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Cornelius Van Schaick Roosevelt, grandfather of Theodore (2), inherited a large fortune from his father and grand- father, and to this he made substantial additions. For many years he was engaged in the importation of hardware and plate glass ; was one of the founders of the Chemical Bank of New York City, and one of New York's wealthiest men. He established a summer home at Oyster Bay, Long Island, called "Tranquility" and there his son Theodore (1) Roosevelt spent the summer months all through his life, the old home also being the home of Theodore (2) Roosevelt during his early childhood.
Theodore (1) Roosevelt was born in New York City, September 29, 1831, and died there February 9, 1878. He became a member of the glass importing firm, Roosevelt & Company, No. 2 Maiden
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Sagamore Will Home of President Theodore Roosevelt Opter Bay L. 9.
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Lane, there continuing in business until 1876, when he established in the banking business with his son at No. 32 Pine Street, New York. He was a State com- missioner of public charities, vice-presi- dent of the Union League, and was appointed collector of the port of New York by President Hayes, but failed of confirmation, the senate objecting to him on account of his former affiliation with an importing business, which some be- lieved he retained an interest in. He was a most charitable man, abounding in good works, but particularly interested in the Orthopedic Hospital in 59th Street, New York, the Newsboys' Lodging House and the Young Men's Christian Association. Theodore (1) Roosevelt married Martha Bullock, daughter of James and Martha (Oswald) Bullock of Roswell, Georgia, and granddaughter of Archibald Bullock, first Revolutionary governor of Georgia, and Mary de Vaux, of Huguenot blood, and a maternal grand- daughter of Edward Bellinger, one of the Carolina landgraves. Governor Archi- bald Bullock was a son of James Bullock, who came from Scotland about 1715, a blood relation of the Douglass Barton and other famed families. He settled in Geor- gia, was a member of the Provincial Con- gress and held many important positions of honor and trust. Martha (Bullock) Roosevelt died February 15, 1884, leaving four children : Anna, married Capt. W. S. Cowles of the United States Navy ; Theo- dore (2) of further mention; Elliott ; Corinne, married Douglass (2) Robinson. The Roosevelt home was on West 57th Street, New York, the summer home "Tranquility," Oyster Bay, Long Island.
Theodore (2) Roosevelt, eldest son of Theodore and Martha (Bullock) Roose- velt, was born in New York, October 27, 1858, died suddenly at his home "Saga-
more Hill," Oyster Bay, Long Island, January 6, 1919. His early life was largely spent amid the healthful surroundings of "Tranquility," once owned by his grand- father, and there from a weakly child he developed into a wiry, earnest, fearless lad, who rode, swam, climbed, rowed and jumped, toughening every limb and muscle and laying the foundation for the great strength which enabled him to lead the strenuous life for which destiny was preparing him. He was graduated A. B., Harvard, class of 1880, and shortly after- ward purchased 100 acres of mostly wood land at Oyster Bay, which he named "Sagamore Hill," a name which had then no special significance, but which later became the mecca to which all eyes turned and where the greatest men of his party met to counsel with their greatest leader.
