Theodore

Roosevelt
A Complete Bibliography
By: Ryan Chace
Class 1120U
Prof. Pucci
Family
• Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 27,
1858 to parents Theodore Sr. and Martha Roosevelt
• Theodore Roosevelt Senior was a well-to-do businessman and
philanthropist who harnessed progressive ideas in his crusade
against corruption and for virtue in politics
• Martha “Mittie” Roosevelt was a Southerner, raised on a
plantation in Georgia
• Theodore was the second of four children: Anna being his eldest
sister, Corinne his younger sister, and Elliot being his younger
brother
• The family was well-respected and well-off; the Roosevelt branch
first arrived in 1649 when the city was still New Amsterdam
 • Health problems cursed the entire family:
• Roosevelt himself was a frail child, beset by asthma,
heart murmurs, stomach aches, insomnia, and
nearsightedness
• Anna, his elder sister, had a twisted spine and walked
with difficulty
A Plague of • Asthma afflicted his younger sister Corinne
• His younger brother Elliot had emotional problems,
Sickness became an alcoholic, and eventually drank himself to
death
• Cancer took his father’s life at the younger age of
forty-six when Roosevelt was just nineteen years old
• Bright’s disease killed his mother when he was
twenty-four
The Prosperous
Undergraduate
• Roosevelt entered Harvard University in September 1876 – his father’s parting advice
was to “take care of your morals first, your health next and finally your studies.”
• He was tapped to join the elitist Porcellian Club, Hasty Pudding Club, and Delta Kappa
Epsilon fraternity, and made friends with similar interests in the Natural History
Society, Literary Society, the Harvard Advocate newspaper, and clubs for boxing,
shooting, art, and singing – indeed an intellectually curious young man
• His undergraduate thesis was entitled “The Practicality of Giving Men and Women
Equal Rights,” in which he expounded his progressive views
• Public speaking was also a crucial skill he began developing while at Harvard after
first having to overcome a vicious cycle of shyness and a tendency to stammer and
mispronounce words
• In the summer between his sophomore and junior years, Roosevelt met and fell in
love with Alice Lee, with whom he would marry on October 27, 1880 and have a
daughter
Early Career
• After graduating from Harvard, Roosevelt began classes at
Columbia University’s law school in October 1880 – he would drop
out just one year later to pursue a career in public service
• He was elected to the New York Assembly and served two terms
from 1882 to 1884
• In February of 1884 tragedy struck: Roosevelt's mother died of
typhoid fever and his wife died of kidney disease within a few hours
of each other
• He then left his daughter in the care of his sister and fled to the
Dakota Badlands where he would further develop his love for the
West and nature
• Roosevelt headed back East in 1886, the same year he married his
childhood sweetheart Edith Kermit Carow – the two had five
children together
Early Career cont.

• In 1888, he campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Benjamin Harrison;

after Harrison won the election, he appointed Roosevelt to the U.S. Civil Service
Commission
• Roosevelt served dutifully as a commissioner in the enforcement of the civil service
laws until he accepted the presidency of the New York City Police Board in 1895
• In 1897, the newly elected Republican President, William McKinley, appointed
Roosevelt assistant secretary of the Navy.
The Rough Rider
• When the Spanish-American War began, Roosevelt
resigned as assistant secretary of the Navy to lead the First
Volunteer Cavalry Group – a unit that became aptly known
as the Rough Riders
• Once in Cuba, Roosevelt distinguished himself by leading
them on a charge—on foot—up San Juan Hill; the unit
suffered heavy casualities but returned home war heroes
• He later wrote of his time at war: "I would rather have led
that charge and earned my colonelcy than served three
terms in the United States Senate. It makes me feel as
though I could now leave something to my children which
will serve as an apology for my having existed."
The Governor

