The investigation committee rejected impeachment, but Roosevelt had exposed the potential corruption in Albany, and thus assumed a high and positive political profile in multiple New York publications. He allied with Governor Cleveland to win passage of a civil service reform bill.
With numerous presidential hopefuls to choose from, Roosevelt supported Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont, a colorless reformer. Arthur, at the time, was suffering from Bright's disease , unknown to the public, and out of duty he did not contest his own nomination. Roosevelt fought hard and succeeded in influencing the Manhattan delegates at the state convention in Utica.
He then took control of the state convention, bargaining through the night and outmaneuvering the supporters of Arthur and James G. Blaine ; he gained a national reputation as a key person in New York State. Lynch , an Edmunds supporter, to be temporary chair. Roosevelt fought alongside the Mugwump reformers; however, Blaine, having gained support from Arthur's and Edmunds's delegates, won the nomination by votes on the fourth ballot.
In a crucial moment of his budding political career, Roosevelt resisted the demand of the Mugwumps that he bolt from Blaine. He bragged about his one small success: To do this needed a mixture of skill, boldness and energy Having gotten a taste of national politics, Roosevelt felt less aspiration for advocacy on the state level; he then retired to his new "Chimney Butte Ranch" on the Little Missouri River. He debated the pros and cons of staying loyal with his political friend, Henry Cabot Lodge.
After Blaine won the nomination, Roosevelt had carelessly said that he would give "hearty support to any decent Democrat". He distanced himself from the promise, saying that it had not been meant "for publication". It is a subject I do not care to talk about. Roosevelt learned to ride western style, rope and hunt on the banks of the Little Missouri. Though he earned the respect of the authentic cowboys, they were not overly impressed. Roosevelt brought his desire to address the common interests of citizens to the West. He successfully led efforts to organize ranchers to address problems of overgrazing and other shared concerns; his work resulted in the formation of the Little Missouri Stockmen's Association.
He felt compelled to promote conservation and was able to form the Boone and Crockett Club , whose primary goal was the conservation of large game animals and their habitats.
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The couple also raised Roosevelt's daughter from his first marriage, Alice, who often clashed with her stepmother. Roosevelt accepted the nomination despite having little hope of winning the race against United Labor Party candidate Henry George and Democratic candidate Abram Hewitt. After Benjamin Harrison unexpectedly defeated Blaine for the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention , Roosevelt gave stump speeches in the Midwest in support of Harrison.
The very citadel of spoils politics, the hitherto impregnable fortress that had existed unshaken since it was erected on the foundation laid by Andrew Jackson , was tottering to its fall under the assaults of this audacious and irrepressible young man Whatever may have been the feelings of the fellow Republican party President Harrison —and there is little doubt that he had no idea when he appointed Roosevelt that he would prove to be so veritable a bull in a china shop—he refused to remove him and stood by him firmly till the end of his term.
In , a group of reform Republicans approached Roosevelt about running for Mayor of New York again; he declined, mostly due to his wife's resistance to being removed from the Washington social set. Soon after he declined, he realized that he had missed an opportunity to reinvigorate a dormant political career. He retreated to the Dakotas for a time; his wife Edith regretted her role in the decision and vowed that there would be no repeat of it. William Lafayette Strong , a reform-minded Republican, won the mayoral election and offered Roosevelt a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners.
Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications rather than political affiliation, established Meritorious Service Medals , and closed corrupt police hostelries. During his tenure, a Municipal Lodging House was established by the Board of Charities, and Roosevelt required officers to register with the Board; he also had telephones installed in station houses.
In , Roosevelt met Jacob Riis , the muckraking Evening Sun newspaper journalist who was opening the eyes of New Yorkers to the terrible conditions of the city's millions of poor immigrants with such books as How the Other Half Lives. Riis described how his book affected Roosevelt:. When Roosevelt read [my] book, he came No one ever helped as he did. When he left I had seen its golden age There is very little ease where Theodore Roosevelt leads, as we all of us found out.
