Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was a man on a mission. Maybe he didn№t know it, but he was. He affected millions of people throughout his life in many different ways. He was the leader of a famous military group, he was an author, a lawyer, and he was also the 26th president of the united states, all of these things ended up bringing him fame.

He was born in new York city on October 27 1858 into a rich Dutch family. He was always a cowboy at heart. Even though he was born in a big city his cowboy side and his passion for adventure would come up later in his life. His father taught him to go for his goals, to follow a strict Christian moral code, and to enjoy the life of the mind. His father taught him that the mind was the strongest tool he had. He probably preached this because his son had serious asthma, and a grail un- athletic body. Ted listened to his father and that led to many accomplishments in his life.

He did all the normal things that a young man from a wealthy family was supposed to do. He worked hard on his academics, he got good grades, went to Harvard, and graduated with a great education in 1880. In that same year he married Alice h lee, a girl he met at Harvard. He still wasn№t sure of what career he wanted. He ended up serving three one year terms in the new York assembly from 1882-1884. While serving there he became known as an independent republican. Then, in 1884 his mother and his wife died on the same day.

He was completely broken-hearted, and he had no idea where he wanted to go from there. after a couple of months of mourning, he decided that he would head

west, and he would finally fulfill his childhood dream of being a cowboy. He decided that he would move to the Dakotas where he became a rancher with all of the rough experienced cowboys of the west. Even though he was this scrawny awkward outcast

that wore glasses; something most of the people in the Dakotas never even saw; he was still able to get the respect of the rough and tough cowboys. He did it by tracking three rustlers, and bringing them back for a trial by himself. Even though he loved being a wild cowboy out on a ranch he realized he had a real life back in New York. He would have loved to live in the west for the rest of his life , but after only two years in the Dakotas he went back to New York.

A couple of months after he returned to New York where he met Edith Kermit Carow and married her shortly after. After that he returned to writing books, something he started earlier in the 1880№s. Two of the books were biographies, one on Thomas Hart Barton in 1886, and then another one on gouverneur Morris two years later in 1888. He also wrote the first two volumes of a four volume book called і the winning of the west,І in 1889. He finished the other two volumes in 1896. He received little fame, and a lot of recognition from these three books.

In the next ten years of his life he made a lot of progress in his political career. In 1889 president Benjamin Harrison gave him the title of і Civil Service Commissioner.І In 1895 he resigned that job. He then became the president of new York City№s і Board of Police Commissioners.І After two years of that he went back to Washington, this time as an assistant secretary of the navy. This political experience

would help him later in life.

While all of these political jobs we№re going on for Theodore Roosevelt there were some serious problems going on down in Cuba. At that time Cuba was owned by Spain, and at the end of the 1890№s people in the united states started reading horrible stories in the newspapers about how the Spaniards were treating the people down in Cuba. The united states decided to stay neutral until February 15, 1898 when the іUSS Maine,І a battleship that was docked in Havana exploded, killing over 250 soldiers and marines. about two months later the united states declared war on Spain, starting the Spanish-american . After the war started Theodore Roosevelt was chosen to lead a volunteer cavalry group called і The Rough Riders,І and he was happy to do it for a couple of reasons. First, he was getting a chance to represent and fight for his country in war. Another reason was that he got to be a cowboy again. The men that he was leading weren№t all a bunch of city boys forced to go to war, they were ruthless cowboys and farmers from the west, and some rich college boys from the east who were willing to do whatever it took to win. The cavalry was made up of some rich college boys but for the most part it was made up of rough cowboys from the west, native Americans from Oklahoma and other southwestern states, and Mexican Americans from new Mexico. These men were the perfect match for Theodore Roosevelt, because these were