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Roosevelt as the Commissioner of NYPD
Theodore Roosevelt's life as the Commissioner of the NYPD best showcases his

developing leadership skills. He was a dominant force in the modernization of American

governance at the onset of the last century. Roosevelt took on an enormous task to reform the

incredibly corrupt police department in his hometown. He stood up as a controversial leader

possessing moral intensity, unbilled ambition, and boundless energy. For the most prolonged

period ever, he exercised presidential powers as no other leader had ever done.

Roosevelt's Commissioning years have been remarkably significant, a time when he

gained valuable administrative experience, matured politically, spared the political power, and

survived attempts of his destruction. Commissioner Roosevelt was dominant and perhaps

essential in ensuring the Commission's survival and promoting the merit of the public service. As

President, he allowed the number of classified employees to exceed for the first time the number

of employers, eliminated political assessments, and upgraded the civil service machinery

(Lessoff, 2005). Roosevelt was a competent politician and an extraordinary administrator, and

probably without his experience as Commissioner, he would not have been that way.

Mr. Roosevelt was very confident in his commissioning duty. His presence in New York

and how he enforced all civil and police laws in the city appalled everybody. One of his biggest

mistakes was when he tried on Sundays to shut down the lounge. This caused widespread unease

among workers who worked six days per week and expected to rest and drink beer at their
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favorite locations with their companions. However, he was self-motivated, unshaken and

remained stern on his decision for the betterment of New York. He and his Board have created a

gun-shooting range, now recognized by historians as leading to police academy creation. His

campaign to shut down the lounge had a catastrophic impact on his political career, and he lost

his Republican Party backing in the 1895 city elections.

He was also a long-term thinker. The most recalled action by Roosevelt was of the night

he and his companion decided to roam around the New York street past midnight. He found out

that the police at their posts were busy socializing while others were dead asleep. He

immediately reprimanded those caught on the wrong side, and this went a long way in shaping

their behavior at the job (Dalton and Berman, 1989). Another example of how he showcased his

excellent leadership skills is how he was people-oriented. He and the police went out to the

streets to distribute ice during summer, and he gained a lot of credibility from the people.

The actions and reforms made by Roosevelt barely made a massive difference in the city

since people got back to their bad behavior as soon as he left. His post as a commissioner

however, built his reputation as a reformer.

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Works Cited

Dalton, Kathleeen M., and Jay Stuart Berman. “Police Administration and Progressive Reform:

Theodore Roosevelt as Police Commissioner of New York.” The Journal of American

History, vol. 75, no. 4, Mar. 1989, p. 1348, 10.2307/1908720.

Lessoff, Alan. “Roosevelt the Reformer: Theodore Roosevelt as Civil Service Commissioner,

1889-1895.” Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 1, Mar. 2005, pp. 204–205,

10.1111/j.0360-4918.2005.244_3.x