The lawbreaker found it out who predicted scornfully that he would "knuckle down to politics the way they all did", and lived to respect him, though he swore at him, as the one of them all who was stronger than pull In the light of it everything was transformed. Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers' beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure that they were on duty. His crackdowns led to protests and demonstrations. Invited to one large demonstration, not only did he surprisingly accept, he delighted in the insults, caricatures and lampoons directed at him, and earned some surprising good will.
Long was more concerned about formalities than functions, was in poor health, and left many major decisions to Roosevelt. Influenced by Alfred Thayer Mahan, Roosevelt called for a build-up in the country's naval strength, particularly the construction of battleships. I would regard war with Spain from two viewpoints: While Roosevelt and many other Americans blamed Spain for the explosion, McKinley sought a diplomatic solution. When the newspapers reported the formation of the new regiment, Roosevelt and Wood were flooded with applications from all over the country.
The regiment trained for several weeks in San Antonio, Texas , and in his autobiography Roosevelt wrote that his prior experience with the New York National Guard had been invaluable, in that it enabled him to immediately begin teaching his men basic soldiering skills. Diversity characterized the regiment, which included Ivy Leaguers , professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans , hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs.
Roosevelt and his men landed in Daiquiri , Cuba, on June 23, , and marched to Siboney. Wheeler sent parts of the 1st and 10th Regular Cavalry on the lower road northwest and sent the "Rough Riders" on the parallel road running along a ridge up from the beach. To throw off his infantry rival, Wheeler left one regiment of his Cavalry Division, the 9th, at Siboney so that he could claim that his move north was only a limited reconnaissance if things went wrong.
Roosevelt was promoted to colonel and took command of the regiment when Wood was put in command of the brigade. The Rough Riders had a short, minor skirmish known as the Battle of Las Guasimas ; they fought their way through Spanish resistance and, together with the Regulars, forced the Spaniards to abandon their positions. Under his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, , while supporting the regulars.
Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors. He was forced to walk up the last part of Kettle Hill, because his horse had been entangled in barbed wire. The victories came at a cost of killed and 1, wounded. Roosevelt commented on his role in the battles: The only way to get them to do it in the way it had to be done was to lead them myself.
In August, Roosevelt and other officers demanded that the soldiers be returned home. Roosevelt always recalled the Battle of Kettle Hill part of the San Juan Heights as "the great day of my life" and "my crowded hour". In , Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; he had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it.
Men working closely with Roosevelt customarily called him "Colonel" or "Theodore". After leaving Cuba in August , the Rough Riders were transported to a camp at Montauk Point , Long Island, where Roosevelt and his men were briefly quarantined due to the War Department's fear of spreading yellow fever.
Quigg , a lieutenant of party boss Tom Platt, asked Roosevelt to run in the gubernatorial election. Platt disliked Roosevelt personally, feared that Roosevelt would oppose Platt's interests in office, and was reluctant to propel Roosevelt to the forefront of national politics. However, Platt also needed a strong candidate due to the unpopularity of the incumbent Republican governor, Frank S. Black , and Roosevelt agreed to become the nominee and to try not to "make war" with the Republican establishment once in office. As governor, Roosevelt learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency.
He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation. Chessman argues that Roosevelt's program "rested firmly upon the concept of the square deal by a neutral state". The rules for the Square Deal were "honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large".
By holding twice-daily press conferences—which was an innovation—Roosevelt remained connected with his middle-class political base. Platt 's worries that this approached Bryanite Socialism, explaining that without it, New York voters might get angry and adopt public ownership of streetcar lines and other franchises. The New York state government affected many interests, and the power to make appointments to policy-making positions was a key role for the governor.
Platt insisted that he be consulted on major appointments; Roosevelt appeared to comply, but then made his own decisions. Historians marvel that Roosevelt managed to appoint so many first-rate men with Platt's approval. He even enlisted Platt's help in securing reform, such as in the spring of , when Platt pressured state senators to vote for a civil service bill that the secretary of the Civil Service Reform Association called "superior to any civil service statute heretofore secured in America".
