Theodore Roosevelt | whitehouse.gov Air Force One Theodore Roosevelt With the assassination of President William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the 26th and youngest President in the Nation's history (1901-1909). He brought new excitement and power to the office, vigorously leading Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. He took the view that the President as a "steward of the people" should take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the Constitution." I did not usurp power," he wrote, "but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power." Roosevelt's youth differed sharply from that of the log cabin Presidents. He was born in New York City in 1858 into a wealthy family, but he too struggled--against ill health--and in his triumph became an advocate of the strenuous life.

In 1884 his first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt, and his mother died on the same day. Roosevelt spent much of the next two years on his ranch in the Badlands of Dakota Territory. There he mastered his sorrow as he lived in the saddle, driving cattle, hunting big game--he even captured an outlaw. On a visit to London, he married Edith Carow in December 1886. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt was lieutenant colonel of the Rough Rider Regiment, which he led on a charge at the battle of San Juan. He was one of the most conspicuous heroes of the war. Boss Tom Platt, needing a hero to draw attention away from scandals in New York State, accepted Roosevelt as the Republican candidate for Governor in 1898. Roosevelt won and served with distinction. As President, Roosevelt held the ideal that the Government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the Nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and dispensing favors to none. Roosevelt emerged spectacularly as a "trust buster" by forcing the dissolution of a great railroad combination in the Northwest. Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act followed.

Roosevelt steered the United States more actively into world politics. He liked to quote a favorite proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick. . . . " Aware of the strategic need for a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific, Roosevelt ensured the construction of the Panama Canal. His corollary to the Monroe Doctrine prevented the establishment of foreign bases in the Caribbean and arrogated the sole right of intervention in Latin America to the United States. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War, reached a Gentleman's Agreement on immigration with Japan, and sent the Great White Fleet on a goodwill tour of the world. Some of Theodore Roosevelt's most effective achievements were in conservation. He added enormously to the national forests in the West, reserved lands for public use, and fostered great irrigation projects. He crusaded endlessly on matters big and small, exciting audiences with his high-pitched voice, jutting jaw, and pounding fist. "The life of strenuous endeavor" was a must for those around him, as he romped with his five younger children and led ambassadors on hikes through Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.

Leaving the Presidency in 1909, Roosevelt went on an African safari, then jumped back into politics. In 1912 he ran for President on a Progressive ticket. To reporters he once remarked that he felt as fit as a bull moose, the name of his new party. While campaigning in Milwaukee, he was shot in the chest by a fanatic. Roosevelt soon recovered, but his words at that time would have been applicable at the time of his death in 1919: "No man has had a happier life than I have led; a happier life in every way." The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. President Theodore Roosevelt Biography 26th President By Martin Kelly Updated July 11, 2016. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) served as America's 26th president. He was known as a trust buster and progressive politician. His fascinating life included serving as a Rough Rider during the Spanish American War.

When he decided to run for reelection, he created his own third party nicknamed the Bull Moose Party. Theodore Roosevelt's Childhood and Education: Born on October 27, 1858 in New York City, Roosevelt grew up very sickly with asthma and other illnesses. As he grew up, he exercised and boxed to try and build up his constitution. His family was wealthy traveling to Europe and Egypt in his youth. He received his earliest education from his aunt along with a series of other tutors before entering Harvard in 1876. Upon graduation he went to Columbia Law School. He stayed there one year before dropping out to begin his political life. Family Ties: Roosevelt was the son of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., who was a wealthy merchant, and Martha "Mittie" Bulloch, a southerner from Georgia who was sympathetic to the Confederate cause. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World He had two sisters and a brother. He had two wives. He married his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, on October 27, 1880. She was the daughter of a banker. She died at the age of 22.

His second wife was named Edith Kermit Carow . She grew up next door to Theodore. They married on December 2, 1886. Roosevelt had one daughter named Alice by his first wife. She would get married in the White House while he was president. He had four sons and one daughter by his second wife. Theodore Roosevelt's Career Before the Presidency: In 1882, Roosevelt became the youngest member of the New York State Assembly. In 1884 he moved to the Dakota territory and worked as a cattle rancher. From 1889-1895, Roosevelt was a U.S. Civil Service Commissioner. He was President of the New York City Police Board from 1895-97 and then Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1897-98). He resigned to join the military. He was elected Governor of New York (1898-1900) and Vice President from March-September 1901 when he succeeded to the presidency. Military Service: Roosevelt joined the U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment which became known as the Rough Riders to fight in the Spanish-American War .

