1889 Theodore Roosevelt graduates from Harvard.

1882 Roosevelt is elected to the New York State Legislature.

1898 Spanish-American War begins. Roosevelt organises a cavalry unit and becomes a war hero.

1900 Roosevelt becomes Vice President under McKinley.

1901 McKinley is assassinated. Teddy becomes President.

1903 Roosevelt establishes the first federal wildlige refuge.

1904 Roosevelt is elected President.

1904 Work begins on the Panama Canal.

1905 Roosevelt creates the Forest Service.

1908 Taft is elected President.

1912 Roosevelt forms the Progressive or Bull Moose Party and runs for President. (He loses.)

1914 The Panama Canal is completed.

1919 Teddy Roosevelt dies.

Theodore Roosevelt
1901 - 1909
26th President

Teddy Roosevelt was born in the State of New York.

Teddy was a sickly child. He was weak and often had to rest in bed for long periods.

The youngest man to become president. He was 42.

He and John Quincy Adams were the two presidents who didn't lay their hand on the Bible to take the oath of office.

Theodore Roosevelt didn't have a Vice President from (1901-1905). During his second term Charles Fairbanks (1905-1909) was Vice President.

President Roosevelt was the first president to refer to his residence as the "White House." Prior to his term it was known as the Executive Mansion or just the President's House.

When the Great White Fleet, which TR sent around the world in 1907, returned to America in 1909, it was immediately painted gray.

Theodore Roosevelt served in the Spanish-American War

Theodore Roosevelt: third cousin twice removed of Martin Van Buren

Booker T. Washington was the first black man invited to dine at the White House, a guest of TR. Lincoln had invited African-Americans to the White House but not to dine.

His sons, Archie and Quentin, sometimes lined up for morning roll-call with the White House police.

Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) founded the Progressive or Bull Moose Party.

He was the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1906).

Theodore Roosevelt.

He set aside vast wilderness lands for conservation. These later became part of the country's national parks and nature reserves.

Roosevelt tried to have "In God We Trust" removed from coins. He thought it sacrilegious and unconstitutional.

Teddy was the first president to ride in an automobile--it was a purple-lined Columbia Electric Victoria. He rode through Hartford, Connecticut on August 22, 1902. 20 carriages followed the president's car. He was also the first president to own a car.

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his role of peacemaker in the Russo-Japanese War. He was the first President to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Roosevelt was also the first president to submerge in a submarine.

He had a guinea pig named Father O'Grady and a snake named Emily Spinach. He also had a Bull Dog named Pete and a Chesapeake Retriever named Sailor Boy.

TR was the first president to ride in an airplane, a Wright biplane October 11, 1910 in St. Louis, Missouri. (He rode in the plane after his term of office.)

The teddy bear was named after President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1902, while hunting in Mississippi, Teddy's dogs cornered a small bear cub. Roosevelt refused to shoot it. This act of mercy was published in the newspaper in cartoon form. Morris Michtom and his partner ask Theodore Roosevelt to use his name for a toy bear. Teddy agreed to let his name be used. Now the soft cuddly bears are known as Teddy Bears. (Morris Michtom went on to found the Ideal Toy Company.)

In 1912, Roosevelt took a drink of coffee and exclaimed, "That coffee tastes good, even to the last drop!" Maxwell House got their motto.

President Roosevelt's daughter, Alice, had a pet garter snake named Emily Spinach. The family had numerous pets while they lived in the White House.

Theodore Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919, in Oyster Bay, New York. He was 60 years and 71 days old.

Quotes from Theodore Roosevelt:

"Get action. Do things; be sane, don't fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action."
1900 Many-Sided Roosevelt, p. 83

"The only safe rule is to promise little, and faithfully to keep every promise; to "speak softly and carry a big stick." -1913 Autobiography p. 537

"Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time."
Kansas City Star, Nov. 1, 1917

Quick Facts

26th President
1901- 1909

Born: New York, NY. Oct 27, 1858

Inaugurated as President:
First Term: Sept 14, 1901
Second Term: March 4, 1905

Party: Republican

Died: Oster Bay, NY. Jan. 6, 1919, age 60

References:

• The Presidents of the United States. 22 September 2004
• Davis, Gibbs and Ilus. David A. Johnson. Wackiest White House Pets. New York: Scholastic Press, October 2004
• James, Barber and Amy Pastan. Smithsonian Presidents and First Ladies. New York: DK Publishing, 2002
• Harnsberger, Caroline Thomas. Treasury of Presidential Quotations. Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1964
• Kane, Joseph Natan. Facts about the Presidents from Washington to Johnson. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1964.
• National Park Service Web Site on Presidential Trivia: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/pres/trivia.htm.

Additional Sources:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents
http://www.historyplace.com/specials/portraits/presidents/index.html
www.freep.com
http://www.umkc.edu/imc/prestriv.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/4062/trivia.html
http://www.freep.com/news/inaug/trivia/index.htm
http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/

If you have comments or corrections, please send them to jim@anewadventure.org.