Welcome, deep divers. Okay, picture this. A man
just moments after being shot right in the chest.
Bullet still lodged deep inside him. He assesses
his own wound, decides it's not serious enough
to stop him, and then goes on to deliver a 90
-minute speech before getting any medical help.
It sounds like something out of a movie, doesn't
it? Exactly. But that's not some fictional hero.
That was Theodore Roosevelt. And that, well,
that's just one of these incredible, almost unbelievable
stories from the life of the 26th. President
of the United States. He was a figure of just
immense energy, sharp intellect, and as we're
definitely going to discover, some really profound
contradictions. Yeah, contradiction is a good
word for him. Born in 1858, passed away in 1919,
Roosevelt lived a life so packed with experiences,
it honestly feels like several lifetimes crammed
into one. So today, our mission is to take a
real deep dive into all the diverse sources we've
gathered. You know, biographical accounts, policy
details, personal reflections, historical analysis,
the whole lot. And we want to uncover the most
fascinating insights into this Well, this American
icon, this isn't just going to be a surface level
glance. We're really going to unpack the pivotal
moments, the key policies that shaped him and
crucially, fundamentally reshaped the nation
he led. So get ready to really try and understand
the man behind the legend. And that's exactly
what makes this particular deep dive so, so compelling.
We're talking about a transformation that's.
It's almost mythological, isn't it? You go from
this sickly asthmatic kid to a revered war hero,
a brilliant naturalist, to a commanding president,
a trollific author, to a daring explorer. It's
quite the arc. It really is. And our goal isn't
just to list his accomplishments. It's to try
and figure out why he did what he did and maybe
why it mattered so much. Making those connections
between his early formative experiences and his
later really impactful leadership. So as we journey
through his personal life, tragedies and there
were some big ones his meteoric political rise
is really transformative presidency and it's
lasting and let's be honest often debated legacy
we're really hunting for those aha moments those
surprising connections that hopefully bring history
to life for you our curious listener okay let's
really unpack this journey then starting right
at the beginning Theodore Roosevelt born in New
York City October 27 1858 and surprisingly he's
the striking contrast to the robust you know,
vigorous figure we all picture. He was a sickly
child plagued by these debilitating asthma attacks
that were, well, terrifying for him, obviously,
but also left his parents feeling pretty helpless.
Doctors back then, they just didn't have a cure.
Yeah, it must have been terrifying for the whole
family. Yeah. You know, seeing your child struggle
to breathe like that. Absolutely. Yet, despite
these really severe physical limitations, young
Theodore, or TD, as they called him, had this
almost boundless energy and a mischievously inquisitive
spirit. His lifelong fascination with zoology,
for instance, it sparked when he was just seven,
after seeing a dead seal at a local market. Simple
encounter, but profound for him. Right. Just
seeing seal. Yeah. He didn't just look at it.
He was so captivated. He actually got the seal's
head. And with his cousins, they started what
they called the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.
Wow. By age nine, he's already writing down his
observations meticulously in a paper he called
The Natural History of Insects. This wasn't just,
you know, a kid's hobby, was it? Absolutely not.
No way. This is a deep, enduring passion. It
really laid the groundwork for so much later
on that early sort of hands -on scientific curiosity.
It wasn't just about collecting things. Right.
It was about observing, classifying, trying to
understand the natural world in detail. It shows
this intense intellectual drive, this desire
to impose order on chaos, which, if you think
about it, is kind of a pattern you see throughout
his life, whether it's science or politics. That's
a fantastic point. And his path to that famous
physicality, the whole strenuous life idea, that
also started quite early. In 1869, during a family
trip, hiking in the Alps, he makes this remarkable
discovery. physical exertion actually seemed
to minimize his asthma symptoms? and it boosted
his spirits significantly. This was like a light
bulb moment. Ah, so that was the trigger. Yeah,
it ignited this fierce dedication to exercise.
He later talked about this incident during a
camping trip where he was manhandled by older
boys, felt humiliated. That became a pivotal
moment. He gets home, immediately finds a boxing
coach, commits himself to this really rigorous
training regimen. So this wasn't just about getting
healthy, was it? This was a conscious, almost
defiant choice to, like, forge himself into a
stronger person. Oh, definitely. It was way more
than just health. It was about building character,
that early determination, you know, to conquer
his asthma, to deliberately build himself up
physically. It wasn't just a physical transformation.
It directly shaped his whole worldview, his future
strenuous life philosophy. It instilled this
core belief. You meet challenges head on with
relentless effort. And that really became the
bedrock of his public persona, didn't it? setting
the stage for all his later political and military
ambitions. He literally decided to fight his
own body. It's incredible when you think about
it that way. He was mainly homeschooled, which
resulted in an uneven, but remarkably strong
education. He was great at geography, history,
biology, French, German. But he did struggle
with math, Latin, Greek, the classics. He then
entered Harvard in 1876, already a young man
with this deep intellectual curiosity and this
growing physical strength. Quite the combination
already. During his time at Harvard, though,
a really profound personal tragedy struck. His
father, Theodore Roosevelt, died suddenly in
1878. This loss just devastated him. Mm. A huge
blow. Huge. Despite this emotional blow, Roosevelt
inherited a significant amount of money, $60
,000 back then, which, you know, for context,
is like $1 .66 million today. Wow. OK. So he
was set for life, basically. Exactly. Enough
money to live comfortably forever. Yet he chose
this path of relentless public service. He didn't
want a life of leisure. It also highlights his
moral compass. Even then, he was a dedicated
Sunday school teacher at Harvard. And when the
Episcopal minister insisted he converts to Episcopalianism
to keep teaching there, Roosevelt said no. Instead,
he chose to teach a mission class in a poor part
of Cambridge. Shows his commitment to service
over, well, dogma. That decision really speaks
volumes, doesn't it? It underscores his independence,
his moral priorities. He wasn't just comfortable
with his privilege. He felt this profound responsibility
to serve and rejecting a requirement that clashed
with his conscience. Choosing instead to teach
somewhere less prestigious, but maybe more impactful.
That tells you a lot about the man he was becoming.
driven by a personal sense of duty, not just
social expectations. Absolutely. His academic
life at Harvard continued to show that same mix
of intellectual brilliance and very specific
interests. He'd excelled in science, philosophy,
rhetoric, still struggled with Latin and Greek.
Still the classics, huh? Still the classics.
But he was an incredibly accomplished naturalist,
even published as an ornithologist. And he had
this almost photographic memory, apparently,
which led him just to devour books. What are
you saying? graduated Phi Beta Kappa, ranked
22nd out of 177, magna cum laude. Pretty impressive.
Yet, surprisingly, he felt he obtained little
from Harvard, expressed disappointment with the
formalistic treatment of many subjects. Too much
focus on tiny details, maybe not enough on the
big picture. Interesting. So even then, he was
looking for something more practical, more connected
to the real world. Seems like it. After Harvard,
he initially thought about studying natural science,
but then changed course, went to Columbia Law
School. Okay, law school. Seems more conventional.
