Theodore Roosevelt Jr, often referred to as
Teddy or
TR, was an American politician, statesman, conservationist, naturalist, historian, writer, adventurer, and war hero who served as the 26th President of the United States. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest presidents in history, for he acted as the driving force behind shifting the Republican Party firmly into progressive politics and reinvigorating the party and nation.
A sickly child from birth, he overcame his physical alinements by adopting a strenuous lifestyle and cultivating a "cowboy" persona that fit well with his exuberant personality. Home-schooled, he attended Harvard, then published his first book in 1882, "
The Naval Front of Mr. Madison's War". He served in the United States Navy during the Second Civil War, fighting in numerous battles up and down the East Coast, including the famed
Hunt for the CSS Rappahannock and the massive
Battle of Roanoke Sound. The death of his mother and wife on the same day in 1884 devastated him, and he recuperated at a cattle ranch in the
Absaroka Territory following the end of the war, where he fell back into politics while serving as the mayor for the town of
Tomah [known in OTL as Helena, Montana].
Upon returning to the Northeast, Roosevelt became the Republican nominee for
Mayor of New York City based mainly on his recent absence from the city, affording him immunity in the
1889 New York Star Scandal. He is known primarily for his intense reform of the
New York City Department of Police and his almost single-handed destruction of the political machine of
Tammany Hall. Following the end of his term as mayor, Roosevelt was tapped by freshly-inaugurated US President
Robert Todd Lincoln to join his cabinet and become his
Secretary of the Navy, a position he served ably and admirably. His reconstruction of the Navy following its poor performance in the
Chilean War, a continuation of policies set down by his predecessor
Alfred Thayer Mahan, proved invaluable during Roosevelt's own time in the presidency.
Roosevelt left RTL's cabinet in order to run for
Governor of New York, a position he won despite the party leadership favoring a second term for incumbent Frank S Black. Here, Roosevelt became a major national figure, acting as a key ally for RTL and his successor
Albert Beveridge, and gained valuable experience for his later activities. Most notably he ensured the protection of the
Adirondack Preserve, and frequently frequented the mountains to go canoeing and hiking in the wild, despite still being governor. Roosevelt planned to enjoy the preserve more following the end of his terms as governor, but when word reached him of Beveridge's refusal to run for a second term, Roosevelt leapt at the chance for the presidency. Winning in a landslide against war hero
Nelson Miles, Roosevelt ushered in a transformation for the Republican Party into the
Progressive-Republican iteration, breaking from the Civil Wars-era
Unionist-Republicans decisively.
As president, Roosevelt embraced the notion of the Imperial Presidency, using the then Constitutionally ambiguous
executive order to its fullest potential to preserve millions of acres of natural landscapes, intervene in strikes, trust-bust, and intervene militarily throughout Latin America, most notably in Mexico and in Panama where he built a trans-oceanic canal. He turned himself into a nationally beloved figure thanks to his populist and progressive policies, and embodied the spirit of the
Roaring Decades to his fullest.
Following the election of his hand-picked successor,
Alfred Warren, Roosevelt soon broke from him following Warren's adoption of a strictly isolationist perspective with respects to the
Great War. Roosevelt then called for the creation of the
United States Volunteer Force, something that Warren reluctantly acquiesced to if only to ensure that Roosevelt was as far from Warren as possible. Over half a million US citizens served in the Volunteer Force fighting in the
Belgo-Rhenish Front against the Central Powers, where Roosevelt's tactical ingenuity made him a frightening opponent for the Central Powers. When the end of the war loomed, Warren conspired to keep Roosevelt away for longer to ensure he did not seek to return to the presidency in the 1920 elections, and thus got official Congressional approval for an intervention force in the
First Russian Civil War, and thus sent Roosevelt to the Russian Far East as part of the
Polar Bear Expedition. Little glory was found there, and Roosevelt spent the time hunting polar bears for sport as his army idled. It was there that he came down with a nasty case of hypothermia rescuing a soldier from a frozen lake, and saw his health decline and suffer.
Following the end of the Polar Bear Expedition, Roosevelt spent his remaining time in a quiet retirement, unwilling to return to politics despite numerous calls for him to do so. Focusing on his writings, he published many tomes he had been working on throughout his political career, including
The Winning of the West and
An American's Account of the War in Europe. With the onset of the
Great Depression, Roosevelt spent much of his fortune towards helping the destitute in New York, founding many public charities that still bear his name proudly. He died peacefully in his sleep in 1929 - reportedly, President
Lawrence Ashwood, upon hearing of Roosevelt's passing, said it was good he went in his sleep, for had he been awake, then all of New York would have been ruined in the brawl between him and Death.