America's 26th President: Who is Theodore Roosevelt?

He was only 23 when he was elected to the state legislature. He tried to forget the pain he felt when his wife and mother died on the same day in 1884, by raising cattle on his farm in the Dakota and making history.

By Stephen McWright Published on 27 Nisan 2023 : 10:50.
America's 26th President: Who is Theodore Roosevelt?

He was born in New York in 1858 and died in New York in 1919.

He was brought up in private education until he entered Harvard University. He rose to the presidency of the Republican group in a short time in the New York State Assembly, where he was elected at the age of 23. He tried to forget the pain he felt when his wife and mother died on the same day in 1884, by raising cattle on his farm in the Dakota and making history. He lost the election for Governor of New York State in 1886. In 1897, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Sea. He supported the independence movement in Cuba. He resigned from his duty in the US-Spanish War (1898), joined the war voluntarily with the rank of colonel, and showed great usefulness.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. He previously served as the 25th vice president under President William McKinley from March to September 1901 and as the 33rd governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. Assuming the presidency after McKinley's assassination, Roosevelt emerged as a leader of the Republican Party and became a driving force for anti-trust and Progressive policies.

In the same year, he was elected Governor of New York and succeeded in important issues such as the evaluation of the teaching profession, tax reform, desegregation in schools, and protection of rural areas. He was elected vice president in 1900 and became the 26th president of the United States after President McKinley was assassinated in 1901. The railway trust closed the Securities Company by a Supreme Court decision.

He preferred to follow a realistic and rational line in foreign policy. He strengthened the navy. In 1904, he was elected president by a large majority for the second time. He supported The Hague Court of Justice. He played a major role in increasing the influence of France and Spain on Morocco in the 1906 Algerian Conference. After long discussions about the opening of the Panama Canal, he initiated the construction of the canal with the permission of the Republic of Panama. The Hepburn Act (1906), gave the State Commerce Commission the power to set railroad fares and forbid privileges between ship employers, meat packing, pure food, and drug control, Employer Liability Acts, inheritance taxation, etc.

He ensured that forests, coal, and mineral resources were placed under the control of the federal state.

He defended the idea that racial segregation was wrong in moral terms. He aimed to get closer to Japan, which was getting stronger in the Far East. He secretly endorsed Japan's sovereignty over Korea. His mediation in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) earned him the Nobel Peace Prize (1906). While Japan reaffirmed the US status quo in the Pacific, the US openly recognized Japan's economic dominance over Manchuria (1908). Of his own accord, he did not participate in the 1908 presidential election. During his trip to Africa and Europe, which lasted for about a year, he gave a series of lectures.

On his return to the United States, he supported the progressives in the rift between the party's progressive wing and Taft. He founded the Progressive Party and became a candidate against Taft in the 1912 elections. However, this split paved the way for Democratic candidate Wilson to become president. He wrote his life story between 1912-1914. He headed an expedition in Brazil and the river was named "Roosevelt".

At the beginning of the First World War, he launched an active public campaign to declare war on Germany. In 1917, upon the entry of the United States into the war, he advocated the support of Great Britain and France, the unconditional surrender of Germany, and the establishment of the League of Nations. When his proposal to be appointed commander of a unit in France was not approved by President Wilson, he withdrew from active politics.