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Birth
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City, to Theodore "Thee" Roosevelt Sr., of Dutch heritage, and Martha "Mittie" Bulloch -
Spanish-American War
After resigning his post in May 1898, Roosevelt joined Colonel Leonard Wood's First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, soon to become known as the Rough Riders. After Wood's promotion, Roosevelt took command of the group and on July 1 led the right wing of the attack on San Juan Hill on July 1. His uncanny flair for publicity coupled with his own writings of the affair made him the most celebrated participant of the Spanish-American War except for Admiral Dewey himself. -
Presidency
Roosevelt's progressive policies in New York ran him afoul of his own party, so Republican Party bosses plotted to quiet him by naming him on the McKinley ticket in the thankless post of vice president. However, after his re-election in 1901, President McKinley was assassinated. At age 42, Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest man to assume the U.S. presidency. -
Pelican Island
President Theodore Roosevelt established Pelican Island in the Indian River Lagoon as the first federal bird reservation giving birth to the National Wildlife Refuge System. Audubon hired Paul Kroegel as the first warden of Pelican Island. By the end of his presidency, Roosevelt named 9 more reservations in Florida and a total of 55 bird reservations and national game preserves, the forerunner to the National Wildlife Refuge System. -
Yosemite
Muir's main focus of conversation was not only the need for forest preservation but also his concern that the California State Grant of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove, surrounded in 1892 by Yosemite National Park, be receded to the United States for inclusion in the park. Roosevelt agreed that two controls made for "triple troubles." Eventually, their discussion prompted the Presidential signature on the Yosemite Recession Bill in June, 1906. -
Elkins Act
Authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates, and upon the shippers that accepted these rebates. The railroad companies were not permitted to offer rebates. Railroad corporations, their officers and employees were all made liable for discriminatory practices. -
2nd term
Young and physically robust, he brought a new energy to the White House, and won a second term on his own merits in 1904. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
Forbade the manufacture or sale of mislabeled or adulterated food or drugs, it gave the government broad powers to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs in order to abolish the "patent" drug trade. Still in existence as the FDA. -
Devil's Tower
President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower as the first national monument on September 24, 1906. The acreage set aside was only 1,153 acres, believed by the president to "be sufficiently large to provide for the proper care and management of the monument" under the terms of the Antiquities Act. The Little Missouri Buttes were not included in the monument area. The remainder of the reserve was opened to settlement in 1908. -
Africa
From 1909 to 1910, Roosevelt and his crew trekked through Kenya, Uganda, the Congo, and southern Sudan, exploring, shooting, and capturing footage and photographs that museums still treasure today. -
Runs for presidency
Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party, also known as the "Bull Moose Party," and began campaigning for the 1912 election. While delivering a speech on the campaign trail in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot in the chest in an assassination attempt by John Nepomuk Schrank.
