In Chicago during the spring of 1899, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., at this time the Governor of New York, spoke in front of a crowd of people “to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life,” the life that he had come to embrace early on in his childhood.[1] This “strenuous life,” urged on by Theodore’s father early in his life, was what made him capable of overcoming his sickliness and grow into the strong, energetic man that he became. It gave him the ability to accomplish all that he did. But the ability to live a strenuous life did not come naturally for young Theodore.

Theodore suffered from severe bronchial asthma, and this disease can cause much suffering in the lives of those who are afflicted with it as well as their families. During an asthma attack, terror often fills the suffering child, and Theodore wasn’t any different. But as McCullough contends, overcoming a fit and being able to breath again releases many positive emotions, and “the child commonly experiences an upsurge of good feelings, an exuberance unlike any other. Nothing seems too big or too difficult to tackle.”[2] Some of the best days of Theodore’s early life were those immediately following a severe asthma attack, which were often spent with his father in nature to get young Theodore some fresh air. Theodore felt like he could conquer anything if he could conquer an asthma attack, and this created a sense of power and desire to overcome all obstacles.

His yearning to be healthy and live a life of vigor instilled in Theodore’s mind the virtue of being rugged and adventurous and led him to dream of being a soldier or cowboy, and “[i]n the frail body there lived an indomitable spirit before which had risen already visions of a man with a horse and a gun, of travel and adventure.”[3] Thomas Mayne Reid’s books were his constant companion and a source of ideas for adventure.[4] These dreams of adventure and being a soldier had significant effects on his life. For example, in 1897, at the opening of the Spanish-American War, he courageously took up arms and became an officer and led his own regiment, famously called the Rough Riders.

Adventure was a common daydream of Theodore’s, and this motivated his vigorous exercise that he took up as a young boy to overcome his sickness. Because of his desire for adventure—encouraged by his reading—becoming a strong, energetic man became “the business of his life” during this time of his childhood, and would continue to be a constant factor in his life as long as he lived.[5] Theodore vigorously exercised his body, running, swimming, and riding throughout the hills of Long Island as a young teen.[6]

In 1869, the Roosevelt family, accompanied by servants and relatives, traveled around Europe, partly for the experience, but also because of young Theodore’s health. His asthma was severe, and a change in climate was thought to be beneficial for him. On this trip, Theodore met Irvine and James Bulloch, his uncles on his mother’s side. These men were “almost mythical in stature” to the children, especially Theodore, because they were the heroes of his mother’s stories and James had been an important military figure of the Civil War on the Confederate side.[7] Theodore latched onto this man and his stories, who became an example of the type of adventure that Theodore dreamed of at this time in his life, especially because he was still struggling with his asthma and looked up to strong, healthy men like his father and now James Bulloch. Later on, as Theodore grew up, James Bulloch became a big motivation for his study of naval history.[8]

McCullough says that Theodore’s sickness made him desire to stand out, and he found pleasure and pride “in being the first to see or do something” and there was an “eagerness to set himself apart from the others…”[9] During the travels in Europe, Theodore wrote in his diary about hiking with his family and leaving them behind to hike by himself ahead of the pack while traversing the slopes of Vesuvius.[10] This shows his competitive edge, especially among his healthy siblings, possibly to prove his strength when his health was getting worse during the family’s travels. His father told him after they arrived home from Europe that he must train his body so that it could take his mind as far as it should go. Theodore had a sharp mind, but his body was frail, and without a strong body, his mind would be held back, his father had said. With this, Theodore committed to training his body, energetically pursuing what he would later coin as the “strenuous life.”[11]

Theodore’s advocacy of the “strenuous life” came in part because of the immense benefit that demanding activity gave him. Strenuous exercise, whether it be horseback riding or a long day’s hike, gave Roosevelt power over his sickness, a feeling of accomplishment and conquest. If he could overcome his sickness, he could overcome anything. This attitude gave him the psychological ability to conquer the disease and the physical ability to become a fit, strong, rugged man. As Candace Millard contends, he had “shaped his own character…through sheer force of will.”[12] As Theodore willed his physical attributes to become what he desired, his intellectual pursuits were in full swing, as they had been all his short life thus far.

