Theodore Roosevelt

Presidency: 1901-1909

Life span: 1858-1919

2003 US History

Flag Winning Report

Chapter I

Introduction

At age 42, Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest man to become the president of the United States of America. He served from 1901-1909 as the 26th president. Roosevelt was a man of energy who enjoyed swimming, hunting, hiking, and boxing. He was a national hero and, of course, a United States president. He fought to protect the public from harmful foods and drugs and conserve natural resources and the nation’s forests. Best of all, Roosevelt fought for the benefits of the American people.

Chapter II

Young Roosevelt

On October 27, 1858, a leader was born in New York. His name was Theodore Roosevelt. His mother’s name was Martha and his father’s name was Theodore. He was the second child and the first son born to his family of six. His other siblings included Anna, Elliott, and Corinne. His family called him Teedie.

Teedie suffered greatly from asthma. Because of this, he fell frequently ill. Although he suffered, Teedie enjoyed an active childhood and had great energy, curiosity, and determination. One day, when playing with friends, Teedie discovered he was nearsighted. From then, he wore glasses.

With his family, he traveled to and in Europe many times. The purpose of one trip in 1870 was to improve his health. Sadly, it had no effect. His parents tried another method to improve his asthma. They did this by hiring a personal trainer and it worked. His father also built a gymnasium in their house. With the personal trainer and the gymnasium, Roosevelt overcame his asthma and built up his strength.

As a child, his interests were the outdoors and books. He combined those interests into nature study. For school, he studied under tutors and earned good grades. In the September 1876, Roosevelt entered Harvard University. In his senior year he met and dated the daughter of a wealthy official of a Boston investment firm. Her name was Alice Hathaway Lee. They wedded on October 27, 1880, which was also his twenty- second birthday. He graduated on June 30, 1880, ranking twenty-first in his class of one hundred and seventeen.

Chapter III

Roosevelt Enters Politics

After graduating from Harvard, Roosevelt enrolled in Columbia Law School in New York City. He was the nineteenth of twenty-sixth presidents who studied law. The courses did not interest him.

Roosevelt started to write his book; The Naval War of 1812 during his senior year at Harvard. He completed his book following his trip to Europe in 1881. It was published in 1882 and was considered technically excellent, but dull. He was the eleventh of twenty-one presidents who managed to get their books published while alive.

As a means of public services, Roosevelt enter politics. He joined the Republican club in New York City. At age 23 in the fall of 1881, Roosevelt won the election to a New York State assembly seat. As the youngest member of the legislature, he wore sideburns and dressed elegantly. The other legislatures thought he looked like a “dude”. He later won their respect with his intelligence, courage, and energy.

Roosevelt was reelected twice in 1882 and 1883. He served briefly as the leader of the Republican minority in the Assembly. His party leaders expected him to follow their orders but he refused. Even after they later removed him, he remained the most influential member in the Assembly. On August 1, 1882, he was commissioned as second lieutenant in the New York national guard. He was later promoted to captain on February 3, 1883.

On February 12, 1884, Theodore’s first daughter was born. Her name was Alice Lee Roosevelt. Two days later, on February 14, 1884, a double tragedy struck. Roosevelt was in session in Albany when his Mother died at 3 A.M. of typhoid fever. His wife later died at 2 P.M. of Bright’s disease on the same day. A double funeral was held on February 16, 1884.

Chapter IV

An Absence From Politics

“Hasten forward quickly there”, was the local catch phrase where Roosevelt spent his time after he left politics and after the tragic deaths of his wife and mother. He ran two cattle ranches on the Little Missouri River in the Dakota Territory. Which he bought in the fall of 1882. It cost him fourteen thousand dollars. With the hard life and endless activity of a rancher, Roosevelt slowly recovered from the sorrow of the deaths. Wearing cowboy clothes, Roosevelt would spend fourteen to sixteen hours a day on a saddle. He would hunt buffalo and other wild animals. He also helped law officials capture bands of outlaws.