Chessman argues that as governor, Roosevelt developed the principles that shaped his presidency, especially insistence upon the public responsibility of large corporations, publicity as a first remedy for trusts, regulation of railroad rates, mediation of the conflict of capital and labor, conservation of natural resources and protection of the less fortunate members of society. As the chief executive of the most populous state in the union, Roosevelt was widely considered a potential future presidential candidate, and supporters such as William Allen White encouraged him to run for president.
Theodore Roosevelt | Biography, Facts, Presidency, & Accomplishments | theranchhands.com
As his term progressed, Roosevelt pondered a presidential run, but was uncertain about whether he should seek re-election as governor in In November , Vice President Garret Hobart died of heart failure, leaving an open spot on the Republican national ticket. Though Henry Cabot Lodge and others urged him to run for vice president in , Roosevelt was reluctant to take the powerless position and issued a public statement saying that he would not accept the nomination.
Eager to be rid of Roosevelt, Platt nonetheless began a newspaper campaign in favor of Roosevelt's nomination for the vice presidency. Roosevelt would accept the nomination if the convention offered it to him, but would otherwise serve another term as governor. Platt asked Pennsylvania party boss Matthew Quay to lead the campaign for Roosevelt's nomination, and Quay outmaneuvered Hanna at the convention to put Roosevelt on the ticket.
Roosevelt proved highly energetic and an equal match for Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan's famous barnstorming style of campaigning. In a whirlwind campaign that displayed his energy to the public, Roosevelt made stops in 23 states. He denounced the radicalism of Bryan, contrasting it with the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who fought and won the war against Spain. Bryan had strongly supported the war itself, but he denounced the annexation of the Philippines as imperialism, which would spoil America's innocence.
Roosevelt countered that it was best for the Filipinos to have stability and the Americans to have a proud place in the world. With the nation basking in peace and prosperity, the voters gave McKinley an even larger victory than that which he had achieved in After the campaign, Roosevelt took office as vice president in March The office of Vice President was a powerless sinecure and did not suit Roosevelt's aggressive temperament. Roosevelt was vacationing in Vermont , and traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital.
It appeared that McKinley would recover, so Roosevelt resumed his vacation in the Adirondacks. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt again traveled to Buffalo. McKinley died on September 14, and Roosevelt was informed while he was in North Creek ; he continued on to Buffalo and was sworn in as the nation's 26th president at the Ansley Wilcox House.
Roosevelt's accession to the presidency left the vice presidency vacant. As there was no constitutional provision for filling an intra-term vacancy in that office prior to ratification of the 25th Amendment in , Roosevelt served his first term without a vice president. McKinley's supporters were nervous about the new president, and Hanna was particularly bitter that the man he had opposed so vigorously at the convention had succeeded McKinley.
Roosevelt assured party leaders that he intended to adhere to McKinley's policies, and he retained McKinley's Cabinet. Nonetheless, Roosevelt sought to position himself as the party's undisputed leader, seeking to bolster the role of the president and position himself for the election.
Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. To his dismay, this sparked a bitter, and at times vicious, reaction across the heavily segregated South. Roosevelt reacted with astonishment and protest, saying that he looked forward to many future dinners with Washington. Upon further reflection, Roosevelt wanted to ensure that this had no effect on political support in the South, and further dinner invitations to Washington were avoided; [] their next meeting was scheduled as typical business at For his aggressive use of the Sherman Antitrust Act , compared to his predecessors, Roosevelt became mythologized as the "trust-buster"; but in reality he was more of a trust regulator.
Bolstered by his party's success in the elections , Roosevelt proposed the creation of the United States Department of Commerce and Labor , which would include the Bureau of Corporations. While Congress was receptive to Department of Commerce and Labor, it was more skeptical of the anti-trust powers that Roosevelt sought to endow within the Bureau of Corporations. In a moment of frustration, House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control in domestic policy-making: He even ordered changes made in the minting of a coin whose design he disliked, and ordered the Government Printing Office to adopt simplified spellings for a core list of words, according to reformers on the Simplified Spelling Board.
