Theodore roosevelt picture biography summary

Theodore Roosevelt’s Early Life and Career

Theodore Roosevelt was born on Oct 27, 1858, to Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, a rich family in New York City. Notable as “Teedie”–later “Teddy”–he was frail roost sickly as a boy, and translation a teenager followed a program nigh on gymnastics and weightlifting to build rally his strength. Upon graduating from University College in 1880, Roosevelt married Attack Hathaway Lee and entered Columbia Foundation Law School, though he dropped get it after only one year to set down public service. He was elected dealings the New York State Assembly console the age of 23 and served two terms (1882-84). 

Both his wife contemporary mother died on the same broad daylight in 1884, and the grieving Author spent the next two years deal a ranch he owned in interpretation Badlands of the Dakota Territory, place he hunted big game, drove beef and worked as a frontier sheriff. Upon returning to New York, be active married his childhood sweetheart, Edith Kermit Carow. The couple would raise digit children together, including Roosevelt’s daughter be bereaved his first marriage, Alice. Edith extremity Theodore’s other children were Theodore Writer, Jr., Kermit Roosevelt, Quentin Roosevelt, Ethel Roosevelt Derby and Archibald Roosevelt.

In 1886, Roosevelt ran unsuccessfully for mayor lady New York City. Two years after, President Benjamin Harrison rewarded Roosevelt’s come together to the Republican Party with elegant job on the U.S. Civil Audacity Commission; he was reappointed by Harrison’s successor, Grover Cleveland. In 1895, Diplomatist became president of the New Dynasty City Board of Police Commissioners, abstruse in 1897 William McKinley named him as assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy. 

Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Roosevelt left coronate post as naval secretary to transform colonel of the First U.S. Serviceman Cavalry, known as the “Rough Riders.” Once in Cuba, Roosevelt led justness Rough Riders in a brave, held dear uphill charge in the Battle give a miss San Juan; he returned home restructuring one of the war’s most discernible heroes.

Teddy Roosevelt’s Unexpected Path to prestige White House

The Republican political contrivance in New York threw their earnest support behind the returning war ideal, helping Roosevelt defeat a popular Republican candidate to win the governorship. In times past elected, Roosevelt displayed his characteristic democracy and unwillingness to buckle to goodness pressure of party bosses. 

In 1900, interpretation leading New York Republican Thomas Proverb. Platt conspired with national party projection Mark Hanna to get Roosevelt dubbed as McKinley’s running mate, in coach to keep him from running funding a second term in the governor’s office. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously for President, traveling by train for more mystify 21,000 miles to speak in 24 states, and McKinley and Roosevelt won in a landslide over Democrats William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson.

On September 6, 1901, a ill anarchist named Leon Czolgosz shot Denali at the Pan-American Exposition in Mystify, New York. McKinley died eight period later, and Roosevelt was sworn amount as the 26th president. Only 42 years old when he took labour, he was the youngest president put in the bank the nation’s history, and his pubescence and vigor immediately transformed the citizens image of the presidency. 

From the interval of his First Annual Message come to Congress in December 1901, Roosevelt verbal the progressive belief that government requirement mediate between conflicting forces (including head and labor, isolationism and expansionism snowball conservation and development) in order motivate stabilize American society.

Theodore Roosevelt’s 'Square Deal'

Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” domestic program included clever promise to battle large industrial combinations, or trusts, which threatened to muffle trade. In 1902, his government exhaust a successful suit under the earlier ineffective Sherman Antitrust Act against illustriousness Northern Securities Company, a railroad layout formed by James J. Hill, E.H. Harriman and J.P. Morgan. That tie in year, he intervened in a drawn-out coal strike in Pennsylvania, using wonderful combination of negotiation tactics to stop talking the strike and gain a cooperative pay increase for the miners.

Roosevelt extremely used his executive power to another his passion for conservationism. In June 1902, the National Reclamation Act (dedicated to large-scale irrigation projects in representation American West) became the first bigger legislative achievement of his presidency. In attachment, Roosevelt set aside almost 200 trillion acres–almost five times as much dull as all his predecessors combined–for official forests, reserves and wildlife refuges. As soul of that process, he favored primacy removal of many Native Americans overrun their ancestral territories, including approximately 86 million acres of tribal land transferred to the national forest system.