In the winter of 1885-1886, dreadful snowstorms hit his property. Since the storms killed most of his cattle, he returned to New York City. At the request of a Republican leader, he ran for mayor. He was badly defeated.

On December 2, 1886, Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Crow. They lived in their house in Oyster Bill, in Long Island, New York. The new Mrs. Roosevelt had a big influence on Mr. Roosevelt, who later became dependent on her advice. Together they had five children: Theodore Jr., Kermit, Ethel Crow, Archibald Bulloch, and Quentin. Roosevelt loved to play with all of his children.

In 1888, Roosevelt went on a speaking tour for Benjamin Harrison, a Republican who was running for president. Harrison won and as a reward for Roosevelt’s service, Harrison appointed him to the Civil Service Commission on May 18, 1895. During his time there, Roosevelt improved the merit system by establishing examinations for some Civil Service Jobs. He was reappointed again in 1893 by President Grover Cleveland.

In the May of 1895, Roosevelt gladly accepted the post as the president of the Board of Police Commissioners in New York City. In the two years he was there, Roosevelt took out dishonesty on the police force. He even patrolled the streets occasionally to check on officers suspected of illegal activities.

Chapter V

A National Figure

In 1806, Roosevelt campaigned for William McKinley who was a Republican running for president. Since McKinley won, Roosevelt asked for a government appointment. McKinley did not want a brash young man in Washington but Roosevelt had powerful support. McKinley finally appointed Roosevelt as an Assistant Secretary of the Navy on April 5, 1897.

As the newly appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt worked to strengthen the Navy. He believed that sea power was the decisive factor in world history. The Assistant Secretary also believed that war for a righteous cause brought out the finest virtues in people and nations.

Since 1895, Cuban rebels had been revolting against their Spanish rulers. The American people demanded that the United States help the Cubans. On February 15, 1898, the United States S. Maine blew up in Havana harbor in Cuba. Although Roosevelt tried to rush preparations for war against Spain, President McKinley stated that he wanted no war.

Although McKinley stated that he wanted no war, on April 25, 1898, he declared war. After hearing that, Roosevelt immediately resigned so he could fight. Even before that, Roosevelt started to recruit men for a Cavalry Regiment. Those men included former college athletes and Western cowboys. The group of fighting men became known as the Rough Riders. They also became the First Volunteer Calvary Regiment.

On July 1, 1898, American troops attacked a ring of fortified hills surrounding Santiago, Cuba. Colonel Roosevelt led his men up Kettle Hill which flanked the Spanish blockhouse on San Juan Hill. When they did that, they became nationally famous. On September 4, 1898, Colonel Roosevelt said his good-byes to his troops.

In the year 1898, Roosevelt ran for governor in New York. He won by a landslide with his war record. He became an efficient and independent administrator who supported mild reform legislation including a law affecting civil service in the state of New York.

In 1904, a movement began to nominate Roosevelt for Vice President of the United States. He finally accepted to be McKinley’s running mate. The Republicans nominated both men. They then defeated their Democratic opponents; William Jennings and former Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson.

Six months later, on September 6, 1901, President McKinley was shot. His doctors thought McKinley might survive. Sadly, McKinley died on September 14, 1901. Roosevelt then took the oath of office on the same day of former President McKinley died.

Chapter VI

Introduction to First Admission

Since taking the oath of office on September 14, 1901, Roosevelt was the President of the United States. On this same day, Roosevelt declared September 19 as a day for mourning for the recently deceased President McKinley. It was just six weeks before his forty-third birthday when he became was the youngest president of the United States.

After becoming the president, Roosevelt turned to White Washington and other, within his fledgling movement for help. He stated that he wanted to come to power in 1904 in his own right. Roosevelt had always avoided the radical Democrats who he had always opposed. Washington had distrusted the radical Democrats and the regular Republican organization.

Roosevelt was cautioned to leave McKinley’s cabinet in office until their terms expired. President Roosevelt said he would continue McKinley’s plans. But with all that originality Roosevelt had, he did not want to follow the former president’s plans.