He was forced to rescind the latter after substantial ridicule from the press and a resolution of protest from the House of Representatives. In May , anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with intervention by federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to an arbitration of the dispute by a commission, which succeeded in stopping the strike.
The accord with J. Morgan resulted in the miners getting more pay for fewer hours, but with no union recognition. During Roosevelt's second year in office it was discovered there was corruption in the Indian Service , the Land Office , and the Post Office Department. Roosevelt investigated and prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated the Creeks and various tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation were found involving Oregon federal timberlands.
On November 6, Francis J. Heney was appointed special prosecutor, and obtained indictments involving an Oregon Land Office bribery ring. Mitchell was indicted for bribery to expedite illegal land patents, found guilty in July , and sentenced to six months in prison. Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the Hepburn Act , Roosevelt sought to give the Interstate Commerce Commission the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative Nelson Aldrich fought back.
Roosevelt worked with the Democratic Senator Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. Roosevelt and Aldrich ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, but allowed railroads to appeal to the federal courts on what was "reasonable. Roosevelt responded to public anger over the abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act of and the Pure Food and Drug Act. Though conservatives initially opposed the bill, Upton Sinclair 's The Jungle , published in , helped galvanize support for reform.
The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that were impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt also served as honorary president of the American School Hygiene Association from to , and in he convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children. Of all Roosevelt's achievements, he was proudest of his work in conservation of natural resources, and extending federal protection to land and wildlife.
He also established the first 51 bird reserves , four game preserves , and National Forests. Roosevelt extensively used executive orders on a number of occasions to protect forest and wildlife lands during his tenure as President. The first 25 presidents issued a total of 1, executive orders; Roosevelt issued 1, In the late s, Roosevelt had been an ardent imperialist, and he vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the election campaign. After the rebellion ended in , he largely lost interest in the Philippines and Asian expansion in general, despite the contradictory opinion of his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft.
As president, he primarily focused the nation's overseas ambitions on the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the Panama Canal. Following the Spanish—American War, Roosevelt believed that the United States had emerged as a world power, and he sought ways to assert America's newly-eminent position abroad. The parties agreed to meet in Portsmouth , New Hampshire and they resolved the final conflict over the division of Sakhalin — Russia took the northern half, and Japan the south; Japan also dropped its demand for an indemnity.
Mowry concludes that Roosevelt handled the arbitration well, doing an "excellent job of balancing Russian and Japanese power in the Orient, where the supremacy of either constituted a threat to growing America". Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain. The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish—American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of focusing on the rising German naval threat. As Roosevelt later put it, the resolution of the Alaskan boundary dispute "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves.
The Gentlemen's Agreement of resolved unpleasant racial tensions with Japan. Tokyo was angered over the segregation of Japanese children in San Francisco schools. The tensions were ended, but Japan also agreed not to allow unskilled workers to emigrate to the U. In December , the Germans, British, and Italians sought to impose a naval blockade against Venezuela in order to force the repayment of delinquent loans.
Roosevelt was particularly concerned with the motives of Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm. He succeeded in getting the aggressors to agree to arbitration by a tribunal at The Hague , and averted the Venezuela Crisis of — The pursuit of an isthmus canal in Central America during this period focused on two possible routes— Nicaragua and Panama, which was then a rebellious district within Colombia.
Roosevelt convinced Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was then reached in There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route.
Roosevelt denied charges of corruption concerning the canal in a January 8, message to Congress. District Courts, and on January 3, , the U. Supreme Court, upon federal appeal, upheld the lower courts' rulings. In , following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines if necessary, without congressional approval. The most striking evolution in the twenty-first century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and realpolitician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century Building on McKinley's effective use of the press, Roosevelt made the White House the center of news every day, providing interviews and photo opportunities.
After noticing the reporters huddled outside the White House in the rain one day, he gave them their own room inside, effectively inventing the presidential press briefing.
