Ten Fascinating Facts About Theodore Roosevelt

1. Teddy bears were named after him, but he hated the nickname Teddy. The story goes, TR was on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902. Most on the hunt had bagged game, but TR had yet to kill anything. Members of the party trapped a black bear, which was exhausted from the chase; they suggested Roosevelt shoot the bear since he had yet to kill anything. He refused, though he did think the creature should be put out of its misery. A cartoonist portrayed TR's refusal to shoot the bear, inspiring toy makers to sell stuffed animals originally called "Teddy's Bear." In time, the name was contracted to become "Teddy Bear" and has been generally applied to all toy stuffed bears.

2. He set several records as President. Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest person, so far, to become President of the United States (POTUS). The youngest to be elected remains, as of this writing, John F. Kennedy who was 43 when elected. Roosevelt was 42 when he took office as the 26th President following the assassination of his predecessor in 1901. Although other Vice Presidents had taken office following death of the President, TR was first to go on and win an election in his own right, preceding Harry S Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson in the feat. He also remains (as of this writing, since there is possible space for one more) the first and only President of the 20th Century honored with his visage carved on Mt. Rushmore. TR was responsible for building the modern West Wing of the Whitehouse, is widely lauded for his conservation efforts with the National Park System, and was one of the first Presidents to be recorded on film (McKinley, his predecessor, was first but TR was filmed far more). Later, he was one of the first Presidential candidates to make extensive use of the phonograph, recording his voice for political and historical purposes.

3. Theodore Roosevelt racked up a number of impressive "firsts" for a President. He was the first American to win a Nobel prize; he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his role in ending the Russo-Japanese War. He is the first President to win the Medal of Honor (posthumously, in 2001). Consequently, TR is the only person so far to have won both the Nobel Prize and the Medal of Honor. TR was the first to invite an African American (Booker T. Washington) to dinner at the Whitehouse. He is the first and so far only First Scout Citizen, a designation given to him by Boy Scouts of America. He is the first POTUS to travel outside the US while in office (to Panama); first President to sail and submerge in a military submarine (USS Plunger); first one to ride in and own an automobile; first one (albeit after leaving office, in 1910) to fly in an airplane; and first President to own a telephone at home. He created the first national bird preserve, established the US Forest Service, and established the first national monuments.

4. He was the first former President to suffer an assassination attempt. While running as a candidate for the Progressive Party (better known as the "Bull Moose Party") on October 13, 1912, TR was shot at close range. The bullet was impeded by TR's metal glasses case and 50 pages of the speech he was about to deliver, which were folded in his breast pocket. Realizing the bullet was merely lodged in his chest and affecting no organs, TR proceeded to deliver his speech. Recalling McKinley's subsequent death following the removal of one of his assassin's bullets, the round was left in place. It stayed in his chest the remainder of his life.

5. Roosevelt had a family life that has long fascinated historians. He was fifth cousin to 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt was also a distant cousin of Franklin's and the three were close. Eleanor was orphaned when she married Franklin, and TR "gave her away" at their wedding. Teddy's first wife Alice died during the birth of their daughter, also named Alice. His mother had died a few hours earlier in the same house. This double tragedy led him to leave his daughter in the care of his sister and move to the Dakotas for a while. He later coped with his grief by rarely, if ever, mentioning his first wife by name, even neglecting to mention her in his autobiography and calling his daughter by nickname only. His daughter Alice went on to scandalize the nation during his time in office by riding in "fast" automobiles with men, smoking in public, and various other headline-grabbing shenanigans. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service to the nation on D-Day. When TR was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for efforts while leading the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, the Roosevelts became one of only two father-son pairs to become recipients (Arthur MacArthur in the Civil War and Douglas MacArthur in World War II being the only other pair so far).

6. The Secret Service took on the official role of protecting the President under TR, following the assassination of President McKinley. The Secret Service was founded at the end of the American Civil War, with primary responsibilities centered on anti-counterfeiting efforts. Although occasionally providing security detail for the President (and indeed having agents present when McKinley was shot), following McKinley's assassination Congress assigned the Secret Service responsibility for protecting the President full time.

7. Among American Presidents, TR was one of the most prolific authors. He wrote 35 books, including major historical works and treatises on natural history. His first book, The Naval War of 1812, was widely lauded as a unique and valuable resource for understanding American and British tactics during the conflict. For many years it was required reading at the Naval Academy, included in many US Navy ships' libraries, and has since been reprinted by the Naval Institute Press.

8. TR suffered and overcame extraordinary physical difficulties. Considered weak as a child, he suffered from stuttering and asthma, and was frequently sick and bedridden. His eyesight was poor and his heart was weak. Beginning at an early age, in a lifelong effort to combat his frailties, he pushed himself at exercising. He was fond of hiking, hunting, and other strenuous activities. He took up boxing as a child, continued through college while at Harvard, and even while in the Whitehouse. His physical exertions were not without cost, however. One boxing match left him permanently blinded in his right eye, a fact not publicized at the time. On an expedition through Brazilian jungles in 1913 - 1914, he became so sick from an infected leg wound and malaria that he came close to dying. Upon returning to the states, he continued suffering from those ailments, and they are suspected to have contributed to his death in early 1919.

9. He helped, inadvertently, ensure Woodrow Wilson's election to the Whitehouse. Similar to H. Ross Perot's effort years later, TR's "Bull Moose Party" pulled enough Republican voters to swing the 1912 election, allowing Woodrow Wilson to win. Roosevelt regretted not running for President in 1908 after his anointed successor, William Howard Taft, failed to follow through on his policies. Unable to wrest the Republican nomination from Taft, TR started a third party and campaigned as a viable candidate under the Progressive Party's banner. Ultimately TR carried six states, Taft carried two, and Wilson won the remaining 40. TR was able to split the popular vote with Taft, taking 27% to Taft's 23%. This allowed Wilson to win his first term with only 42% of the popular vote. As of this writing, no other candidate outside the Republican or Democrat parties has since been able to come in higher than third in a US Presidential election.

10. Roosevelt is credited with spearheading one of the greatest engineering marvels of all time and one of the most interesting examples of a Presidential directive's failure. Roosevelt handled the American takeover of the Panama Canal in 1906 after years of French efforts that had been hamstrung by disease and technical problems. TR was a strong naval advocate, sending the "Great White Fleet" around the world to display a commitment by the US to the seaways. The canal was seen as vital to American security, and it finally opened in 1914. On the other hand, Roosevelt became an advocate of simplified English spelling, and was briefly the Reformed Spelling Initiative's most public supporter. In 1906 he directed the US government's printer to use 300 words that had been simplified in spelling, such as "thru" for through and "altho" for although. Some of the modified spellings were already in use at the time of his directive. Unfortunately, while his previous reform efforts met with success, TR found considerable resistance in Congress and public opinion to the modified spellings, and ultimately dropped the requirement.

Resources for Further Reading

Several excellent books have been published on Theodore Roosevelt. Here are a handful among many worth reading:

Brands, H.W. (1997). T.R.: The Last Romantic. New York: Basic Books.

Morris, Edmund (1979). The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. New York: Coward, McCann & Ceoghegan.

Morris, Edmund (2001). Theodore Rex. New York: Random House.

Pringle, Henry F. (1931). Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Roosevelt, Theodore (1913). Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography. New York: MacMillan.