• When Roosevelt returned home from war he quickly caught the eye of Republican
leadership in New York looking for a candidate or governor
• He agreed to run for governor against a popular Democrat, Judge Augustus van
Wyck, the candidate of Tammany Hall; Roosevelt won by only a few thousand votes
• The new governor became his own man, and brought the same energy and drive
for sweeping reforms to New York State as he did to all his other positions
 • Part of the reason why Roosevelt became Vice President was
Thomas C. Platt, the Republican Party’s boss for New York
State
• Throughout the course of Roosevelt’s term as
Governor Platt became increasingly worried that
Roosevelt would completely destroy the Republican
state machine
• As such, Platt conspired to ”kick [Roosevelt] upstairs”
to the vice presidency in 1900, thus keeping him from
running for a second term for governorship
• Roosevelt eventually assented to this idea because he
felt it would give him a good chance at the White
House in 1904
• The 1900 presidential race ended in a mighty win for the
Republican Party: “McKinley won the popular vote of 7.2
million (292 Electoral College votes) to Bryan's 6.3 million (155
Electoral College votes). McKinley won his bid for reelection
over Bryan by an even larger margin than he had garnered in
1896.”
• In September 1901, however, McKinley was assassinated,
thrusting the twenty-six year old Theodore Roosevelt into
leadership – the country would quickly change
thereafterMcKinley won the popular vote of 7.2 million (292
Electoral College votes) to Bryan's 6.3 million (155 Electoral

The Vice President College votes). McKinley won his bid for reelection over Bryan
by an even larger margin than he had garnered in 1896.
The President – First Term
• From the outset, Roosevelt was met with immense Congressional opposition: “With their hands deep in big
business pockets, a score or so senators and a hundred or so representatives pulled every possible legislative
trick to thwart his reforms.”
• To outflank Congress, Roosevelt mastered the press, and thus the public opinion – Americans quickly fell in
love with this genuine all-American hero
• Further, Roosevelt “was bent upon making the Government the most efficient possible instrument in helping
the people of the United States to better themselves in every way, politically, socially, and industrially.”
• He sought to purge obstructionism, corruption, and inertia from the federal bureaucracy, thereby making it a well-oiled
progressive machine led by public officials that were models of competence and problem-solving
• After achieving some newfound wiggle room, Roosevelt began his crusade against trusts, a group of firms or
corporations combines or cooperates in order to control prices or reduce competition - by the time
Roosevelt left office as president he had begun forty-three antitrust actions (his sentiment “the square deal”
nicely encapsulates the motivation behind these actions)
• Another major focus during his first term as President was foreign policy: Roosevelt was intent on expanding
America’s international prowess while limiting European influence in the Western Hemisphere
• In 1904 Roosevelt ran for a second, full presidential term. He won the election and carried in a great number
of candidates to Congress through the influence of his popularity.
The President – Second Term

• Roosevelt developed a much more

progressive program in his second term
• One of the major focuses of this term was
his work in conservation – he understand
with growing alarm that Americans were
destroying the very natural resources on
which their prosperity was derived
• He also was an negotiated peace between
the Russians and the Japanese in the
second Sino-Japanese War – for his efforts
he received the Nobel Peace Prize
Death and Legacy
• A lung embolism, blood clot, or heart attack killed Theodore
Roosevelt on January 6, 1919
• The New York Evening Post’s obituary exalted him: “Something
of a superman in the political sphere has passed away. He saw
the nation steadily and he saw it whole. . . . Never have we had
a politician who, with such an appearance of effortless ease,
drew after him great masses and molded them to his will.”
• Despite this praise, Roosevelt was hardly universally loved or
respected: he made many enemies along his path of domestic
reform
• Nonetheless, Theodore Roosevelt can securely go down as one
of the greatest presidents to ever grace the White House
Works Cited

• Milkis, Sidney. “Theodore Roosevelt: Life Before the Presidency.” Miller Center, 24
July 2017, millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/life-before-the-presidency.
• Nester, William R. Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of American Power: an American
for All Time. Lexington Books, 2019.
• “Theodore Roosevelt Biography in Brief.” TR Center - Biographical Overview,
www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Brief-Biography.