Young Theodore loved to spend time outside, especially with his father. On their trip to Europe, young Theodore and his father would spend time together in nature, and these moments were cherished and became great memories for Theodore. Nature, from a young age, became a great passion and joy for Roosevelt. As Theodore often remarked in his diaries, he did not enjoy church or Sunday school as a child because they were so formal and restricting, but when these dreaded events took place outside by the trees or by the seashore—as they often did with his father across Europe—they became moments that Theodore loved because of the freeing and wild environment of the outdoors. This highlights just how powerfully nature became a passion and joy in his life.[13] For example, in his "Autobiography", Roosevelt writes about a seal being sold at the nearby market that captivated him, and when he acquired the skull of the seal, it inspired young Theodore and two of his cousins to start what they “ambitiously called the ‘Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.’”[14]

Later in his childhood, the Roosevelt family took a trip to the Adirondacks, where the elder Theodore led them on an expedition. This was young Theodore’s first encounter with actual wilderness, and it was immensely impactful. He wrote countless pages in his diary about the animals he saw, the plants they came across, and the joy that he experienced from this outing. Most notable of all was the absence of asthma on this journey.[15] His love of the outdoors—and finally being able to experience it like the heroes of his stories—gave him strength and passion for living, and filled him with vigor that made him capable of overcoming the asthma that had plagued him for so long. He had found respite in the wild. He could finally live the way he had dreamed of for so long. The nature around him filled him with joy, and his passion began to flourish. He filled his diaries with the world around him, even noting the scientific name of each specimen, as written: “We wandered about and I picked up a salamander (Diemictylus irridescens). I saw a mouse here which from its looks I should judge to be a hamster mouse (Hesperomys myoides). We saw a bald-headed eagle (Halietus leucocephalus) sailing over the lake.”[16] These outdoor adventures continued with the Roosevelt family’s trip on the Nile, where Theodore began his love affair with hunting as he shot down many birds with the help of his new eye-glasses, with his daily hunts being recorded in his dairy. These diary entries show just how passionate he was about the environment, and one can see why he was such an avid conservationist later in his life. Though he often hunted, as president he sought to protect the habitats and the environment in which these animals lived.

One can learn a lot from how Theodore Roosevelt lived his life, especially in his love of being in nature and conserving the natural world. Today especially, we as a nation must regain as a whole this love of the environment and the world. In this current election, the fight to conserve the environment is often drowned out amidst the scandals of Trump and Clinton. We must regain our focus on what is important in the election, and this includes the environment. If we are not careful with our use of resources, we could be in some dire straits. Theodore Roosevelt inspires me, and should inspire you too, to live a life that values the natural world and fights for change in the global community’s use of natural resources.

[1] Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (New York: The Century Co., 1900), found on Bartleby.com.

[2] McCullough, 96-97.

[3] Riis, 14-15.

[4] Ibid., 15.

[5] Ibid., 15.

[6] Ibid., 15-16.

[7] McCullough, 70.

[8] Ibid., 69-76.

[9] Ibid., 88.

[10] Ibid., 88.

[11] Ibid., 112.

[12] Candace Millard, The River of Doubt (New York: Broadway Books, 2005), 2.

[13] McCullough, 104.

[14] Theodore Roosevelt, The Autobiography of Theodore Roosevelt, ed. Wayne Andrews(New York: Octagon Books, 1975), 12-13.

[15] McCullough, 117-118.

[16] Theodore Roosevelt, Diary of Theodore Roosevelt from August 1-31, 1871. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Houghton Library, Theodore Roosevelt Collection), August 1871. Found on the Theodore Roosevelt Center website.