Theodore Roosevelt’s Early Life and Career
The grateful press, with unprecedented access to the White House, rewarded Roosevelt with ample coverage. Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press, which he used to keep in daily contact with his middle-class base. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at expose-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, set magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations.
Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but his speech in coined the term " muckraker " for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges. The press did briefly target Roosevelt in one instance. After , he was periodically criticized for the manner in which he facilitated the construction of the Panama Canal. According to biographer Brands, Roosevelt, near the end of his term, demanded that the Justice Department bring charges of criminal libel against Joseph Pulitzer's New York World.
The publication had accused him of "deliberate misstatements of fact" in defense of family members who were criticized as a result of the Panama affair. Though an indictment was obtained, the case was ultimately dismissed in federal court—it was not a federal offense, but one enforceable in the state courts.
The Justice Department had predicted that result, and had also advised Roosevelt accordingly. Roosevelt and Hanna frequently cooperated during Roosevelt's first term, but Hanna left open the possibility of a challenge to Roosevelt for the Republican nomination. Roosevelt and Ohio's other Senator, Joseph B. Foraker , forced Hanna's hand by calling for Ohio's state Republican convention to endorse Roosevelt for the nomination.
Hanna and Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay both died in early , and with the waning of Thomas Platt's power, Roosevelt faced little effective opposition for the nomination. Roosevelt turned to his own man, George B. To buttress his hold on the party's nomination, Roosevelt made it clear that anyone opposing Cortelyou would be considered to be opposing the President.
Hitt , was not nominated. While Roosevelt followed the tradition of incumbents in not actively campaigning on the stump, he sought to control the campaign's message through specific instructions to Cortelyou. He also attempted to manage the press's release of White House statements by forming the Ananias Club. Any journalist who repeated a statement made by the president without approval was penalized by restriction of further access.
Democratic newspapers charged that Republicans were extorting large campaign contributions from corporations, putting ultimate responsibility on Roosevelt, himself. Before his inauguration ceremony, Roosevelt declared that he would not serve another term. As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which failed to pass Congress.
In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries pre-empting state laws and an eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system to provide competition for local banks , and he asked for campaign reform laws. The election of continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats.
A Congressional investigation in revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in to the Republican National Committee. In , a month before the general presidential election, Governor Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of , to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company.
Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple" and obtained a denial from Treasury Secretary Shaw that Roosevelt had neither coerced Shaw nor overruled him. Roosevelt enjoyed being president and was still relatively youthful, but felt that a limited number of terms provided a check against dictatorship. Roosevelt ultimately decided to stick to his pledge not to run for a third term.
Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt
He personally favored Secretary of State Elihu Root as his successor, but Root's ill health made him an unsuitable candidate. New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes loomed as potentially strong candidate and shared Roosevelt's progressivism, but Roosevelt disliked him and considered him to be too independent. Roosevelt and Taft had been friends since , and Taft had consistently supported President Roosevelt's policies. Do you want any action about those federal officials?
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I will break their necks with the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word! In the election , Taft easily defeated the Democratic nominee, three-time candidate William Jennings Bryan. Taft promoted a progressivism that stressed the rule of law; he preferred that judges rather than administrators or politicians make the basic decisions about fairness. Taft usually proved to be a less adroit politician than Roosevelt and lacked the energy and personal magnetism, along with the publicity devices, the dedicated supporters, and the broad base of public support that made Roosevelt so formidable.
When Roosevelt realized that lowering the tariff would risk creating severe tensions inside the Republican Party by pitting producers manufacturers and farmers against merchants and consumers, he stopped talking about the issue. Taft ignored the risks and tackled the tariff boldly, encouraging reformers to fight for lower rates, and then cutting deals with conservative leaders that kept overall rates high.
The resulting Payne-Aldrich tariff of , signed into law early in President Taft's tenure, was too high for most reformers, and Taft's handling of the tariff alienated all sides. While the crisis was building inside the Party, Roosevelt was touring Africa and Europe, to allow Taft to be his own man. Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11, animals, [] from insects and moles to hippopotamuses and elephants.