He served from May-September, 1898 and quickly rose to colonel. On July 1 , he and the Rough Riders had a major victory at San Juan charging up Kettle Hill. He was part of the occupying force of Santiago. Becoming the President: Roosevelt became president on September 14, 1901 when President McKinley died after being shot on September 6, 1901. He was the youngest man to ever become president at the age of 42. In 1904, he was the obvious choice for the Republican nomination. Charles W. Fairbanks was his vice presidential nominee. He was opposed by Democrat Alton B. Parker. Both candidates agreed about the major issues and the campaign became one of personality. Roosevelt easily won with 336 out of 476 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments of Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency: President Roosevelt served through most of the first decade of the 1900's. He was determined to build a canal across Panama. America aided Panama in gaining independence from Colombia. The U.S.

then created a treaty with the newly independent Panama to gain the canal zone in exchange for $10 million plus annual payments. The Monroe Doctrine is one of the keystones of American foreign policy. It says that the western hemisphere is off limits to foreign encroachment. Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary to the Doctrine. This stated that it was the responsibility of America to intervene with force if necessary in Latin America to enforce the Monroe Doctrine . This was part of what became known as 'Big Stick Diplomacy'. From 1904-05, the Russo-Japanese War occurred. Roosevelt was the mediator of the peace between the two countries. Due to this, he won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize. While in office, Roosevelt was known for his progressive policies. One of his nicknames was Trust Buster because his administration used existing antitrust laws to fight against corruption in the railroad, oil, and other industries. His policies concerning trusts and labor reform were part of what he called the "Square Deal." Upton Sinclair wrote about the disgusting and unsanitary practices of the meat packing industry in his novel The Jungle. This resulted in the Meat Inspection and the Pure Food and Drug Acts in 1906.

These laws required the government to inspect meat and protect consumers from food and drugs that might be dangerous. Roosevelt was well-known for his conservation efforts. He was known as the Great Conservationist. During his time in office, over 125 million acres in national forests were set aside under public protection. He also established the first national wildlife refuge. In 1907, Roosevelt made an agreement with Japan known as the Gentleman's Agreement whereby Japan agreed to slow the immigration of laborers to America and in exchange the U.S. would not pass a law like the Chinese Exclusion Act . Post-Presidential Period: Roosevelt did not run in 1908 and retired to Oyster Bay, New York. He went on a safari to Africa where he collected specimens for the Smithsonian Institute. Even though he promised not to run again, he sought the Republican nomination in 1912. When he lost, he formed the Bull Moose Party . His presence caused the vote to be split allowing Woodrow Wilson to win. Roosevelt was shot in 1912 by a would be assassin but was not seriously injured. He died on January 6, 1919 of a coronary embolism.

Historical Significance: Roosevelt was a fiery individualist who embodied American culture of the early 1900's. His conservationism and willingness to take on big business are examples of why he is considered to be one of the better presidents. His progressive policies set the stage for important reforms of the 20th century. The 26th US President - Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt George W. Bush ï¿½ Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th US President (1901-1909) after the assassination of President William McKinley. Nicknamed Teddy, he was one of the most popular and important Presidents ever to serve in the Chief Executive Office. A hero in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, his foreign policy was summed up in the phrase "Speak softly and carry a big stick." The Panama Canal was built during his tenure in the White House. Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 into a prosperous Dutch New York City family. As a child he was sickly, suffering from asthma and poor eyesight. He exercised vigorously to improve his health and increase his body strength. He was a man of hearty enthusiasm and was devoted to physical fitness.

When he was pleased he would say "Bully!" Roosevelt enjoyed big game hunting, and toy makers created the teddy bear after a cartoonist drew Roosevelt with a bear cub. His hunting produced a unique collection of animals that he donated to the Smithsonian Institute. Teddy Roosevelt was also an author. Between 1880 and 1900 he wrote more than a dozen books, the best known of which is "The Winning of the West", which was published in four volumes. Teddy was much loved by the public, and he thoroughly enjoyed his presidency. Upon leaving office, he said, "I do not believe that anyone else has ever enjoyed the White House as much as I have." Theodore Roosevelt's first taste of politics came when was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1882. In 1884, bereaved by the deaths of his mother and his wife, Alice Hathaway Lee (who died giving birth to a daughter who did survive), he left New York and retired to his ranch in the Dakota Territory. He spent the next two years ranching and hunting for big game. In 1886, Roosevelt both remarried and reentered politics.

