Theodore Roosevelt

A Strenuous Life David C. Hanson

Virginia Western Com. College

"I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life; I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well."

“The highest form of success comes to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph…. Let us boldly face the life of strife, resolute to do our duty well and manfully; resolute to uphold righteousness by deed and by word; resolute to be both honest and brave, to serve high ideals, yet to use practical methods. Above all, let us shrink from no strife, moral or physical… provided we are certain that the strife is justified.”

--TR, The Doctrine of the Strenuous Life (1899)

Whether in his exploits with Western cowboys and outlaws, leading the Rough Riders in Cuba, rattling Wall Street plutocrats, or battling political adversaries in Congress, Roosevelt always enjoyed a good fight.

During his presidency, Roosevelt maintained an active life of horseback riding, tennis, hiking, swimming, hunting, polo, rowing, wrestling, boxing, and judo.  He often led visiting foreign dignitaries to the White House on strenuous swims in the Potomac and hikes in Washington's Rock Creek Park.  Among family and friends he was famous for challenging outdoor romps.

Teddy was the second of four children born into a wealthy New York family on October 27, 1858. His father, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., was a successful businessman and prominent philanthropist.

Young “Thee” was a bookish and sickly child.  To overcome severe asthma, at the urging of his father, he began a strenuous regimen of exercise and outdoor activity that would become a lifelong obsession.

Teddy was studying at Harvard when his father unexpectedly died of cancer at age 47. He overcame his grief, graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1880, and married Alice Lee. In 1882 he was elected to the New York Assembly.

Politics was considered unseemly for someone of Roosevelt's social class, but he inherited a strong commitment to public service from his father, and he enjoyed the combativeness. Young Mr. Roosevelt quickly earned a reputation for integrity, tenacity and courage through his efforts on behalf of "good government."

In 1884 his wife gave birth to a daughter named Alice (after her mother); within days both TR’s wife (just 23 years old) and his mother died.  Emotionally devastated, he wrote in his diary: "The light has gone out of my life." (He never wrote or spoke of Alice again.)  When the legislative session ended, Roosevelt sought relief in the great escape of the 19th century: the West.

From 1884 to 1886 Roosevelt lived the rough life of a rancher in the Badlands of Dakota Territory. 

Though the typical Eastern dude in some respects--with his fancy cowboy outfit, eyeglasses, books, clean language and hygiene--he soon gained the respect of the other ranchers. 

Roosevelt spent entire days in the saddle and was physically transformed, developing a deep tan, broad shoulders, a powerful chest, and a purposeful walk.  The western experience also deepened his love of the great outdoors.

Roosevelt sold his ranch in 1886 and returned to New York. After an unsuccessful bid for mayor, he married Edith Carrow and became a successful historian. Then in 1889 he was appointed to the U.S. Civil Service Commission. In 1895, at the age of 36, he was appointed New York City Police Commissioner.

Roosevelt campaigned for William McKinley in 1896, leading to a presidential appointment to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. In 1898 the U.S. went to war against Spain, and Roosevelt became a Lt. Colonel of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry.

On July 1, 1898, Col. Roosevelt led the “Rough Riders” to victory in the Battle of San Juan Hill. Roosevelt was nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor (awarded posthumously 100 years later).

A “certified war hero,” Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York and then nominated to become McKinley’s vice president in 1900. McKinley’s assassination in September 1901 made Roosevelt an accidental president.

At age 42, skeptics called him the “Boy President.” He brought his wife Edith and six children to the White House. Roosevelt wasted no time establishing himself as a strong and independent president.

His achievements in domestic affairs included trust-busting; helping settle the 1902 coal strike; and passage of the Elkins Act, Hepburn Act, Meat Inspection Act, Pure Food and Drug Act, and Newlands Act.

Many historians consider conservation of natural resources to be Roosevelt’s most important legacy in domestic affairs. He established 51 wildlife refuges, 150 national forests, 5 national parks, and 18 natural monuments (230 million acres).

His achievements in foreign affairs include: the Panama Canal, adding “teeth” to the Monroe Doctrine, sending the Great White Fleet around the world, and mediating the Russo-Japanese War (for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1905).

Roosevelt considered the Panama Canal to be his most important achievement in foreign affairs. It was also the most controversial demonstration of his famous saying: “speak softly and carry a big stick.”

After seven years as the nation’s President, Theodore Roosevelt retired from politics and went on an African safari in 1909(“a splendid adventure”), followed by a European tour.

In 1912 Roosevelt came out of retirement to challenge President Taft for the Republican nomination. TR won most of the primaries but was denied the nomination; so he ran as the Progressive “Bull Moose” candidate.

During the 1912 campaign, TR was shot in the chest by a would-be assassin. He survived… but lost the election to Democrat Woodrow Wilson (Taft finished third).

In 1913 Roosevelt led an expedition into the Brazilian jungle (“my last chance to be a boy”), exploring an uncharted river through the Amazon rainforest. He nearly died from an infected wound, malaria and dysentery. (The Brazilian government named the river Rio Roosevelt in his honor.)

Roosevelt’s physical health never fully recovered from his Brazilian adventure, but he remained active in national politics. In countless articles and speeches, he advocated progressive reform and military preparedness.

From the onset of the Great War in Europe (1914) until the reluctant entry of the U.S. in 1917, Roosevelt chided President Wilson for “cowardice.” All four of his sons volunteered for military service. The youngest, Quentin, was killed in an aerial dogfight.

Theodore Roosevelt died quietly in his sleep on January 9, 1919, at the age of sixty. Vice President Thomas Marshall said it best: Death had to take him while sleeping. If he had been awake there would have been a fight.”

"The worst of all fears is the fear of living.”

“I don't think any President ever enjoyed himself more than I did. Moreover, I don't think any ex-President ever enjoyed himself more....”

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” --Theodore Roosevelt (1910)