I just finished watching a great documentary minseries on the History Channel about Theodore Roosevelt. It was released in May 2022 and was the fourth documentary of its kind that has been released. I’ve seen Washington (2020), Grant (2020) and Lincoln (2022), and I enjoyed each of them. There is also a fifth documentary on Franklin Roosevelt that I plan to watch soon, which was just released this past May. Just like the previous three, the Teddy Roosevelt documentary was very well made. It is two episodes and each are 2.5 hours. Teddy Roosevelt is played by actor Rufus Jones, and I thought he did a very accurate portrayal of Teddy. The documentary cuts back and forth between well-known historians, discussing the life of Roosevelt, and then cuts to the events of his life as a drama. The documentary does a great job adding suspense to many of the key events of his life. You are often left with a cliffhanger right before a commerical break that makes you want to know what happens next. It does help that TR was such a fascinating and accomplished person.

There truly is no other person like Teddy Roosevelt. He was tough as nails and he accomplished so much throughout his life. As a child, he was sickly and he had frequent asthma attacks. His parents feared he would die young and often kept him inside. The fact that he went on to accomplish everything that he did is truly miraculous.

He attended Harvard and broke into politics at a young age. His father was a successful businessman and philanthropist, and so Teddy grew up with wealth and privilege. However, just as he was getting into politics, he had to deal with many tragic events in his life. Teddy lost his father when he was 19. At the age of 25, he lost his first wife just after childbirth and he also lost his mother on the same day. To deal with these tragedies, Teddy went out west in the Dakota Territory. He lived off the land in the Wild West for 2 years before heading back East. Teddy became a successful politician but always went against the grain and did what he thought was right. Many within his own Republican party believed he was too progressive. He re-married and had a large family. He served in the federal government in his 30s, working for the Civil Service Commission for six years.

Roosevelt later became the Commisioner of the NYC police department, and he cleaned up the corruption that was running rampant before his arrival. The Chief of Police was forced to resign and Teddy set up the first Police Academy. In 1898, President William McKinley appointed Roosevelt the job of assistant secretary of the Navy. Teddy wanted to build up the Navy and cement the United States’ position as a world power. He advocated for war against Spain at the start of the Spanish-American War, and personally led the Rough Riders in an assault on San Juan Hill in Cuba. Teddy had bullets wizzing past his head and was lucky to have survived.

After he served in the Spanish-American War, TR went on to become the governor of New York. Because of his push for reforms, many of the corrupt party bosses in the Republican Party did not support TR. Roosevelt always pushed for laws that would help the common man, and he was always trying to give every person an equal chance. Roosevelt governed with a sense of urgency and had to work hard to accomplish his goals.

When President McKinley ran in 1900 for re-election, Teddy Roosevelt was his running mate. McKinley won re-election but Teddy felt limited in his role as Vice-President. When McKinley was assassinated in 1901, TR became the youngest president in our nation’s history, at age 42.

It’s truly amazing what TR was able to accomplish in his time as President. He took on challenges that no prior President had taken on. He tried to crush monopolies and he took on the robber barons (J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and others). He personally mediated between coal strikers and business owners, finally landing a deal after a long and painful strike. TR set up a commsion to investiage and regulate big business. He wanted to make sure these big businesses were playing by the rules. Teddy always used the media to his advantage. He got on their good side and knew how to twist a story or argument in his favor. He used the media to get the public on his side, and it worked.

TR wanted the United States to have an influence on a global scale. He oversaw the deal that allowed the United States to build the Panama Canal. He knew the canal would benefit the U.S. both militarily and economically, as it would cut down the time and costs needed to transport goods.

TR had such a successful first term, that he won the 1904 election in a landslide. He took on the Meatpacking Industry after it was revealed that the factories used for producing meat were absolutely disgusting and the meat used was putrid (first revealed in the novel, The Jungle). TR believed that it was his job to represent the public interest, and that was his motivation throughout his public career. TR is also known for his preservation of natural resources, and setting aside land for reserves. He saved 230 million acres of land which became public land/ national parks.

After his term, TR decided not to run in the 1908 election and chose William Howard Taft as his successor. Taft won the election, and TR believed that he would continue his agenda. However, Taft did not follow through on many of TR’s policies, and TR felt betrayed. There was a growing rift between the two men, who had previously been friends. TR decided to run in the 1912 election under the Progressive Party banner (also became known as the Bull Moose Party). However, Republicans split the votes between Taft and TR, handing the election to Democrat, Woodrow Wilson.

While TR was campaigning in October 1912, he was shot in the chest in an attempted assassination outside his hotel. His aides urged him to be rushed to the hospital, but since Teddy was not coughing up blood, he claimed he was fine. He was asked to be taken to his campaign speech, where he gave an 84 minute speech while bleeding from his chest. He started the speech by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”

The documentary goes into TR’s later life after his Presidency. After dealing with his loss in the 1912 election, he went on a wild trip in Brazil down an unexplored river, where he suffered from malaria and a serious leg wound. He recovered and made it back home, but in ill health. The documentary goes into his stance on WW1, and his sons who fought and were either wounded or killed in the war.

One of the reasons that I love history is because I believe that historical characters and events are just as, if not more entertaining than anything any fictional writer/ author could come up with. This documentary on TR is the perfect example of this. TR is a true American hero who accomplished so much and is such a fascinating character. He fought for the common man and wanted to give everyone a “Square Deal.” Even though he was born into wealth, he was extremely tough, wanted to defend his country, and was dedicated to helping the poor. He connected with the common man in a way that few if any presidents have and he was a celebrity in his day. He also campaigned and toured the country like no other previous president. Besides risking his life in the Spanish-American War, he also asked President Wilson for a commision to lead troops in WW1 but was turned down. He was in his late fifties by that time. TR had goals in mind that he wanted to accomplish, and he worked relentlessly to achieve them. He felt a moral obligation to do what was right, even when powerful forces were pushing against him. He was seen as very progressive for his time, espcially later in his career. He fought for land/pensions for returning soldiers, and wanted to give women the vote. Many of his ideas were accomplished later in history. He truly was a remarkable person and always needs to be ranked amongst the most successful and accomplished presidents. Make sure you watch this documentary. You either have to find it when the History Channel is playing it for free (Which I happened to do) or you can find it on different streaming services such as Amzon, Apple TV, History Vault, or Google Play.

I’ll end this post with a great quote from the man himself:

“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 them 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, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows 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 fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

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