Theodore Roosevelt, president, soldier, hunter, author and conservationist, was born on this day in 1858.
Those of us who enjoy our days afield, regardless of pursuit, owe the 26th president of the United States a debt of gratitude.
Said Teddy Roosevelt, "Of all the questions that can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us, and training them into a better race to inhabit the land and pass it on."
Carved into the granite of the American Natural History Museum in New York City, adjacent to the park that bears his name, are these words describing this true champion of conservation: "Ranchman, Scholar, Explorer, Scientist, Conservationist, Naturalist, Statesman, Author, Historian, Humanitarian, Soldier, Patriot."
Of all the insightful quotes from his writing, speeches and conversations, my favorite is one about him.
After Roosevelt passed away in his sleep on Jan. 6, 1919, Thomas R. Marshall, then the sitting vice president, commented, "Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight."
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"He was born in New York City in 1858 into a wealthy family, [but] struggled against ill health — and in his triumph became an advocate of the strenuous life," reports WhiteHouse.gov in its report on the 26th president.
It cited "The Presidents of the United States of America" by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey.
His first wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt, as well as his mother, died on the same day in 1884 — launching Teddy Roosevelt onto a path that would reshape both his personal destiny and that of the nation.
"Roosevelt spent much of the next two years on his ranch in the Badlands of Dakota Territory," writes WhiteHouse.gov.
"There he mastered his sorrow as he lived in the saddle, driving cattle, hunting big game — he even captured an outlaw."
During a visit to London, he married Edith Carow in Dec. 1886.
He galloped into military lore on July 1, 1898, leading the Rough Riders in the Battle of San Juan Hill during the U.S.'s swift victory in the Spanish-American War.
"Among Theodore Roosevelt's many lifetime accomplishments, few capture the imagination as easily as his military service as a 'Rough Rider,'" reports the National Park Service (NPS).
"He led a series of charges up Kettle Hill toward San Juan Heights on his horse, Texas, while the Rough Riders followed on foot. He rode up and down the hill encouraging his men with the orders to ‘March!' He killed one Spaniard with a revolver salvaged from the Maine. Other regiments continued alongside him, and the American flag was raised over San Juan Heights."
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He called the victory the "great day of my life," writes the NPS.
Roosevelt served as New York City's top cop from 1895 to 1897.
He then served as governor of New York from Jan.1, 1899, to Dec. 31, 1900.
Republican presidential candidate William McKinley tapped Roosevelt as his running mate in the 1900 campaign.
And Roosevelt became the youngest president in U.S. history at just 42 years old amid tragedy — when McKinley was assassinated on Sept. 14, 1901.
"As president, Roosevelt held the ideal that the Government should be the great arbiter of the conflicting economic forces in the Nation, especially between capital and labor, guaranteeing justice to each and dispensing favors to none," reports WhiteHouse.gov.
He served nearly two full terms in office.
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He then ran for a non-consecutive third term in 1912 as head of the Progressive Party, following a split with the GOP.
He outgained sitting president William Howard Taft in the election but lost the White House to Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
He passed away in January 1919 at age 60.
Roosevelt's image was chiseled into the American landscape he loved as one of four presidents immortalized on Mount Rushmore — alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
Fox News Digital staff contributed reporting.
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