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Theodore Roosevelt – His Legacy & His Guns
Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. He was a man at arms, not only as a hero of the Spanish-American War, but as a sportsman with a passion for hunting in the American West and Africa. Our profile covers T.R.’s history and his guns, with great grandson Tweed Roosevelt and historic arms dealer, Dr. Lewis Drake.
100 years after his presidency, he is most remembered for leading the Rough Riders to victory at San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War. He was Colonel Theodore Roosevelt then, but even in victory, T.R. could see America’s standard issue Krag-Jorgensen rifle was no match for the Spanish Mausers. While he was President, the Ordinance Department adopted a new service rifle, one of the most famous and successful of all time, the ’03 Springfield.
From the time he was a child, Theodore Roosevelt had a keen interest in the great outdoors. As a teenager he became an avid hunter, often enjoying small game hunts with his brother Elliott. In his twenties, T.R.’s interest turned to the Great American West and the big game of the mountains and plains. He hunted buffalo, elk, moose and bear and T.R. came to love the great and untamed land. So much so, in fact, that this well-to-do Easterner bought a ranch in the Badlands of North Dakota.
While it was not unusual for T.R. to take hundreds of game animals on a single hunt, it also became clear to him that America’s wild animals and other natural resources were not inexhaustible. By the time T.R. became President in 1901, half our virgin forests were gone and many of our animals with them. As President, T.R. set aside millions of acres of lands in National Parks and Forests and for his efforts, he became known as the “Conservation President”. The protected lands he set aside are a legacy all Americans still enjoy today.
As President, T.R. built the Panama Canal, was the first President to fly in an airplane and won the Nobel Peace Prize. He also made famous the phrase, “Speak softly and carry a big stick”, symbolic of his aggressive foreign policy. T.R. created even more lasting images in the years after his presidency when, on safari to Africa and on expedition to South America, he collected thousands specimens of rare and exotic animals, many of which are still on display at the Smithsonian Museum.
100 years after his inauguration, there is growing interest in T.R., the man who used the “bully pulpit” of the presidency to accomplish great change for a young America. We are pleased to have T.R.’s great grandson, historian Tweed Roosevelt, and Dr. Louis Drake to help us tell the story of the life and times of our 26th President and his legacy for sportsmen and conservationists in our time.
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