Right. But he quickly found the study of law
irrational, not grounded enough in tangible results
for him, I guess. So he dropped out. Dropped
out. Yeah. Which was an incredibly unorthodox
move for someone of his social class back then.
Most of his peers avoided politics, saw it as
kind of a dirty business. But Roosevelt was determined
to jump in. Right into the fray. He found allies
in New York's 21st District Republican Association,
got elected to the New York State Assembly, and
he made an immediate impact. Blocked the financier
Jay Gould's corrupt attempt to lower his taxes,
exposed collusion. His anti -corruption stuff
was so popular he won reelection by more than
two to one. So he hit the ground running. No
fear. None at all. And it wasn't just current
politics that grabbed him. While he was still
at Harvard, Roosevelt started this really systematic,
extensive study of the U .S. Navy's role in the
War of 1812. OK, naval history now. He had broad
interests. Very broad. This scholarly work led
to his 1882 publication, The Naval War of 1812,
a book that was widely praised for its scholarship,
its style. And remarkably, it's still considered
a standard study of the war today. That's genuinely
remarkable. He's already thinking strategic.
strategically about naval power and not just
historically. How much do you think that early
systematic interest, maybe even before Mahon's
famous work on sea power came out, how much did
that shape his later actions, you know, as Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, as president? It had to
be significant. It speaks to a very long -term,
almost visionary strategic mind, doesn't it?
thinking decades ahead, really. Absolutely. It
wasn't just a historical interest. It feels like
it was a foundational piece of his whole view
on geopolitics, which definitely came out later.
Now we get to one of the most poignant, just
devastating periods of his life. OK. In 1880,
Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee, a socialite.
Their daughter, Alice Lee Roosevelt, was born
February 12, 1884. Just two days later, February
14th, Valentine's Day, a day he'd forever mark
with a big X in his diary. Oh, no. Tragedy struck
twice, brutally. His wife, Alice, died of undiagnosed
kidney failure. And on the very same day, his
mother, Martha, died of typhoid fever. On the
same day, both his wife and mother. On the exact
same day, it's almost unimaginable the double
loss was just crushing. In his diary, he just
wrote, the light has gone out of my life. The
grief was so intense he rarely spoke of his first
wife, Alice, again. And he conspicuously left
her out of his autobiography that tells you something.
Wow. Just unbearable grief. Totally. Distraught,
needing some kind of outlet, he left baby Alice
with his sister and sought this really radical
form of recuperation. What did he do? He went
west, headed straight for the untamed wilderness
of the Dakota Territory, invested $14 ,000, which
is like $390 ,000 today in a cattle ranch. Complete
change of scene. Complete change. The raw, challenging
western lifestyle turned out to be exhilarating
for him. He learned to ride western style, rope,
hunt. fully embraced the whole rancher persona.
He even wrote books like Hunting Trips of a Ranch
Man and Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail. and
in them he really praised the stern manly qualities
of cowboys. Seems like a clear reflection of
his own need for resilience for strength after
that terrible loss. It's almost like he was consciously
trying to forge a new version of himself through,
you know, sheer physical effort and facing these
harsh realities out there. How much do you think
that period, that raw frontier living shaped
by such intense personal loss really molded his
character and truly imbued him with that strenuous
life philosophy that became so central later,
it wasn't just an escape, was it? No, not at
all. I think you're right. It was where he really
honed those ideas about manliness, resilience,
the value of facing harsh realities head on.
This was the... the crucible that forged the
strength, the moral vigor he'd show throughout
his public life. Makes sense. And it wasn't just
personal development either. Beyond his own pursuits,
he quickly got involved in the early conservation
movement and frontier law enforcement. He organized
local ranchers into the Little Missouri Stockmans
Association to deal with issues like overgrazing.
Ah, early conservationist stirrings. Definitely.
He also formed the Boon and Crockett Club, dedicated
to conserving large game animals and their habitats,
a clear sign of his later environmental policies.
And, you know, testament to his man -of -action
thing, he even served as a deputy sheriff in
Billings County, North Dakota, famously hunted
down some boat thieves. Wow, a deputy sheriff
too. He really threw himself into it. He did.
But the harsh realities of the West eventually
caught up. The severe winter of 1886, 1887 wiped
out a huge chunk of his cattle herd. He lost
over half of his $80 ,000 investment. Ouch, that's
a big loss. Big loss. With his ranching dreams
kind of dashed, he returned to New York, shedding
that potentially damaging label of being an ineffectual
intellectual and ready to get back into politics.
So the West forged him, but ultimately sent him
back east. Pretty much. Back in York, a new chapter
of his personal life started. In London in 1886,
he married his childhood friend, Edith Kermit
-Carrow, despite some initial family resistance,
you know, because of timing after his first wife's
death. Right, that must have been delicate. Yeah.
Together they had five children. And Edith also
raised his daughter from his first marriage,
Alice, who, it has to be said, often clashed
with her stepmother, made for a rather complex
family dynamic, apparently. Hmm, blended families
are never simple. True. Upon his return, Republican
leaders approached him out running for mayor
of New York City in 1886. Roosevelt accepted,
even though he didn't have much hope of winning
against some tough opponents. Okay, back into
the political ring. Campaigned hard, but finished
third with 27 % of the vote. Fearing his political
career might be over, he once again turned to
writing. Ah, the writing fallback again. Yep.
penned The Winning of the West, this big four
-volume narrative exploring the American character
forged on the frontier. It turned out to be a
huge success, got great reviews, sold out its
first printing. You know, this really highlights
that recurring theme in his life, doesn't it?
When politics goes sour or he faces personal
setbacks, he often turns to writing. It's true.
And it's not just a hobby, right? It's a way
to solidify his intellectual side, his historical
credentials, process things, articulate his philosophies.
His books became a really significant part of
his public identity, often laying the groundwork
for his future political ideas. He was building
his intellectual foundation even when his political
career seemed, well, stalled. Theodore Roosevelt's
path towards the White House, it was absolutely
marked by this relentless drive for reform, often
putting him directly against the entrenched political
machines of the time. He wasn't afraid of a fight.
Not at all. After supporting Benjamin Harrison's
successful 1888 campaign, Roosevelt got appointed
to the United States Civil Service Commission
in 1889. He served there until 1895. Now, unlike
a lot of guys before him who saw the job as a
sinecure, basically, you know, a cushy job with
little work. Right, just collect the paycheck.