Most businesses feared President Roosevelt because of some of the reforms he had introduced as governor of New York. The reforms brought stricter government control over industry. He informed the industrial businessmen that he would not interfere with them. He also tried to persuade conservative Republican leaders that he was not dangerous. He succeeded halfway, but did not win them over completely. They considered many of his legislation dangerously progressive and even socialistic. Throughout Roosevelt’s Presidency, the Republican party controlled Congress. But because of conservative opinion, the President had increasing difficulty getting Congress to act on his recommendations.

The Democrats did not impact Roosevelt’s effort to take party control in the North. In Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri, the President personally put his followers into federal offices. Elsewhere in the Middle West, Roosevelt relied mostly on the help of Henry C. Payne and Iwon James S. Clarkson.

He gained Pennsylvania and New York with Senator Quay. By 1902, states were favorable towards the renomination of President Roosevelt once again. By 1903, the only obstacle that stood in Roosevelt’s way was Mark Hanna’s refusal to declare whether he was running for President. Even though Hanna knew about this, Roosevelt continued to consult him. They never clashed openly.

As time went by, more and more obstacles stood in Roosevelt’s way. One obstacle was the charges that Roosevelt appointed people only for his renomination. He argued that it was only wise to put in Gold Democrats who might side with the Republicans. The Democrats in the offices were not only capable, but would support the new President’s policies. Another obstacle was a task to make a program which would keep his party united while winning the allegiance of the people. The program could not be too basic or too conservative. For help, Roosevelt sought a middle ground.

While Roosevelt’s obstacles were increasing, so was the pressure for change. The Populist revolt had settled with rising prosperity after 1896. Grievances against railroads and monopolies were now distinguished among southern and western farmers. The East supported municipal and state reforms whereas before they were frightened by them.

Chapter VII

Life in the White House

Life in the White House was never dull for President Roosevelt. His children and their friends were known as the “White House Gang”. They played many games and sometimes the President would even join in.

One day President Roosevelt overheard the White House Gang was going to prepare an “attack” on the White House. Roosevelt sent a message to them through the War department, ordering them to call of the attack. On another day, the President saw his sons decorating a portrait of Andrew Jackson with their spit balls. He then scolded them. Roosevelt was also lenient and let his boys bring their pets into the White House. Some of the pets included a pony and snakes.

Roosevelt played tennis on the White House lawn with his friends. His tennis friends became known as the “tennis cabinet”. The tennis cabinet also went horseback riding and hiked together.

In 1902, the White House was remodeled and enlarged. Workers installed new plumbing, heating, and electrical systems. The west and east wings were also built.

Chapter VIII

Trust Buster Roosevelt

The people of the United States were worried about large business monopolies, also known as trusts. The trusts were rapidly increasing in number and power. They raised the standard of living and increased productivity. As prices rose, the people Americans blamed the trusts. Roosevelt wrote a message to the Captains of Industry, saying that large corporations were “natural” outgrowth. Although the trusts contributed to much of America’s progress, Roosevelt thought they had “real and grave evils” which the federal government should eliminate.

Congress was not in the state of mind to take up this proposal and Roosevelt could not do this by himself, but Roosevelt finally succeeded by filling lawsuits. Atorney-General Knox told Roosevelt that the aim of the suit was not to “fix up” anything, but to stop illegal combinations. The President broke up “the McKinley nexus” to affirm the federal government’s power against the arrogant Captains of Finance. Roosevelt hammered at the need to “Destroy the Evil in Trusts, But not Prosperity”. There was no cure-all for the trust problem though. Thoughout Roosevelt’s presidency, the government filed suits against forty-four corporations. In major cases, the government ended James B. Dukes’s tobacco trust and John D. Rockefeller’s oil trust. He became known as a “trust buster” to many people. He then declared that he wanted the government to regulate, not “bust”, trusts.

