Theodore Roosevelt
Visionary

 

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858. He was a very sickly child, had major respiratory problems and as a result, became captivated by science and chemistry. As he became older, his health took a 180, and he became a very athletic, smart fit man. Teddy attended Harvard, where he studied biology, boxed and developed an interest in naval affairs. One year out of Harvard, Roosevelt was elected to the New York state assembly, where he promptly became leader of the GOP. Among other things Teddy was a cowboy persona, owning two ranches in the Badlands of South Dkota, he was New York police commissioner, Secretary of the Navy during the Spanish-American War, and served as the 26th president of the United States and as vice president to William McKinley. He received a Nobel Peace Prize, and instigated the construction of the Panama Canal. Teddy Roosevelt was a hero to American society, and still is remembered globally for his work by diplomacy, but being able to back it up with force. His life was not without hardships though, his wife and mother died on the same day, ironically, Valentine’s Day.  When Theodore passed away, on January 16, 1919, his oldest son simply telegraphed his siblings “the old lion is dead” and the current Vice President, Thomas R. Marshall, said that “Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.”

I see Roosevelt as a hero because of his want for a better world and a better life for the public. He was a conservationist, a war hero, and a politician. But throughout it all, he was a student of life. He negotiated an end to the Russ-Japanese war, which earned him a Nobel Peace prize, and all the while was a lover of poetry and botany. The Panama Canal connected the world and made it safer to transport goods all over the globe, not just to the east and west coast. He made America a global force and received a lot of criticism for it, but in the end, it made a positive impact on the American public, and I believe, the world. And that’s a quality of a true hero, I think. Putting others in front of yourself, and persevering through all the rough and tumble to achieve what you think is right. The fact that Roosevelt was able to do all this, makes him a pioneer, a visionary and a true hero. And remember, "Speak softly, and carry a big stick!"

Photo Credits: Jonik, Scott Catron, shutterstock.com	Page developed by students from Littleton HIgh School, USA; St. Marks Senior Secondary Public School, India