In 1882 Theodore Roosevelt made his first appearance in public life as a member of the New York Legislature, represent- ing the 21st Assembly district of New York. His party was in the minority but he displayed strong qualities of leadership and was returned in 1883. During that session he espoused the cause of State civil service reform, and was again returned to the Legislature in 1884. As chairman of the committee on cities, he reported and urged to passage a bill abol- ishing fees in the office of the county clerk and register, curtailing abuses in the surrogate's and sheriff's offices, and secured the passage of a bill that deprived aldermen of the power to confirm appoint- ments to office, and centered in the mayor the responsibilities for the administration of municipal affairs. He was chairman of the New York delegation to the Na- tional Republican Convention of 1884, which nominated James G. Blaine for the presidency, and in 1886 was an independ-
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ent candidate for mayor of New York City. He received the endorsement of the Republican party but was defeated by his Democratic opponent, Abram S. Hewitt. During the years 1884-86 he resided on a ranch in North Dakota, there gaining that intimate knowledge of West- ern life and ways which he gave to the world in "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman," which he published in 1885. In May, 1889, he was appointed United States Civil Service Commissioner by President Harrison, and until May, 1895, he served as president of the board. In that office he was most useful, aiding greatly in establishing important changes in the manner of making appointments and bet- tering conditions in the public service. In May, 1895, he resigned from the board to accept appointment as president of the New York Police Board, an office he held until 1897. As police commissioner he enforced civil service rules in appoint- ments and promotions; stood for a rigid enforcement of the excise laws and opposed all corrupting influences. In 1897 he retired from the police board, having been appointed assistant secretary of the navy under President Mckinley. This was his first appearance in national public life, and he at once made his presence felt. Trouble with Spain had long been brewing and as assistant secretary, Mr. Roosevelt advocated a campaign of pre- paredness which was carried out, but in a rather feeble manner. He encouraged the system of State naval reserve and "made many addresses in which he upheld the manful necessity of war to compel peace and secure justice." When war with Spain was inevitable he resigned his position as assistant secretary of the navy and asked for a commission to organize a regiment of cavalry of which his friend, Dr. Leonard Wood, (now Major-Gen-
eral) then an assistant surgeon in the United States Army, ranking as captain, was to be commissioned colonel. The authorities sought to impress him with the idea that he would be of greater service to his country in connection with the naval department, but he replied in these words: "The navy department is in good order. I have done all I can here. There are other men who can carry it on as well as I; but I should be false to my ideals, false to the views I have openly expressed, if I were to remain here while fighting is going on, after urging other men to risk their lives for their country." The regiment recruited among the ranch- men and cowboys of the West, and former friends of Mr. Roosevelt in col- lege, and in public life, was mustered into the United States service as the first United States regiment, Volunteer Caval- ry, Dr. Leonard Wood, colonel; Theodore Roosevelt, lieutenant-colonel. This regi- ment, known as the "Rough Riders," particularly distinguished itself at Las Animas and San Juan Hill, in Cuba, dur- ing the short lived war with Spain, Col- onel Wood being made brigadier-general July 8, 1898, and major-general Decem- ber 7, 1898. Lieutenant-Colonel Roose- velt, for gallantry in action at the same battles, was promoted colonel in Sep- tember, 1898, a title which attached to him until the day of his death. A graphic account of the charge of the "Rough Riders" at San Juan Hill, and Colonel Roosevelt's part in the battles is found in his own work, "The Rough Riders," published in 1899, and in histories of the Spanish-American War. After the des- truction of the Spanish fleet by the American vessels under Admiral Samp- son, the city of Santiago, Cuba, surren- dered on July 17, and soon afterward the American forces were ordered home, their
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departure being hastened by the famous "Round Robin," a circular letter signed by the officers serving under General Shafter. The justification for that letter was the fact that sickness prevaded the entire force, less than fifty per cent. being fit for work, and yellow fever prevailing, chiefly among the Cubans. The Wash- ington authorities seemed determined that the army should stay in Cuba, but the receipt of the "Round Robin" setting forth the true conditions of affairs brought about an instant change, and within three days the army was ordered home.
Colonel Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" were encamped at Montauk Point, Long Island, and the following autumn, peace having been declared, he resigned his commission, bade his devoted regiment farewell and retired to his home, "Sagamore Hill," at Oyster Bay."
With the year 1898 Colonel Roosevelt made his entry into political life as a recognized party leader, able to dictate his own terms, and while the party leader, Senator Platt, was supreme, Colonel Roosevelt as the gubernatorial candidate accepted the nomination unpledged, save to work with all his heart for the cause of good government. In November, 1898, he was elected governor of New York State by a plurality of 18,079, and filled honorably and efficiently the high office to which he had been chosen. As governor, he encouraged wise legislation and car- ried through every reform measure to which he had pledged himself. He care- fully examined every bill laid before him, and signed none which were not able to undergo the closest scrutiny. His task was a most difficult one, for while reform was a good thing to administer to the opposite party, the State leaders brought great pressure to bear upon Governor
Roosevelt to force him to exempt certain places and factions from the application of "reform" measures. But he remained firm and administered the governor's office as a sacred trust, although he risked his political future and did make power- ful enemies in his own party. His choice of public officials was excellent and it was his sincere wish that he be reelected in order that he might complete the work he had so well begun.