Chapter IX

Issues with Miners

Labor was a great issue on the domestic economic front. The President wanted the government to act justly towards labor unions and business. Government intervention in labor debates were not new. However, the government usually favored management.

In May of 1902, about 140,000 members of the United Mine Workers launched a strike against the anthracite mines. This issue soon became a nationwide concern. The public opinion favored the strikers who demanded more pay and better working conditions.

The President began to put pressure upon the operators to compromise through the Labor Commissioner in August. As Winter approached, coal supplies began to run low in Eastern cities. Some schools and hospitals already had no fuel. Coal owners were not going to support or go against the workers. Since then, President Roosevelt never granted the owners any favors. Roosevelt had no legal authority to intervene in the strike. But he called a conference of leaders of both sides anyway. He proposed that the strike be settled by having the hearing and settlement of the dispute by an arbitrator. The miners agreed, but the owners disagreed. He left angered because of his failure.

Roosevelt threatened to have the army operate and seize their mines. Through Elihu Root, the coal executives were informed of the President’s plans and finally agreed to arbitrate if the panel consisted of an army engineer, mining engineer, a federal judge, a businessman familiar with the industry, and an eminent sociologist. They compromised and the miners went back to work.

The Anthracite Coal Strike Commission eventually awarded something to each side. The workers received a ten per cent wage increase and a reduction in hours. Although this happened, the old method of weighting coal was not changed and a ten per cent increase in prices was still authorized. The companies were not required to recognize the union formally, but the United Mine Workers (UMW) did obtain representation on the anthracite board of conciliation.

Roosevelt said he tried to give the miners a “square deal”. He used this phrase when referring to his policy of the social reform. The deal was fine until the year of 1903. A riotous mine strike had happened in Arizona. Roosevelt ordered federal troops into this territory at the governor's request. He withdrew the troops when they were used to frighten the workers.

Again in 1903, another strike had happened. This time in Colorado, Roosevelt refused to interfere. The strike was Colorado against the Western Federation of Miners. Mine owners struck back viciously at the union with the aid of state militia. Roosevelt told the federation that he had “neither the power nor right” to interfere.

The President believed that big labor was as natural a development as big business. He defended the right of the workingmen to refuse to join a union and favored the “open shop”. Therefore, he approved of the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission’s declaration that “no person shall be refused employment or in any way discriminated against on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor organization”.

Chapter X

A Very Big Stick

“Where, in either one or the other, there develops corruption or more brutal indifference to the rights of others, and shortsighted refusal to look beyond the moment’s gain” he wrote, “then the offender, whether union or corruption, must be fought”. He used this standard to conduct in foreign and domestic affairs. He steadily pursed the policy of promoting American commerce through overseas bases, a great navy, and an interocean canal. He believed that the government needed a “big stick” to carry out its foreign conduct. Roosevelt campaigned the Monroe Doctrine in the western hemisphere and wherever the rights of the Americans were challenged.

The President accomplished much by 1904. Under his watchful eye, the Navy acquired a potential base for the Far Eastern squadron at Subig Bay. He also resolved the dispute with Canada over the Alaskan boundary through an arbitration that awarded the United States with almost all it claimed.

The British also agreed to fully abolish of the Clayton-Bulwer pact of 1850. This provided for joint control and nonfortification of an istminal canal. In the December of 1901, The Senate approved the result of Hay’s second negotiation with Lord Paunefote. This gave exclusive rights of fortification and wartime control to such a waterway to United States.

In 1902, Venezuela failed to honor the amounts of money that they owed to Britain and Germany. This posed a threat to American plans in the isthmian area. With the first notification of Germany’s intention to take measures to collect from the Venezuelan dictator, Castro, the Secretary of State, John Hay, had no objection, as long as there was no territorial increase. Roosevelt, on the other hand was getting increasingly fearful of Germany’s intentions. He then made a series of moves to strengthen the American naval forces in the Caribbean in case of a sudden war.

