Theodore Roosevelt

Fueled by boundless energy, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) reached great heights in multiple endeavors. A writer, historian, conservationist, soldier, big game hunter, and politician, Roosevelt was also President of the United States from 1901 to 1909.

Path to the Presidency

Roosevelt suffered from severe asthma as a child. Exercise helped alleviate his condition; he became a life-long proponent of vigorous activity. Soon after graduating from Harvard, he served in the New York State Assembly for three years. Interspersed with spells of ranching and buffalo hunting, Roosevelt was the Police Commissioner of New York City and Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He resigned his secretaryship to go fight the Spanish-American War in Cuba. There he met with success in battle, and, upon his return, was hailed as a war hero. This reputation helped him win the office of Governor of New York and, soon after, the Vice Presidency. Upon President McKinley’s death at the hand of an assassin in 1901, Roosevelt was sworn into the Presidency.

President Roosevelt

President for eight years, in office Roosevelt attacked corruption, warred against powerful business monopolies, and supported labor and consumers, seeking “a square deal for every man, big or small, rich or poor.” He sought to position the United States as a power on the world stage. Roosevelt advocated for U. S. naval strength and for the construction of the Panama Canal. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for helping negotiate the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

Brother Roosevelt

In 1901 Roosevelt was initiated into Matinecock Lodge No. 806 in Oyster Bay, New York. From then on, Roosevelt attended countless Masonic gatherings and dedications. In 1902 he described his admiration for the egalitarian ideas of Freemasonry, observing that in the lodge “…I meet the plain hard working man…and meet them on a footing of genuine equality, not false equality, of genuine equality conditioned upon each man being a decent man, a fair dealing man.”

Photo Caption: Theodore Roosevelt, ca. 1905. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.