Theodore Roosevelt: Our Nation's Greatest Conservation President

Theodore Roosevelt:
Timeline to his Presidency

1858 - Born October 27th to Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt

1880 - Graduated from Harvard University, where he studied natural history; married his first wife, Alice Lee Hathaway

1882 - Elected into the New York State Assembly

1883 - First child born; both wife and mother die, on the same day (February 14th); later moved to the Dakota territory to live the exciting life of a cowboy

1885 - Married childhood sweetheart, Edith Carrow which would result in five more children over the years

1889 - Appointed as U.S. Civil Service Commissioner

1895 - Elected as New York City's Police Commissioner

1897 - Appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy

1898 - Left his previous post to lead the volunteer regiment known as the Rough Riders at the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba; after returning home as a war hero he became the candidate for the gubernatorial office in New York

1900 - Nominated as the Republican Party's Vice President candidate with William McKinley as the presidential nominee; won the election

1901 - McKinley assassinated making Roosevelt, 42, the youngest man to become President of the United States

Interesting Facts about
our 26th President

Theodore Roosevelt did not have a middle name.

He had six children: Alice, Ted, Kermit, Ethel, Archie, and Quentin.

The Roosevelt family had a pet badger, bear, birds, cats, dogs, guinea pigs, kangaroo rats, horses and snakes.

He was an avid reader and had a photographic memory. It is said that he could read up to three books in a day.

Roosevelt was the first president to travel outside the States to Panama.

Lost sight in one eye while boxing in the White House.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for mediating the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

Facts gathered from Little Known Facts and ParkNet.

"There can be no greater issue
than that of conservation in this country."

Confession of Faith Speech, Progressive National Convention, Chicago, IL, August 6, 1912

Devoted father, scholar, statesman, Rough Rider, outdoor enthusiast, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and the youngest man ever to become President. Theodore Roosevelt was all this and more. As our 26th President of the United States, Roosevelt remained true to what he believed a leader should be - a "steward of the people" who should do whatever he can with the power he was given, not usurped. At the end of his term, Roosevelt not only proved to be a great steward to the people, but to the land as well.

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York, New York. Both parents came from wealthy families and were able to provide their young son his every whim. Unfortunately illness struck young Theodore at an early age, and most of his time was spent indoors, reading.

Roosevelt's sickly childhood did not deter him from being out in the great outdoors for long. He loved to hike, ride horses and hunt. At one point he longed to be a naturalist, learning the songs of birds and the names of plants that he encountered in his outdoor trysts. His love of nature would never leave him, and as President of the United States, Roosevelt felt that it was his duty to protect it the best he could.

Roosevelt and his fellow Party members in front of the

The Conservation President

Theodore Roosevelt was the first president in history to make the environment a top priority. Conservation of the land and other natural resources remained an important issue throughout his administration. He understood that the U.S.'s economic and political strength was due to their exploitation of the nation's natural resources. Unlike the leaders before him, Roosevelt no longer believed that those natural resources would be infinitely abundant.

In his Seventh State of the Union Address (December 12, 1907), Roosevelt stated that "to waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed." The President believed that good land management was critical for not only the present, but for the furture as well. These ideals were encouraged by some of the greatest conservationists in history.

One friend, and founder of the Sierra Club, John Muir, greatly influenced the President's ideas when it came to conservation. Muir convinced Roosevelt that it was the Federal government's duty to protect the land, better so than the states. And protect the land he did, in vast numbers. While President, Roosevelt set aside approximately 230,000,000 acres of land for conservation.

Roosevelt's work in conservation includes:

The first Federal Bird Reserve (1903) on Pelican Island, Florida. By the end of his term, these federal bird reserves would total to 51 and beginning of the National Wildlife Refuge.

Passed the Antiquities Act (1906) that gave the President the right to create National Monuments on land that held scientific and historical significance. There were 18 national monuments established during his presidency.

The establishment of the U.S. Forest Service (1907) as a way to manage government forest lands.

He created five National Parks - Crater Lake, Oregon; Wind Cave, South Dakota; Sully's Hill, North Dakota; Platt National Park, Oklahoma; Mesa Verde, Colorado.

150 National Forests were created, increasing the number of acres in national forests 400% during his time in office.

Held the Conference of Governors (1908) which brought the issue of conservation to the public in a highly visible way. The Conference was held in order to teach the country's leaders the importance of conservation and highlighted the need of efficient planning, management and use of water, forests and other natural resources.

For a complete listing of the lands saved by Roosevelt, visit the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

The Story of Teddy's Bear

Theodore Roosevelt was a man who loved to hunt. During one bear hunting expedition in Mississippi, Roosevelt found that not all hunters are out there for the strenuous challenge he always looked forward to when outdoors. After a long morning with no game to show for it, a guide trapped and clubbed a bear for the President to kill. When Roosevelt arrived to where the bear sat tied to a tree, not only did he refuse to shoot the bear, but he didn't allow anyone else in the party to kill it either. Unfortunately for the bear, there is no real happy ending. Due to the club on the head and attacks from hunting dogs, the bear had to be put out of his misery and was killed with a hunting knife.

The political cartoon drawn by Clifford Berryman that inspired the creation of the Teddy Bear.

Reporters with the hunting party soon shared the story with the rest of the country. One reader, cartoonist Clifford Berryman, drew an political cartoon capturing the President's fairness and willingness to always do what is right. The cartoon bear became known as Roosevelt's political mascot for the rest of his career. The bear also captured the imagination of Morris and Rose Michtom who created the first stuffed "Teddy's bear."

Information gathered from the Theodore Roosevelt Association