Was there ever a more bold and brash character to occupy the White House than Theodore Roosevelt? Wilfred McClay, professor of history at Hillsdale College, tells the story of how this politician, cowboy, and war hero came to capture the American imagination.
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Script:
“Now look, that damned cowboy is President of the United States!”
That was the reaction of Ohio Senator Mark Hanna, after learning that his close political ally, President William McKinley, had been assassinated.
“That damned cowboy” was Theodore Roosevelt.
Roosevelt had literally been a cowboy. He had also been a war hero, politician, historian, explorer, big game hunter, ornithologist, and serious amateur boxer—and that’s not even a complete list.
Now, he was adding another job: twenty-sixth President of the United States.
Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 27, 1858, to a patrician family of Dutch heritage. Homeschooled for his entire youth, he benefited from tutors and widespread foreign travel. In 1876, he entered Harvard. When he wasn’t editing the campus literary magazine, he was rowing, boxing, and participating in a half dozen Harvard social clubs.
But it would be a mistake to think that TR had an easy life. As a boy, he suffered from asthma, poor eyesight, chronic headaches, fevers, and stomach pains. But he overcame those disabilities with the determination that would become his trademark.
Eventually, he increased both his strength and stamina, which he showed off to others with an irrepressible boyish enthusiasm that charmed many and annoyed many.
Inspired by his father’s civic-mindedness, he chose a career in politics. In 1881, he was elected to the New York State Assembly. Within a year—just 24 years old—he became his party’s minority leader.
Then, it all came crashing do..