Roosevelt immediately fought the spoilsmen. demanded
strict enforcement of civil service laws, replacing
political favors with merit -based hiring. The
Sun newspaper called him irrepressible, belligerent,
and enthusiastic. He even famously clashed with
the postmaster general, John Wanamaker, over
appointments. But President Harrison backed him
up. His commitment was so clear that even the
Democratic president, Grover Cleveland, reappointed
him later. That's a really crucial detail, actually,
because it shows his unwavering commitment to
merit over patronage. That became a defining
characteristic for his whole career. Yeah. He
was willing to cross party lines, even stand
up to his own party for these principles. This
early experience really cemented his reputation
as this incorruptible reformer, someone who put
good government above politics. It set a precedent
for everything that came later. He was laying
the groundwork for his square deal. way before
he called it that. He absolutely was. His reformist
energy then took him to New York City. In 1895,
Mayor William Lafayette Strong appointed him
president of the New York City Board of Police
Commissioners. Okay, tackling the NYPD, that's
a big job. Huge job. And he brought radical change,
implemented regular firearms inspections, required
physical exams for officers, pushed for merit
-based recruitment, not political connections,
established meritorious service medals, closed
down corrupt police lodging houses, even had
telephones installed in station houses, modernizing
a system that desperately needed it. Wow, he
really shook things up. He did. And during this
time, in 1894, Roosevelt met Jacob Rees, who
you could call one of the original muckraking
journalists, a term Ironically, Roosevelt himself
would later make famous. Right, the irony. Reese's
powerful book, How the Other Half Lives, had
exposed the terrible living conditions of New
York's immigrants, especially in crime -ridden
Mulberry Street. Reese famously said about Roosevelt,
No one ever helped as he did. For two years,
we were brothers in Mulberry Street. For the
first time, a moral purpose came into the street.
That's high praise. It is. And Roosevelt wasn't
just sitting in an office, right? He was out
on the streets, often walking officers' beats
later. at night, early morning, making sure they
were actually on duty, seeing the problems firsthand.
This direct immersion in the city's underbelly
profoundly shaped his understanding of urban
poverty and the need for social reform. It's
an incredible image, isn't it? A man like Roosevelt,
from his background, walking police beats at
night, engaging directly with the struggles of
the poor. Yeah. It really highlights his fundamental
belief in direct action and experiential learning.
He did just read reports about problems. He wanted
to live them, understand them the ground up.
That hands -on approach to reform, it defined
his leadership for years. It really cemented
that man of action image. Roosevelt's national
profile kept rising, which led to his appointment
as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897 by
President McKinley. Okay, moving up to the federal
level. Yep. With Secretary Long often in poor
health, Roosevelt gained significant influence.
Deeply influenced by naval theorist Alfred Thayer
Mahan, he became this vocal advocate for a big
naval buildup, especially battleships. And he
was adamant that Spain had to get out of Cuba.
Already pushing for a strong foreign policy.
Very much so. His foreign policy views back then
were quite provocative. He openly talked about
his priorities, interfering for the Cubans on
grounds of humanity and self -interest, freeing
America from European dominance and critically,
the benefit done our military forces by trying
both the Navy and Army in actual practice. Wow,
trying them in actual practice. He saw war as
almost necessary training. It sounds like it,
doesn't it? He saw a direct link between national
strength and military experience, and this philosophy
soon got put to the test. February 15, 1898,
the USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor. The
flashpoint. Exactly. While McKinley was trying
for a diplomatic solution, Roosevelt famously,
and without approval from his boss or the president,
unilaterally sent orders to several naval vessels
to prepare for war. He just did it. Just did
it. George Dewey, who Roosevelt had helped get
appointed to lead the Asiatic squadron, later
credited Roosevelt's unauthorized orders for
his huge victory at Manila Bay. Eventually, McKinley
declared war. The Spanish -American War began.
So Roosevelt kind of forced the issue, in a way.
You could argue that. With the war starting,
Roosevelt promptly resigned from the Navy Department,
much to the dismay of his wife and friends, to
form the first U .S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment
with Army Colonel Leonard Wood. The Rough Riders.
The Rough Riders, yep, nicknamed that by the
press. This incredibly diverse unit was flooded
with applications. Ivy Leaguers, athletes, frontiersmen,
Native Americans, you name it, all eager to join
their charismatic leader. Quite the mix. They
landed in Decary, Cuba, June 23, 1898. Roosevelt
got his first taste of combat at the Battle of
Las Cuasimas. But most famously, July 1st, the
Rough Riders became legendary for their charges
up Kettle Hill and San Juan Hill. The famous
charge. The famous charge. Roosevelt, apparently
the only soldier on horseback, rode back and
forth right at the front. urging the advance,
even without direct orders. He later called it
the great day of my life. This military experience
just catapulted him to national hero status.
I mean, being the only soldier on horseback charging
up that hill. How much do you think that specific
moment solidified his image and just propelled
him forward politically? Oh, hugely. Immensely.
That San Juan Hill charge became the absolute
cornerstone of his public image. It solidified
this warrior persona in his own mind and definitely
in the public's mind. He even preferred being
called Colonel Roosevelt after he came back to
civilian life. It ingrained this whole idea of
decisive, direct action, physical courage, which
served him incredibly well politically, didn't
it? It became a defining characteristic people
expected from him. So that heroic return meant
he was practically unstoppable in New York politics,
right? Pretty much. He was quickly approached
by the Republican Party boss, Thomas C. Platt,
about running for governor of New York in 1898.
Now, Platt personally didn't like Roosevelt's
ambitious reform agenda. I bet he didn't. But
he knew he needed a strong candidate. And Roosevelt's
war record made him unbeatable. He campaigned
hard, won the governorship, though by a pretty
narrow 1 % margin. Still a wins a win. As governor,
Roosevelt really started to develop what would
become his square deal principles. He dove into
complex economic issues, tackling trusts, labor
relations, conservation. His program, he said,
rested firmly upon the concept of the square
deal by a neutral state, emphasizing honesty,
equitable sharing, putting state interests above
party concerns. So the ideas were forming. They
were. He pioneered political innovations, too.
Held twice daily press conferences to connect
directly with his middle class base. Successfully
pushed the Ford franchise tax bill, which taxed
public franchises held by corporations. Taking
on corporate power early. Definitely. He often
clashed with Platt, who expected to be consulted
on big appointments. Roosevelt kind of played
along, appeared to comply, but ultimately made
his own decisions, often appointed really first
straight people, even if Platt also approved
them. His governorship was a real proving ground,
wasn't it, for so many of the principles that
would define his presidency? Absolutely. You
know, public responsibility of big corporations,
transparency for trusts, railroad rate regulation,
mediating capital labor fights, conservation,
protecting the poor. It really was. His governorship
served as this vital testing ground for many
of the progressive policies he'd later champion
as president. It gave him a practical framework
for his evolving approach to balancing powerful
business interests with public welfare. You see
it directly taking shape with those square deal
ideas. That period was crucial for him to articulate
and refine his vision. He basically ran a miniature
progressive agenda in New York first. That's
a perfect way to put it. Now, here's where his
political path takes this incredibly unexpected
turn. November 1899, Vice President Garrett Hobart
dies, leaves an open spot on the 1900 Republican
ticket. Ah, an opening. Thomas Platt and other
party bosses who were frankly eager to get Roosevelt's
reformist agenda out of New York. Right. Kick
him upstairs. Exactly. They saw their chance.
They pushed him into the vice presidency, which
back then was seen as a pretty powerless position.
Roosevelt initially said he would not accept
the nomination, wanted to stay in New York, keep
pushing reforms, but he got outmaneuvered at
the 1900 Republican National Convention and,
well, ultimately accepted. So they sidelined
him or thought they did? They thought they did.
