Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Old Roosevelt and nicknamed Teddy, was born in New York, USA. He was a Dutch American military strategist, politician, and diplomat, and served as the 26th President of the United States.
Formerly served as the Deputy Secretary of the United States Navy, participated in the Spanish American War, and achieved outstanding military achievements in the Battle of Santiago in Cuba, earning the title of San Juan Mountain Hero. Elected as Vice President in 1900, President William McKinley was assassinated by anarchists in 1901. He succeeded as the President of the United States at the age of 42, making him the youngest serving President in American history. His unique personality and reformist policies made him one of the greatest presidents in American history.
During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt's main contribution to the country was the establishment of resource conservation policies, which protected resources such as forests, minerals, and oil; Establish a Fair Trade Act to promote reconciliation between workers and capitalists. Adhering to Monroe Doctrine, implementing an expansionist policy, building a strong military, and interfering in American affairs. Roosevelt was the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for successfully mediating the Russo Japanese War. After stepping down in 1909, Theodore Roosevelt had a disagreement with the Republican Party, so he left the party and ran for president on behalf of the Progressive Party, attempting to make a comeback; But he was defeated by the Democratic Party candidate Woodrow Wilson and withdrew from politics. On January 6, 1919, Roosevelt passed away at the age of 61.
Theodore Roosevelt's distant nephew Franklin Roosevelt was later elected as the President of the United States, so he is often referred to as "Little Roosevelt" in Chinese. On June 26, 2006, he once again became the cover person of Time magazine. Theodore Roosevelt was ranked 15th among the 100 influential figures in the United States by the authoritative American journal Atlantic Monthly.

Early academic studies
On October 27, 1858, Theodore Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family in New York. He was the second child of Theodore Roosevelt the Elder and Martha (Mitty) Block, with four siblings. My father is a banker. The Roosevelt family has lived here since immigrating from the Netherlands in the 17th century, and after the American Revolution, they entered the merchant class. In the 18th century, wealth was accumulated from import and export trade. Theodore Roosevelt was young and sickly, suffering from asthma. Despite his physical weakness, he enjoys outdoor activities and is particularly interested in zoology. In order to avoid being bullied by other children, his father forced him to undergo physical training and learn boxing.
Roosevelt's academic strengths included history, biology, German, and French, while his performance in mathematics, Latin, and Greek was poor. In 1876, Roosevelt entered Harvard University. In 1878, his father passed away, and he worked harder in all aspects. Roosevelt excelled in science, philosophy, and rhetoric. He has a strong interest in biology and has achieved some success. Roosevelt developed a lot of reading habits, had an amazing memory, and was very talkative. At Harvard, he is an active member of the club and is passionate about various sports activities. When he graduated, the medical examiner told him to find an office job because he had heart problems. But he ignored the doctor's warning and still enjoyed vigorous exercise. In 1880, Roosevelt graduated from Harvard and entered Columbia University Law School. In 1881, he published his first official work, "Naval Warfare in the War of 1812," which became a compulsory course material at the United States Naval Academy. In 1881, he was given the opportunity to enter the New York State House of Commons, so he dropped out of law school and began his official career.

Entering the political arena for the first time
In the New York State House of Commons, Roosevelt was an active Republican figure. In 1884, he participated in the Republican National Convention. At his ranch in North Dakota, Roosevelt learned cowboy skills such as horseback riding. In his leisure time, he participates in boxing matches. For a period of time, he served as the acting sheriff, chasing thieves. The harsh winter of 1886 to 1887 wiped out the livestock on the ranch, forcing him to return to the eastern United States.
In 1886, Roosevelt ran for mayor of New York as a Republican candidate and ranked third in the vote count, far behind his opponent. After this election, he went to London and married his childhood sweetheart Edith Carew, giving birth to four sons and a daughter. During his honeymoon in Europe, Roosevelt climbed Mont Blanc, and his expedition team was the third in history to reach the summit. This achievement led to him being recruited as a member of the Royal Society of England.
In the 1880s, Roosevelt achieved great success as a historian. His work "Battle of the Sea in the War of 1812" became a textbook for two generations. The Winning of the West, a four volume masterpiece on the history of Western development, is also his representative work and has a significant impact on the history of historiography. He wrote articles for mainstream magazines and earned a considerable income, which also made him famous as an intellectual domestically. Later, Roosevelt was elected as the President of the American Historical Society.

