Retired from Politics?
After two successful terms in office, Roosevelt "retired" from the political limelight and went off to Africa for some big-game hunting and then to Europe for a triumphant tour of European capitals. But he was never far from the eye of the press. Disapproving of his successor's efforts as president, Roosevelt reentered the political fray in 1912. He first tried to recapture the Republican nomination, but he was outmaneuvered by President William Howard Taft. Disenchanted Progressives turned to Roosevelt after their original choice, Robert La Follette, appeared physically unable to carry out the campaign. "Feeling fit as a bull moose," Roosevelt picked up the banner of progressivism and launched one of the most successful third-party campaigns in U.S. presidential election history against his old friend Taft. His candidacy as the Progressive "Bull Moose" Party nominee split the Republican vote, enabling Woodrow Wilson to become the first Democrat to occupy the White House in sixteen years. Roosevelt remained in the political spotlight during World War I, criticizing President Wilson's position of neutrality during the period before the United States entered the war and actively campaigning for Wilson's Republican opponent, Charles Evans Hughes, in 1916. After the United States finally entered the war in 1917, he quickly volunteered to lead troops into combat, a request the president rebuffed. Frustrated, Roosevelt went to South America to search for the source of the Amazon River. He discovered a new river but also suffered great physical distress and illness that hastened his death. The loss of one of his sons during the war was a blow from which he never recovered. He died quietly in his sleep on 6 January 1919.
Sources:
Paul Russell Cutright, Theodore Roosevelt: The Making of a Conservationist (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985);
Lewis L. Gould, The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1991);
William Henry Harbaugh, Power and Responsibility: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1961).
