Theodore "Rex" Roosevelt
A crack of gunfire goes off as President William McKinley is assassinated in a few quick seconds. This was the moment Theodore Roosevelt became our 26th president.
The nation grieved for the previous but would be deeply saddened upon the day Theodore would die. In his lifetime he accomplished a list of things that stretches long and undetermined. He was a president, governor, soldier, cowboy, hunter, adventurer, and world-class writer and naval officer. Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858. He lived in New York City as a child and young adult.
He had 3 siblings, which included Anna, Elliott, and Corinee. His family already had a peak of greatness and would lead to be one of the greatest families known. His father Theodore Sr. was known as “Greatheart” and had talked to Abraham Lincoln on a few distinct visits. The funeral precession of Abraham was seen by Rex at a young age and may have signified his future as being a president that everyone would remember and look back on.
His father died soon after he was admitted to Harvard College. This had a bad effect on Theodor Jr. he was upset but remained calm for the most part. Then he continued on to the New York State Assembly and published his first book, The Naval War of 1812 in which became a required book for reading at the naval academy in Annapolis for many years after.
Out of everything Theodore was an honest man. He believed in the protection of our country and also the challenges that would come with it. He also believed in protecting our nature. He loved the nature for tons of years before his presidency he was a rancher and also served in the National Guard. While he was a rancher tragedy struck as his mother and his wife died from Bright’s disease.
He held strong however in a quote from a private letter as he says, “It was a grim and an evil fate, but I never have believed it did any good to flinch or yield for any blow, nor does it lighten the blow to cease from working.” (Private letter, March 1884) This shows his strength in not only mind but in physical workings. He holds strong through all of the many obstacles that go to get in his way. While he is a well-respected man, the list of past accomplishments shows his modesty shining in the midst. When in his first term as president Theodore would come to build the Panama Canal, make the antitrust suit of the Sherman Act come in place, establish many national parks, and build the first 21 federal irrigation projects of our nation.
Just the opening of the Panama Canal should be enough to show anyone how much Theodore Roosevelt did for not just our country but also the world. With the Panama Canal open people could go swiftly from the Atlantic to the Pacific and not have to worry about going all the way around the many continents in the way. This would go to build the beginning of one of the best presidencies our country has had underneath George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. However, he couldn’t have achieved these many goals without his Cabinet and his friends and family. Theodore had many friends and accomplices in the White House that helped him through hard times and through achieving hard goals.
They would help him pursue his goals to the very best of their ability even through anyone or anything that stood in his way. He loved his family a lot along with the many Cabinet members that he had appointed throughout his first and second terms. He enjoyed everyone’s company and was a man of a true heart. One specific example included why he is called Teddy Roosevelt today and has been called for many, many years. Theodore Roosevelt was on a bear hunt one day and had seemed to not find any in the three days he hiked, climbed, and pushed through the forest and finally came upon a bear.
He followed this old bear with his dogs until the bear was too tired to continue. The dogs quickly attack the old bear and injured it too a great extent. Then the guides who were with Theodore quickly pinned the bear and tied it up to the tree. They said for the President to shoot it. When Theodore took one look at it he would not shoot it.
He said that no one would shoot the bear for sport, however, he still knew it was in a lot of pain and suffering. He ordered it to be put down to end its suffering. Many people current day call this bear as his pet. Even though he had ordered it to put down. While the thought was running through many people one called him Teddy Roosevelt. This would tend to catch on and explain further to the rest how it became his name even though it was a name that he preferred not to be called.
He didn’t like the name at all. There you have it much of the story of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt “Rex”. Through his many nicknames this man has become a model representation of good character and will inspire many others in the future. A model for our generation and one for the future. A president, naturalist, hunter, hiker, explorer, writer, poet, governor, soldier, and naval officer one and all.
The man who made the Panama Canal a possibility and continued to shock us with his many goals and achievements. He is the model President of the United States. The 26th President and one of the best we know to this day. Theodore Roosevelt, that is the man who is known to many and respected by all.
