He subsequently became assistant secretary of the Navy and governor of New York, before his election as vice president in 1900. Civil Service commissioner he also served as New York City's crusading police commissioner, wearing disguises in order to root out corruption. He wore spurs and carried a pearl-handled revolver from Tiffany, the New York jewelers. To distance himself from these tragedies, he retreated to a 25,000-acre ranch in North Dakota's Badlands and became a cowboy. Then in 1884, his wife and his mother died on the same day. In 1912, he would be shot in the chest by a deranged man, but proceeded to deliver an hour-long speech before having the bullet removed.Īt the age of 23, Roosevelt was elected to the New York state legislature. So he hiked, swam, boxed, and lifted weights to build up his strength and stamina. He was so frail and asthmatic that he could not blow out a bedside candle. He suffered headaches, fevers, and stomach pains. Digital History Printable Version Theodore RooseveltĪt the Republican convention in 1900, a senator warned his colleagues not to make Theodore Roosevelt their vice presidential nominee: "Don't any of you realize that there's only one life between this madman and the presidency?" As New York's governor, Roosevelt had challenged banking and insurance interests Republican Party boss Tom Platt wanted him out of state affairs.īorn in New York City in 1858, Roosevelt was, in his own words, "nervous and timid" as a youth.
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