He threw himself into the campaign for the McKinley
Roosevelt ticket with his usual energy, made
480 stops in 23 states, used his war heroism
to contrast what he called William Jennings Bryan's
radicalism. Play the hero card. Big time. But
once in office, he found the VP job to be a powerless
sinecure, uneventful and boring for a guy like
him. It was during this time actually, September
2, 1901, that he first publicly used that famous
line, speak softly and carry a big stick and
you will go far. Ah, the origin of the phrase.
Well, Bored is VP. Exactly. And here's where
fate just steps in dramatically. This office,
which he found so dull, so constraining, suddenly
put him right on the edge of the most powerful
job in the world. Yeah. September 6th, 1901,
President McKinley is shot by an anarchist. Roosevelt,
who was vacationing in Vermont, rushes to Buffalo.
McKinley initially seems to recover, so Roosevelt,
maybe a bit too optimistically, relumes his vacation.
Oh, dear. Yeah. But McKinley's condition will
send dramatically. Roosevelt rushed back, learned
McKinley had died on September 14. That same
day at age 42, Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in
as the 26th president, became and still is the
youngest person ever to assume the office. Wow,
just like that. Youngest president ever. Youngest
ever. His ascension, well... It was met with
mixed feelings. Conservative Republicans feared
the impulsive young president would be a bucking
bronco. Reformers hoped he'd refashion the Republican
Party into the progressive force it had been
under Abraham Lincoln. High stakes, high expectations.
Totally. Roosevelt, for his part, made it clear.
He aimed to push forward the reactionaries in
Congress and appeal directly to the people. It
was a truly pivotal moment in American history.
So with the weight of the presidency suddenly
on his shoulders, Theodore Roosevelt didn't waste
any time putting his vision into action, did
he? especially through his square -deal domestic
policies. No time at all. One of his first really
bold moves, shortly after taking office, was
inviting Booker T. Washington to dinner at the
White House. Which was huge back then. Groundbreaking.
And it sparked this bitter reaction across the
segregated South. Roosevelt had initially planned
more dinners like that, but he later avoided
them to keep crucial political support in the
White South. A pragmatic choice, maybe, amidst
that intense backlash. Tough calculation politically.
Roosevelt quickly became known as the trust buster
for his aggressive, really unprecedented use
of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act. That was the
law meant to curb monopolies that hurt trade
and competition. A big shift from previous presidents.
Huge shift. He had a nuanced view, though. He
believed big business was essential, but he aggressively
went after bad trusts, the ones that restrained
trade, charged unfair prices, or generally acted
against the public good. So not anti business
per se, but anti bad business. Exactly. His administration
brought 44 antitrust suits. Compare that to just
18 combined by the three presidents before him.
He successfully broke up the Northern Securities
Company, that massive railroad monopoly, and
regulated Standard Oil, the dominant oil company.
taking on giants. To boost these efforts, even
though Congress was skeptical about its antitrust
powers, he created the Department of Commerce
and Labor, which included the Bureau of Corporations.
He skillfully appealed directly to the public
to pressure Congress, got the bill passed, showed
his mastery of public opinion. So, yeah, he wasn't
just blindly attacking all corporations. Not
at all. And that's the really crucial nuance,
isn't it? He wasn't anti -business. He was anti
-bad business. And that distinction, it allowed
him to champion these aggressive progressive
policies. which often challenged powerful corporate
interests while still operating within the Republican
Party, albeit with, you know, considerable internal
fights. Right. He understood that a healthy economy
needed big business, but it also needed oversight.
to stop abuses of power that hurt the average
person. It showed a really pragmatic side to
his progressivism. That pragmatic streak, it
also extended to labor relations. May 1902, there's
this big anthracite coal strike, flattened a
national energy shortage, could have crippled
the country. Our major crisis. Roosevelt steps
in, threatens the coal operators with federal
troops if they refuse to negotiate. This was
unprecedented presidential intervention. Wow,
using the military threat. Yeah. It led to arbitration.
Miners got more pay, fewer hours, though they
didn't get union recognition. But this marked
a historic moment. Roosevelt became the first
president to successfully help settle a labor
dispute. Famously declared, my action on labor
should always be considered in connection with
my action as regards capital, and both are reducible
to my favorite formula, a square deal for every
man. A square deal for every man. There it is.
Beyond corporations and labor, Roosevelt swiftly
tackled corruption within his own government,
rooted out misconduct in the Indian service,
the general land office, the post office department,
cleaning house. prosecuted corrupt Indian agents
who cheated tribes out of land, forced out officials
involved in land fraud. His special prosecutor,
about 146 indictments in the Oregon Land Office
bribery ring, 44 postal employees prosecuted
for bribery and fraud, underscored his commitment
to clean government. He wasn't messing around.
He also tackled railroad rates. Merchants had
long complained they were way too high. Working
with a Democrat, Senator Benjamin Tillman, Roosevelt
pushed for the Hepburn Act in 1906. This significantly
empowered the Interstate Commerce Commission,
the ICC. Gave it teeth. Exactly. Gave the ICC
power to set just and reasonable maximum rates,
extended its regulatory power over pipelines,
storage contracts, fundamentally changed how
those industries were overseen. Big regulatory
expansion. One of his most lasting achievements
in consumer protection came directly from public
look outrage, especially after Upton Sinclair's
book, The Jungle. Ah, yes, The Jungle. Horrifying
stuff. Detailed those unsanitary, dangerous practices
in meatpacking, Roosevelt responded, pushed Congress
to pass two landmark laws in 1906. The Meat Inspection
Act banned misleading labels, harmful preservatives,
and the Pure Food and Drug Act banned impure
or falsely labeled food and drugs. Foundational
consumer protection laws we still benefit from.
Absolutely, and showing a broader commitment
to public welfare, he also convened the first
White House conference on the care of dependent
children in 1909. So a wide range of domestic
reforms. But of all his accomplishments, Roosevelt
himself was proudest of his work in conserving
natural resources and extending federal protection
to land and wildlife. Yes, the conservation legacy
is huge. He partnered closely with Interior Secretary
James Rudolph Garfield and the chief of the Forest
Service, Gifford Pinchot. enacted this sweeping
series of conservation programs, often facing
resistance from Western members of Congress.
Who saw it as federal overreach, probably. Exactly.
Under him, the U .S. Forest Service was established,
five new national parks created. He signed the
1906 Antiquities Act, used it to proclaim 18
new U .S. national monuments, established the
first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves,
150 national forests, ultimately placed about
230 million acres under public protection. It's
a staggering amount, isn't it? It really is staggering.
And it highlights his extensive, often aggressive
use of executive orders, doesn't it? Yeah. He
reserves 150 million acres of forestry land during
his presidency and was completely unapologetic
about it despite all that congressional resistance.
There's that memorable story, right? When Senator
Fulton tried to stop him from reserving more
land with an amendment, Roosevelt established
an additional 21 forest reserves at the very
last minute, just before signing the bill. What
does that tell us about his views on presidential
power and his just unyielding dedication to conservation?
