The 26th POTUS Theodore Roosevelt was born on this day in 1858.

Ten Notes On Theodore Roosevelt

1. Both Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife- Alice Lee and his mother died on the same day/same year-Valentine’s Day 1884 in the same house in New York City. TR would never mention his wife’s name again after her death. He was only 25 years old. In his diary he wrote a large X.. and then ” The light has gone out of my life” He would finish up his work in the New York Legislature and then head out west to the Dakota’s where he would start to rebuild his life.

2, Theodore Roosevelt’s father also Theodore Roosevelt was according to his son ‘the finest man he ever knew.” The Roosevelt’s were very well off. They lived in New York City. Roosevelt’s father was a philanthropist. The one thing that the elder Roosevelt did that his son was ashamed of was to hire a substitute soldier during the Civil War instead of going to fight himself. TR would as an adult seem hell bent on correcting the mistake of his fathers by accomplishing great things on the battlefield himself.

3. Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest POTUS in American history. He was 42 when President McKinley was assassinated and Vice President Roosevelt became POTUS. The youngest elected POTUS is John Kennedy. He would serve out the rest of McKinley’s term [3 and a half years} and would win on his own in 1904. He did not run for re-election in 1908 which was a major mistake. He ran again as a third party candidate in 1912 in a three way race he finished second behind Woodrow Wilson and ahead of the President Taft. Had he lived it is thought by most historians that he would have been the man to beat in 1920.

4. TR was 5’8″ 200 pounds. He had blue eyes and brown hair. He was not an attractive figure but he more than made up for that with his personality. If you met this POTUS it was an event you would remember the rest of your life. He was a man in constant motion. Some of the POTUS we’ve had you look at and think, there is no way they could win an election in modern times, I don’t think TR would have a problem at all. If I could go back in time and meet a POTUS I’d want to meet TR and Lincoln.

5. Before his presidency TR was a member of the New York state assembly, a member of the US Civil Service commission,  Police commissioner of NYC, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York and Vice-President of the United States. Throw in rancher and author. He would write over 40 books in his life. He was interested in everything.

6. TR’s greatest achievements as POTUS. Building the Panama Canal, his conservation achievements-he created 150 National Forests, 5 National Parks, 18 National Monuments, 4 National Game Preserves, 21 Reclamation Projects, and 51 National Bird Reservations. He created 230 million acres of land that was federally protected. He made the presidency strong again. After the Lincoln presidency the power of the presidency took a hit. We had a number of weak presidents. Congress became more powerful. TR brought the presidency into modern times. TR’s trust busting.

7. In November 1906 POTUS Roosevelt became the first POTUS to travel outside of the United States during his presidency by going to Panama. TR was also the first American to win the Nobel Prize when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his work in ending the Russo-Japanese War.

8. TR’s brother Elliott was the father of Eleanor Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt was a distant cousin of TR’s. FDR would pattern his life in many ways after TR. He would also become an assistant Secretary of the Navy, he was a failed candidate for Vice President in 1920 and a Governor of New York.

9. TR had health issues from the time he was a young boy with asthma. He was bound and determined though to live a vigorous life. In the White House he was boxing an a blow to the eye left him blind in one eye for the rest of his life. At the age of 22 a doctor examining his heart told him that if he didn’t abandon all strenuous activity that he might die. There was no way TR was going to abandon the ‘strenuous life’ TR would die at the ago of 60 in 1919.

10. A lot of good books out there about Theodore Roosevelt the best being by far the Edmund Morris trilogy of books “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” “Theodore Rex” and “Colonel Roosevelt” A masterful work.