If Vice President Garret Hobart hadn’t died in office, we might have ended up with a very different country than we did. And Mount Rushmore would have looked wildly different. President William McKinley was forced to choose another running mate for his ticket in the 1901 election. After President McKinley took an assassin’s bullet six months into his second term, his Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, a former Governor of New York (and incidentally the uncle of future First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt) assumed the presidency.
In the opinion of most historians, this was pretty good for the country. Although larger than life and known as a man’s man and a cowboy, he was truly a man of the people and worked toward busting up corporate monopolies, construction of the Panama Canal, protecting consumers from substandard foods by introducing the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act, regulating the railroads, civil rights, and expanding our country’s National Parks.
I think highly of Roosevelt, and think he is quite deserving of his spot on Mount Rushmore. I have been proud to visit the following locations relevant to the life and career of Teddy Roosevelt:
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 – Birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt – Not far from Gramercy Park in the burough of Manhattan in New York, New York, sits a townhouse that was the birthplace of young Teddy. He was born on October 27, 1858 in the upstairs room of his parent, and lived the first 14 years of his life here.
Below the state historical sign in front of the house
Teddy Roosevelt’s birthplace
A sickly boy, he challenged himself to get better by continually working out with equipment around the house. Eventually he became tough as nails, and an adventurer in his own right.
The original house was demolished some 44 years after Teddy movied out, but three years later it was purchsed by the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association upon Roosevelt’s death, and reconstructed using original furnishings and belongings that were donated by Roosevelt’s widow Edith and his sisters Anna and Corinne.
The birth home living room
The parlor
The family had kept this artificial fruit display through the years, simply because it was so ugly. It was one of the only authentic family-owned items in the room
The room in which Teddy was born, with a period-piece bed
A young Teddy and his childhood chair
This is believed to be the same chair today
Me outside the birth home
There were two galleries in the house, the one on the second floor being closed for renovations. The lower gallery contained some very cool artifacts, including the shirt and speech that took an assassin’s bullet during an assassination attempt. My friend Bob and I toured the house together, and photos were allowed so I snapped a few good ones. After our tour, we returned to the lower gallery and watched a brief video about the life of the President.
The first floor museum displays in the birth home
During a campaign in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot at during a speaking engagment. This is the shirt that he was wearing, a glasses case, a 50-page speech that was double folded, and stopped the impact of the bullet…which was never removed from his body!
Me with the magic manuscript, glasses case, and shirt
Friday, June 7, 2013 – Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site – Vice President Teddy Roosevelt had made one trip to Buffalo, New York, after President McKinley was shot at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition, and had left when doctors predicted a recovery for the President. When he took a turn for the worse, Roosevelt returned to Buffalo and was en route when McKinley passed away.
In order to get Theodore Roosevelt sworn in as quickly as possible, it was decided to use the home of his friend Ansley Wilcox. Newspaper reporters were allowed in at the last minute, but were not permitted to take photographs until the swearing-in was over. Roosevelt was one of three Presidents who were sworn into office without a Bible.
At the location of the Ansley Wilcox home where Theodore Roosevelt was sworn into the Presidency following the death of William McKinley
The tour of the house that I went on with Bob and Carolyn was a pretty fun and interesting one. Significant bling was added with the premise of ‘time traveling’ to September 14, 1901, the day that the new President was sworn in. There were displays and relics related to the Buffalo, Pan-American Exposition as well, and a short visit setting the stage of the time period.
Some of the display ‘bling’
The dining room of the home
Reproduction of the newspaper thta would have been read that morning announcing the new President
The little table marks the location of where Roosevelt took his oath of office
With a copy of the inauguration speech given by Roosevelt
The Teddy Roosevelt inauguration site or bust!
On the upper level of the house was a (weak) reproduction of Teddy Roosevelt’s Oval Office, with an interactive desktop.
The interactive Presidential desk. I’m guessing this wasn’t authentic to the time.
More of the Oval Office reproduction
Monday, June 3, 2013 – Home of Teddy Roosevelt in Cove Neck, New York – The fact that the home in known as Sagamore Hill which the President lived from 1885 until his death in 1919 (and the location of his passing) was under a 3-year remodel and closed to the public – plus the fact that it was pouring down rain – precluded me from hiking to the house for a photo (knowing that a return visit was imminent), but I did grab a quick photo with the Historical Site marker.
As much as I saw of Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill home
Statue dedicated to Roosevelt located not far from the home and grave
Sunday, June 2, 2013 – Grave of Alice Roosevelt – Teddy Roosevelt’s first wife died on the unfortunate date of February 14, 1885, at the age of 22 almost 16 years before her husband would be come Presdient of the United States. She is buried with members of her family in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Because he grave is so worn, it was difficult to determine which one was hers, but after much inspection, we were finally able to determine the correct grave.
The heavily worn grave of Alice Roosevelt
Monday, June 3, 2013 – Grave of Theodore Roosevelt – The President died on the morning of January 6, 1919, at the age of 60 in his home in Sagamore Hill. He is buried in a fenced-in are at Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, New York, less than two miles from his Sagamore Hill home. He is buried alongside his wife Edith.
The gravestone of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt
Because it was pouring down rain during our visit, we were not able to stay too terribly long, and jumping the giant fence was out of the question. I would most certainly like to re-visit (when I go back to Sagamore Hill) to check out the grave again and get a photo in which I do not resemble a wet dog.
Overview of the gravesite, surrounded by fencing
The full area inside the grave, with Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor marker
Teddy and wet me
Continue to the next President…
Return to Wednesday 2013 in New York City….
Return to Sunday 2013 in Brooklyn, New York…
Return to Monday 2013 in Long Island… (under construction)
Return to Friday 2013 in Buffalo, New York… (under construction)
Every once in a great while, there is a photo of you on this site which is classic beyond all rhyme or reason. “Teddy and wet me” is one such photo. Thank you for sharing it with your readers.
Peter
January 4th, 2014