Theodore Roosevelt: City Slicker to Cowboy President|5-Minut…

Was there ever a more brash and bold character to occupy the White House than Theodore Roosevelt? Wilfred McClay, professor of history at Hillsdale College, informs the story of how this war, cowboy, and political leader hero concerned record 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 discovering 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, political leader, historian, explorer, big game hunter, ornithologist, and serious amateur fighter– and that’s not even a complete list.

Now, he was including another job: twenty-sixth President of the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 27, 1858, to a patrician household of Dutch heritage. When he wasn’t modifying the campus literary magazine, he was rowing, boxing, and taking part in a half dozen Harvard social clubs.

It would be an error to think that TR had an easy life. As a young boy, he struggled with asthma, poor eyesight, persistent headaches, fevers, and stomach pains. He got rid of those disabilities with the decision that would become his hallmark.

Eventually, he increased both his strength and stamina, which he flaunted to others with an irrepressible boylike enthusiasm that charmed lots of and annoyed many.

Motivated by his dad’s civic-mindedness, he selected a profession in politics. In 1881, he was chosen to the New York State Assembly. Within a year– just 24 years old– he became his celebration’s minority leader.

Then, everything came crashing down.

Both his other half, Alice, and mom, Martha, died within hours of each other on, of all days, Valentine’s Day 1884.

Grief-stricken, Roosevelt fled the concrete canyons of New York for the genuine canyons of the Dakota area. For two years, he sidetracked himself hunting buffalo, herding livestock, and writing about the American West. He couldn’t stay away from politics.

When he returned to the city in 1886, he resumed his stable increase through the ranks of New York and nationwide politics, first as a member of the Civil Service Commission under President Benjamin Harrison, then as the New York City Police Commissioner, and after that as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President William McKinley.

While in this position, TR pressed hard for America to take the side of the Cuban rebels in revolt against their Spanish colonial masters. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, TR sold his suit and tie for a military uniform.

His famous charge up San Juan Hill made him a national hero.

Armed with this new reputation, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. He immediately clashed with New York Republican Party boss, Thomas Platt. Anxious was Platt to get the independent-minded guv out of New York politics that he organized for Roosevelt to become McKinley’s running mate in the 1900 governmental election.

As Vice President, Roosevelt nearly went bananas from monotony. McKinley, like many presidents, provided his vice president almost nothing to do.

And after that on September 6, 1901, McKinley was shot by a mentally disrupted anarchist in Buffalo, New York. 8 days later on, he caught his wounds. Theodore Roosevelt, the cowboy, was now president– at 42, the youngest man to ever occupy the workplace.

While he promised to satisfy McKinley’s program– and for the a lot of part he did– Roosevelt was his own male with his own distinct governing approach.

TR thought that the president should set the legal program for Congress, not the other way around– which had actually been the standard for the majority of American history.

He was likewise not particularly deferential to the Constitution, which limits executive power. TR argued that a president was allowed to do anything that was not specifically forbidden by the Constitution.

For instance, when coal miners went on strike in May 1902, Roosevelt threatened to send the army to operate the mines. Asked whether that would be constitutional, Roosevelt replied, “To hell with the Constitution when the people desire coal!”

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Was there ever a more strong and bold character to occupy the White House than Theodore Roosevelt? Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City on October 27, 1858, to a patrician family of Dutch heritage. Grief-stricken, Roosevelt fled the concrete canyons of New York for the real canyons of the Dakota area. Nervous was Platt to get the independent-minded guv out of New York politics that he set up for Roosevelt to become McKinley’s running mate in the 1900 governmental election.

Theodore Roosevelt, the cowboy, was now president– at 42, the youngest guy to ever inhabit the office.