Theodore Roosevelt (27 October 1858 – 6 January 1919) was President of the United States from 14 September 1901 to 4 March 1909, succeeding William McKinley and preceding William Howard Taft. He previously served as the Republican Governor of New York from 1 January 1899 to 31 December 1900 (succeeding Frank S. Black and preceding Benjamin Odell) and as Vice President of the United States from 4 March to 14 September 1901 (succeeding Garret Hobart and preceding Charles W. Fairbanks).
Biography[]
Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City, New York on 27 October 1858, and he overcame childhood asthma and other illnesses by focusing on zoology and other strenuous activities. He was interested in naturalism while being home-schooled, and he became a historian after graduating from Harvard College. He wrote The Naval War of 1812 in 1882, establishing his reputation as a popular writer. Roosevelt decided to enter politics with the liberal US Republican Party, joining the state legislature of New York as a member of the reformist faction of the party. When his wife and mother died, he headed to the Dakotas to open a cattle ranch, and he failed to become Mayor of New York City. However, President William McKinley appointed him Under-Secretary of the Navy due to his writings on naval warfare, and he resigned from this post to lead the famous "Rough Riders" of the Spanish-American War. He returned to the USA as a war hero, and he became Governor of New York in 1898. In 1901, he became Vice-President, and he became President of the United States after McKinley was assassinated. Roosevelt established national parks, forests, and monuments as a part of his conservation policies, expanded the US Navy, began to build the Panama Canal, ended the Russo-Japanese War with a treaty in Maine, and expanded the US' role in Central American politics. Roosevelt was very popular, and he made William Howard Taft his successor. However, Taft betrayed Roosevelt's liberal policies, upsetting Roosevelt. In 1911, he ran for president as the leader of the progressive Bull Moose Party against Taft and the conservative Republicans, leading to the US Democratic Party winning the election. Roosevelt decided not to fight in World War I as a US Army general, as he opposed the war. He died in 1919.