Dakota Datebook: Remembering Theodore Roosevelt

In 2020, we will also be observing the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. Theodore Roosevelt’s position on women’s rights evolved in early years of the 20th century. By his own admission, he followed the lead of the suffragist movement of the time.

Theodore Roosevelt found unbounded joys in both the dangerous adventures and the communal family ventures, memories, and celebrations.

Theodore Roosevelt strove to live an honest life and often spoke of the high ideals he pictured in the promise of America. The vision in the bulk of what he said on the oration stump, in the dozens of his books, or in the guideposts of his life, was a respect for honesty and truth.

Theodore Roosevelt thrived on so many aspects of life that it’s difficult to classify his favorite projects. But certainly, the preservation of wildlife and the natural world were foremost in his passions.

On this date in 1886 Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Carow in England. Although he had forgone the thought of another marriage after the death of Alice Hathaway Lee during the birth of baby Alice, TR and Edith, his dear and close childhood friend, renewed acquaintances, and the spark of love ignited.

Our world got a new glimpse of Theodore Roosevelt in November of 1906 when he did what no other sitting US president had done – visit a foreign country.

One of President Theodore Roosevelt’s losing arguments was based on the phrase “In God We Trust” on America’s coinage. First adopted for coinage in 1865 and years later named the U.S. motto, President Roosevelt was opposed to the slogan when it was re-considered for new coinage during his administration.

President Theodore Roosevelt, could not have dreamt that his frustrating November bear would launch the birth of, arguably, the most famous toy in the world. TR was invited by the Mississippi Governor in 1902 to join a bear hunt. Uncharacteristically, avid hunter Roosevelt was skunked among the hunting guests for three days.

Collegiate football has always been a contact sport, but in its early days, which began in the late 1870s, it was particularly deadly. The game had not developed the forward pass, and there was regular fighting, with fists thrown. Scoring was mostly made by kicking the football to the goal. Bones were snapped, eyes were gouged, and men were even killed. Flimsy equipment, leather helmets and mere sweaters were little protection for the players – many of them illegally hired by colleges.

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, in 1858, the second child of Theodore and Martha’s four children. His faulty eyesight and his ever-active asthma were a persistent distraction to the boy and he had to be taken away on long trips to help him find a place to breathe.