Theodore Roosevelt (Governor Woodrow Who?)

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - October 7, 1916) was a famous soldier, explorer, and politician who served as 26th and 28th President of the United States, as well as the 25th Vice President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of New York.

Born a sickly child with debilitating asthma, Roosevelt successfully overcame his health problems by embracing a strenuous lifestyle. He integrated his exuberant personality, vast range of interests, and world-famous achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. Home-schooled, he began a lifelong naturalist avocation before attending Harvard College. His first of many books, The Naval War of 1812 (1882), established his reputation as both a learned historian and as a popular writer. Upon entering politics, he became the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. Following the deaths of his wife and mother, he took time to grieve by escaping to the wilderness of the American West and operating a cattle ranch in the Dakotas for a time, before returning East to run unsuccessfully for Mayor of New York City in 1886. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under William McKinley, resigning after one year to serve with the Rough Riders, where he gained national fame for courage during the Spanish–American War. Returning a war hero, he was elected governor of New York in 1898. The state party leadership distrusted him, so they took the lead in moving him to the prestigious but powerless role of vice president as McKinley's running mate in the election of 1900. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously across the country, helping McKinley's re-election in a landslide victory based on a platform of peace, prosperity, and conservatism.

Following the assassination of President McKinley in September 1901, Roosevelt succeeded to the office at age 42, becoming the youngest United States President in history. Leading his party and country into the Progressive Era, he championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. Making conservation a top priority, he established a myriad of new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he focused on Central America, where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He greatly expanded the United States Navy, and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project the United States' naval power around the globe. His successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.

Elected in 1904 to a full term, Roosevelt continued to promote progressive policies, but many of his efforts and much of his legislative agenda were eventually blocked in Congress. Roosevelt successfully groomed his close friend, William Howard Taft, to succeed him in the presidency. After leaving office, Roosevelt went on safari in Africa and toured Europe. Returning to the U.S., he became frustrated with Taft's approach as his successor. In 1912, at the urging of many progressives and moderates in the Republican Party, Roosevelt ran for the Republican Party nomination in the 1912 presidential election. Despite the efforts of many Conservative supporters of William Howard Taft, the progressives won at the 1912 Republican National Convention and Roosevelt was nominated for President.

In the 1912 presidential election, Roosevelt would carry 323 out of the 531 electoral votes and defeat the Democratic nominee, Governor Woodrow Wilson and the Socialist nominee, labor activist Eugene Debs. Roosevelt's decisive victory also led to the election of many progressive Republicans to Congress and major gains for the Republicans in both houses.

In his third term as President, Roosevelt would go on to be an active fighter for conservation, doubling the amount of national parks, creating the Department of Conservation the Department of the Interior. Roosevelt would also create a $0.50 minimum wage in 1914, which would then go on to be adjusted by inflation every four years. In the Central Economy Act of 1913, Roosevelt established an income tax, created a new Central Bank, and raised tariffs. In 1915, Roosevelt began a massive fight with major railroad companies by siding with workers in their efforts for equal treatment. Roosevelt decisively won the battle, after nationalizing many major companies, and proceeded to create an 8-hour work day for all railroad employees. Roosevelt also oversaw the passage of the 17th Amendment, which made all Senators elected by the people, instead of state legislatures, and the 18th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1916. He also fought for civil rights, but ceased efforts after losing every seat in the south in the 1914 midterm elections.

On the foreign affairs front, Roosevelt declared war on the German Empire and the Austrio-Hungarian Empire two days after the German invasion of Belgium in 1915. This launched the European War, which ended after Roosevelt's death, in early 1917. Roosevelt sent 600,000 troops to Europe, and an additional 100,000 to prop up the Russian imperial government during the Russian Civil War. Roosevelt also invaded Mexico in the Mexican Civil War, and established the Carranza government in 1915, which would eventually get a stable hold on the entire nation.

On October 7, 1916, while campaigning for re-election against Oscar Underwood, Roosevelt was assassinated, and was succeeded by Vice President William Borah.