In the year 1900 William McKinley was the choice of the Republican party to succeed himself in the presidency, the only contest being over the vice-presi- dency. Owing to his independence and vigorous enforcement of party pledges Governor Roosevelt had incurred the opposition of the State organization, and it was deemed necessary to get him out of the way and thus prevent his nomina- tion for a second term as governor. They forced the governors name on the con- vention against his very earnest protest, but when the name of Theodore Roose- velt was once before the convention he was nominated for vice-president of the United States amid scenes of wildest excitement and enthusiasm, something very unusual in connection with a vice- presidential nomination. Governor Roose- velt only accepted the honor after it was shown him that his popularity would save the electoral votes of half a dozen West- ern states, and insure a Republican major- ity in Congress. But once he had accepted he plunged into the contest with all his energy; and all over the country his voice was heard addressing audiences from train platforms, in the open air and in public halls, or wherever he could find people gathered to hear him. He was warmly received almost everywhere and proved the greatest campaigner William J. Bryan had ever met. The result was a
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great victory for sound money and the expansion policy of the first Mckinley administration. On March 4, 1901, Colo- nel Roosevelt took the oath of office and was inaugurated vice-president of the United States. In his inaugural address he said with almost prophetic vision :
We belong to a young nation already of giant strength, yet whose present strength is but a fore- cast of the power that is to come. We stand supreme in a continent, in a hemisphere. East and west we look across the two great oceans toward the larger world, life in which, whether we will or not, we must take an ever-increasing share and as, keen-eyed, we gaze into the coming years, duties new and old, rise thick and fast to confront us from within and without. There is every reason why we should face these duties with a sober appreciation alike of their importance and of their difficulty. But there is also every reason for facing them with high-hearted resolution and with eager and confident faith in our capacity to do them aright.
On Friday, September 6, 1901, the astounding news was flashed to the world that William McKinley, president of the United States, had been shot by a fanatic, one Czolgosz, while visiting the Pan- American Exposition at Buffalo, New York. vice-President Roosevelt hastened to Buffalo and there was greatly delighted with the encouraging news that the wound was not necessarily fatal. He remained in Buffalo for a few days then upon being assured that the danger point seemed past went on a hunting trip to the Adirondacks. But soon afterward he was notified that a change for the worse had taken place and he quickly returned to Buffalo, but not reaching that city until some hours after the presidents death. Although at a cabinet meeting held dur- ing the forenoon it had been decided that Mr. Roosevelt should at once take the presidential oath, he positively refused to do so until he had paid his respects at William McKinley's bier as a private
citizen, and offered his condolence to the members of the family as such. Refusing a police escort, he drove to the Milburn home paying his respects to the dead president, after which he took the oath of office and became the twenty-sixth presi- dent of the United States.
With the rise of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency a new political era was ushered in. He was of an entirely new type, having neither business or profes- ional experience, he did not know any- thing about the Civil War save the know- ledge gained from books and from family association North and South, his mother being of a family noted in the Confeder- acy. The people were ready to follow a new leadership and although they were far in advance of Congress, their endorse- ment of the president brought both legis- lative branches into line and the new order prospered. "President Roosevelt brought to his great task high ideals, prodigious industry, an active, educated mind, a good deal of political experience and an honest desire to do his best." Questions dealt with during his adminis- tration were: The trusts, the railroads, the labor problems, the coal strike of 1902, some phases of the negro problem and foreign relations. The president regarded his intervention in the coal strike as his most important act in con- nection with the labor question. He recognized the necessity both of organ- ized capital and organized labor under proper supervision.
The corporation has come to stay, just as the trade union has come to stay. Each can do and has done great good. Each should be favored as long as it does good, but each should be sharply checked where it acts against law and justice.