The 1, large animals included big game animals, including six rare white rhinos. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington; it took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate specimens with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, "I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum , the American Museum of Natural History , and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned".
After his safari, Roosevelt traveled north to embark on a tour of Europe. Stopping first in Egypt, he commented favorably on British rule of the region, giving his opinion that Egypt was not yet ready for independence, paralleling his views about the Philippines. In Oslo, Norway , Roosevelt delivered a speech calling for limitations on naval armaments, a strengthening of the Permanent Court of Arbitration , and the creation of a "League of Peace" among the world powers. Roosevelt had attempted to refashion Taft into a younger version of himself, but as soon as Taft began to display his individuality, the former president expressed his disenchantment.
He was offended on election night when Taft indicated that his success had been possible not just through the efforts of Roosevelt, but also his brother Charley. Roosevelt was further alienated when Taft, intent on becoming his own man, did not consult him about cabinet appointments. Returning from Europe, Roosevelt urged progressives to take control of the Republican Party at the state and local level, and to avoid splitting the party in a way that would hand the presidency to the Democrats in Additionally, Roosevelt expressed optimism about the Taft Administration after meeting with the president in the White House in June Advocating a program of " New Nationalism ", Roosevelt emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests, a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Taft had pledged his support to Roosevelt in this endeavor, and Roosevelt was outraged when Taft's support failed to materialize at the state convention. Among the newly elected Democrats was New York state senator Franklin Delano Roosevelt , who argued that he represented his cousin's policies better than his Republican opponent. The Republican progressives interpreted the defeats as compelling argument for the complete reorganization of the party in Between January and April , Roosevelt wrote a series of articles for The Outlook, defending what he called "the great movement of our day, the progressive nationalist movement against special privilege, and in favor of an honest and efficient political and industrial democracy".
However, Roosevelt was still unwilling to run against Taft in ; he instead hoped to run in against whichever Democrat beat Taft in In November , a group of Ohio Republicans endorsed Roosevelt for the party's nomination for president; the endorsers included James R. Garfield and Dan Hanna. This was notable, as the endorsement was made by leaders of President Taft's home state.
Roosevelt conspicuously declined to make a statement requested by Garfield—that he flatly refuse a nomination. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt said, "I am really sorry for Taft I am sure he means well, but he means well feebly, and he does not know how! He is utterly unfit for leadership and this is a time when we need leadership. Roosevelt began to envision himself as the savior of the Republican Party from defeat in the upcoming presidential election. In February , Roosevelt announced in Boston, "I will accept the nomination for president if it is tendered to me.
I hope that so far as possible the people may be given the chance through direct primaries to express who shall be the nominee. The primaries represented the first extensive use of the presidential primary , a reform achievement of the progressive movement. These primary elections, while demonstrating Roosevelt's continuing popularity with the electorate, were not pivotal. The final credentials of the state delegates at the national convention were determined by the national committee, which was controlled by the party leaders, headed by the incumbent president.
Prior to the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt expressed doubt about his prospects for victory, noting that Taft had more delegates and control of the credentials committee. His only hope was to convince party leaders that the nomination of Taft would hand the election to the Democrats, but party leaders were determined not to cede their leadership to Roosevelt. Once his defeat at the Republican convention appeared probable, Roosevelt announced that he would "accept the progressive nomination on a progressive platform and I shall fight to the end, win or lose".
At the same time, Roosevelt prophetically said, "My feeling is that the Democrats will probably win if they nominate a progressive".
It was popularly known as the "Bull Moose Party", after Roosevelt told reporters, "I'm as fit as a bull moose". Roosevelt's platform echoed his —8 proposals, calling for vigorous government intervention to protect the people from the selfish interests:. To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day. Its resources, its business, its laws, its institutions, should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest.