It tells us he saw it as a moral duty, absolutely,
and he was willing to use every single tool he
had, even outmaneuvering Congress, to get his
conservation goals met. Now, beyond domestic
reforms, Roosevelt's presidency really marked
America's emergence as a major player on the
world stage. Right, shifting to foreign policy.
After the Spanish -American war successes, getting
a new empire, having the world's largest economy,
Roosevelt actively sought global recognition
and influence for the U .S. Stepping onto the
world stage. He cultivated friendly relations
with Japan, even though he secretly favored them
in the Russo -Japanese War. He successfully mediated
the end of that war at Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
a huge effort that earned him the 1906 Nobel
Peace Prize, the first American to win any Nobel
Prize. Nobel Peace Prize winner. Quite something
for the big stick. It is. Amidst growing anti
-Japanese hostility in California, he negotiated
the Gentleman's Agreement in 1907 and did explicit
discrimination there in exchange for Japan agreeing
to limit unskilled immigration. A diplomatic
solution to a domestic problem. And he projected
American naval power by sending the Great White
Fleet on a world tour in 1908. Despite its intimidating
presence, the fleet got a joyous welcome in Japan,
helped facilitate the Route Takahira agreement,
reaffirming the status quo in Korea and the Philippines.
So projecting power, but also diplomacy. His
global vision also reached China. After the Boxer
Rebellion, foreign powers imposed these indemnities.
In 1908, Roosevelt used these funds for Boxer
indemnity scholarships, funding tens of thousands
of Chinese students to study in the U .S. over
the next 40 years, fostering goodwill, cultural
exchange. That's a really interesting long -term
investment in relations. In Europe, Roosevelt
acted as a key diplomat, a friend, mediated the
first Moroccan crisis, successfully evoted a
potential war between France and Germany, playing
peacemaker again. significantly strengthen ties
with Great Britain, the great rapprochement period,
helped by British support during the Spanish
-American War and their withdrawal from the Caribbean,
the 1901 Hay Ponce vote treaty, which got rid
of previous canal limitations, and the favorable
settlement of the Alaska boundary dispute, which
Roosevelt called the last serious trouble between
them, further cemented this alliance. Building
key alliances. However, Roosevelt's most ambitious
overseas project and where he really America's
ambitions was Latin America, especially for the
defense and construction of the Panama Canal.
Ah, the canal. big project. Huge. He dramatically
increased the Navy's size. By the end of his
second term, the U .S. had more battleships than
any country except Britain. Building that big
stick. In 1902, the Venezuelan crisis, Germany,
Britain, Italy, blockaded Venezuelan ports over
unpaid loans. Roosevelt deftly defused it, got
them to agree to arbitration. He was particularly
worried about German motives. Keeping Europe
out of the hemisphere. Exactly. This concern
ultimately led him to issue the Roosevelt Corollary
to the Roe Doctrine in 1904. This basically stated
that chronic wrongdoing by Latin American nations
might require intervention by some civilized
nation, and the U .S. would exercise an international
police power in the Western Hemisphere to prevent
European interference. A controversial doctrine.
Very controversial. The Panama Canal was his
crowning achievement in the region, though. Roosevelt
persuaded Congress to approve the Panamanian
route. When Colombia rejected the treaty, Roosevelt
supported a Panamanian rebellion. It succeeded
quickly, letting him sign a treaty with the new
Panama government in 1903. Supporting rebellion.
Also controversial. Highly criticized. Especially
for the $40 million payment to the Panama Canal
Company, allegations of undue influence in choosing
the route. Roosevelt vehemently denied corruption,
even filed libel charges against newspapers,
the Roosevelt Panama libel cases, though they
were dismissed. In 1906, he again showed his
interventionist stance, sending Secretary of
War Taft to monitor an insurrection in Cuba,
believing he could deploy Marines without Congress's
okay. This was a very active, very decisive approach
to foreign policy, wasn't it? Absolutely. Roosevelt's
foreign policy was deeply rooted in this realist,
even social Darwinist perspective. He really
viewed the international world as a realm of
violence and conflict. He genuinely saw the U
.S. as having a duty to act decisively as the
policeman of the region to prevent European incursions.
That idea was rooted in his belief in national
strength, strategic necessity. For him, power
imbalances required decisive action, and he wasn't
afraid to wield that big stick. He certainly
wasn't. Roosevelt was also a master of media.
truly transformed the White House into a center
of news, gave reporters unprecedented access
interviews, photo ops. The first modern media
president in a way. You could say that. Famously
noticed reporters huddled outside in the rain
one day and brilliant move gave them their own
room inside, effectively inventing the presidential
press briefing. Smart move. This grateful press,
with their better access, rewarded him with tons
of coverage. While he generally had close relationships
with the press, he did coined the term muckraker
in 1906 for those expose journalists, though
he himself was rarely their direct target. Interesting
dynamic with the press. As the 1904 election
neared, Roosevelt faced little real opposition
for the Republican nomination, secured it easily
with Charles Warren Fairbanks as his VP. Now,
incumbents traditionally didn't campaign actively.
Right, seen as unseemly. But Roosevelt broke
with tradition. meticulously controlled the campaign's
message, despite accusations of corporate campaign
contributions, especially from Standard Oil,
which he denied, though he did order some returns.
Huge. However, before his inauguration, he declared
he would not serve another term, a pledge that
would significantly impact his power as a lame
duck president later on. Ah, the lame duck pledge.
That would come back to bite him. It did. As
his second term went on, that pledge meant his
influence in Congress naturally started to wane,
especially as he moved to the left of his Republican
Party base. Pushing for more reforms. Yeah. He
started calling for a whole series of reforms
that Congress often just failed to pass. national
incorporation law, a federal income tax despite
previous Supreme Court rulings against it, an
inheritance tax, limits on court injunctions
against unions, an employee liability law for
industrial injuries, an eight -hour workday for
federal employees, a postal savings system, campaign
finance reform. Wow. A very progressive agenda
for the time, and Congress wasn't buying it.
Not much of it. His rhetoric during this period
got really intense, very moralistic, like his
denunciation of predatory wealth in a 1908 message
to Congress. What did he mean by that? He defined
it as the wealth accumulated on a giant scale
by all forms of iniquity. Accused some wealthy
men of banding together to discredit government
policy, maintain freedom from all restraint.
He believed their actions taught young men that
success could be built on dishonesty, equated
their methods with every form of criminality
on the part of a labor union and every form of
violence, corruption and fraud. powerful stuff,
especially for a Republican president back then.
It really was powerful stuff. And what's fascinating
here is that tension, isn't it, between his powerful,
almost moralistic rhetoric and the political
realities of being a lame duck president. Yeah.
While his influence might have weakened in Congress,
this period was crucial for solidifying his progressive
ideals. It allowed him to articulate this more
radical vision for government intervention. It
really set the stage for future ideological battles
within the Republican Party, showing his evolved
commitment to social justice even when the political
winds were against him. He wasn't just reacting,
he was setting a future agenda. So as his second
term drew to a close, Theodore Roosevelt decided
to honor that pledge not to run again. He genuinely
believed limited terms were vital to prevent
dictatorship. A principled stand, given his popularity.