The race question came into promin- ence, the discussion being prompted by the president's invitation to Booker T.
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Washington to dine at the White House, and his appointment of Dr. Crum, a negro, as collector of the port of Charleston. On the other hand, in 1906, he ordered the discharge of three companies of colored soldiers from the United States army because of the shooting-up by some of them of Brownsville, Texas. The guilty men could not be individually determined -there was a "conspiracy of silence" among their comrades to protect them- and so the president discharged them all and said of his action, "If any organi- zation of troops, white or black, is guilty of similar conduct in the future, I shall follow precisely the same course."
President Roosevelt defined the Monroe Doctrine as a "declaration that there must be no territorial aggrandizement by any non-American power at the expense of any American power on American soil." He advocated a big navy to enforce our position. He stood in favor of the acqui- sition of the Philippines and always asserted that we occupied the Islands for the good we could do there. His foreign policy was based upon the simple rule that we behave toward other nations as a strong and self-respecting man should behave toward the other men with whom he is brought in contact. Or, as he put it in another way, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." He always favored prepared- ness for war as the best means of secur- ing peace, regarding war as something to be avoided if possible, and honorable peace to be desired above all things. He was particularly interested in the navy and on one occasion said :
No fighting ship of the first class should ever be laid up save for necessary repairs; and her crew should be kept constantly exercised on the high seas, so that she may stand at the highest point of perfection.
It was with this end in view-to keep our fleet efficient-that it was sent to the
Pacific and then around the world. The fleet reached Hampton Roads at the con- clusion of the 42,000 mile cruise on Febru- ary 21, 1909. On the occasion of their return Colonel Roosevelt, then an ex- president, delivered a speech in which he said in part :
When I left the presidency there was not a cloud upon the horizon-and one of the reasons why there was not a cloud upon the horizon was that the American battle fleet had just returned from its sixteen months' trip around the world, a trip such as no other battle fleet of any power had ever taken, which it had not been supposed could be taken, and which exercised a greater influence for peace than all the peace congresses of the last fifty years-with Lowell I must emphatically believe that peace is not a gift that tarries long in the hands of cowards; and the fool and the weakling are no improvement on the coward.
In regard to the tariff he was like most college graduates, favorable to "free trade." In his "Life of Benton" in 1886, he said :
Free traders are apt to look at the tariff from a sentimental standpoint; but it is in reality a purely business matter and should be decided solely on grounds of expectancy. Political economists have pretty generally agreed that protection is vicious in theory and harmful in practice; but if the majority of the people in interest wish it, and it affects only themselves there is no earthly reason why they should not be allowed to try the experi- ment to their heart's content.
While president, his position was that the question of lowering and raising the duties as proposed by the two parties did not aproach in importance the trust or labor problems so-called. He believed in a protective tariff administration under a tariff commission and felt that if he had opened up the tariff question no good would have followed, and that he would have played into the hands of those who wished the tariff thrown open to discus- sion merely to avoid action on matters which he regarded as of infinitely greater importance.
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Conservation of the Nation's natural resources was warmly championed by President Roosevelt from the time when, as governor of New York, the Adirondack . iting the working hours of employees, forests were under consideration. When making the government liable for injuries to its employees, and forbidding child labor in the District of Columbia; acts reforming the consular service, and pro- hibiting corporations from contributing to campaign funds; the Emergency Cur- rency Law which also provided for the appointment of a Monetary Commission. he became president, Frederick H. New- ell and Gifford Pinchot were asked to prepare memoranda for his use in writing his first message to the Fifty-Seventh Congress. In that message he advised extensions to the forest reserve and that their control be transferred to the Bureau of Forestry. He said :
The water supply itself depends upon the forest. In the arid region it is water, not land, which measures production. The western half of the United States would sustain a population greater than that of our whole country to-day if the waters that now run to waste were saved and used for irrigation. The forest and water problems are per- haps the most vital internal questions of the United States.