In the December of 1902, Germany and Britain broke relations with Venezuela. They then joined forces to bombard and blockade the ports of Venezuela to force their payments. Feared that Germany planned to seize the Venezuelan territory, Roosevelt warned the Germans that he might have to use force with his prepared fleet if they took any part of Venezuela away from Venezuela. Roosevelt indicated to the German Ambassador that the United States was interested in a peaceful settlement. The Germans and British than withdrew their armada. Convinced that Roosevelt was sincere, the German government agreed along with the British, to submit the issue to the Hague Court. The dispute was peacefully settled with President Roosevelt on the case.

In 1904, Santo Domingo, now the Dominican Republic, could not pay its debts to several European countries. This time with Europe, Roosevelt once again feared intervention. He stated that the United States might be forced “in flagrant cases of...wrongdoing or importance, to the exercise of an international police power”. The President ordered American officials to take over the custom system of Santo Domingo in order to bring order to Santo Domingo’s finances.

Chapter XI

Election of 1904

The Republican party unanimously nominated Roosevelt for president. For Vice President, they chose Senator Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana. The Democratic party chose Judge Alton B. Parker for President and Henry G. Davis of West Virginia for Vice President. Roosevelt won by more than two and a half million popular votes and had three hundred and three electoral college votes. No earlier president had won the popular vote by so much.

Chapter XII

Conservative Roosevelt

Roosevelt made notable achievements in conservation. He added about 150 million acres to the United States national forests. In 1905, he established the United States Forest Service and set up five new national parks. Roosevelt also set aside eighteen sites for national monuments and worked to preserve wildlife. He also created the first of fifty-one federal bird reservations and established the first of four national game preservations.

When Congress provided the Reclamation Act of 1902, it provided for the reclamation and irrigation of the dry Western lands. The President started twenty-five projects which consisted of irrigation and reclamation projects. An example of one of the projects is the Roosevelt Dam.

Chapter XIII

A Japanese Affair

In 1905, Roosevelt helped finish the Russo-Japanese War. He did this by bringing the representatives of Russia and Japan together in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He then served as mediator in the peace talks which lead to the Treaty of Portsmouth. Then in 1906, Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize. He became the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

As the winners of the war, the Japanese demanded compensation payments from Russia. Roosevelt had opposed this demand. This angered the Japanese and the Japanese Americans in the United States. The anger grew in 1906 when the San Francisco school board decided to isolate all the children of Japanese ancestry.

As time passed by, relations with Japan started to have more and more problems. The President feared that the Japanese might attack on the Philippines. Like Roosevelt, many Americans thought that war was near. Roosevelt then persuaded the San Francisco school board to end its segregation policy. He also disagreed with a gentlemen’s agreement with Japan to keep laborers out of the country.

In 1908, the United States and Japan signed the Root-Takahira Agreement. In this agreement, the two nations promised not to seek territorial gains in the Pacific and to honor the Open-Door Policy in China.

Back in 1907, Roosevelt put to display, the power of the American navy. He sent sixteen new battleships on a friendliness tour of the world. Because they were painted white, the ships became known as the Great White Fleet. The fleets received warm and friendly welcomes from Japan and other countries. Roosevelt saw the tour as a part of a “big stick” diplomacy.

Chapter XIV

Trains, Meat, And the Stock Market

President Roosevelt believed that laws were badly needed to control the nation’s railroads. The Elkins Act of 1903 prohibited railroads from making rebates (or returning sums of money), to their favored shippers. The act had not stopped practices, which often put their rival shippers out of business. Roosevelt demanded legislation to stop the abuses.

In 1906, Congress passes the Hepburn Railway Rate Act. This act did not end the rebates, but it was pointed in the right direction. When this happened, the food and drug industries were also affected by the act.

In the same year, Roosevelt read a novel called The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. The novel showed Roosevelt how unsanitary a meat-packing industry could be. The President ordered an investigation which received a sickening report. He then threatened to send the report to Congress if they did not improve the situations. Also in the year 1906, Congress passed the Meat Inspection Act and Food and Drugs Act.