Official career
In the 1888 presidential election, Roosevelt assisted Benjamin Harrison in the Midwest. After Harrison was elected president, he appointed Roosevelt to the United States Public Service. In the 1892 general election, Harrison was defeated, and although Roosevelt was a supporter of the former president, the elected president, Grover Cleveland, still kept him in office.
In 1895, Roosevelt was appointed as the Chief of Police in New York City. He held this position for two years and implemented drastic changes in the operation of the police station. At that time, the New York police force was very corrupt, and Roosevelt took bold measures: regularly inspecting fire facilities; Conduct annual physical fitness tests on police officers; The recruitment of new police officers is strictly based on physical and intellectual standards rather than political relationships; Recruiting police officers from ethnic minorities and women; Close commercial facilities that cause corruption and are operated by the police; Install telephones and so on in all branches.
Roosevelt was fascinated by the navy and the history of naval warfare from a young age, and his two uncles served in the federal navy during the Civil War. Roosevelt met Colonel Mahan of the United States Navy in 1880, who published "The Influence of Sea Power on the History of 1660-1783" in 1890, studying the relationship between sea power and the rise and fall of great powers. The idea of sea power supremacy deeply influenced the leaders of various countries at that time and strengthened Roosevelt's belief that only by rapidly expanding naval power can one be on par with European powers. In 1897, President William McKinley appointed him as the Deputy Minister of the Navy. Secretary of the Navy John Long had long been sick and indifferent to politics, and McKinley was not interested in the navy, leading Roosevelt to monopolize power. He is committed to modernizing the navy and vigorously promoting America's shipbuilding capabilities. His work has made excellent strategic preparations for the future Spanish American War.

On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine battleship of the United States Navy was sunk in Port Havana. Roosevelt believed that a divine opportunity had arrived to expel Spanish forces from Cuba and the Philippines, although McKinley had no such ambition. On the tenth day after this incident, on Friday afternoon, John Long was temporarily absent from the office due to unforeseen circumstances. Roosevelt took over and issued readiness orders to the commander of the Caribbean Fleet and the fleet anchored in Hong Kong, China. Minister John Long had no intention of pursuing this unauthorized behavior afterwards. On April 25th, the US Congress declared war on Spain, and the Spanish American War broke out. The two main fleets of the US Navy were already ready to go, and Roosevelt's time to show off his skills had arrived. The United States Navy achieved decisive victories in Manila Bay and Santiago, Cuba, completely destroying the Spanish ocean fleet, and from then on, Spain became a small player among the great powers. Roosevelt was not satisfied with watching from the rear, so he resigned from his civilian job in the Navy and formed a corps that included old friends of the Western Cowboys and old alumni of the Eastern Ivy League, known as the First Volunteer Cavalry Brigade of the United States, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and later promoted to Colonel. Although claimed to be cavalry, Roosevelt was the only person in the unit with a horse to ride. In two battles within Cuba in 1897, the brigade achieved remarkable results.
After returning from Cuba, Roosevelt entered New York politics again and was elected governor in 1898. In the 1900 election, the Republican Party elected him as McKinley's vice presidential candidate. McKinley won the election, and Roosevelt followed suit into the White House. However, for someone like Roosevelt, the vice president's idle job is clearly very boring. During this period, his impressive action was to say a famous quote in a speech that could express his style of action: "Warm words in the mouth, big stick in the hand."

