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Theodore Roosevelt

"Government jobs belong to the American people, not politicians and shall be filled only with regard to public service."

Theodore Roosevelt

Timeline

October 27, 1858 - Born at 28 East 20th Street, New York City, child of Theodore and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt.

1876 - 1880 Attended Harvard College.

1880-1882 Enters Columbia Law School in October 1880; discontinued study of law in 1882 without taking a degree or becoming a lawyer.

October 27, 1880 Marries Alice Hathaway Lee of Chestnut Hill, MA on his 22nd birthday.
(Alice born July 29, 1861)

1880 Joins the Republican Party Theodore Roosevelt using the bullypulpit

November 8, 1881 Elected to New York State Assembly from New York City (the youngest man ever elected to the Assembly) by a margin of 3,490 votes to 1,989. Serves three one-year terms, 1882, 1883 and 1884. Minority Leader 1883.

August 1,1882 Joins the National Guard. Commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Company B of New York's Eighth Regiment.

February 12, 1884 Birth of 1st child, daughter Alice Lee Roosevelt.

February 14, 1884 TR's mother Martha Bulloch Roosevelt dies of typhoid fever; hours later, TR's wife Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt also dies from Bright's disease.

1885 Sagamore Hill, TR's Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York home, completed.

December 2, 1886 Marries to Edith Kermit Carow in London. They eventually have five children: Theodore (1887), Kermit (1889), Ethel Carow (1891), Archibald Bulloch (1894), Quentin (1897).

May 7, 1889- May 5, 1895 U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, Washington. President Roosevelt's Family

May 5, 1895 Resigns US Civil Service Commission to become Police Commissioner of NYC.

May 6, 1895- April 19, 1897 President of the Board of Police Commissioners, New York City.

April 19, 1897 Appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President WilliamMcKinley.

May 6, 1898 A little more than one year later TR resigns as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to become Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (the "Rough Riders").

May 15- Sept. 16, 1898 Serves with First US Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, the "Rough Riders," during Spanish-American War. TR commissioned Lieutenant Colonel, but later promoted to Colonel of the regiment before the Battle of San Juan Heights.

July 1, 1898 Battle of San Juan Heights. Is later nominated for, but denied, the Congressional Medal of Honor. One hundred years later TR is awarded the Medal of Honor.Theodore Roosevelt on horse

September 27, 1898 Nominated by the Republican Party for Governor of New York State.

November 8, 1898 Elected Governor of New York State (661,715 votes) with a plurality of 17,786 votes.

December 31, 1898 Takes oath of office as Governor of New York.

Dec. 31, 1898 - Dec. 31, 1900 Governor of New York.

November 6, 1900 Elected Vice President. The McKinley-Roosevelt ticket received 7,219,530 votes to 6,358,071 for Democrats William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson.

March 4- Sept. 14, 1901 Vice President of the United States.

Sept. 6, 1901 President William McKinley shot while attending the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. TR, on a hiking trip with his family, is summoned from Mount Tahawus in the Adirondacks to Buffalo.

September 14, 1901 At age 42, Roosevelt becomes the 26th President of the United States and is sworn into office at about 3:15 p.m. at the Ansley Wilcox Mansion, Buffalo, NY. Roosevelt is the youngest man ever to become President.

Sept. 14 1901- Mar. 4, 1909 Twenty-sixth President of the United States.

May 22, 1902 Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, established. Other National Parks established by TR are: Wind Cave National Park, SD (1903);Sullys Hill, ND (1904); Platt National Park, OK (1906); Mesa Verde National Park, CO (1906)

June 17, 1902 Newlands Reclamation Act signed, leading to first 21 federal irrigation projects including Theodore Roosevelt Dam, Arizona.

June 28, 1902 Isthmian Canal Act.

February 14, 1903 Department of Commerce and Labor established.
President Roosevelt at the building of the Panama Canal

November 18, 1903 Treaty signed with Panama for building of Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914.

November 8, 1904 Reelected President over Democrat Alton B. Parker.

December 6, 1904 Issued "Roosevelt Corollary" to Monroe Doctrine in annual message to Congress.

February 1, 1905 National Forest Service established.

March 4, 1905 Inaugurated for second term as President.

September 5, 1905 Portsmouth Treaty signed ending Russo-Japanese Warafter mediation by TR.

June 30, 1906 Signs Pure Food and Drug Act and federal meat inspection law.

Nov. 8-26, 1906 President and Mrs. Roosevelt go to Panama to inspect building of the canal, the first time a president leaves US while in office.

December 10, 1906 Awarded Nobel Peace Prize for ending Russo-Japanese War in 1905; first American to win Nobel Prize in any of the six categories. (TR received award while in Europe in 1910.)

Dec. 16. 1907- Voyage of the Great White Fleet around the world. It will be the first circumnavigation of the globe by a national naval force.

May 13-15, 1908 First conference of Governors met at the White House to consider problemsof conservation.

June 8, 1908 Appointed a National Conservation Commission to prepare first inventory of natural resources.

February 22, 1909 Return of the American Great White Fleet

March 4, 1909 TR's administration ends with inauguration of successor William Howard Taft.

February 21, 1912 Announces candidacy for Republican nomination against President Taft, declaring "my hat is in the ring."

June 18-22, 1912 Republican National Convention meets in Chicago and renominates incumbent Taft even though TR has won all but one primary and caucus. President Roosevelt with President-elect TaftRoosevelt supporters bolt, charging "theft" of nomination.

August 5-7, 1912 Convention of new National Progressive party (nicknamed "Bull Moose" party) held in Chicago, adopts reform platform, and nominates TR for President and Governor Hiram W. Johnson of California for Vice President.

October 14, 1912 Shot in the chest while entering an automobile outside the Hotel Gilpatrick inMilwaukee, WI by would-be assassin John Nepomuk Schrank at about 8:00p.m. Campaigning on the "Bull Moose" ticket, TR delivers a 90-minute speech at the Auditorium in Milwaukee beforeseeking medical attention. The bullet would never be removed. [Schrank was declared insane on November 13, 1912 and committed to the Northern State Hospital for the Insane at Oshkosh, WI, and died at the Central State Hospital in Waupun, WI on September 15,1943.]

November 5, 1912 Democrat Woodrow Wilson elected president over TR, who came in second, and Republican Taft. Roosevelt received the largest percentage of votes of any third party candidate.

June 7-10, 1916 Republican and Progressive national conventions meet in Chicago, at same time in different halls, in an effort at a joint nomination. Progressives nominate Theodore Roosevelt; Republicans nominate Charles Evans Hughes; TR declines Progressive nomination and eventually backs Hughes.

July, 1918 Roosevelt refuses Republican nomination for Governor of New York.

January 6, 1919 Died in his sleep at Roosevelt (1916)Sagamore Hill of coronary embolism at age 60.

January 9, 1919 Funeral Procession for the burial of Theodore Roosevelt at Young's Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York.