Teddy Roosevelt was probably the most unique president of the United States in history. He combined a wide variety of talents and gifts with a tireless determination to utilize them.
He was a very sickly child but he disciplined himself to become an amazing adult athlete. The heavyweight champion of the world visited the White House one time and Roosevelt who starred at Harvard as a boxer asked to spar with him. Afterwards, the champion said that the president could take a punch.
Roosevelt was homeschooled as a child but later graduated 22nd in his class at Harvard. He then went on to Columbia Law School. While at Harvard, he wrote a book on the War of 1812. It is still studied today at military colleges for its excellent writing and scholarship.
Growing up in wealth in New York City, after the death of his first wife, Teddy moved to North Dakota to work on his cattle ranch adopting a cowboy’s lifestyle. He became a western folk hero when he pursued three outlaws who had stolen his boat. Upon capturing them he sent his foreman back to get the sheriff. He had to stay awake for forty hours before they returned. He did so by reading Leonard Tolstoy books and then had to borrow a book from one of the outlaws because he had run out of reading material.
During the Spanish American War in Cuba, Roosevelt volunteered while being the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He commanded a unit called the Rough Riders and for his heroics was awarded the Medal of Honor after his death.
After serving as governor of New York, Roosevelt served as president from 1901 until 1908. President McKinley was assassinated in 1900 and Roosevelt as his Vice President completed his first term. He was the first president to entertain an African American at the White House, Booker T. Washington.
President Teddy Roosevelt was most proud of his establishment of our National Parks and Forestry Service. He had a lifelong love of nature and helped establish the Smithsonian Institute and the American Museum of Natural History.
He is considered along with Thomas Jefferson, the most well read president in history.
This great president who is enshrined at Mount Rushmore with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln who lived a principled and full life said,
“No educated man can afford to be ignorant of the Bible.” And, “A thorough understanding of the Bible is better than a college education.”
The Bible was the foundation of this great man’s life. He attended church every Sunday.
Our nation’s great leaders had a profound dependence on God’s word. Our nation’s moral and ethical decline can be directly related to our lack of knowledge and dependence on God and the Bible. It is in our best interests as a nation to follow Teddy Roosevelt’s advice.