Roosevelt, Theodore

(1858–1919)

26th President of the United States

Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps more than any other individual at the turn of the 20th century, helped build the United States into an imperial nation. As a writer, assistant secretary of the Navy, soldier, 26th president, and former president, he worked from the 1880s through the end of World War I to expand and reform the U.S. Army and Navy, assert the nation's diplomatic influence, and protect its new overseas interests. The construction of the Panama Canal, the creation of a modern, large-battleship Navy, and the mediation of international conflicts represent some of his well-known accomplishments. However, he also helped shift cultural and political attitudes about American power and international affairs, and he laid a foundation for later leaders to transform the United States into a global power.

From an early age, Roosevelt equated physical power with influence, security, and cultural vitality. Asthma and illness plagued his youth, which led Roosevelt to embrace physical exercise to overcome these frailties. He also demonstrated an early love of military affairs. His senior thesis at Harvard College focused on the history of the naval campaigns of the War of 1812. Published in 1882 as “The Naval War of 1812,” this work anticipated the writings of Alfred Thayer Mahan on sea power and the importance of overseas colonies and trade for national greatness. In fact, Roosevelt would become one of Mahan's chief promoters because his ideas helped broaden public support for a modern-battleship Navy.

Roosevelt believed that the United States needed to seek greater international involvement to maintain a superior [Page 748]national character. He embraced the theories of historian Frederick Jackson Turner about the impact of the frontier on creating a distinctive American identity and worried that with the disappearance of the frontier lifestyle, such virtues as courage, boldness, and physical hardiness would decline. In Roosevelt's judgment, Americans required more involvement in the international arena to maintain their strength as a people and nation. Part of his emphasis on manly virtues stemmed from his acceptance of the theory of Social Darwinism. As an avid student of natural history, Roosevelt believed that only the strongest nations and peoples would prevail in competitions for resources and influence. Moreover, he believed that by engaging in imperial struggles for colonies, markets, and dominion, Americans would strengthen their collective character. A more powerful military force would facilitate American participation in such efforts.

Roosevelt gained the opportunity to make these ideas a reality in the 1890s. After serving as a New York state legislator, U.S. civil service commissioner, and New York City police commissioner, he became assistant secretary of the Navy after William McKinley won the presidency in 1896. Roosevelt worked hard to increase the Navy's readiness and improve the quality of its personnel. He also championed its deployment against Spain, which was brutally suppressing a revolt in its colony of Cuba. In his preparations for a potential conflict, Roosevelt seized the chance to prepare the Navy for action in the Pacific against Spain's other major colony, the Philippines. After the battleship USS Maine, sent to observe conditions in Cuba, exploded in Havana harbor in 1898, he joined sensationalist “yellow newspapers” in blaming Spain for the vessel's destruction.

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