After an unsuccessful campaign in 1886 for mayor of New York City and a failed bid to get on the national Republican ticket in 1888, he was finally, in 1889, appointed United States Civil Service Commissioner. He was re-appointed in 1893. From 1895 to 1897, he served as New York City's police commissioner. In 1887 he met and subsequently married Edith Carow. In 1896, Roosevelt had once again tried and failed to get a spot on the national Republican ticket. McKinley won that election and appointed Roosevelt Assistant Secretary of the Navy, where "TR", as he was called, worked to broaden and upgrade the service. In 1898, Roosevelt, along with physician and soldier Leonard Wood, formed the Rough Riders. The Rough Riders' victory at the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba made Roosevelt a popular national figure. After that (in 1899), he was elected governor of New York. As governor he followed his own mind and heart above the wishes of the Republican Party.

Nevertheless, in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became William McKinley's Vice President; and when McKinley was assassinated in September of that year, Roosevelt assumed the presidency. At the age of forty-three, Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest man to ever become President of the United States. As President, Roosevelt took a moral approach toward the nation's social problems. He used his Presidential powers as none before him had. He handled the coal miners strike of 1902 by appointing a commission to investigate. The Sooner Act of 1902 was drafted to gain the right to build a canal to create a shipping route through what is now Panama, but what then was part of Columbia. Columbia refused to ratify The Sooner Act, but a new Panamanian government was established in 1903, which did pass it. Having gained the right to build the Panama Canal, The United States began construction immediately. Also in 1903, the United States won a dispute with Great Britain over the boundary between lower Alaska and Canada. Teddy Roosevelt was able to keep the Germans from interfering with Venezuela in 1902, and he declared that only the U. S.

had the right to intervene in South American affairs. During his administration Theodore Roosevelt initiated forty lawsuits against big trusts and initiated measures for the conservation of national resources. He had 125 million acres set aside as National Forests. Later he added another 85 million acres in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Roosevelt was reelected to the presidency in 1904 with ease. In that year The Roosevelt Corollary, stating that the United States had "police power" over Latin America, was added to the Monroe Doctrine. Roosevelt's second term was also noted for the Hepburn Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The Hepburn Act strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and prevented the railroad from charging unjust rates. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 established the Food and Drug Administration. Also in 1906 Theodore Roosevelt was the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize when his mediation in the Russo-Japanese War led to The Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the war between Russia and Japan. He also helped to settle a conflict between Germany and France over control of Morocco.

When several international crises arose between 1904 and 1906, Roosevelt was key in keeping the balance of European power intact. During both terms of his presidency, Roosevelt fought to broaden and upgrade the Navy and other armed forces. He got Congress to agree to build more battleships and cruisers. In 1907 he sent the battle forces on a world tour to show off United States naval ability. This impressed the Japanese so that Taft was able to negotiate agreements with them that settled the dispute over immigration. In his last public appearance as President, Roosevelt inspected the naval fleet when it returned from its world tour. Upon leaving the White House, Teddy Roosevelt left politics for four years, returning in 1912 when he split the Republican Party by running as the third party Progressive candidate. During this campaign, while in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot in an assassination attempt; but he went ahead and gave his speeches before going to the hospital. He brushed off the attack saying, "It takes more than that to kill a bull moose." From that time on, the Progressive Party became known as the Bull Moose Party. Roosevelt lost that election to Woodrow Wilson.

In 1914, while in the Amazon, Teddy Roosevelt caught tropical fevers. On January 6, 1919, he died in his sleep in Oyster Bay, N.Y. His failing health did not prevent him from remaining active until the very end of his life. Theodore Roosevelt: Life Before the Presidency—Miller Center About the Administration Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, and grew up in New York City, the second of four children. His father, Theodore, Sr., was a well-to-do businessman and philanthropist. His mother, Martha "Mittie" Roosevelt, was a Southerner, raised on a plantation in Georgia. "Teedie" grew up surrounded by the love of his parents and siblings. But he was always a sickly child afflicted with asthma. As a teenager, he decided that he would "make his body," and he undertook a program of gymnastics and weight-lifting, which helped him develop a rugged physique. Thereafter, Roosevelt became a lifelong advocate of exercise and the "strenuous life." He always found time for physical exertions including hiking, riding horses, and swimming.

