riding his horse through the pastures and over
started his efforts to preserve Yellowstone National
Park as early as 1894 when he as president of
the Boone and Crockett Club (a hunters' organization
comprised of eminent scientists, lawyers and politicians)
worked the Secretary of the Interior to enlarge
the park and improve its governance. The resulting
legislation provided new levels of protection
from commercial development and "ecological
destruction". Conservation of natural wonders
and natural resources became TR's legacy. In 1903,
President Roosevelt came to inspect Yellowstone.
year old "Teedie" Theodore Roosevelt
in 1862. TR suffered greatly from asthma causing
him to be sick frequently.
were waiting as TR, Kermit and their party ended
the safari and arrived in Egypt. TR, joined by
Edith began a "grand tour" of Europe
including Paris, where he delivered his "Citizenship
in a Republic" speech and Norway, where he
accepted the Nobel Prize he had been awarded several
years before for the Treaty of Portsmouth.
1903 photo shows the President, his wife Edith
and their six children at the family home of Sagamore
Hill in Oyster Bay on Long Island, New York. TR
loved his family and spent hours roaming the hills
and rowing the shores with the children.
learned of the death of his youngest son Quentin
in July of 1918. Quentin, a fighter pilot for
the US Army Air Corps in WW1, was shot down behind
enemy lines. "Grandfather" Roosevelt
hugs baby granddaughter Edith Roosevelt Derby,
only 50 years old when he left the Presidency,
TR went looking for adventure on Safari in Africa.
At heart TR was a naturalist, fascinated with
all the species of animals on earth. He always
had a small menagerie of live and preserved specimens
as a child. As and adult he was quite expert.
Hundreds of species were identified and brought
back to the Smithsonian and the American Museum
of Natural History from his 1909-1910 expedition
to East Africa with son Kermit (shown sitting
next to TR).
Wife: Alice Hathaway Lee (1861-1884), on October
27, 1880; Edith Kermit Carow (1861-1948), on December
Kids: Alice Lee Roosevelt (1884-1980); Theodore
Roosevelt, Jr. (1887-1944); Kermit Roosevelt (1889-1943);
Ethel Carow Roosevelt (1891-1977); Archibald Bulloch
Roosevelt (1894-1979); Quentin Roosevelt (1897-1918)
Pets: a Chesapeake Bay retriever; Manchu, a Pekingese;
Skip, a mutt; terriers named Jack and Pete; cats named
Tom Quartz and Slippers; Josiah the badger; Algonquin
the pony; Eli the macaw; Jonathan the piebald rat; Emily
Spinach, a garter snake; twelve horses; five bears;
five guinea pigs; other snakes; two kangaroo rats; lizards;
roosters; anowl; a flying squirrel; a raccoon; a coyote;
a lion; a hyena; a zebra
Bio: Theodore Roosevelt, (1858-1919) was the
26th President Of The United States. Born in New York
City on Oct. 27, 1858, he suffered from asthma and poor
vision. He was educated by tutors until he entered Harvard
College, receiving a BA in 1880. Later that year he
married Alice Hathaway Lee. Their happiness came to
a tragic end when Alice died during while giving birth
on Feb. 14, 1884. Ironically, Roosevelt's mother died
the very same day.
In 1897. he was appointed as assistant secretary of
the navy in 1897. This led to him becoming a colonel
in the 1st U. S. Volunteer Cavalry (the "Rough
Riders") during the . In Puerto Rico, he led the
Rough Riders in a heroic charge up Kettle Hill in the
battle for San Juan. This established him as a hero
throughout the United States.
Upon his return he ran for and became the governor of
New York, before running on the McKinley ticket as vice-president.
When McKinley was assassinated, Roosevelt took the oath
of office and became president. As president, he worked
hard to bring big business under stronger regulation
to protect the people. He was responsible for breaking
up the railroad monopoly of Northern Securities, owned
by J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Edward H. Harriman,
and James J. Hill.
Another of Roosevelts major accomplishments was
negotiating the deal to begin to build the Panama Canal.
Roosevelt was easily re-elected in 1904. In his second
term major issues included the environment and natural
resources. He doubled the number of national parks,
created 16 national monuments, and established 51 wildlife
refuges. He also earned the Nobel Peace Prize when he
mediated the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
Roosevelt had a very busy retirement, with trips to
Africa and South America. There he contracted malaria.
Recurring bouts with malarial fever sapped Roosevelt's
strength during his last years. On Jan. 6, 1919, he
died at home in his sleep.