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Theodore Roosevelt, eldest son of Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Mittie Bulloch, is born at 28 East 20th St., in New York City.
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Ashamed at having shirked his military responsibilities, Thee takes to the road in support of Union soldiers, leaving Mittie and her children at home in New York.
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The Battle of Fort Sumter marks the start of the American Civil War. T.R.'s uncle Rob Roosevelt goes off to fight for the Union. His mother's brothers enlist in the Confederate army. His father, Thee, under pressure from his mother to avoid combat, hires two replacements for $300 a piece.
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T.R. suffers his first debilitating asthma attack. He is not yet 4 years old. Although he will eventually overcome asthma's limitations, he will never entirely rid himself of the condition.
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Draft riots plunge New York City into chaos. Thee and the other Roosevelt men ready themselves with guns to protect their possessions from the mostly poor, immigrant rioters
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Thee takes the family on a long trip through Egypt. T.R., having just learned to hunt and eager to show his father his manly fitness, shoots birds and game all along the banks of the Nile.
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Having spent several months in Germany, the fifteen-year-old T.R. returns to New York and prepares to enter society.
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T.R. begins his studies at Harvard College. He associates mostly with other "muscular Christians" like the preacher Philips Brooks and the philosopher William James. His primary academic interest is natural science.
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Republican operatives tap T.R., now 23 years old, to run for assemblyman. He is elected to the New York state legislature, largely on the strength of his father's legacy.
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Alice Hathaway Lee and Theodore Roosevelt are married in Brookline, Massachusetts. They relocate to New York where T.R. begins attending classes at Columbia Law School while working on a history of naval engagements during the War of 1812.