This assertion is explicit Wilson must know that every monopoly in the United States opposes the Progressive party Ours was the only program to which they objected, and they supported either Mr. Though many Progressive party supporters in the North were supporters of civil rights for blacks, Roosevelt did not give strong support to civil rights and ran a " lily-white " campaign in the South. Rival all-white and all-black delegations from four southern states arrived at the Progressive national convention, and Roosevelt decided to seat the all-white delegations.
The bullet lodged in his chest after penetrating his steel eyeglass case and passing through a thick 50 pages single-folded copy of the speech titled " Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual ", which he was carrying in his jacket. Instead, he delivered his scheduled speech with blood seeping into his shirt.
His opening comments to the gathered crowd were, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. Doctors concluded that it would be less dangerous to leave it in place than to attempt to remove it, and Roosevelt carried the bullet with him for the rest of his life. After the Democrats nominated Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey, Roosevelt did not expect to win the general election, as Wilson had compiled a record attractive to many progressive Democrats who might have otherwise considered voting for Roosevelt.
Roosevelt respected Wilson, but the two differed on various issues; Wilson opposed any federal intervention regarding women's suffrage or child labor he viewed these as state issues , and attacked Roosevelt's tolerance of large businesses. Roosevelt, meanwhile, garnered a higher share of the popular vote than any other third party presidential candidate in history. To finance the expedition, Roosevelt received support from the American Museum of Natural History in return for promising to bring back many new animal specimens.
Once in South America, a new, far more ambitious goal was added: It was later renamed Roosevelt River in honor of the former President. The initial expedition started somewhat tenuously on December 9, , at the height of the rainy season. The trip down the River of Doubt started on February 27, During the trip down the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound after he jumped into the river to try to prevent two canoes from smashing against the rocks. The flesh wound he received, however, soon gave him tropical fever that resembled the malaria he had contracted while in Cuba fifteen years before.
By then, he could not walk because of the infection in his injured leg and an infirmity in the other, which was due to a traffic accident a decade earlier. Regarding his condition as a threat to the survival of the others, Roosevelt insisted he be left behind to allow the poorly provisioned expedition to proceed as rapidly as it could. Only an appeal by his son persuaded him to continue. Upon Roosevelt's return to New York, friends and family were startled by his physical appearance and fatigue.
Roosevelt wrote, perhaps prophetically, to a friend that the trip had cut his life short by ten years. For the rest of his few remaining years, he would be plagued by flare-ups of malaria and leg inflammations so severe as to require surgery. When he had recovered sufficiently, he addressed a standing-room-only convention organized in Washington, D. Roosevelt returned to the United States in May Though he was outraged by the Wilson Administration 's conclusion of a treaty that expressed "sincere regret" for the way in which the United States had acquired the Panama Canal Zone, he was impressed by many of the reforms passed under Wilson.
Roosevelt made several campaign appearances for the Progressives, but the elections were a disaster for the fledgling third party.
When the Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes, Roosevelt declined the Progressive nomination and urged his Progressive followers to support the Republican candidate. However, Wilson won the election by a narrow margin. When World War I began in , Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights.
In March , Congress gave Roosevelt the authority to raise a maximum of four divisions similar to the Rough Riders , and Major Frederick Russell Burnham was put in charge of both the general organization and recruitment. It is said that Quentin's death distressed Roosevelt so much that he never recovered from his loss.
Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the off-year elections of He declined a request from New York Republicans to run for another gubernatorial term, but attacked Wilson's Fourteen Points , calling instead for the unconditional surrender of Germany. He was cautiously optimistic about the proposed League of Nations , but had reservations about its impact on United States sovereignty. His family and supporters threw their support behind Roosevelt's old military companion, General Leonard Wood , but Taft supporter Warren G.
Harding defeated Wood on the tenth ballot of the Republican National Convention. On the night of January 5, , Roosevelt suffered breathing problems. After receiving treatment from his physician, Dr. Faller, he felt better and went to bed. Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant James Amos.
Upon receiving word of his death, his son Archibald telegraphed his siblings: Marshall , said that "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight. Roosevelt was a prolific author, writing with passion on subjects ranging from foreign policy to the importance of the national park system. Roosevelt was also an avid reader of poetry. Poet Robert Frost said that Roosevelt "was our kind. He quoted poetry to me. As an editor of Outlook magazine, Roosevelt had weekly access to a large, educated national audience.