It was. He carefully chose Secretary of War William
Howard Taft as his successor. Taft had consistently
supported his policies, been a close friend since
1890. Roosevelt was so determined to install
his chosen successor, he famously wrote to Taft,
Dear Will, do you want any action about those
federal officials? I will break their necks with
the utmost cheerfulness if you say the word.
Wow. Break their necks. That's some strong support.
Intense support. It ensured Taft's nomination
and his win in the 1908 election. However, Taft's
presidency quickly turned out differently than
Roosevelt had envisioned. How so? Taft, who was
a constitutional lawyer at heart, preferred promoting
progressivism through the rule of law, through
judges. A real contrast to Roosevelt's more political,
direct action approach. Taft's handling of the
Payne Aldrich Tariff in 1909 and his conservation
policies alienated a lot of progressives, including
Roosevelt himself. Ah, the tariff and conservation
again. Key issues for TR. Exactly. Roosevelt
felt Taft was concentrating power with conservative
party leaders. This growing frustration marked
the beginning of a really significant ideological
split between the two former friends. The beginning
of the end for their friendship. After leaving
office, Roosevelt didn't exactly retire quietly.
He embarked on these incredibly ambitious adventures.
March 1909, he leads the Smithsonian Roosevelt
African expedition. The famous safari. Yep. A
well -financed, year -long safari through East
Africa, the Belgian Congo, collecting an extraordinary
number of specimens for the Smithsonian and the
American Museum of Natural History. The team
killed or trapped something like 11 ,400 animals,
including 512 big game animals. That number sounds
shocking today. It does. Roosevelt defended it,
arguing it was purely for scientific collection,
comparing it to how natural history museums acquire
specimens. He meticulously documented the whole
trip in his book, African Game Trails. Still
the naturalist, even while hunting on that scale.
Following the safari, Roosevelt traveled to Europe
in 1910. embarked on this big diplomatic tour,
met with various European leaders, Kaiser Wilhelm
II, King George V. Rumming shoulders with royalty.
In Oslo, he delivered a speech calling for limits
on naval armaments, strengthening the permanent
court of arbitration, and, interestingly, advocating
for the creation of a League of Peace among world
powers. A League of Peace? That sounds very familiar.
like Wilson's idea later. It does sound similar.
At Oxford, he gave the Romanas lecture, where
he denounced people trying to draw parallels
between animal evolution and societal development,
showed his commitment to scientific accuracy,
his evolving social views, but that League of
Peace idea. It sounds like Wilson, but... There's
a key difference, isn't there? There's a huge
difference, and that's where it gets really,
really interesting. Roosevelt's League of Peace
proposal, years before Wilson's League of Nations,
it wasn't just about moral pressure or international
law. His vision explicitly included the idea
of great powers using force, if necessary, to
maintain peace. This was a significant departure
from the more legalistic, idealistic approach
Wilson would later champion. It reflects Roosevelt's
deeply ingrained, realist foreign policy views.
He believed in peace through strength, not just
through agreements on paper. That distinction
is so important. Back home, Roosevelt's frustrations
with Taft's presidency just kept mounting. Taft's
policies on conservation, the tariff, his perceived
lack of consultation. It all increasingly alienated
Roosevelt. He eventually came to believe Taft
was simply unfit for leadership. Ouch. Strong
words for a former protégé. The ideological gap
between them got even wider over the role of
the judiciary. Roosevelt severely criticized
the nation's courts, attacked the Supreme Court's
1905 Lochner v. New York decision that struck
down a state law limiting Baker's working hours,
arguing it interfered with freedom of contract.
Right, controversial decision. Roosevelt accused
federal courts of undermining democracy. called
for judicial recall, this radical idea that would
let popular majorities reverse unpopular judicial
decisions. This horrified Taft. I can imagine.
Taft was a judge himself. Exactly. Taft, despite
privately disagreeing with some court rulings,
was an adamant believer in judicial authority
being essential to constitutional government.
two fundamentally different views on the courts.
Roosevelt's growing disillusionment finally boiled
over in his August 1910 New Nationalism speech
in Osawatomie, Kansas. This was arguably the
most radical speech of his entire career, marked
his public break with Taft and the conservative
Republicans. What do you say? He advocated for
the priority of labor over capital, strong government
control of corporations, a ban on corporate political
contributions, emphasized aggressive government
to protect the people from, as he saw it, selfish
interests. Wow, that is radical for the time,
especially for a republic. The disagreement even
extended to international relations. Taft believed
in arbitration as the path to peace, pursued
treaties with Britain and France to submit disputes
to the Hague court. Okay, trying diplomacy. But
Roosevelt, working with his close friend, Senator
Henry Cabot Lodge, actively sabotaged those treaties
with amendments. Roosevelt thought arbitration
was foolhardy idealism, a naive solution for
serious international conflicts. He preferred
a realism of war as the ultimate decider of big
issues. So the party was really being torn apart
from the inside, wasn't it? Absolutely. This
highlights a truly significant ideological schism
within the Republican Party and between these
two men who were once so close. Roosevelt's new
nationalism was indeed seen as radical back then,
emphasizing aggressive government action to protect
people from what he called selfish interests.
This deep divide wasn't just personal, it foreshadowed
a major political earthquake that was about to
hit in the next election. And the stage was definitely
set for some unprecedented political drama in
1912. November 1911, Ohio Republicans endorse
Roosevelt for the presidential nomination. January
1912, he famously declares, if the people make
a draft on me, I shall not decline to serve.
Throwing his hat back in the ring. The 1912 elections
saw the first real widespread use of presidential
primaries. Roosevelt did really well, won many
states, but Taft, using the support of the party
regulars, the establishment, secured the Republican
nomination at the convention. The party machine
strikes back. Roosevelt felt the nomination had
been stolen from him. He famously declared to
his cheering supporters, we stand at Armageddon
and we battle for the Lord. Romantic language.
True to his word, he stormed out of the Republican
Party, founded the Progressive Party, quickly
nicknamed the Bull Moose Party. The Bull Moose
Party is born. It attracted a diverse group of
reformers. Prominent figures like social reformer
Jane Addams campaigned for him. Gifford Pinchot
represented the environmentalists. Their platform
echoed his new nationalism, vigorous government
intervention to destroy this invisible government,
an unholy alliance between corrupt business and
corrupt politics. A clear anti -establishment
message. It is important to note, though, that
in the South, Roosevelt ran a Lily White campaign,
chose to seat all white delegates despite rival
black delegations being present, reflects the
pervasive racial politics of that era. Yeah,
a difficult aspect of his legacy there. Then,
October 14, 1912, while arriving for a campaign
event in Milwaukee, the unthinkable happens.
Roosevelt is shot by a delusional saloon keeper
named John Shrink. Shot. While campaigning. Shot.
The bullet lodged in his chest after going through
his eyeglass case, and a thick, 50 -page folded
copy of his speech he had in his pocket. The
speech might have saved his life. It very likely
did. Now, here's the part that just perfectly
showcases the strenuous life personified. As
an experienced hunter and anatomist, Roosevelt
correctly figured out that since he wasn't coughing
blood, the bullet hadn't hit his lung. He then
incredibly refused immediate hospital care and
proceeded to deliver a 90 -minute speech with
blood visibly seeping into his shirt, simply
told the shocked audience, I'm fit as a bull
moose. He gave this speech after being shot.