As a young boy, Roosevelt was tutored at home by private teachers. He traveled widely through Europe and the Middle East with his family during the late 1860s and early 1870s, once living with a host family in Germany for five months. In 1876, he entered Harvard College, where he studied a variety of subjects, including German, natural history, zoology, forensics, and composition. He also continued his physical endeavors, taking on boxing and wrestling as new pursuits. During college, Roosevelt fell in love with Alice Hathaway Lee, a young woman from a prominent New England banking family he met through a friend at Harvard. They were married in October 1880. Roosevelt then enrolled in Columbia Law School, but dropped out after one year to begin a career in public service. He was elected to the New York Assembly and served two terms from 1882 to 1884. A double tragedy struck Roosevelt in 1884. On February 12th, Alice gave birth to a daughter, Alice Lee.

Two days later, Roosevelt's mother died of typhoid fever and his wife died of kidney disease within a few hours of each other—and in the same house. For the next few months, a devastated Roosevelt threw himself into political work to escape his grief. Finally, he left his daughter in the care of his sister and fled to the Dakota Badlands. Once out West, Roosevelt soaked in the frontier lifestyle. He bought two ranches and a thousand head of cattle. He flourished in the hardships of the western frontier, riding for days, hunting grizzly bears, herding cows as a rancher, and chasing outlaws as a frontier sheriff. Roosevelt headed back East in 1886; a devastating winter the following year wiped out most of his cattle. Although he would frequent the Dakota Badlands in subsequent years to hunt, he was ready leave the West and return to his former life. One of the reasons he did so was because of a rediscovered love with his childhood sweetheart, Edith Kermit Carow. The two were married in England in 1886 and moved to Oyster Bay, New York, into a house known as Sagamore Hill.

In addition to raising Roosevelt's first child, Alice, he and Edith had five children: Theodore, Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin. Renewed Political Spirit After returning to New York, Roosevelt continued his writing career, which began with the publication of his book, The Naval War of 1812, in 1882. He wrote a number of books during this period, including The Life of Thomas Hart Benton (1887), The Life of Gouverneur Morris (1888), and The Winning of the West (four volumes, 1889-1896). Roosevelt also resumed his political career by running unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City in 1886. In 1888, he campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Benjamin Harrison. When Harrison won the election, he appointed Roosevelt to the U.S. Civil Service Commission. Roosevelt was re-appointed to the Commission by Democratic President Grover Cleveland in 1893. As commissioner, he worked hard to enforce the civil service laws, although he regularly clashed with party regulars and politicians who wanted him to ignore the law in favor of patronage.

Roosevelt served dutifully as a commissioner until he accepted the presidency of the New York City Police Board in 1895. He demonstrated honesty in office, much to the displeasure of party bosses. He also cleaned up the corrupt Police Board and strictly enforced laws banning the sale of liquor on the Sabbath. In 1897, the newly elected Republican President, William McKinley, appointed Roosevelt assistant secretary of the Navy. Roosevelt had long believed in the importance of the Navy and the role it played in national defense. As acting secretary of the Navy, he responded to the explosion of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898 by putting the Navy on full alert. (See McKinley biography, Foreign Affairs section, for details.) Roosevelt instructed Commodore George Dewey to make ready for war with Spain by taking the necessary steps for bottling up the Spanish squadron in Asian waters. He also asked Dewey to prepare for the probable invasion of the Philippines. The Rough Riders When the Spanish-American War began, Roosevelt resigned as assistant secretary of the Navy and volunteered for service as commander the 1st U.S.

Volunteer Cavalry, a unit known as the Rough Riders—an elite company comprised of Ivy League gentlemen, western cowboys, sheriffs, prospectors, police officers, and Native Americans. Once in Cuba, Roosevelt distinguished himself by leading them on a charge—on foot—up San Juan Hill (actually Kettle Hill) on the outskirts of Santiago. The contingent suffered heavy casualties. The Rough Riders returned to the United States as war heroes. Their varied backgrounds, colorful leader, and bravery on the battlefield brought them considerable attention. Roosevelt personally reveled in his time in the military. He later wrote about his military exploits: "I would rather have led that charge and earned my colonelcy than served three terms in the United States Senate. It makes me feel as though I could now leave something to my children which will serve as an apology for my having existed." Governor Roosevelt returned home a war hero and caught the eye of Republican leaders in New York who were looking for a gubernatorial candidate. He agreed to run for governor against a popular Democrat, Judge Augustus van Wyck, the candidate of Tammany Hall.

