Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States (1901–1909), known for his dynamic personality, progressive policies, and dedication to conservation. Born on October 27, 1858, in New York City, Roosevelt was a sickly child who suffered from severe asthma. Despite his health challenges, he developed a passion for physical fitness, nature, and intellectual pursuits.
Roosevelt came from a wealthy family and graduated from Harvard University in 1880. He briefly attended Columbia Law School but left to pursue a career in public service. His early life was marked by personal tragedy, including the death of his first wife and mother on the same day in 1884. Seeking solace, he moved to the Badlands of North Dakota, where he worked as a rancher and developed a love for conservation.
Roosevelt entered politics as a New York State Assemblyman and later served as New York City Police Commissioner. He gained national attention as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, where he advocated for a strong naval force. During the Spanish-American War (1898), he led the Rough Riders, a volunteer cavalry unit, in the Battle of San Juan Hill, earning him national fame.
He became Governor of New York in 1899 and later Vice President under William McKinley. After McKinley’s assassination in 1901, Roosevelt became the youngest U.S. president at age 42.
The Man in the Arena
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.“
