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Theodore Roosevelt
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. -
Returns as a hero
He was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he beat the war drum and prepared the Navy for war with Spain.The "splendid little war" lasted ten weeks. It destroyed the Spanish Empire and ushered in a new era of American Empire. Roosevelt's political career ignited as he returned a war hero and national celebrity. He charged on horseback to victory at Kettle Hill and San Juan Heights -
Roosevelt becomes President
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. -
Energy Crisis
As many people went on strike the public was afraid that the mines would shutdown and create a national energy crisis, President Theodore Roosevelt invited Mitchell and the operators to a meeting. There, Mitchell suggested that the president appoint a commission, whose recommendations the UMWA would be willing to accept. Roosevelt, intervened, set up the Anthracite Strike Commission, and brought the five-month strike to an end. -
"Teddy"
Roosevelt was on a hunting trip and unlike the others, had not located one bear. The hunters, cornered and tied a black bear to a tree. They told Roosevelt to shoot it. He refused to and the news of this event spread through newspaper. A political cartoonist decided to lampoon the president's refusal to shoot the bear. Berryman's cartoon appeared in the Washington Post where Morris Michtom saw it and decided to create a stuffed bear and dedicate it to the president. He called it "Teddy". -
Elkins Act
Made it illegal for railroad officials to give, and shippers to receive, rebates for using particular railroads. The act also specified that railroads could not change set rates without notifying the public. -
Pelican Island, Florida
President Theodore Roosevelt signed an Executive Order on that permanently set aside the three-acre island as a wildlife sanctuary; and made Pelican Island the first National Wildlife Refuge. Since then, the National Wildlife Refuge system has grown to become the world's largest network of lands managed for wildlife with over 500 refuges totaling over 93 million acres. -
Wins full term as president
During the election campaign, Roosevelt called on the voters to support his "square deal" policies. The nominee of the Democratic Party was Alton B. Parker, Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, who appealed for an end to what he called "rule of individual caprice" and "usurpation of authority" by the president. Theodore Roosevelt easily won a term of his own, thus becoming the first "accidental" president to do so. Roosevelt won 56.4% of the popular vote. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
The first law to regulate manufacturing of food and medicines; prohibited dangerous additives and inaccurate labeling. -
Devil’s Tower, Wyoming
Proclaimed the nation’s first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt. The tower and surrounding area are home to a diverse range of plants and animals. It's also part of the Black Hills mountain chain. -
Yosemite
On October 1, 1890, the U.S. Congress set aside more than 1,500 square miles of "reserved forest lands" soon to be known as Yosemite National Park. However, it took a meeting between President Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir in 1903, and the effective lobbying of railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman, to have Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove ceded from the state of California's control and included with Yosemite National Park in 1906. -
Hunting through Africa
Roosevelt went on an epic 11-month, 2,500-mile safari through East Africa. The African safari, commissioned as a scientific expedition by the Smithsonian Institution, involved trapping or shooting over 11,000 animals, including everything from insects to elephants, hippos, and white rhinos. Roosevelt and his colleagues also chronicled the wildlife and habitat of the region and collected specimens that formed the basis of the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum collection. -
Bull Moose Party
The Republicans were badly split in the 1912 election, so Roosevelt broke away forming his own Progressive Party because he was "fit as a bull moose." His loss led to the election of Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson, but he gained more third party votes than ever before.