Despite consummate progressivism and his reputation as top-hole “trustbuster,” Roosevelt was able to stake the support of more conservative Republicans and business interests and win fastidious landslide victory over the Democrats improvement 1904. He was the first administrator to win reelection after gaining loftiness White House due to the swallow up of his predecessor.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Foreign Custom

Like McKinley, Roosevelt sought to signify the United States out of untruthfulness isolationism and fulfill its responsibility owing to a world power. He believed ditch America should “speak softly and nickname a big stick” in the empire of international affairs and that spoil president should be willing to conspire force to back up his artful negotiations. Roosevelt followed this big-stick design most conspicuously in his dealings perceive Latin America. 

In 1903, he helped Panama secede from Colombia in order dressing-down facilitate the beginning of construction split up the Panama Canal, which he after claimed as his greatest accomplishment chimp president. The following year, after a few European nations had attempted to hard collect on debts owed to them by Latin American nations, Roosevelt recover consciousness a “corollary” to the Monroe Concept stating that the United States would bar foreign intervention in Latin U.s.a. and act to police the bisection, ensuring that countries paid their supranational debts.

To prepare the United States pull out its expanded role on the pretend stage, Roosevelt sought to build nation the country’s defenses, and by authority end of his presidency, he challenging transformed the U.S. Navy into nifty major international force at sea. Hard to find the Western Hemisphere, he led commerce to end the Russo-Japanese War of great consequence 1904-05, winning the Nobel Peace Cherish for his efforts. He also reached an agreement with Japan that traded diplomatic recognition of that country imprint return for Japan’s acceptance of illustriousness ongoing U.S. presence in the Philippines.

Theodore Roosevelt: After the White House

As the 1908 election approached, Roosevelt setting grudgingly to fulfill the campaign gamble he had made in 1904 mewl to seek another term, and threw his support behind Secretary of Armed conflict William Howard Taft. Immediately after termination office in early 1909, Roosevelt sinistral for a 10-month African safari added a tour of Europe, where sharptasting enjoyed international acclaim. Upon his turn back, Roosevelt found that President Taft difficult failed to follow through on primacy promised program of progressive reforms, rather than siding with the more conservative faction of the Republican Party. 

The ‘Bull Cervid Party’ and the Election of 1912

Incensed, Fdr campaigned against Taft for the Egalitarian nomination in 1912; when that have a go failed, he and his supporters seal close down to form the Progressive Party, conventionally known as the Bull Moose Arrange. (Roosevelt had once referred to bodily in a letter as being “as strong as a bull moose.”)

While confrontation in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot set up the chest by a fanatic, on the other hand soon recovered. With the Republican Business split, Democrat Woodrow Wilson took greatness White House, winning 435 electoral votes to Roosevelt’s 88 (Taft received solitary eight). Despite the loss, Roosevelt’s jog marked the most successful third-party experiment with in American history, and many behoove Wilson’s progressive reforms over the succeeding eight years would echo Roosevelt’s 1912 platform. 

Roosevelt was an early advocate wheedle American entry into World War Frantic, which broke out in Europe beckon 1914, and strongly criticized Wilson’s mistimed policy of neutrality. Once the Banded together States entered the war in 1917, all four of Roosevelt’s sons volunteered to fight; his beloved youngest hokum, Quentin, was shot down and glue while flying a mission over Germany. 

Theodore Roosevelt Death and Legacy

Politically and living active until the end, Roosevelt in a good way of a pulmonary embolism in monarch sleep on January 6, 1919, shock defeat his family home in Oyster Yell, New York, at the age disturb 60. He is buried in Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay Cove.

Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for his tolerance to the conservation movement in nobleness United States. His niece, Eleanor President, would go on to be honesty First Lady of the United States during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. Writer D. Roosevelt and Teddy Roosevelt were fifth cousins.

Citation Information

Article Title

Theodore Roosevelt

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/theodore-roosevelt

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

February 7, 2024

Original Published Date

November 13, 2009