The Life of Theodore Roosevelt

Governor of New York Author Colonel U.S. Coast Guard Assemblyman Naturalist Civil Service Commissioner Vice-PresidentPresident

Four-year-old "Teedie" Theodore Roosevelt in TR suffered greatly from asthma causing him to be sick frequently.

At eleven Theodore visited Paris where this photo was taken in At first his illness (asthma) kept him from strenuous exercise. Later he would "make his body" and become strong.

About eighteen years old Theodore Roosevelt (top left) with brother Elliott, sister Corinne and family friend Edith (who would later become his second wife). The look of the eyes and the brow are the same, but the body of TR here, around 1876, is now much stronger, the product of a home gym his father had created for him.

Now a young man, Theodore Roosevelt began his "classroom" education at Harvard, in Cambridge Massachusetts. His early schooling had been primarily from a governess in individual or small group settings. As a boy Roosevelt had attended school for a short period, but his health prevented normal schooling for much of the time. At Cambridge he would meet some life long friends and colleagues. [Dec 1876]

TR had become quite athletic by the time he reached Harvard. Here he appears in his sculling outfit. Rowing and boxing were two of the "organized" sports in which TR participated. When skating with friends, Theodore was still out on the ice long after everyone else had quit from cold and fatigue. [circa 1877]

Stunned with the mix of grief and joy over the death of his mother Mittie and his wife Alice on the same day in the same house combined with the birth of his first child, daughter Alice, two days before, TR retreated to life in the western Badlands of Medora, North Dakota.

While in North Dakota he would heal and learn lessons that would shape not only his future, but also the future of the nation. Working shoulder to shoulder with all kinds of men in the west he said, "took the snob" out of him. Working the ranch brought about a profound love of the open land, unique geography and animal species that were fast disappearing with increased settlement and development. [ca.1885]

Ten years later we find TR in Washington married to his long time friend Edith. Quentin was not born yet so there were 5 children under the roof. By this time in 1895 at the age of 36 TR had already had more careers than many men. He had been a Legislator in New York State, a rancher, and the author of several books and was now Civil Service Commissioner. (1886)

From 1895 to 1897 TR and family would be back in New York City, where TR became President of the NYC Board of Police Commissioners. Although he sits at a desk here, TR was famous for prowling the streets at all hours learning more about the police as well as the worst corners of the city. He greatly reduced corruption, increased the use of technologies and created one of the first academies for police training.

In 1898 TR raised a volunteer regiment, which included cowboys and schoolboys (typically college athletes) as those who knew him from various times in his life joined to fight the Spanish in Cuba. On July 1, 1898, the Rough Riders would play a critical role on Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill during the battle of San Juan Heights. TR led one charge on horseback and one charge on foot, inspiring his troops but exposing himself to enemy fire. 103 years later he would receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery that day. Rough RidersMedal of Honor

In addition to loss of life in battle, the soldiers faced the rages of malaria, yellow fever and dysentery. His Rough Riders returned to quarantine in Camp Wikoff, Montauk, Long Island. [Aug - Sept 1898]

The press coverage of the charismatic character "Rough Rider Roosevelt" propelled TR back into politics, now to be Governor of New York State. By now there were six children. The oldest, Alice, holds baby Quentin on her lap in this 1899 family portrait.

By 1900 a corrupt "Easy Boss" Tom Platt was anxious to get TR out of New York State and recommended him for the Vice Presidency. TR's fame from the Rough Rider days and Platt's political maneuvers easily won Roosevelt the nomination.

When President McKinley was shot at the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo, NY in 1901, TR became the youngest person ever to become President. He was only 42.

The famous bear hunt in 1902 would forever link Theodore Roosevelt and the "Teddy" bear in political cartoons, children's stories and toys. The bear hunt had been unsuccessful and the guides and dogs captured an old female bear and tied it to a tree for the President to get "his shot". TR refused. Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman captured both the sportsmanship and the politics of the day in his cartoons.Theodore Roosevelt and the "Teddy" bear

Theodore Roosevelt considered the Presidency a "bully pulpit", a good place from which to make a statement to the public about the way things ought to be. All the time he had spent learning about how people lived from the ranchers and small farmers in the west, tenement dwellers and shopkeepers in the city, and soldiers in battle helped him identify with ordinary citizens from all walks of life. Here he speaks to an audience in Evanston (near Chicago) in 1903.

Roosevelt started his efforts to preserve Yellowstone National Park as early as Here we find President Theodore Roosevelt with naturalist John Muir at Yosemite in 1903.

The building of a canal on the Isthmus of Panama would be critical to the strategic strength of the United States. Here TR inspects the canal construction in Panama in 1906.

Still only 50 years old when he left the Presidency, TR went looking for adventure on Safari in Africa. At heart TR was a naturalist, fascinated with all the species of animals on earth. He always had a small menagerie of live and preserved specimens as a child. As and adult he was quite expert. Hundreds of species were identified and brought back to the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History from his expedition to East Africa with son Kermit (shown sitting next to TR).

Reporters were waiting as TR, Kermit and their party ended the safari and arrived in Egypt. TR, joined by Edith began a "grand tour" of Europe including Norway, where he accepted the Nobel Prize he had been awarded several years before for the Treaty of Portsmouth.Nobel Prize he had been awarded several years before for the Treaty of Portsmouth.

President Theodore Roosevelt and his family lived at the White House from 1901 to They are pictured here at their home in Sagamore Hill.

Funeral Procession for the burial of Theodore Roosevelt at Young's Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York on January 8, 1919.