Born into a long-established socially prominent family of Dutch and English
ancestry, the 26th president , Theodore Roosevelt was the second of four children.
Theodore was born in 1858 in 28 East 20th street in New York and was a sickly child who
suffered from frequent asthma attacks, colds, fevers, and a nervous stomach. When
Theodore had an asthma attack, they would force him to drink black coffee or would give
him a cigar to smoke to counter the asthma attack. Sometimes they would rush him to a
carriage and they would drive really fast to force air into Theodore’s lungs. Because
Theodore’s frail health, private tutors were hired to teach Theodore even though the rate
to hire one was about 1,000 which is 10,000 to 15,000 today. That is why only the rich,
like sr. Theodore, could afford to hire one.