During the presidency
On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was assassinated by anarchists and died on September 14. Roosevelt took over the presidency and became the youngest president in American history. He is the only President of the United States who has not taken the oath of office by pointing to the Bible. During McKinley's presidency, which coincided with the formation of monopolistic capital in the United States and the beginning of extensive expansion, his top priority was to revive the economy. Therefore, President McKinley's governing philosophy is to leverage the competitiveness of American companies in the global market economically, only by becoming large corporations. Therefore, he at least disregards the formation of monopolistic capital.
Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded him, saw the serious drawbacks that trusts brought to the economy and society. In response to the increasing development of various monopolistic organizations, the continuous bankruptcy of small and medium-sized enterprises, and the continuous decline in people's living standards, he showed his strong cowboy spirit and waved a "big stick" to the trust giants. In his message to Congress on December 4, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt proposed his own antitrust policy. He requested that Congress legislate to impose reasonable restrictions on the operation of trusts.
And his most famous antitrust action was to sue Northern Securities, which monopolized transportation within a large area of railway operations including North Atlantic Railroad, Quincy Railroad, and Chicago Railroad. And ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled 5:4 that the company had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. Afterwards, he filed lawsuits against over 40 companies and dissolved beef trust, oil trust, tobacco trust, and others. Theodore Roosevelt also earned the nickname "Trust Blaster" as a result.
He retained the cabinet and basic policies of the former president in his first term, and after being re elected in 1904, his political inclination began to lean to the left.

After stepping down
Shortly after completing his second presidential term, Roosevelt went on an expedition to Africa in March 1909. This journey was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society of the United States, attracting global media attention. There are many scientists from the Smithsonian Institution in the accompanying team, who have captured 11397 species of animals, ranging from insects to hippopotamuses and elephants. Among them, 512 times belonged to hunting, and 262 types of animals were consumed. They even captured the precious white rhinoceros. A large number of animals were made into specimens and transported to Washington. The number of specimens is huge, and it took a year just to load them. Roosevelt self deprecatingly said, "If the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and similar animal research institutions can be condemned, then I can be condemned." He was very excited about this scientific expedition and wrote a detailed log.
In 1908, Roosevelt believed that Defense Secretary William Howard Taft was the heir to his progressive ideas and strongly recommended Taft as his presidential candidate. However, Taft has his own set of progressivism, believing that it should be judged by judges rather than administrative officials or politicians, in other words, emphasizing the rule of law. Taft is not a clever and flexible politician, nor is he as energetic and charismatic as Roosevelt, nor does he have Roosevelt's level of popular support and close followers. When Roosevelt realized that lowering import tariffs could cause tension within the Republican Party, leading to a sharp conflict of interests between manufacturing, retailers, and consumers, he remained silent on the topic. However, Taft ignored the risks of tariff reform, encouraging reformers to lower taxes while engaging in transactions with conservative leaders, resulting in the overall level of tariffs remaining high. In short, it is important to reconcile between all parties. At a time of crisis within the Republican Party, Roosevelt traveled to Africa and Europe, allowing Taft to make his own decisions.

Taft and Roosevelt had vastly different styles of behavior and never verbally offended big businessmen. However, he advocated for resolving issues within the legal system, thus initiating 90 antitrust lawsuits against large corporations. At that time, the largest company, American Steel, was also among the defendants, and its merger case was approved by Roosevelt. As a result, Taft offended everyone: anti trust reformers did not like his conservative remarks; The big entrepreneur resents his legal actions; Roosevelt was angry at him for causing himself to lose face.
After Roosevelt returned from Europe, he unexpectedly launched a major crackdown on the federal courts, which infuriated Taft. Roosevelt not only condemned large corporations, but also spared federal judges, most of whom were appointed by McKinley, Roosevelt, and Taft. After the midterm elections in 1910, the Democratic Party took control of Congress, putting Taft in a precarious position for re-election in 1912.
Re selection failed
At the end of 1911, Roosevelt ultimately broke away from Taft and declared himself running for the Republican presidential candidate. But he started a little late, and Taft had already gained the support of party leaders. However, in the party primaries in 12 states, Roosevelt won 9, indicating that he remained popular among ordinary voters. However, the primary election was not as important at that time.