In the year 1907, the stock market slumped. A financial panic spread throughout the United States. The business community blamed the President and his progressive legislation. Historians believed that the actual cause of the panic was speculation and inefficient business management. Prosperity returned back to the United States in 1909.

Chapter XV

The End of Presidency

Near the end of the President’s presidency, the Republican party split. The conservative Republicans tried to block the President’s progressive policies. Roosevelt then fought harder for “political, social, and industrial reform”. During his last year as president, Roosevelt received little congressional action. His Republican opponents thought he would leave office in 1908.

After the election of 1904, Roosevelt declared that he would “under no circumstances” run for president again”. He kept his vow. He selected his secretary of war, William Howard Taft to succeed him.

At the Republican National Convention of 1908, Roosevelt persuaded most of the delegates to support Taft. This way assured Taft’s nomination. Taft easily won the election over his Democratic opponent William Jenning Bryan.

Chapter XVI

After His Presidency

After leaving his presidency in March 1909, Roosevelt set sail to Africa to hunt for big game. Some conservative congressmen wished “health to the lions”, but Roosevelt had another idea. Roosevelt and his party brought down two hundred and six big gamed animals including nine lions. As he arrived home in June 1910, he found himself in the center of national attention. The progressive Republicans felt as though President Taft had betrayed them. They then turned to Roosevelt. Roosevelt later tried to put together the progressive and conservative pieces of the Republican puzzle. He failed.

In 1912, Roosevelt got pleas to run for a third term as president. He gave in. He said that the statement he gave in 1904 was meant for him not running for a consecutive third term. He won many victories in primary elections which indicated that he was the popular chose of the Republican party. But Taft controlled the party’s machinery and was renominated by the Republican National Convention.

Roosevelt and his followers formed the Progressive Party also known as the Bull Moose party. They were called this because Roosevelt felt as strong as a Bull Moose.

On October 14, 1912, a saloon keeper by the name of John N. Schrank tried to assassinate the former president in Milwaukee. Luckily, a glasses case in his pocket saved his life. After being shot in the chest, the former president insisted on making his speech. He recovered in two weeks after being shot. Schrank ended up in a mental hospital.

The Roosevelt candidacy split the Republican Vote, which lead to an easy victory form Roosevelt’s Democratic opponent, Governor Woodrow Wilson.

Chapter XVII

Fare Well to Thee

In 1914, Roosevelt explored the River of Doubt in the Brazilian jungle. There, he was infected with a form of jungle fever. He returned home weak and prematurely aged.

Early in 1918, Roosevelt underwent operations to remove abscesses in his ear and on his thigh. They were an effect of jungle fever. He lost hearing in his left ear. At the same time, Roosevelt revealed that after boxing with a military aid in the White House in 1908, he had lost sight in his left eye.

It was said that Roosevelt might have won the presidential election of 1920, but sadly we will never know. The reason is that on June 6, 1919, Roosevelt died unexpectedly of a blood clot in his heart. He was buried in the Young Memorial Cemetery, Oyster Bay, New York. His second wife, Edith, who died in 1948, is laid to rest right beside her beloved husband.

Chapter XVIII

Conclusion

Theodore Roosevelt was one of America’s best president. He was a great father, husband, son, and brother. He was loved by many in this country and around the world. As a token of our appreciation for how he has helped this and other countries through their tough and saddening times, his face now resides in Mount Rushmore.

Bibliography

Books

Ÿ Chessman, G. Wallace. Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Power. Boston: Little, Brown Company, 1969.

Ÿ Irons-Georges, Tracy. The American Presidents. Pasadena, California Hackensack, New Jersey: Salem Press, Inc., 2000

Ÿ Putnam, Carleton. Theodore Roosevelt The Formative Years. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1958

Ÿ Taylor, Tim. The Book of Presidents. New York: Arno Press, 1972

Encyclopedia

Ÿ “Roosevelt, Theodore”. The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book Inc., 2002

Pictures not included here.