Young and physically robust, he brought a new energy to the White House, and won a second term on his own merits in He was also a dedicated conservationist, setting aside some million acres for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges during his presidency. In the foreign policy arena, Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War and spearheaded the beginning of construction on the Panama Canal. After leaving the White House and going on safari in Africa, he returned to politics in , mounting a failed run for president at the head of a new Progressive Party.
But his complex legacy includes not just his achievements as a progressive reformer and conservationist who regulated big business and established the national park system.
Like many of his time, he also believed firmly in the existence of a racial hierarchy topped by those of white Anglo-Saxon descent, a belief that shaped his attitudes—and policies—on race relations, land rights and American imperialism. Upon graduating from Harvard College in , Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee and entered Columbia University Law School, though he dropped out after only one year to enter public service.
He was elected to the New York State Assembly at the age of 23 and served two terms Both his wife and mother died on the same day in , and the grieving Roosevelt spent the next two years on a ranch he owned in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory, where he hunted big game, drove cattle and worked as a frontier sheriff.
In , Roosevelt ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in , Roosevelt left his post as naval secretary to become colonel of the First U. The Republican political machine in New York threw their considerable support behind the returning war hero, helping Roosevelt defeat a popular Democratic candidate to win the governorship.
Once elected, Roosevelt displayed his characteristic independence and unwillingness to buckle to the pressure of party bosses. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously for McKinley, traveling by train for more than 21, miles to speak in 24 states, and McKinley and Roosevelt won in a landslide over Democrats William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E.
McKinley died eight days later, and Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th president. From the time of his First Annual Message to Congress in December , Roosevelt expressed the progressive belief that government should mediate between conflicting forces including capital and labor, isolationism and expansionism and conservation and development in order to stabilize American society.
In , his government brought a successful suit under the previously ineffective Sherman Antitrust Act against the Northern Securities Company, a railroad combination formed by James J. Hill, E. Harriman and J. That same year, he intervened in a prolonged coal strike in Pennsylvania , using a combination of negotiation tactics to halt the strike and gain a modest pay increase for the miners.
Roosevelt also used his executive power to further his passion for conservationism. In June , the National Reclamation Act dedicated to large-scale irrigation projects in the American West became the first major legislative achievement of his presidency.
In addition, Roosevelt set aside almost million acres—almost five times as much land as all his predecessors combined—for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges. As part of that process, he favored the removal of many Native Americans from their ancestral territories, including approximately 86 million acres of tribal land transferred to the national forest system.
In their stead, he advocated government regulation to achieve social and economic justice. He used executive orders to accomplish his goals, especially in conservation, and waged an aggressive foreign policy. He was also an extremely popular President and the first to use the media to appeal directly to the people, bypassing the political parties and career politicians. Frail and sickly as a boy, "Teedie" Roosevelt developed a rugged physique as a teenager and became a lifelong advocate of exercise and the "strenuous life.
He dropped out after a year to pursue politics, winning a seat in the New York Assembly in A double tragedy struck Roosevelt in , when his mother and his wife died in the same house on the same day.
Roosevelt spent two years out West in an attempt to recover, tending cows as a rancher and busting outlaws as a frontier sheriff.
They raised six children, including Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage. After losing a campaign for mayor, he served as Civil Service commissioner, president of the New York City Police Board, and assistant secretary of the Navy.
All the while, he demonstrated honesty in office, upsetting the party bosses who expected him to ignore the law in favor of partisan politics. Returning as a war hero, he became governor of New York and began to exhibit an independence that upset the state's political machine.
To stop Roosevelt's reforms, party bosses "kicked him upstairs" to the vice presidency under William McKinley, believing that in this position he would be unable to continue his progressive policies. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously for McKinley in —one commentator remarked, "Tis Teddy alone that's running, an' he ain't a runnin', he's a gallopin'. But his time as vice president was brief; McKinley was assassinated in , making Roosevelt the President of the United States.
By the election, Roosevelt was eager to be elected President in his own right. To achieve this, he knew that he needed to work with Republican Party leaders. He promised to hold back on parts of his progressive agenda in exchange for a free hand in foreign affairs. He also got the reluctant support of wealthy capitalists, who feared his progressive measures, but feared a Democratic victory even more. TR won in a landslide, becoming the first President to be elected after gaining office due to the death of his predecessor.
Upon victory, he vowed not to run for another term in , a promise he came to regret. As President, Roosevelt worked to ensure that the government improved the lives of American citizens. In , 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 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 to A double tragedy struck Roosevelt in 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 ; 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. After returning to New York, Roosevelt continued his writing career, which began with the publication of his book, The Naval War of , in Roosevelt also resumed his political career by running unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City in In , he campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Benjamin Harrison. When Harrison won the election, he appointed Roosevelt to the U.
Civil Service Commission. 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 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. 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. 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.
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