As the Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Roosevelt found himself unable to directly qualify as a presidential candidate, so he called on his supporters to leave the venue, start anew, form the Progressive Party, and establish a permanent organizational structure according to the needs of presidential and state elections. The party was nicknamed the "Buck Party" because Roosevelt claimed to be "as stubborn as a stag.". He shouted at the congress, "This is Hamigiddon at the end of the world, we fight for the Lord!" His Crusader style bold words greatly inspired the attending delegates. The party's campaign platform is to strengthen government intervention and protect the people from oppression by interest groups. [8]
On October 24, 1912, during a campaign in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, barber shop owner John Schrank assassinated Roosevelt. The bullet hit the speech and eyeglass frame before entering his chest. Roosevelt refused to be admitted for treatment and persisted in delivering a powerful 90 minute speech. He said to the audience, "Have you heard of it? I was shot just now, but that's not enough to kill a stag." The doctor's diagnosis and treatment showed that the gunshot wound was severe, but removing the bullet would pose a greater danger. Roosevelt carried this warhead throughout his life.

In the presidential election of that year, Roosevelt won 27% of the regular vote, Taft won 23%, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected with 42% of the vote. He led a large number of progressives to break away from the Republican Party, causing great damage to their morale, and it took a generation of talent to gradually recover.
South American exploration
In 1913, Roosevelt explored the Amazon rainforest region and wrote the experience of this expedition into a best-selling book, "Through the Brazilian Wilderness.". The funding agency for this expedition is the American Museum of Natural History, and Roosevelt promised to provide specimens of newly discovered animals. After arriving in South America, the exploration team added a more ambitious goal: to explore the source of the Rio da Duvida. This river was later named Roosevelt River to commemorate his heroic feat. The exploration team consists of 16 members, including a son of Roosevelt, personnel dispatched by the American Museum of Natural History, a lieutenant in the Brazilian military, and doctors. [8]
During his exploration along the river, Roosevelt suffered a minor leg injury, which led to his infection with malaria and a persistent fever. In the case of limited food supply, he was worried about dragging down the entire expedition schedule and requested to stay alone. But his son insisted on leading him forward, and the team doctor also took good care of him, finally saving him from the brink of death. This illness caused him to lose about 20 kilograms in weight. After returning to New York, Roosevelt wrote in a letter to his friend that this serious illness had reduced his life by at least 10 years. In the rest of his life, he often was hospitalized for treatment due to malaria and leg injuries that had not yet healed.
After basic physical recovery, Roosevelt went to Washington D.C. to defend the river exploration because some professionals doubted the results of the investigation. His academic report quelled the controversy, and after the naming of the Roosevelt River was internationally recognized, he successfully returned home.

World War
Roosevelt strongly criticized Wilson's foreign policy, believing that the US government was too weak. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Anglo French alliance, believing that they were defending human civilization. He advocates taking strict measures against Germany and retaliating against its submarine attacks. At that time, German and Irish Americans advocated for neutrality. Roosevelt strongly condemned this, accusing these people of being unpatriotic and prioritizing the interests of Germany and Ireland over those of the United States. After the United States joined the war in 1917, Roosevelt volunteered to organize a volunteer infantry battalion, but was rejected by Wilson.
Roosevelt's criticism of Wilson led the Republican Party to regain control of Congress in 1918. Roosevelt still had a high appeal among voters, which inspired him to run for the 1920 presidential election. However, since 1918, malaria has been deteriorating his health. In the same year, his youngest son Quentin participated in an air force mission to France, but his fighter jet was shot down and he died in action. Quentin was Roosevelt's youngest son and was most like his father in terms of spiritual temperament. The pain of losing his son prevented Roosevelt from fully recovering from his illness.
In his later years
Despite being plagued by illness in his later years, Roosevelt maintained an optimistic lifestyle. He is an active promoter of Boy Scout activities. The Boy Scout Association of America awarded him the title of "Chief Scout Citizen", and he is also the only one to receive this title.
On January 6, 1919, Roosevelt passed away peacefully in his residence at the age of 61. After receiving the news of his death, his son Aceh telegraphed his relatives and friends, saying, "The old lion has passed away."