1. Teddy Roosevelt's Background (317-318)
Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 into a rather wealthy family. His parents were strong Democrats, however, they switched to the new Republican Party in the mid 1850's. His father was a philanthropist and also a part of a family glass-importing company. Roosevelt lived in New York City and was the second of four children. As a child he suffered from frequent sicknesses and asthma, having to sleep propped up in a bed as a result. Despite this he was a very active child, getting caught up in mischief though his sicknesses forced him to often stay home. Because of his physical weaknesses, Roosevelt was home schooled and became very interested in natural history. At the age of seven he became interested in zoology after he took home a dead seal's head from a local market. Him and two cousins began "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History" and learned the basics of taxidermy, displaying animals that he had killed or caught. Because he could not participate in sports due to his poor physical condition, Roosevelt began taking up boxing lessons as a way of exercising. Eventually, he began attending college at Harvard where he continued his studies as well as boxing. Roosevelt was given a physical examination and his doctor told him that he should find a desk job instead of taking part in strenuous activity due to his serious health problems. Instead, Roosevelt decided to do just the opposite, taking up tennis, polo, hiking, horseback riding, and exercising daily. Upon his graduation in 1880, he enrolled in Columbia Law School. During this time, Roosevelt was offered an opportunity to run for New York Assemblyman in 1881 so he dropped out of law school and began to pursue his goal of entering public life.
Theodore Roosevelt's first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee died of a kidney failure just two days after giving birth to their first child, Alice. Unfortunately, Roosevelt's mother had died of typhoid fever that very same day, just eleven hours earlier. To make the situation worse, it was Valentine's day. As a way of coping with his losses, Roosevelt never talked about the incidents for the rest of his life, even going so far as to not include information about his wife in his autobiographies. His nickname, Teddy, was given to him by his wife and he began to intensely dislike it after her death. Shortly after, Roosevelt abandoned his political work and moved out to the Badlands of the Dakota Territory where he enjoyed hunting and cattle ranching. While attending Harvard, Roosevelt became interested in the role the US Navy played in the War of 1812. This led to the publishing of his first book, The Naval War of 1812, which gave him his reputation as a serious historian. Roosevelt went on to publish a total of thirty-five books and read tens of thousands of others, often reading one a day.
Following his election for mayor of New York City, in which he came in third, Roosevelt traveled to London and married his childhood sweetheart, Edith Kermit Carow in 1886. Together they had five children. While serving in the Spanish-American war, Roosevelt was the lieutenant colonel of the Rough Riders Regiment and led them on a charge in the battle of San Juan. After the war, Roosevelt returned to New York and became governor in a close election. Just two years later, he was elected as William McKinley's Vice President. In 1901, after serving for only six months, President McKinley was assassinated, making Roosevelt the youngest president of the United States at the age of 42. During his presidency, Roosevelt encouraged the Republican Party to shoot for Progressivism, and made many other remarkable accomplishments during his presidency. After declining to run for re-election in 1908, he made trips to Africa and Europe. While campaigning in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot in the chest, however he continued on with his speech shortly after, while blood seeped through his shirt. Luckily the bullet never reached his lungs and doctors decided that it would be best to not take it out so he lived with it the rest of his life. On an expedition to South America, he contracted malaria which significantly damaged his health. Just a few short years later in 1919, Theodore Roosevelt died at the age of 60, going down as one of the greatest presidents the United States has ever had.
I think that Theodore Roosevelt was a not only a great politician and leader, but also an astounding American who made so many important accomplishments during his lifetime. Despite his sicknesses and asthma, he had as a child, Roosevelt overcame his obstacles and made the best out of his life by becoming a man that people looked up to and admired. I also believe that he made a big impact on the United States and is by far one of the most influential Americans. I had no idea that one man could do so many things for his country in a lifetime as short as his was. In conclusion, I really enjoyed doing this blog because I got to learn a lot more about Theodore Roosevelt's life as well as some interesting facts.
Sources:
U.S. History E-Book The Americans pages 317-318
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/biotr.htm
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/theodoreroosevelt/
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1906/roosevelt-bio.html
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