page_title: Kermit Roosevelt
section_title: Childhood and education
hierarchical_section_title: Kermit Roosevelt / Childhood and education
caption_attribution_description: Pres. and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt seated on lawn, surrounded by their family; 1903. From left to right: Quentin, Theodore Sr., Theodore Jr., Archie, Alice, Kermit, Edith, and Ethel.
context_page_description: Kermit Roosevelt, MC was an American businessman, soldier, explorer, and writer. The son of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, Kermit was a graduate of Harvard College, served in both World Wars, and explored two continents with his father. He fought a lifelong battle with depression and committed suicide while serving in the U.S. Army in Alaska during World War II.
context_section_description: Kermit was born at Sagamore Hill, the family estate in Oyster Bay, New York, the second son of Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, (1858–1919) and Edith Kermit Carow (1861–1948). He had an elder brother, Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt Jr. (1887–1944), a younger sister, Ethel Carow Roosevelt (1891–1977), and two younger brothers; Archibald Bulloch "Archie" Roosevelt (1894–1979) and Quentin Roosevelt (1897–1918). His older half sister was Alice Lee Roosevelt (1884–1980), from his father's first marriage to Alice Hathaway Lee (1861–1884).
  As a child, he had little resistance to illness and infection. He had a flair for language, however, and read avidly. He showed a talent for writing that led to recording his experiences in World War I in a book.
  After attending the Groton School, he enrolled at Harvard. In 1909, as a freshman, he and his father (recently out of office as president)—both of whom loved nature and outdoor sports—went on a year-long expedition in Africa funded by the Smithsonian Institution. After this trip and a swing through Europe, Roosevelt returned to Harvard and completed four years of study in two and a half years, graduating with the Class of 1912. He was a member of the Porcellian Club, as was his father.
  Roosevelt became active in the Boone and Crockett Club, a wildlife conservation organization that had been co-founded by his father. One commentator wrote that Kermit embodied the ideals of the club perhaps more purely than anyone, including his father.
caption: The Roosevelt family in 1903 with Quentin on the left, TR, Ted, Archie, Alice, Kermit, Edith, and Ethel
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