Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt
THEODORE ROOSEVELT d1919. American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian and writer nicknamed "Teddy" who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President McKinley and in 1898 helped plan the highly successful naval war against Spain. He resigned to help form and lead the Rough Riders, a unit that fought the Spanish Army in Cuba to great publicity. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The New York state party leadership disliked his ambitious agenda and convinced McKinley to choose him as his running mate in the 1900 election. He campaigned vigorously and the McKinley/Roosevelt ticket won a landslide victory based on a platform of victory, peace and prosperity. He assumed the Presidency aged 42 and remains the youngest person to become President of the United States. As a leader of the progressive movement he championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies. It called for fairness for all citizens, breaking of bad trusts, regulation of railroads and pure food and drugs. He prioritized conservation and established national parks, forests and monuments to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America, where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He expanded the Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. His successful efforts to broker the end of the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, making him the first American to ever win a Nobel Prize. He was elected to a full term in 1904 and promoted policies more to the left, despite growing opposition from Republican leaders. During his Presidency, he groomed his close ally William Howard Taft to succeed him in the 1908 presidential election. He grew frustrated with Taft's conservatism and belatedly tried to win the 1912 Republican nomination for president. He failed, walked out and founded the new Progressive Party. He ran in the 1912 presidential election and the split allowed the Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson to win the election. Following the defeat, he led a four-month expedition to the Amazon basin where he nearly died of tropical disease. During World War I, he criticized Wilson for keeping the country out of the war and his offer to lead volunteers to France was rejected. He even considered running for President again in 1920, but his health continued to deteriorate and he died in New York aged 60 on January 6th 1919. Polls of historians and political scientists rank him as one of the greatest Presidents in American history