Some context: Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 - October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in Negro league baseball. In 1915, after serving three years in the U.S. Army, the Indianapolis, Indiana, native continued his baseball career as a professional with the Indianapolis ABCs; his career ended in 1954 as a player-manager for the Indianapolis Clowns. In addition to a forty-three-year career with more than a dozen teams, including the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, Negro league baseball's leading teams in the 1930s, he played nine winter seasons in Cuba and in numerous exhibition games against white major leaguers. Charleston was known for his strengths as a hitter and center fielder.
In early October 1954, Charleston fell ill due to a heart attack or stroke. He was admitted to a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hospital, and died on October 5, 1954, at the age of fifty-seven. Charleston's remains are buried at Floral Park Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana. Charleston was one of the early Negro league baseball stars. By 1920 he was generally considered as "the greatest center fielder and one of the most reliable sluggers in black baseball." A renowned players of his era, Charleston was recognized for his athletic skills as a powerful, hard-hitting slugger, his speed and aggressiveness as a base runner, and as a top outfielder. He was also an "intense" player with a "volatile temper." Charleston's observers often compared his play to his contemporaries, such as [[Ty Cobb], Tris Speaker, and Babe Ruth. Charleston ranks among Negro league baseball's top five players in home runs and batting averages, and its leader in stolen bases. Baseball writer Bill James, author of The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (2001), reported that Charleston "did everything exceptionally well" and considered him one of the gam'es top centerfielders. James ranked Charleston as the fourth-best player of all-time behind Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Willie Mays. In addition, numerous baseball historians, sportswriters, and fellow players consider Charleston as possibly the greatest all-around Negro league ballplayer and one of the greatest players in history. In addition to James, these include former New York Giants manager John McGraw; Charleston's contemporaries, Juanelo Mirabal, Buck O'Neill, and Norman "Turkey" Stearnes; sportswriter Grantland Rice; and other baseball experts. The Sporting News list of the 100 greatest baseball players, which was published in 1998, ranked Charleston sixty-seventh. Only four other black ballplayers who played all or most of their careers in pre-1947 Negro leagues placed higher on the list: Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Buck Leonard, and Cool Papa Bell. In 1999 Charleston He was also nominated as a finalist for Major League Baseball's All-20th Century Team..
How did the media view him?
A: reported that Charleston "did everything exceptionally well"
Some context: Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ROH-z@-velt; October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) was an American statesman and writer who served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He also served as the 25th Vice President of the United States from March to September 1901 and as the 33rd Governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. As a leader of the Republican Party during this time, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century. His face is depicted on Mount Rushmore, alongside those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln.
In the 1896 presidential election, Roosevelt backed Speaker of the House Thomas Brackett Reed for the Republican nomination, but William McKinley won the nomination and defeated William Jennings Bryan in the general election. Roosevelt opposed Bryan's free silver platform, viewing many of Bryan's followers as dangerous fanatics, and Roosevelt gave campaign speeches for McKinley. Urged by Congressman Henry Cabot Lodge, President McKinley appointed Roosevelt as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. Secretary of the Navy John D. Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. Roosevelt also began pressing his national security views regarding the Pacific and the Caribbean on McKinley, and was particularly adamant that Spain be ejected from Cuba. He explained his priorities to one of the Navy's planners in late 1897: I would regard war with Spain from two viewpoints: first, the advisability on the grounds both of humanity and self-interest of interfering on behalf of the Cubans, and of taking one more step toward the complete freeing of America from European dominion; second, the benefit done our people by giving them something to think of which is not material gain, and especially the benefit done our military forces by trying both the Navy and Army in actual practice. On February 15, 1898, the Maine exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, killing hundreds of crew members. While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war. George Dewey, who had received an appointment to lead the Asiatic Squadron with the backing of Roosevelt, later credited his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to Roosevelt's orders. After finally giving up hope of a peaceful solution, McKinley asked Congress to declare war upon Spain, beginning the Spanish-American War.
What are some notable moments during his tenure in the navy?
A:
Without approval from Long or McKinley, Roosevelt sent out orders to several naval vessels, directing them to prepare for war.