Theodore Roosevelt Biography

Theodore Roosevelt Biography

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27th, 1858 in a small apartment on 28 East 20th Street, in New York City, the son of Martha Bulloch Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt Senior. His father was a glass importer. Theodore was the second of four brothers and sisters.   He was born slightly deaf, had poor eyesight, had asthma and was underweight. As a child, he was known as “Teedie”. Roosevelt loved to swim, hunt, horseback ride, box and wrestle. He was never really in good health through his early life, but he loved the outdoors. Roosevelt’s favorite subject was natural history; he loved the authority of the checks and balances of the government.
In 1872, he went to live with a family in Germany and traveled all around Europe. When he came back to the United States, in 1876, he attended Harvard University. He continued to ride horses, go camping and hunting, which reinforced his love for the outdoors. On October 27, 1880, Roosevelt married Alice Hathaway Lee.
While he was married, he became very interested in politics and decided to run for New York State Assembly in New York City in November 1881. He served in the New York State Assembly for two years being elected three times. During his second year in the Assembly, he published The Naval War of 1812, a book which he had begun research while he was still at Harvard.
Two days after the birth of his first daughter, February 14, 1884, both Roosevelt’s wife, Alice Hathaway and his mother died. It is very ironic because they died in the same house, on the same day. His wife died of Bright’s disease and his mom died of typhoid fever. Roosevelt, very distraught about the mishap decided to move to what is now North Dakota and become a cattle farmer.
In 1885, Roosevelt became tired of being a cattle farmer and built a home, Sagamore Hill, in Long Island to live. The next year he was defeated as a republican candidate for mayor of New York City. A month after his loss, Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Carow in...