People often imagine that Theodore Roosevelt started the National Park system, but it actually began much sooner. On this date in 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law. However, Roosevelt did create five national parks doubling the number, and he’s known as the “Conservation President.” He protected over 230 million acres of public land, setting aside 150 national forests, the five national parks, America’s first 18 national monuments, the

United States Forest Service

Our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, was a lauded statesman, orator, and storyteller. He wrote more books than any other president and, indeed, more than most authors and intellectuals. To commemorate him and his North Dakota legacy, Roosevelt scholar and re-enactor Steve Stark has made selections from his speeches, books, and letters for a special Dakota Datebook series. 

Throughout 2019, listen for Dakota Datebook: Remembering Theodore Roosevelt in the regular Dakota Datebook time slots. Funding for this series is provided by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.

History

Society & Culture

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.

Roosevelt on Women's Suffrage

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

Roosevelt Thanksgiving and Christmas

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.

Truth & Honesty

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.

Roosevelt on Preservation

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.

United States Forest Service

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