Theodore Roosevelt | Part 1 | The Great Man Podcast Episode #10

-Roosevelt's bad health and crippling asthma greatly influenced him throughout his formative years. He frequently had unexpected midnight asthma attacks that made him feel as though he was being suffocated, which worried both Theodore and his parents. The doctors had no cure.

-In 1869, while hiking in the Alps with his family, Roosevelt discovered that he could keep up with his father. He had learned the important advantages of exercise in reducing his asthma and lifting his spirits. Roosevelt started a rigorous fitness regimen. After being mistreated by two older boys while camping, he sought out a boxing trainer to teach him how to fight and build up his physical power.

-Roosevelt's father had a significant impact on him. His father was a prominent leader in New York. In fact, he helped found the Metropolitan Museum of Art

-Roosevelt said, "My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness."

-Roosevelt was homeschooled by his parents and tutors

-He excelled in geography and was intelligent in history, biology, French, and German, but had trouble with math and the classical languages. On September 27, 1876, he enrolled at Harvard College, and his father gave him this advice: "Take care of your morals first, your health next, and then your studies."

-Roosevelt was heartbroken by the sudden loss of his father on February 9, 1878.

-In 1880, he graduated from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts degree

-However, Theodore believed that he didn’t gain much from going to Harvard due to the robot and rigid way different subjects were taught. As well as how the different subjects were so focused on small details that you could not connect anything back to the whole

-Roosevelt had received a $65,000 inheritance following his father's passing ($1,825,155 in 2021). Which meant that he wouldn't have had to work another day in his life

-That isn't what Theodore wanted to do. He gave up his plan to study natural science and then decided to attend The Columbia Law School. But, he found law to be irrational and then decided that he would write a book on the war of 1812

-In 1880 he married Alice Hathaway Lee and their daughter was born 4 years later on February 12th, 1884. Two days later his wife died of kidney failure and 11 hours before that, his mother died.

-In his diary he wrote, “the light has gone out of my life”

-In 1882, 1883, and 1884, Roosevelt served as a member of the New York State Assembly. Roosevelt wrote more laws than any other lawmaker in his final term as chairman of the Committee on Affairs of Cities.

-1883 he visited the Dakota territory to hunt bison. At this time the cattle business was booming and so Roosevelt invested $14,000

-In North Dakota, 35 miles north of the boomtown of Medora, Roosevelt established the Elkhorn Ranch. On the Little Missouri River's banks, Roosevelt developed his western riding, roping, and hunting skills. The real cowboys respected him, but they weren't very impressed. But he claimed he associated with the historical herdsman, who possesses "few of the milk-and-water moralities, emasculated, extolled by the pseudo-philanthropists; but he does contain, to a very high degree, the stern, manly traits that are precious to a nation." He changed his focus and started penning articles for major magazines about life on the frontier. He also wrote and published three books: The Wilderness Hunter, Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, and Hunting Trips of a Ranchman.

-During his time as a rancher, Roosevelt learned how important conservation of the land is. With over-grazing being one of his concerns

-However in the winter of 1886-87 Roosevelts herd was wiped out and he lost around $40,000 in investments. So, he returned to the east

-Roosevelt wed Edith Kermit Carow, on December 2, 1886. Roosevelt was extremely distressed by the fact that his second marriage took place so soon after the passing of his first wife and that he encountered opposition from his sisters.

-Late in April 1898, the Spanish-American War broke out, and Roosevelt left his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He established the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment with Army Colonel Leonard Wood. Roosevelt's wife and many of his friends pleaded with him to stay in his position in Washington, but he was adamant about going into battle. Roosevelt and Wood received a deluge of applications from all around the nation after the newspapers announced the establishment of the new unit. The regiment, known as the "Rough Riders" in the media, was one of many ad hoc organizations that served only as temporary forces during the conflict.