Roosevelt carried the election by just a few thousand votes; his victory stemmed largely from the work of the state's Republican Party boss, Thomas C. Platt, who threw the full support of his political machine behind the hero of San Juan Hill. Although Platt and Roosevelt had agreed to consult each other on matters of policy and patronage, the new governor was his own man. TR steadfastly refused to appoint party regulars as State Insurance Commissioner or Public Works Commissioner—the two most important patronage jobs in the state. When Governor Roosevelt supported a bill for the taxation of the value and assets of public services (gas, water, electric, and streetcars), his actions led to an explosive break with Platt. Almost overnight the insurance companies, the construction contractors, and the privately owned public service corporations realized that all the money they were contributing to Platt's political machine brought them little if any influence with Governor Roosevelt. Boss Platt knew that something had to be done with the governor before he completely destroyed the Republican state machine. Consulting with Mark Hanna, the top Republican political boss in the nation, Platt conspired to "kick [Roosevelt] upstairs" to the vice presidency in 1900.

(Vice President Garret Hobart had just died in office.) This would keep Roosevelt from running for a second term in New York (the governorship was a two-year term in those days). Roosevelt reluctantly agreed, persuaded that the vice presidency might lead to a shot at the White House in 1904. He also knew that the party bosses had rigged the convention, making it nearly impossible for him to avoid being nominated. 1900 Vice Presidential Campaign The Republican convention nominated TR by acclamation. Thereafter, Roosevelt campaigned furiously for the Republican presidential candidate, William McKinley, matching his Democratic opponents, William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson, move for move. Roosevelt traveled more than 21,000 miles on a special campaign train, making hundreds of speeches, and more than three million people saw him in person. He spoke in 567 cities in twenty-four states. "Tis Tiddy alone that's running," observed Mr.

Dooley (a press columnist who used an exaggerated Irish accent to make political observations) "an' he ain't a runnin', he's gallopin'." The Republican ticket overwhelmed the Democrats, racking up an 861,757 vote plurality, the largest Republican victory in years. McKinley won the popular vote of 7.2 million (292 Electoral College votes) to Bryan's 6.3 million (155 Electoral College votes). McKinley won his bid for reelection over Bryan by an even larger margin than he had garnered in 1896. In September 1901, however, an assassin's bullet killed President McKinley (see McKinley biography, Death of the President section). This tragedy put Theodore Roosevelt ("that damned cowboy"—according to Mark Hanna, the top Republican political boss in the nation) in the White House as the nation's twenty-sixth President. He was the youngest person ever to serve in that capacity. Neither the nation nor the presidency would ever be the same again. Theodore Roosevelt Essays Citation Information Chicago Style Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia.

“Theodore Roosevelt: Life Before the Presidency.” Accessed January 20, 2017. ­/president/biography/roosevelt-life-before-the-presidency. Consulting Editor Sidney Milkis Professor Milkis is the White Burkett Miller Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia and Assistant Director for Academic Programs at the Miller Center of Public Affairs. His writings include: American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights (Co-authored with Marc Landy, McGraw-Hill, 2004) Presidential Greatness (Co-authored with Marc Landy, University Press of Kansas, 2000) Progressivism and the New Democracy (Co-edited with Jerome Mileur, University of Massachusetts Press, 1999) The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776–1990 (Co-authored with Michael Nelson, CQ Press, 1990) Theodore Roosevelt | hallofgovernors.ny.gov Obituary (New York Times) Roosevelt, Theodore (b New York City, 27 Oct 1858; d Oyster Bay,Nassau Co, 6 Jan 1919). Governor and US president.