In March, 1907, he added 16,000,000 acres to the forest reservation, just before signing an act forbidding such reserva- tion thereafter, except by Congress itself. In speaking of the attacks upon the For- est Service and of his act, he said:
The opponents of the Forest Service turned handsprings in their wrath and dire were their threats against the Executive; but the threats could not be carried out and were really only a tribute to the efficiency of our action.
During his seven and a half years of service as president he had in the main the support of the Republican House and Senate. The following were the prin- cipal acts passed :
The Elkins Anti-Rebate law; the crea- tion of a Department of Commerce and Labor; the creation of a Bureau of Cor- porations; the law authorizing the build- ing of the Panama Canal; the Hepburn Bill, amending the Interstate Commerce Act; the Pure Food and Meat Inspection
laws; the law creating the Bureau of Immigration; the Employers' Liability and Safety Appliance laws; the law lim-
The passage of some of these bills was attended with considerable friction and towards the end of his second term rela- tions between the president and Congress became somewhat strained. The presi- dent was constantly pressing his elabor- ate program of legislation, Congress never being able to meet his expectations or the expectations of the people. Finally the legislative body came to feel that its efforts were not properly appreciated and that the Executive held a place in the confidence of the people that rightfully belonged to Congress; a condition not unknown in our present public life.
The period covered by President Roose- velt's service had been one of industrial activity with few exceptions, a period of singularly honest and efficient adminis- tration of the government and one in which the conscience of the people had been wonderfully quickened and for this the president was largely responsible.
His administration came to an end March 4, 1909, when his successor Wil- liam H. Taft was inaugurated. He drove to the Capitol with President Taft and immediately after the inaugural address drove directly to the railway station, a private citizen.
It should be noted that President Roosevelt was elected to succeed him- self in the presidential office November 8,
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1904, by the largest popular majority ever accorded a candidate, 2,542,062.
Perhaps the most conspicuous act of his second administration was the offer to act as mediator between Russia and Japan in 1906, an offer which resulted in the ending of war between those coun- tries, a treaty of peace following. For this he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize ($40,000) which he used to endow the foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Peace. That money was never used, and in 1918 he applied to have it returned to him. Upon coming into pos- session of the money he devoted it to war relief work through the regular organi- zation.
After a few days spent at Oyster Bay the ex-president on March 23, 1909, sailed for Africa in charge of a scientific expedition sent out by the Smithsonian Institute to collect birds, mammals, rep- tiles and plants, but especially specimens of big game for the National Museum at Washington. Speaking of that trip before starting, he said that "Nothing will be shot unless for food, or for preservation as a specimen or unless the animal is of a noxious kind. There will be no wanton destruction whatever." While in Africa he wrote:
As a matter of fact every animal I have shot, except six or eight for food, has been carefully preserved for the National Museum. I can be con- demned only if the National Museum, the Ameri- can Museum of National History and all similar zoological collections are to be condemned.
The achievements of this expedition are recorded in a most interesting book, "African Game Trails," written by Col. Roosevelt, who was accompanied on the trip by his son Kermit. The expedition ended on March 14, 1910, when it reached Khartoum and then began that extra- ordinary journey through Europe during
which the ex-president delivered a series of addresses which attracted world-wide comment both favorable and unfavorable. These speeches are preserved in a volume entitled "European and African Ad- dresses." In the foreword in that book he says :
My original intention had been to return to the United States direct from Africa, by the same route I took when going out. I altered this inten- tion because of receiving from the Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Curzon, an invitation to deliver the Romanes Lecture at Oxford. The Romanes Foundation had always greatly interested me and I had been much struck by the general character of the annual addresses, so that I was glad to accept. Immediately afterwards I received and accepted invitations to speak at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Berlin. In Berlin and at Oxford my addresses were of a scholastic character designed especially for the learned bodies which I was addressing and for men who shared their interest in scientific and historical matters. In Paris after consulting with the French Ambas- sador U. Jusserand, through whom the invitation was tendered, I decided to speak more generally as the citizen of one Republic addressing the citi- zens of another Republic.
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