Life and Background

THEODORE "TEEDIE" ROOSEVELT

Born October 27, 1858 to Theodore and Martha Roosevelt. He was a very sick child and took up boxing to be able to improve his health.

• He had one older sister named Anna and two younger siblings named Elliot and Corinne




• In 1865 he was able to see Abraham Lincoln's funeral procession from his grandfather's house on Union Square.




• Theodore went to Harvard where he graduated, in 1880, magna cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He later went to Columbia Law School but dropped out after one year to enter politics




• On February 9 1878 Theodore Sr. Died of stomach cancer.
• On his 22nd birthday he married his first wife Alice Hathaway Lee from Massachusetts. He had one daughter with his first wife before she died of chronic Kidney infection. His daughter was named Alice Lee Roosevelt, she was born in February of 1884.




• In 1880 Theodore joined the Republican party and in 1881 he was elected as the youngest Assemblyman for New York. He served for three one-year terms in 1882, 1883, and 1884.





• 1882: Teddypublished his first book The Navel War of 1812.




• 1882: He joined the National Guard as a Second Lieutenant in B Company of New York's Eighth Regiment.




• 1883-1884 Roosevlet set up two ranches in the Dakotas- Maltese Cross and Elkhorn.From 1884 to 1886 he became a rancher in the Dakotas where he gained respect of many men that would later come to his advantage

• On February 14,1884 both his mother and his wife died, his mother from typhoid fever and his wife from chronic kidney infection. March of 1884 Roosevelt put in plans to make a house that was finished in 1885 and named Sagamore Hill which he built as a house for his daughter
  
• 1885 Theodore published his second book Hunting trips of a Ranchman.




• November 2, 1886 Abram S. Hewitt beats Teedie in a race for New York's mayor.




• December 2, 1886 Theodore marries childhood friend Edithe Kermit Carow in London. the couple, in 1887 take up residence in Sagamore Hill. The couple had five children: September 13, 1887 Teddy's first son is born.-Theodore Roosevelt Jr.October 10, 1889 Second son born-Kermit Roosevelt. August 13, 1891 Second daughter born, Ethel Carow Roosevelt. November 19, 1897 Son Quentin Roosevelt is born. April 10 1894 Roosevelt's brother Elliott dies

• May 5 1895 Theodore Roosevelt becomes Police Commissioner of NYC, improves lack conditions of the police force




• Was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy but quit to join the first Calvary later known as Rough Riders, helps fight in the Spanish-American war
  
• was elected Governor of NY on November 8, 1898. January 2, 1899 Inauguration as Governor in Assembly Chamber, ended term in December of 1900. He was then elected Vice President on November 6,1900
• The Teddy Bear is named after Theodore Roosevelt, after he refused to kill one bear at a hunting expedition. Though the public called him Teddy, his close family and friends called him Teedie.
• Theodore Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919, in his sleep at Oyster Bay of a coronary embolism, preceded by a 2 1/2-month illness described as inflammatory rheumatism

Election

Theodore was into politics and always thought of how he could get farther in the area, but couldn't get choosen for a presidental candidate. Later Theodore Roosevelt was elected as vice-president with Mckinley as the President. But in September of 1901 less than one year after being elected President Mckinley was assainated. Roosevelt was climbing a mountain when he heard the news that he was now the president. This made him the youngest president at the age of 42.

When Theodore's Term ended he decided to run again in 1904. He choose Charles Warren Fairbanks as Vice President. Theodore won againist the democratic opponent Alton B. Parker. His inagural celebration was the largest and most diverse. He had cowboys, Indians , coal miners, and students. Many were glad to have Theodore in office because the country was coming into it's own and Theodore not only kept up with the century but pushed it faster.

Roosevelt left the office of president and went on to Africa for ten months. After coming back he tried not to create a greater split in the Republican party,but decided that William Taft wasn't a good enough candidate. He choose to run again as the Bull Moose party(also known as the Progressive party). the four-candidate campaign was intense, especially for Roosevelt. On October 14, 1912, just one month shy of Election Day, Roosevelt was shot in the chest in an assassination attempt during a speech to a crowd in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He narrowly escaped death, as the bullet hit a metal spectacle case in his breast pocket and was deflected away from his heart and lungs. This election broke the Republican party and the Democratic party candidate ,Woodrow Wilson, to win. After running a third time Roosevelt hung on to the Progressive party for a while before going back to the Republican Party and not running again.

Foreign Policy and Affairs

Theodore Roosevelt thought that being ready for war would keep opponents away. He thought that the threat of war, not so much war itself, was what made other nations hesitant to attack. He used an old African proverb to get across his point:"Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far." This is what caused his foreign policy to be called a Big Stick policy.








Although Roosevelt threatened for war and grew the armed forces, he really didn't want any war. He negotiated peace between Russia and Japan. Roosevelt favored the Japanese but feared that American commercial interests in China would be jeopardized no matter which country won the war. Japanese and Russian delegates met with the president on board an U.S. Naval ship in Oyster Bay and later in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Negotiations lasted three weeks. For his mediation efforts, President Roosevelt became the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.





Within days of resolving the Russian-Japanese dispute, Roosevelt also mediated a conflict over the North African country of Morocco. In 1904 France and Great Britain signed a public treaty that granted France sole commercial rights in Morocco and Britain sole rights in Egypt. The German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm II, took this to be a threat to thwart German interests in Africa. Having heard of Roosevelt's hand in designing the Open Door Policy in China, the Kaiser asked Roosevelt to mediate the dispute in Morocco, hoping the President would side with Germany. Fearing a war between the European powers and the disruption it would cause to American trade, Roosevelt agreed to mediate at the Algeciras Conference, but not in person. He sent a delegate, Henry White, to preside for him. Contrary to the Kaiser's hopes, Roosevelt upheld the treaty between England and France, leaving Germany with nothing. Years later, several historians interpreted Roosevelt's decision as the first step in aligning the United States with England and France against Germany in World War I.