The son of Theodore Roosevelt Sr, a merchant and philanthropist, and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child who had asthma and was unable to attend school regularly. Through exercise and willpower he built himself into a powerful outdoorsman and leader. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1880, the same year he married Alice Hathaway Lee. EARLY CAREER Elected as a Republican to the New York State Assembly in 1881, at 23 Roosevelt was the youngest member of that body. He served three terms, 1882–84, and was minority leader in 1883. As a reformer, Roosevelt was instrumental in enacting legislation outlawing the manufacture of cigars in tenements (later declared unconstitutional by the courts) and in creating the first state civil service law in the United States. His bill to inflict corporal punishment on wife beaters did not pass. On 14 Feb 1884 Roosevelt’s mother and his wife, who had given birth two days earlier, died in the same house in New York City.

Grief-stricken, Roosevelt completed his assembly term and then went to his ranch in what is now North Dakota, where he stayed for two years. In 1886 Roosevelt returned east because he had become engaged to childhood friend Edith Kermit Carow. In November he finished third in New York City’s mayoral race and the following month married Edith. In 1887 the couple took up residence at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay. Edith raised Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice, and their own five children: Theodore Jr, Kermit, Ethel,Archibald, and Quentin. In 1887 and 1888 Franklin D. Roosevelt at his desk in Albany. Roosevelt devoted himself to writing, publishing four books in two years and starting his fourvolume history of the frontier,The Winning of the West. From 1889 to 1895 Roosevelt was a US civil service commissioner in Washington, DC. He served as president of the Board of Police Commissioners of New York City from 1895 to 1897, seeking to professionalize and modernize the New York Police Department.

Roosevelt replaced political appointment with the civil service system, set physical and educational standards, employed medical and written exams, began systematic training, and encouraged the adoption of new identification, communications, transportation, and weapon technologies for police work. Appointed assistant secretary of the navy in 1897, Roosevelt moved to prepare it for the war he foresaw with Spain over Cuban independence. When Spain declared war on the United States in April 1898, Roosevelt resigned his post and became lieutenant colonel and later colonel of the First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, popularly known as the Rough Riders. On 1 July 1898 they became the heroes of the battle for Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights. After the regiment was mustered out in September 1898,Roosevelt was nominated for governor of New York State by Republicans who believed that, as a popular war hero, he offered the party its only chance for victory because the incumbent Republican administration was discredited by corruption. The Republican state machine, ruled by Sen Thomas C. Platt, mistrusted Roosevelt as a reformer but accepted his assurances that he intended to cooperate with them. Roosevelt waged a dynamic campaign and narrowly defeated Democrat Augustus Van Wyck.

GOVERNOR In his inaugural address Roosevelt made it clear that he was both practical and partisan, but he also gave a reformer’s view of parties and the polity, declaring that the needs of the people should be put above partisan interest. During his term Roosevelt acknowledged the power of the Republican machine and consulted regularly with Platt, without whose support many of his reforms would not have passed, while using his public popularity to assert his independence from the party leadership. Roosevelt’s unprecedented twice-daily press conferences provided him a means to communicate his message. Using tact and compromise he mixed politics and reform and, although unable to accomplish all that he wanted, frequently saw his views prevail. He obtained legislation improving the civil service system, raising teachers’ salaries, setting wage and hour standards for state employees and those working on government contracts, outlawing racial segregation in public schools, and placing a franchise tax on corporations controlling public utilities. In conservation, he expanded the state’s Forest Preserves, reformed the fish and game service, established the Palisades Interstate Park, and outlawed the use of bird plumage in the manufacture of women’s apparel.

The reputation of the Republican Party in New York State was restored, and Sen Platt and the Republican machine, unhappy with much of Roosevelt’s legislative program and political appointments, preempted a second gubernatorial term by joining with western Republicans and others in nominating Roosevelt in 1900 as vice president to Pres William McKinley, who was running for reelection. The McKinley-Roosevelt ticket won in a landslide, and Roosevelt was sworn in as vice president on 4 Mar 1901. Following McKinley’s assassination in Buffalo,Roosevelt became president on 14 Sept 1901. At 42 he was the youngest president in US history. PRESIDENT Roosevelt transformed the presidency and placed it center stage in the drama of American democracy.

Seeking a “Square Deal” domestically, he broke up trusts and regulated big business; started the first federal irrigation projects under the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902; protected consumers through federal meat inspection and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906; provided labor with some compensation for workplace injuries with the Federal Employers’ Liability Act of 1908; and saved over 230 million acres (93 million ha) of parks, forest reserves, national monuments, and wildlife refuges. In foreign affairs Roosevelt pushed for a vigorous American presence overseas; his policy was summed up by a West African proverb he was fond of quoting, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” His 1904 corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, defining the role of the United States as a police officer in Latin America, was highly controversial, as were his dealings with Colombia and Panama in connection with construction of the Panama Canal, which he began that same year. In 1906 Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War.

