Roosevelt, Theodore

      President of the United States; b. N. Y. City, Oct. 27, 1858; s. Theodore Roosevelt (merchant and philanthropist) and Martha (Bullock) Roosevelt; prepared for college under a tutor; grad. Harvard, A.B., 1880; LL.D. Columbia 1889, Hope Coll. (Holland, Mich.) 1901, Yale 1901, Harvard, 1903, Univ. of Pennsylvania 1905, Clark Univ. 1905; m. 1st, 1883, Alice Lee (died 1884); one daughter, Alice (m., 1906, Hon. Nicholas Longworth); m. 2d, 1886, Edith Kermit Carow; children: Theodore Jr., Kermit, Quentin, Ethel, Archie. Elected 1881 and reelected 1882 and 1883 mem. N. Y. Assembly; in session of 1883 (in which the Democrats had a majority) was a candidate for the speakership; and in session of 1884 was chm’n Com. on Cities, and of the special committee which investigated abuses in the conduct of the government of N. Y. City. In 1884 was delegate to N. Y. State Republican Convention, and later in same year delegate at large, and chm’n of N. Y. delegation to the Nat. Republican Convention at Chicago; supported Senator Edmunds for the presidential nomination, but when Blaine was nominated, entered actively into the campaign in his behalf. Bought a ranch in North Dakota and lived on it for two years studying the Far West and its people thoroughly and becoming an adept as ranchman and hunter. Returned to N. Y. City, 1886, and was made Republican nominee for mayor, but was defeated by Abram S. Hewitt; appt’d mem. U. S. Civil Service Comm’n, 1889, and served as its pres., but resigned that office in 1895 to accept the presidency of the Police Comm’n under the administration of Mayor Strong, which office held until April 6, 1897, when was appt’d by President McKinley, ass’t sec. of the Navy. When war with Spain was declared he resigned his position in the Navy Dep’t and with Dr. Leonard Wood, an army surgeon, organized the First Reg’t U. S. Volunteer Cavalry, recruited from the ranches of the West and popularly known as the Rough Riders, Surgeon Wood, because of his superior tactical knowledge, becoming col- [1124][1125] onel and Mr. Roosevelt lieut.-col.; reg’t went to the front, to Cuba, and participated in the fighting in front of Santiago de Cuba, and was promoted to colonelcy of the reg’t for gallantry at Las Guasimas; at close of the war returned with reg’t to Montauk Point, where was mustered out of service; shortly afterward was nominated for and Nov. 1898, was elected governor of New York; in 1900 was nominated for Vice-President of the United States by the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia, and elected, and entered on the duties of that office, March 4, 1901; on the death of President McKinley, Sept. 14, 1901, was sworn in as President; in the National Convention, 1904, was nominated for President, and in the November election was elected by a plurality in the popular vote of 2,512,417 and a majority of 1,696,142, for the term beginning Mar. 4, 1904, and expiring March 4, 1906. His administration has been marked by the inauguration of great works of public improvement, notably the Panama Canal; by measures for the orderly government and advancement of the people of our insular possessions, by the prosecution of faithless officials, the curbing of law-breaking corporations, the making of laws for proper inspection of the packing and meat-dressing industries, the prevention of frauds and impurities in food products and other salutory measures inaugurated in response to the President’s initiative. In foreign policy Mr. Roosevelt has taken the part of a peacemaker, and through his initiative Russia and Japan, by the treaty of Portsmouth were brought to the conclusion of an honorable peace, in recognition of which the B’d of Directors of the Nobel Institute of Stockholm conferred upon him, in 1906, the Nobel Peace Prize. Although for twenty-five years past almost continuously occupied with the public service he has earned distinction also in the profession of letters. Author: History of the Naval War of 1812, 1882; Hunting Trips of a Ranchman, 1885; Life of Thomas Hart Benton, 1887, and Life of Gouverneur Morris, 1888 (in the “American Statesman” series); Ranch Life and Hunting Trail, 1888; The Winning of the West, 1889, 1896; History of New York (in “Historic Towns” series), 1890; The Wilderness Hunter, 1892; Essays on Practical Politics, 1892; American Ideals and Other Essays, 1897; The Rough Riders, 1899; Life of Oliver Cromwell, 1900; The Strenuous Life, 1900. A complete edition of his works to that time was published in six volumes in 1902. He also collaborated in writing The Deer Family, published by Macmillan in 1902. Summer residence: Oyster Bay, L. I., N. Y. Address: The White House, Washington, D. C.