For 90 minutes for 90 minutes this audacious
act not only gave the progressive party its lasting
nickname But just cemented his legend doctors
later decided it was safer to leave the bullet
in he carried it for the rest of his life. Can
you even imagine the sheer willpower to do something
like that? It's almost beyond belief, isn't it?
It perfectly encapsulates his entire philosophy.
Face adversity hit on with immense physical courage,
mental fortitude. It wasn't just bravery. It
was a political statement showing his unwavering
commitment. It's one of those moments that feels
more like myth than reality, but it was absolutely
true to who he was. Despite this incredible display
of resilience, the Republican split between Roosevelt
and Taft ultimately cleared the way for a Democratic
victory. Woodrow Wilson won the presidency, 42
% popular vote, 435 electoral votes. The split
did him in. Roosevelt got 27 % of the popular
vote, 4 .1 million votes won six states. The
highest share for any third party candidate in
history, but yeah, not enough to overcome the
fractured Republican vote. Still an impressive
showing for a third party. After his defeat,
Roosevelt's thirst for adventure was, well, unquenched.
In 1913, he embarked on another perilous journey,
the River of Doubt Expedition in South America.
He just couldn't sit still, could he? Invited
by John Augustin Zahm, financed by the American
Museum of Natural History, he joined Brazilian
explorer Candido Rondon to find the headwaters
of the Duvita River, later rename the Roosevelt
River and trace it through uncharted jungle.
Uncharted jungle after everything else. The expedition
was brutal. Roosevelt suffered a minor leg wound
that quickly got infected, developed into a tropical
fever like the malaria he'd had in Cuba, severe
chest pains, delirium. He lost 50 pounds. Oh
my goodness. At one point he was so ill. While
he insisted they leave him behind to die to save
the expedition, even prepared to commit suicide
with morphine he carried, only his son Kermit's
passionate plea persuaded him to keep going.
That's incredibly grim, saved by his son. The
journey, though successful in mapping the river,
likely cut his life short by ten years, plagued
him with malaria flare -ups, severe leg inflammations
for the rest of his life. Despite initial skepticism
back home, he successfully defended his claims
of exploring this uncharted 625 -mile river to
the National Geographic Society. This was an
incredibly audacious, dangerous undertaking,
even for a former president. It really was. And
it highlights the sheer audacity, the physical
endurance of the man, even later in life. What
does it say about his strenuous life philosophy
that he'd undertake such a perilous journey almost
to his own death after the presidency? Yeah.
It reveals this deeply ingrained need for challenge,
for testing his limits, for embracing a life
of action and adventure, regardless of the personal
cost. He simply couldn't sit still. Upon his
return to the U .S. in May 1914, the progressive
party was already falling apart. Roosevelt eventually
rejoined the Republicans, supported Charles Evans
Hughes against Wilson in 1916. When World War
I broke out in Europe in 1914, Roosevelt became
a fierce critic of President Wilson's neutrality
policy. Back to criticizing Wilson. Strongly
supported the Allies, demanded a harsher stance
against Germany, denounced Wilson's policy as
an ignoble shirking of responsibility, a cowardly
and dangerous neutrality. Strong language again.
He also famously denounced Irish and German Americans
as unpatriotic, hyphenated Americans, insisted
on 100 percent Americanism. In a powerful testament
to his warrior spirit, Congress authorized him
to raise volunteer divisions like his Rough Riders
for service in France. He wanted to lead troops
again at his age. He did. But President Wilson
rejected his offer to lead them, sent General
John J. Pershing instead. Roosevelt never forgave
Wilson for that snub, a personal wound that lingered.
Tragically, in 1918, his youngest son, Quentin,
a pilot with the American forces, was killed
in France. Roosevelt never recovered from his
loss. Oh, that's heartbreaking. Losing his son
in the war he so strongly advocated for. Devastating.
Despite his failing health, Roosevelt maintained
a clear vision for global order, building on
his earlier ideas. In his 1910 Nobel address,
he'd already proposed that League of Peace among
great powers, one with executive power, use of
force if needed. The forceful League. By 1914,
he elaborated, suggested a world lead for the
peace of righteousness. It would preserve sovereignty,
limit arms, require arbitration, but with nations
guaranteeing military force against any who refuse
to comply. This sounds a lot like Wilson's proposal,
but again, with that critical difference in enforcement,
right? Exactly. It's fascinating how he envisioned
this very different kind of global order than
Wilson's later League of Nations. Roosevelt's
version prioritized force enforcement as absolutely
essential to peace, reflecting his realist views.
He believed international commitments were only
as strong as the willingness of powerful nations
to back them with military might, whereas Wilson
placed more faith in collective security. moral
persuasion. Two very different approaches to
peace. In his final political activities, Roosevelt
criticized Wilson's 14 points, advocated instead
for unconditional German surrender. Despite his
uncertain health, he was widely seen as a leading
contender for the 1920 Republican nomination.
Planning another run? Even after everything.
It seemed like it. He advocated what he called
sane, constructive radicalism, a platform including
old age pensions, unemployment insurance, public
housing, reduced working hours, aid to farmers,
more corporate regulation, showcases continued
progressive leanings. Still pushing progressive
ideas. However, his health, severely damaged
by those jungle diseases from the Amazon trip,
deteriorated throughout 1918. He was hospitalized
for seven weeks, never fully recovered. On the
night of January 5, 1919, he suffered breathing
problems. After treatment, felt better, went
to bed. Between 4 .0 and 4 .15 the next morning,
Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep at Sagamore
Hill, age 60, of a pulmonary embolism. So young,
really, 60, after living such a full life. Upon
hearing the news, his son Archibald famously
telegraphed his siblings, the old lion is dead.
And Vice President Thomas R. Marshall offered
this profound tribute, perfectly capturing Roosevelt's
spirit. Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping,
for if he had been awake, there would have been
a fight. What a line. It sums him up perfectly.
He was buried on a hillside overlooking Oyster
Bay, a quiet end for a man whose life was anything
but quiet. Theodore Roosevelt's legacy, it stretches
so far beyond just his presidency, doesn't it?
It's deeply woven into American culture through
his prolific writing, his larger -than -life
persona, and the countless ways he's been remembered.
Absolutely. He was, first and foremost, a prolific
author and intellectual, wrote with real passion
on an astonishing range of subjects. He really
did. In all, Roosevelt penned about 18 books,
including his powerful autobiography, The Rough
Riders, That Systematic History of the Naval
War of 1812, and other works on... ranching,
explorations, wildlife. Huge output. His most
ambitious literary project was the four volume
narrative, The Winning of the West. In it, he
argued for the emergence of this new American
race, forged from heroic wilderness hunters and
Indian fighters on the frontier, shaping a particular
narrative of American identity. A narrative that's
been debated since, of course. Of course. He
also got involved in this widely publicized literary
debate, the Nature Fakers controversy in 1905.
