Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt, (1858-1919). US statesman; 26th president of the US (1901-09). Although a sickly youth). Roosevelt showed an early love of adventure and physical activity. As a young man he worked as a rancher and campaigned against corruption in public life. He led a volunteer force in Cuba during the Spanish-American War (1898) and on his return was elected Re-publican governor of New York State. Having been appointed vice-president in 1901, he assumed the presidency on the assassination of McKinley later that year. He was elected president in his own right in 1904. In domestic affairs, Roosevelt is mainly remembered for his championship of the ‘Square Deal’, a programme of social reform involving improved labour conditions and regulation of monopolies. His approach to foreign affairs is summed up in his dictum “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” He built the US navy into a major I force and acquired the Panama Canal Zone in 1903. After leaving office in 1909, he helped to split the Re-publican Party through his bitter feud with president William Taft. In the presidential elections of 1912 he stood unsuccessfully as candidate for his own Progressive party. Roosevelt was also a keen big-game hunter and explorer.