In all, Roosevelt wrote about 18 books each in several editions , including his autobiography, [] The Rough Riders , [] History of the Naval War of , [] and others on subjects such as ranching, explorations, and wildlife. His most ambitious book was the four volume narrative The Winning of the West , focused on the American frontier in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In , Roosevelt became embroiled in a widely publicized literary debate known as the nature fakers controversy. Roberts , and William J. Long for their fantastical representations of wildlife.
Roosevelt agreed with Burroughs's criticisms, and published several essays of his own denouncing the booming genre of "naturalistic" animal stories as "yellow journalism of the woods". It was the President himself who popularized the negative term "nature faker" to describe writers who depicted their animal characters with excessive anthropomorphism. Roosevelt intensely disliked being called "Teddy", and was quick to point out this fact to those who referred to him as such, though it would become widely used by newspapers during his political career.
He attended church regularly, and was a lifelong adherent of the Reformed Church in America , an American affiliate of the Dutch Reformed Church. In , concerning the motto "In God We Trust" on money, he wrote, "It seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements. Roosevelt had a lifelong interest in pursuing what he called, in an speech, " The Strenuous Life ".
To this end, he exercised regularly and took up boxing, tennis, hiking, rowing, polo, and horseback riding. As governor of New York, he boxed with sparring partners several times each week, a practice he regularly continued as President until being hit so hard in the face he became blind in his left eye a fact not made public until many years later.
Thereafter, he practiced judo, attaining a third degree brown belt; he also continued his habit of skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the winter. Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player and, according to Harper's Weekly , showed up at a White House reception with his arm bandaged after a bout with General Leonard Wood in Along with Thomas Jefferson, Roosevelt was the most well-read of all American presidents.
Roosevelt talked a great deal about religion. Biographer Edmund Morris states:. When consoling bereaved people, he would awkwardly invoke 'unseen and unknown powers. Roosevelt publicly encouraged church attendance, and was a conscientious churchgoer himself. When gas rationing was introduced during the First World War, he walked the three miles from his home at Sagamore Hill to the local church and back, even after a serious operation had made it difficult for him to travel by foot.
Reisner, writing in shortly after Roosevelt's death, "Religion was as natural to Mr. Roosevelt as breathing," [] and when the travel library for Roosevelt's famous Smithsonian-sponsored African expedition was being assembled, the Bible was, according to his sister, "the first book selected. Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes what a very large number of people tend to forget, that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally—I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally—impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed.
We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less of resolution, strive to raise ourselves. Almost every man who has by his lifework added to the sum of human achievement of which the race is proud, has based his lifework largely upon the teachings of the Bible Among the greatest men a disproportionately large number have been diligent and close students of the Bible at first hand. When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many conservatives, stating, "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance.
He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards.
Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. Theodore Roosevelt was born on 27 October in New York, son of a wealthy businessman. He was elected as a Republican and re-elected twice more, leading the Republicans.
Biographical
In , he spent two years as a cattle rancher in Dakota Territory and then became a writer, including a four-volume history of America's westward expansion published - In , Roosevelt became president of the New York City police board. The following year, he was appointed assistant secretary to the navy by Republican President William McKinley. Roosevelt strongly supported expanding US naval power as a means of increasing America's presence in world affairs.
In September , McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt became president. He was elected in his own right in His presidency was notable for introducing anti-monopolistic reforms designed to limit the powers of large corporations. In addition he established America's first national park, in Florida, in and first national monument, in Wyoming, in In foreign affairs, Roosevelt declared that the US should 'speak softly and carry a big stick'.
He believed US security would be enhanced when other nations knew that the country would protect its interests with the threat of war. His corollary to the Monroe Doctrine prevented the establishment of foreign bases in the Caribbean and arrogated the sole right of intervention in Latin America to the United States.