"Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far"
Being Teddy Roosevelt
Biography
Theodore Roosevelt,(1858 – 1919),was the youngest US president in history, at just 43 years old he became the 26th president of the United States(1901–09).
Personal life
Although he was born into a wealthy New York family, Teddy was a sickly child. He suffered from asthma and other illnesses. In 1884 his first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt, and his mother died on the same day. Two years later he married Edith Kermit Carow. He had six children.
Philosophy
He took the view that the President as a "steward of the people" should take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the Constitution."
Military Accomplishments
During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt was lieutenant colonel of the Rough Rider Regiment, which he led on a charge at the battle of San Juan. He was one of the most noteworthy heroes of the war.
Early Political Career
As U.S. Civil Service Commissioner (1889-95), he worked to do away with the Spoils System in local governments, and as Governor of New York, 1898, Roosevelt set out to stomp corruption in the state; beginning with controlling the powerful political bosses of Tamanny Hall in NYC.
Presidential Career
As president, Roosevelt held the ideal that the government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and offering favors to none. Roosevelt emerged spectacularly as a "trust buster" by forcing the dissolution of a great railroad combination in the northwest. Other antitrust suits under the Sherman Act followed. Establishing America as a major world power; he reduced the national debt by over ,000,000; and he secured the passage of the Elkins Act and the Hepburn Act for regulation of the railroads, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act for consumer protection, and the Federal Employers' Liability Act for Labor. Roosevelt put the United States in an active role in world politics. He liked to quote a favorite African proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far." Because he felt that there was a strategic need for a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific, he ensured the construction of the Panama Canal. After Colombia refused to accept his offer to purchase the Panamanian Canal Zone, 1903, he helped Panama to secede from Colombia and gave the United States a Canal Zone. Construction began at once on the Panama Canal. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine prevented the establishment of foreign bases in the Caribbean and arrogated the sole right of intervention in Latin America to the United States.He won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War, reached a "Gentleman's Agreement" on immigration with Japan, and sent the "Great White Fleet" on a goodwill tour of the world. He also successfully mediated international disputes over Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Morocco. Some of Theodore Roosevelt's most effective achievements were in conservation. He added enormously to the national forests in the West, reserved lands for public use, and fostered great irrigation projects.Theodore Roosevelt's character and reputation have been the subject of much critical attention, some have referred to him as a bully and an imperialist.
Teddy Roosevelt Quotes
1. ."...the man who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic-the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done." (1891)
2. "The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others."
Address to the Deep Waterway Convention, Memphis, TN, October 4, 1907
4. ”I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do. That is character!” -Theodore Roosevelt