In 1901, President William McKinley was assassinated and Theodore Roosevelt, educated at Harvard, became the 26^th President of the United States at the young age of forty-two.

Roosevelt attempted to move the Republican Party towards Progressivism, including trust busting and increased regulation of businesses.  He coined the phrase “Square Deal” to describe his domestic agenda, emphasizing that the average citizen would get a fair share under his policies.  On the world stage Roosevelt’s policies were characterized with his slogan, “Speak softly and carry a big stick”.

Roosevelt kept McKinley’s cabinet and promised to continue his policies.  In 1902, Roosevelt helped mine workers get more pay and shorter work days.  In 1904, Roosevelt was elected President in his own right in a landslide victory with Charles Fairbanks as his vice president.

Roosevelt helped the wellbeing of the people by passing laws such as The Meat Inspection Act, The Pure Food Act.  Roosevelt appointed a record 75 federal judges.  He appointed three U. S. Supreme Court Judges: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., William Rufus Day, and William Henry Moody. In 1907 Roosevelt signed the proclamation establishing Oklahoma as the 46^th State of the Union.

Roosevelt was one of the first Presidents to make conservation a national issue.  He favored using America’s resources, but opposed wasteful consumption.  He created 5 national parks, 18 national monuments, and 150 National Forests, conserving about 230 million acres in America.

New York City Police Commissioner

Before Roosevelt became President, as President of the New York City Police Commissioners, reformed the police department.  The police force was reputed as one of the most corrupt in America. Roosevelt implemented regular inspections of firearms and annual physical exams, appointed 1,600 recruits based on their physical and mental qualifications and not on political affiliation.  Roosevelt made a habit of walking officers’ beats late at night and early in the morning to make sure they were still on duty.  As Governor of New York, Roosevelt signed an act replacing the Police Commissioners with a singer Police Commissioner.

Legacy

Historians credit Roosevelt for changing the nation’s political system by permanently placing the presidency at center stage and making character as important as the issues.  What you saw with Teddy Roosevelt, was what you got.  Big Business saw him as a trust buster, citizens saw him as a man full of life, who loved people and the land in which they lived.  To his enemies, he was considered uncivilized, but to his friends he was a Teddy bear.

Just before a political speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 14, 1912, campaigning for presidential reelection under the Bull Moose Party, which he formed, Roosevelt was shot. The bullet pierced his folded 50 page speech and his steel eyeglasses case, lodging 3 inches into his flesh, stopping just before piercing the lungs.  Roosevelt refused medical attention and gave his speech, opening with these words:  "Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."  Roosevelt lived the rest of his life with the bullet lodged in his chest.  

Roosevelt also served as New York State Representative, member of the U. S. Civil Service Commission, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Colonel of the "Rough Riders" in the Spanish-American War, Governor of New York, and Vice President of the United States.

Other important history changing events took place under Roosevelt’s administration.  In 1903, the Pacific cable was completed, wireless communication had been proven practical, the Wright brother made their successful flight at Kitty Hawk, and the Department of Commerce and Labor was established, followed a few years later by the United States Forest Service, and the organization of the Ford Motor Company.

The Panama Canal

In 1906, construction of the Panama Canal began, fulfilling the dream that was responsible for the discovery of the continent several centuries ago, Passage to India following the western sun.

In short, the building of the Panama Canal was Roosevelt’s proudest achievement as President.  He encouraged Panama to revolt against Columbia to become a sovereign nation, supporting the revolt with warships on both the Atlantic and Pacific, to prevent the landing of Columbian troops into Panama. Once Panama had broken free, Roosevelt quickly finalized the agreement with Panama to build the Canal. He later commented that he took Panama without firing a shot and accomplished in a few years what no man or nation had done in four centuries.   

On January 6, 1919, Roosevelt died in his sleep at Oyster Bay, New York.  When Vice President Thomas R. Marshall heard of his passing, said, “Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.”