The great Theodore Roosevelt was born on this day in 1858. Soldier, statesman, scientist and write, he was the quintessential ideal American of the early 19th century – vigorous, optimistic and eager to make his mark on the world. 

(2) Roosevelt was a sickly boy, who was determined that his biology was not his destiny. If you have not read “Mornings On Horseback” by David McCullough, about Roosevelt’s youth and formative years, get it done.

(3) After the death of his first wife, Roosevelt went west to cowboy, running a ranch in the South Dakota badlands, where he chased down cattle thieves and faced off against roustabouts in a saloon. 

(4) Next, after returning east, he was named Assistant Secretary of Navy after becoming an advocate of Alfred Thayer Mahan. (Roosevelt, himself, had written The Naval War of 1812, while at Harvard.)

(5) When War broke out with Spain, he took the initiative to have the Asiatic Squadron prepared to attack the Spanish Navy in Manila Bay, leading to seminal victory by Commodore George Dewey.

(6) He then resigned his government role and raised a regiment of American originals, cowboys and Ivy Leaguers, to fight in Cuba. 

(7) Roosevelt received the Medal of Honor posthumously, in 1998, due to efforts of another great American and Marine, Congressman Paul McHale. (I was lucky enough to work for Mr. McHale as a young Marine Captain.) He had been denied the Medal by Army leadership because of his outspoken criticism of unnecessary deaths from malaria among American troops, after the Spanish-American War ended. 

(8) A scientist and naturalist, as well ask avid hunter, Roosevelt wrote over forty books. He also killed a cougar with a knife during a trip… I love the bookends of these two biographical points as it shows he was a man of action who also had an inquisitive mind. 

(9) Of course, he was also the youngest ever PRESIDENT  OF THE UNITED STATES, heralding a vigorous and energetic American nation on the world stage.

(10) Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace between Japan and Russia in 1905. 

(11) The best way to summarize TR is in his own words and in his attitude to life; if this does not motivate you then nothing will:

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better… 

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, 

whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy 

cause; who, at the best, knows,in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” 

(12) We are going to do a Teddy Roosevelt figure at some point. Here is a prototype. I really like the head sculpt. Would you pay $25 for a six inch figure on Amazon?