He criticized popular writers of the time, like
Ernest Thompson Seaton and William J. Long, for
what he called their fantastical representations
of wildlife and excessive anthropomorphism. Wow,
the Nature Fakers. It was President Roosevelt
himself who popularized that negative term, Nature
Faker, for writers who gave exaggerated human
traits to animals. instead for scientific accuracy
and natural history. Why was that specific fight
so important to him, do you think? Well, I think
it's because it really shows his deep commitment
to scientific accuracy, even as this hugely popular
public figure. It highlights his naturalist background,
his intellectual rigor. It shows his love for
the outdoors wasn't just, you know, romanticism.
It was grounded in a careful, observant, truthful
understanding of the natural world. He truly
believed in truth and precision, whether it was
in politics, history, or studying animals, and
he just didn't tolerate what he saw as sentimental
dishonesty. Makes sense. Roosevelt's character,
his beliefs, especially his philosophy of the
strenuous life, they're central to understanding
him. He kept up this lifelong interest in physical
activity, regularly engaged in boxing, tennis,
hiking, rowing, polo, horseback riding. The list
goes on. As president, he even kept boxing until
he was blinded in one eye. A fact he kept secret
for many years. He also pushed for jiu -jitsu
training for American soldiers, worried about
military readiness. Always focus on strength
and readiness. Historians often emphasize his
warrior persona, argue his warrior spirit framed
his views of national politics and international
relations. Critics like Howard K. Beale argue
he romanticized war, gloried in war, saw peace
as dull and effeminate. The critique that he
loved war too much. Yet. Roosevelt himself boasted
in his autobiography that during his seven and
a half years as president, not one shot had been
fired against a foreign foe. Shows a nuanced
understanding of his own impact perhaps. Or at
least how we wanted it perceived. It's complex.
Despite his often secular sounding strenuous
life talk, Roosevelt was a lifelong member of
the Dutch Reformed Church, actively encouraged
church attendance. Interesting. The religious
dimension is sometimes overlooked. He believed
Bible teachings were interwoven and entwined
with our whole civic and social life, saw them
as essential for public and private morals, asserted
that removing these teachings would strip away
almost all the standards society judges itself
by. So a strong moral underpinning to his worldview.
His economic views also evolved quite significantly.
While he started his presidency with a cautious
approach to business, he became increasingly
distrustful of big business later on, despite
its close ties to the Republican Party. Right.
That shift we talked about. He believed 20th
century capitalists often reaped unjust economic
rewards without taking the same risks as earlier
entrepreneurs. He feared that without some redistribution
of wealth, the country risked radicalism. maybe
even revolution. So he sought a new economic
model with a larger regulatory role for the federal
government. Moving towards more government intervention
over time. In foreign policy, Henry Kissinger
notes, Roosevelt was the first president to really
assert the U .S. duty to make its power felt
globally. Rejected that passive city on a hill
model. Right, active engagement. A social Darwinist
applying Darwinian ideas of struggle to societies
and nations. He saw the international world as
inherently violent. He rejected the effectiveness
of international law. disarmament proposals,
favored spheres of influence, harbored a deep
distrust of Germany and Russia, believed the
U .S. had to act decisively as the policeman
of the region in the Western Hemisphere. That
social Darwinist label is key to understanding
his worldview, I think. It seems so. Which brings
us back to that really important point. How do
we reconcile all these seeming contradictions
in his character? Yeah. He's the art and conservationist
and the big game hunter. the Nobel Peace Prize
winner and the advocate for the realism of war,
the trust buster who initially worked within
the system of big business. This complexity,
well, is precisely what makes him such a compelling
and enduring figure in American history. It forces
us, you know, to consider the multifaceted nature
of leadership, of human ambition. He wasn't a
simple man with simple beliefs, was he? He certainly
wasn't. And that complexity is why we're still
discussing him today. Theodore Roosevelt's impact
on America is just immense, undeniable. He's
credited with being the architect of the modern
presidency, placing the bully pulpit at the center
of national conversation, emphasizing character,
fundamentally reshaping the office itself. Transformed
the presidency. Insistently ranked among the
top five presidents in U .S. history, a testament
to his transformative leadership. His image is
literally etched into American memory, standing
proudly alongside Washington Jefferson Lincoln
on Mount Rushmore. An iconic image. His famous
ideology speaks softly and carry a big stick
that remains widely quoted, understood, influences
political talk even today, a more whimsical but
equally enduring part of his legacy. The Teddy
Bear. Ah, the Teddy Bear. Named after him following
that 1902 Mississippi hunting incident where
he famously refused to shoot a bear cub someone
had tied up for him. A moment of mercy immortalized.
In a posthumous recognition of his military valor,
Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2001
for his gallantry at San Juan Hill. Makes him
the only president to receive it, though the
process itself wasn't without some controversy.
Right, that took a long time. Many places and
things bear his name. two U .S. Navy ships, five
U .S. postage stamps, Theodore Roosevelt National
Park in North Dakota, even Asteroid 188693 Roosevelt.
His name is everywhere. He's also a recurring
figure in popular culture, portrayed in films
like The Wind and the Lion, Rough Riders, TV
series like Night at the Museum, where Robin
Williams brought a wax mannequin of him to life,
even as a leader in video games like Civilization
Success. Still capturing the popular imagination.
However, his legacy isn't without debate. That
equestrian statue of Roosevelt, showing him with
a Native American and an African American figure
positioned below him. It stood in front of New
York's American Museum of Natural History for
80 years before it was removed in 2022 due to
its hierarchical composition, reflects ongoing
discussions about historical representation.
Yeah, a very visible example of reevaluating
the past. Importantly, Roosevelt was also one
of the first presidents whose voice was actually
recorded for posterity. including a powerful
1912 speech defending the Progressive Party,
allows us to actually hear the voice of this,
well, this titan of history. stone for understanding
American identity and how we grapple with historical
figures hashtag tag outro. So we've journeyed
through the incredible life of Theodore Roosevelt.
from that sickly child who found strength through
sheer force of will, to a relentless reformer,
a war hero, a transformative president who reshaped
America both at home and abroad, and finally,
an explorer whose post presidency was as eventful,
as perilous as many full careers. His legacy
is just undeniable, marked by his groundbreaking
conservation efforts, his trust -busting zeal,
his placement of America firmly on the world
stage, and that unique defining philosophy he
chants. end. the strenuous life. Indeed. And
as we wrap up, maybe consider this provocative
thought. Roosevelt once said, I wish to do everything
in my power to make the Republican Party the
party of sane, constructive radicalism, just
as it was under Lincoln. This raises an important
question for us today, doesn't it? In a world
grappling with information overload, complex
global challenges, deep societal divisions, what
might Theodore Roosevelt, with his intense moralism,
his physical vigor, his pragmatic approach to
reform, what might he advise you about engaging
with the strenuous life of citizenship today.
How would he urge you to actively participate,
to question, and to strive for what you believe
is right in a world that often feels, well, overwhelming?
It's a question worth mulling over.