Photographer biography video theodore roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt unexpectedly became the 26th president of the United States in September after the assassination of William McKinley. Young and physically robust, he brought new energy to the White House and won a second term on his own merits in He was also a dedicated conservationist, setting aside some million acres for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges during his presidency.

In the foreign policy arena, Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War and spearheaded the beginning of construction on the Panama Canal.

Theodore Roosevelt is often thought of as the Rough Rider and the man known for quoting the proverb “Speak softly and carry a big stick.

After leaving the White House and going on safari in Africa, he returned to politics in , mounting a failed run for president at the head of a new Progressive Party. But his complex legacy includes not just his achievements as a progressive reformer and conservationist who regulated big business and established the national park system.

Like many of his time, he also believed firmly in the existence of a racial hierarchy topped by those of white Anglo-Saxon descent, a belief that shaped his attitudes—and policies—on race relations, land rights and American imperialism. Upon graduating from Harvard College in , Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee and entered Columbia University Law School, though he dropped out after only one year to enter public service.

He was elected to the New York State Assembly at the age of 23 and served two terms Both his wife and mother died on the same day in , and the grieving Roosevelt spent the next two years on a ranch he owned in the Badlands of the Dakota Territory, where he hunted big game, drove cattle and worked as a frontier sheriff. Did you know?

Washington to dine with him and his family; he was the first president ever to entertain a black man in the White House. In , Roosevelt ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City. Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in , Roosevelt left his post as naval secretary to become colonel of the First U. The Republican political machine in New York threw their considerable support behind the returning war hero, helping Roosevelt defeat a popular Democratic candidate to win the governorship.