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In honor of the birthday of my favorite President, here are some anecdotes about Teddy Roosevelt.
“FOUR EYES” – When he was ten and he was bullied by some older boys who called him “Four Eyes”. He tried to fight back, but he was easily fended off. When he returned home in tears of frustration, his father counseled him that he did not have the body he wanted so he must “build your body”. Teedie became obsessed with following his dad’s advice. His father created a gym on the second floor of their mansion and hired a personal trainer. He took boxing lessons and studied judo. Boller p. 195
DON’T STEAL FOR ME – When TR was a rancher out West, he was once searching for strays and he and one of his hands found a maverick. A maverick was an unbranded cow that roamed the plains. The rule was the cow belonged to the rancher whose land it was on. TR’s hand build a fire and prepared to put his brand on it. When TR questioned this, the hand said not to worry, he did this all the time. TR immediately fired him saying “anyone who would steal for me, would steal from me.” Boller p. 202
POINT TO POINT MARCHES – One way TR made himself physically fit was through hiking. His hikes were called “point to point marches” because he would pick a destination and the rule was you had to go straight to the place. You could not go around anything like fallen trees. One day, he was invited a foreign ambassador to go for a walk. The ambassador showed up in dress clothes including white gloves and was bemused to find the President dressed in hiking clothes. They proceeded into the woods near the White House, pushing their way through brambles and bushes. Finally, they came to a stream and the ambassador breathed a sigh of relief at the end of his torment. He was shocked to see TR take his clothes off. To the ambassador’s puzzled look, the President asked him if he planned to cross the stream with his fancy clothes on. When in Rome, so the gentleman disrobed, but left his gloves on. When TR gave him a quizzical look, the ambassador explained that “we might meet some ladies”. Boller p. 206
CLIFF-HANGER – TR enjoyed his time as a rancher in the West, including the landscapes. Once he found himself on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley. Roosevelt decided the best picture to remember the vista would be halfway down the cliffside. He had himself and a camera lowered two hundred feet by rope. He took the picture, but the rope got caught so he could not be pulled back up. After two hours of pulling, TR gave the word to cut the rope and allow him to fall into the icy stream. He was pulled out half-conscious, but with a great story to tell. Whitcomb p. 234
I’M A DEMOCRAT – TR was once giving a campaign speech and there was a heckler in the audience. The man kept yelling “I’m a Democrat!” Finally, TR had enough so he stopped the speech and addressed the man. “May I ask the gentleman why he is a Democrat?” The man replied: “My grandfather was a Democrat, my father was a Democrat, so I’m a Democrat!” TR figured he had the man right where he wanted him, so he asked: “My friend, suppose your grandfather had been a jackass and your father had been a jackass?” The response came back: “Well, then I’d be a Republican!” Fuller 339
SAVING COLLEGE FOOTBALL – In 1905, 32 college football players were killed and there was outrage from the media, preachers, and college presidents. Thirty state legislatures introduced bills to ban the sport. Roosevelt called a conference of college officials and urged them to improve safety in the sport. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was created. maroon 123
GOOD TO THE LAST DROP – Teddy was in Tennessee for a banquet celebrating the birth to Andrew Jackson. The banquet was at a hotel and the meal was several courses. When the dinner was over, coffee was served. It was a special blend made at the hotel. Teddy really enjoyed his cup and drank it down in one gulp. When he placed it back on its saucer, he exclaimed: “This coffee is good to the last drop!” The hotel’s owner was seated at the table and was impressed with the statement. He asked the President if he could use it to advertise his coffee, which was named after the hotel – Maxwell House.
SPELLING REFORM – TR attempted to reform the English language by adopting “simplified spelling”. He got the u dropped from words like labour and rumour, but was not successful in switching some words to a phonetic spelling, like through (thru) and night (nite). He wanted to substitute z for s in words like surprise and compromise. Some educators supported the reforms and Andrew Carnegie donated $250,000, but the public and the press was very much against it. TR was forced to back down. Shenkman 192-3
SAVED BY THE SPEECH – TR was scheduled to give a speech in Milwaukee during the 1912 campaign when he was shot when leaving his hotel to go to the venue. His speech was on fifty pages and they were folded in half. The bullet went through the speech, which was in his coat pocket. The thickness of the pages slowed the bullet down and probably saved his life. It did crack a rib and left blood on his shirt, but it was not life-threatening. TR decided giving the speech would be a great moment for him. Before he started the speech, he addressed the crowd. He told them he had just been shot. “But it takes more than that to kill a bull moose!” He then opened his coat to show the shocked crowd the blood stain. TR lost the election, but he sure had a great story to tell. Shenkman 201-2
WARRIOR BOYS – All his sons served their country in the military. His youngest son Quentin was shot down and killed in a dogfight with several German fighter planes. The Germans dropped a wreath at his gravesite. Ted Jr. was gassed in WWI and rose to General in WWII. He led the landing at Utah Beach on D-Day and was awarded the Medal of Honor. He died of a heart attack soon after. Kermit lost a thumb in WWI and was killed in the Aleutian Islands campaign in WWII. Sadler 228-229
FOUR WIGGLIES – TR’s son Quentin once returned from a pet shop with four snakes. He marched into the President’s office while he was conducting a meeting and dumped them on the desk where they proceeded to fight each other. The guests cleared out and TR and his son rounded up the wigglies and they were returned to the pet shop. Apparently, there was a limit to what pets would be allowed in the White House. Kelly 158
A TRAGIC VALENTINE’S DAY – On Valentine’s Day in 1884, Teddy’s mother died of typhoid fever and his first wife died from a kidney disease that had gone undiagnosed during her pregnancy. This tragedy took place in the same house with Teddy moving up and down the stairs to be with the two most important women in his life. Teddy wrote in his diary that the light had gone out in his life with the death of his wife. He left his newborn baby Alice to the care of his sister and went West to try to outrun his depression.
SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER – When Teddy was running for Governor of New York, he campaigned with several of his Rough Riders. At one campaign stop, Sergeant Buck Taylor addressed the crowd. He concluded his talk with: “And when it came to that great day, he led us up San Juan Hill like sheep to the slaughter, and so he will lead you!” Weird 266
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