Theodore Roosevelt Jr. did so much in his life that it is hardly imaginable. He became the youngest president in history, traveled all around the world, hunted in Africa and navigated down a previously uncharted Amazonian river, the River of Doubt, which was a dangerous, near-death experience, made even more impressive by the fact that it was undertaken when Roosevelt was in his mid-fifties. What part of his character, personality, and experiences had given him the drive and motivation to accomplish all of these things? To answer this question one must go back to the beginning, to Theodore’s childhood, to explore what his childhood and early adult years were like. His character, habits, experiences and influences growing up had a huge impact on the formation of this incredible man, and the discovery of what his childhood was like can illustrate what gave this man such energy, passion, and zeal for life to accomplish all that he did. Theodore Roosevelt’s childhood and early adult years were largely influenced by his father, his own competitive spirit to overcome his sickness, his appetite for books and learning, and his passion for nature. These influences and passions helped him to become the man that would be the youngest president in history and explore an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River.
In this article, I will explore one aspect of Theodore Roosevelt’s childhood that became a monumental influence in his life: his father.
Theodore Roosevelt, or Teedie, as they called him, was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City to a well-to-do family. His father, Theodore Roosevelt Sr., was a successful glass businessmen and philanthropist.[1] The journalist and acquaintance of Theodore Jr., Jacob Riis, writes “of that happy childhood’s home, with the beautiful mother of blessed memory and the father who rode and played with the children,” and he wrote how involved in the lives of their children Theodore Sr. and Mittie Roosevelt were. They were the “rarest of parents” because of their “chum and companion as well as their just judge when occasion demanded…”[2] Teedie’s parents, especially his father, were huge figures in his life growing up, and he looked to them as role models. His father was, in Theodore’s mind, the ideal man: charitable, strong, generous and kind, and historian Edmund Morris held that Theodore Jr. said his father was the best man he ever knew.[3] His father would often lead Teedie and his siblings on horseback rides in the forests near their home, and the children would speak of their father in a way that revealed “the rarely strong and beautiful soul that was his.”[4]
According to popular historian David McCullough, Theodore Sr. was “upright, conservative, the very model of self-control.”[5] He was also the exemplary citizen, active in charities and raising money for museums, and “as time went on, his crusades among the needy, his hospital and museum projects, became his true vocation.”[6] Undoubtedly, Theodore Sr.’s involvement in charitable work had an affect on his son’s passion for working for the people. His father was affluent enough so that his children didn’t have to work, but Jacob Riis maintains that Theodore Sr. stressed a life of “honest, decent work,” not idleness.[7] He urged his children to be constantly working to improve the community and themselves.
Most important of all about Theodore Sr., however, was “his interest in and feeling for his children. He responded immediately to them, and they to him…”[8] He was a constant presence in his children’s lives, and this invariably had a significant effect on the growth and development of Theodore Jr., and it is no surprise that he became an endearing figure and constant example of how Theodore desired to live his life.
For young Theodore, his father was one of his greatest joys. As he mentions throughout his childhood diary, specifically the diaries kept on his trip to Europe, the days he most enjoyed were spent with his father on adventures.[9] These moments were often spent in nature, and the scenes of beautiful trees, streams, and mountains filled Theodore’s imagination. These moments spent with his father hiking in nature, exploring ruins of castles, or strolling by the seashore were some of the most joyful moments of Theodore’s life, and they inevitably had a large influence on him. They allowed Theodore to grow closer to his father, but also ingrained in him his love of nature and the wild, which became another huge passion in his life, as will be discussed later. But most of all, his father encouraged Theodore to pursue both physical and mental well-being, advice that would flourish into the philosophy of life for which Theodore Roosevelt became so famous.
[1] Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Coward, McCann, and Geoghegan, 1979), 34-35.
[2] Jacob Riis, Theodore Roosevelt: The Citizen (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1904), 10-11.
[3] Morris, 35.
[4] Riis, 11.
[5] David McCullough, Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt. (New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 1981), 22.
[6] Ibid., 28.
[7] Riis, 13.
[8] McCullough, 23.
[9] Ibid., 104.