His “big stick” was the US Navy, which he greatly expanded and sent on a famous world tour from 1907 to 1909.While in office Roosevelt escorted his niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, down the aisle for her marriage to the president’s fifth cousin, future president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt announced after his electoral victory in 1904 over Alton B. Parker, chief judge of New York State Court of Appeals, that he would not run for a third term in 1908.His presidency ended on 4 Mar 1909. LATER YEARS After leaving office Roosevelt led an expedition to Africa sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, followed by a triumphal tour of Europe in 1910. Upon his return to the United States he found the Republican Party, both in New York State and nationwide, bitterly split between progressives and “standpatters,” or conservatives. His handpicked successor, Pres William H. Taft, had sided with the conservatives. Taking up the progressive cause, Roosevelt became a candidate for chairman of the Republican State Convention in 1910.After defeating Taft’s vice president, James S.

Sherman of Utica, for the position, Roosevelt engineered the nomination of respected attorney Henry L. Stimson for governor, but Stimson lost the election. In 1912 Roosevelt opposed Pres Taft for the Republican presidential nomination. Although Roosevelt won the primaries, many Roosevelt delegates from nonprimary states were denied seats at the convention and the Taft forces prevailed. Charging theft of the nomination, Roosevelt and his supporters bolted the Republican Party and founded the Progressive Party, nicknamed the Bull Moose Party after its robust leader. Roosevelt was the party’s nominee for president, and Progressive Party candidates ran for office in most states. In the popular and electoral vote Roosevelt came in ahead of Taft but behind Democrat Woodrow Wilson. In New York State Roosevelt and Progressive Party gubernatorial candidate Oscar S. Straus both finished third. After traveling to South America in 1913 and leading an expedition in the jungles of Brazil in 1914, Roosevelt led the Progressive campaign in that year’s state and congressional elections. After unsuccessfully working for a merger with the Republicans in New York State, he campaigned for Frederick M. Davenport, the Progressive candidate for governor. Davenport was badly defeated, as were most Bull Moose candidates.

During the campaign New York State Republican chairman William Barnes Jr launched a libel suit against Roosevelt for declaring that Barnes regularly made deals with corrupt Tammany Hall Democrats. The case came to trial in 1915 in Syracuse, and the jury found in favor of Roosevelt.As World War I raged in Europe Roosevelt spoke out vigorously against Pres Wilson’s neutrality policies and urged military preparedness. In 1916 Roosevelt declined a second Bull Moose nomination for president, backing Republican Charles Evans Hughes against Wilson. The Progressive Party disbanded that same year. Roosevelt refused to run for governor in 1918 but was regarded as the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination in 1920, an event precluded by his death. Roosevelt was a prolific writer. His historical writings include a biography of Gouverneur Morris (1888) and a history of New York City (1891), and he was the author of several wellregarded accounts of his outdoor adventures. The state’s official memorial to Roosevelt is the entrance hall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. A statue of Roosevelt on horseback stands in front of the museum.

The National Park Service administers the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace at 28 East 20th St in Manhattan, Roosevelt’s Long Island home Sagamore Hill, and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo. Chessman, G. Wallace. Governor Theodore Roosevelt: The Albany Apprenticeship, 1898–1900 (Cambridge, Mass:Harvard Univ Press, 1965) Hagedorn, Hermann, ed. The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, memorial ed., 24 vols (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923–26) Harbaugh,William H. The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt, rev ed. (New York: Oxford Univ Press, 1975) Morison, Elting E., ed. The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, 8 vols (Cambridge,Mass: Harvard Univ Press, 1951–54) Morris, Edmund. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Coward,McCann and Geoghegan, 1979) ———.

Theodore Rex (New York: Random House, 2001) Naylor, Natalie A., Douglas Brinkley, and John Allen Gable, eds. Theodore Roosevelt: Many-Sided American (Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1992) John Allen Gable Peter Eisenstadt, ed., The Encyclopedia of New York State (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2005), [p. 1335-37]. © Syracuse University Press. Reproduced with permission from the publisher.

Question: Before becoming president of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt was vice president to whom?
Answer: William McKinley