Monday, November 10, 2014

Week 13 Day 1: Theodore Roosevelt- Background

Since today we finished the Documentary on Theodore Roosevelt, I thought it would be helpful to give a little background on him, as well as connect it to his term as President. Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City in 1858, into a family that owned a successful glass import business. As a child he was very sickly, and had to be home schooled due to this. He also suffered from asthma, however through a vigorous training routine he outgrew this trait. He later graduated with honors from Harvard University, and attended Columbia Law school. His time at Columbia didn't last long however, as he decided rather to become the youngest representative on the for New York City on the state assembly. Roosevelt also served numerous other public service positions including the Captain of the National Guard. After losing his mother and wife on the same day, he took time off his political life for two years until 1886. He remarried, and carried on to raise a volunteer cavalry dubbed the "Rough Riders", who he led on a heroic charge on San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War. This boosted him to an almost heroic status, and as a war hero he was elected to the New York Governorship. After that we've covered in class, but I hope this was helpful as a background to his life. Also mentioned in the documentary briefly was how Theodore Roosevelt wanted to keep the wilderness, because he believed that it was untamed and wild, and with this aspect one could overcome adversity that was not present in everyday society.  This would make the Average american stronger, and more able to deal with hardship. If you have any other idea on this issue, please put them up for discussion as a comment!

More info and a video: http://www.biography.com/people/theodore-roosevelt-9463424#early-life




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3 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 11, 2014 at 9:41 AM

    I liked reading this post because I too was interested in his past. Going back even further, I wanted to learn a little bit more about his parents. His father helped found the New York City Children's Aid Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Children's Orthopaedic Hospital. His contributions to society included helping the Union cause during the civil war and founding the foundations I mentioned above. He died at the young age of 46 from gastrointestinal tumor.

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    1. UnknownNovember 11, 2014 at 9:42 AM

      Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt,_Sr.

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  2. Christina P.November 11, 2014 at 8:08 PM

    Thanks for the post! I (like you and Caroline) was very curious about what sparked him to be who he was when he was president. This post definitely gives some greater insight on his life before his presidency!

    The other thing that I found interesting about Roosevelt was his time with the Rough Riders:
    http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/progress/jb_progress_rriders_1.html

    What I find pretty great is that he resigned from being the Assistant Secretary of the Navy to organize this voluntary calvary. This was at the time of the Spanish-American war, when the US was fighting Spain about colonial policies with Cuba. Roosevelt had amassed a huge melting pot of people including cowboys, miners, law enforcement, and, to my great surprise, Native Americans, to fight. The biggest fight was at San Juan Hill where they got the victory. It is also interesting to note that they got the most popularity in the press!

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