Though Roosevelt was great at comprimising in Europe he had trouble with England in the U.S. The claims on Alaska's boundary line between Alaska and the British-owned Canadian province of British Columbia were being challenged. This challenge outraged Roosevelt, who initially refused to negotiate the boundary line. He did eventually consent to arbitration by six impartial judges, three from the United States and three from Canada and Great Britain. Instead, however, Roosevelt sent three judges who were very partial to his interests: his Secretary of War Elihu Root,a former supportive Senator named George Turner, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge who was arguably Roosevelt's closest and most trusted friend. These three convinced a judge from England to side with their pro-American viewpoint, and the United States won the dispute.




One place Roosevelts big stick was swung was in Latin America. After several revolutions Castro came to power in Venezuela, he wasn't doing to well in the econmic area of the government. Venezuela couldn't pay there debts but Germany was demanding payment. Germany blockaded five ports on the coast of Venezuela and bombarded one of its coastal bases. Roosevelt was appalled, he threatened war. With Roosevelt's intervention Germany and Venezuela continued peacefully.
Theodore Roosevelt, who believed in the sea power, also began the panama canal. (Britian in the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty in 1901 had given full rights to build a canal in South America to United States.) This made the U.S. able to get navy ships from one side of the United states to the other without sailing around South America. This he thought would make the United states more of a threat in war. The United States helped Panama by gaining independence in return to "rent" the land to build the canal.
"The canal," Roosevelt said, "was by far the most important action I took in foreign affairs during the time I was President. When nobody could or would exercise efficient authority, I exercised it."

Roosevelt signed the Gentlemen's Agreement which kept Chinese immigrants from coming into the United States. In return Theodore made San Francisco take away the Segregation of Japanese School children. This created a peace between Japanese and Western Americans.

Roosevelt added to the Monroe doctorine, the Roosevelt Corollary. This stated that the the United States would now use force to protect its economic interests in Latin America. He warned that disorder in Latin America might "force the United States......To the exercise of an international police power."

Domeseic Policy and Affairs

Roosevelt made a promise to the public that they would have a "Square Deal". Roosevelt kept his promise by putting legislation on big businesses. Theodore thought that the control of big business was the proper role of the federal government.. He enforced the Sherman Anti-Trust act, this act was passed in 1890 but never been applied to trust only unions. One person who came under Roosevelt's attacks was J.P. Morgan, a banker. Where some believed all trusts were bad, Roosevelt was of a moderate opinion. He believed the era of big business was inevitable. Because Roosevelt realized he couldn't do everything to control big business he created two new legislations- The Pure Food & Drug Act and a meat inspection law. A book called The Jungle by Upton Sinclair helped Roosevelt because it told of the conditions in meat packing factories.
Also in 1902, President Roosevelt shocked financiers on Wall Street with his decision to approve he government's lawsuit against Northern Securities, a large and recently merged western railroad company, for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Morgan took this as an personal insult. This earned Roosevelt the nick name "Trust Buster". In 1904 the Supreme Court dispersed the company.

Though Roosevelt broke up many companies he was unable to slow the merger movement of big business
Roosevelt was also the first to use federal government to help conflict between labor and capital. In May of 1902 in eastern Pennsylvania, 140,000 coal miners went on strike, they wanted better pay and less hours, and the right to establish a union. After five months of the strike coal supplies ran low and Theodore saw the need to intervene. Roosevelt proposed a meeting in Washington D.C. . Roosevelt came up with the idea to have a committee to help settle arguments. After Theodore threatened to take over the company both members agreed. The miners got a 10 % pay increase, and a nine hour work day but had to give up strike rights for three years and they were not able to make people join unions.
Most Americans at the time thought that our resources were endless but Theodore Roosevelt did not. He was fueled by his love of outdoors, and took on the problem of conservation. Roosevelt's idea of conservation was groundbreaking–at the time, the idea of conserving the land primarily meant not preservation, but merely saving the land for future generations to use later. He used the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, which permitted the President to seize lands for National parks, to add more than 150 million acres, to the National Forests. One National park was the Grand Canyon. Roosevelt also, under the Nation Reclamation Act of 1902, funded large-scale irrigation systems; this made some dry wilderness places able to make agriculture possible.

Theodore Roosevelt's Dad was from the North but his mother was from the south, this made him fail to support civil rights fro African Americans. He did support a few though. Roosevelt appointed an African American as head of the Charleston, South Carolina customhouse. He also appointed an African American Postmistress in Mississippi, who later refused her. Roosevelt shut the station down instead of removing her. He even invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House.

Legacy

Theodore Roosevelt is widely regarded as the first modern President of the United States. The stature and influence that the president has began to take form with Roosevelt. Roosevelt did this with his personality and aggressive executive power. He believed that the President had a obligation to the people, this made him challenge things that seemed unfair to the citizens, like big business. His presidency endowed the progressive movement with credibility, lending the prestige of the White House to welfare legislation, government regulation, and the conservation movement. The desire to make society more fair and equitable, with economic possibilities for all Americans, lay behind much of Roosevelt's program.

Roosevelt also revolutionized foreign affairs believing that America had a global obligation, and strong foreign policy was in the nation's best interest.

Even after leaving office Theodore Roosevelt worked for his ideals of Progression.

Roosevelt is immortalized for all he did in the faces on Mount Rushmore, along with Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson.