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U.S. Census Bureau History: Theodore Roosevelt
On September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt unexpectedly became the nation's 26th president
following President William McKinley's death 8 days after he was shot by an assassin at the
Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY.
Roosevelt won reelection in 1904, but failed in his attempt to win a third presidential term
in 1912 as the Progressive "Bull Moose" Party candidate.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
On September 14, 1901, Theodore D. Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States following the unexpected death of President William McKinley who had been shot 8 days earlier at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. Roosevelt's achievements over the next 8 years of his presidential administration continue to earn him accolades as one of the most respected presidents of the United States.
Born in New York City, NY, in 1858, Theodore Roosevelt graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, in 1876, and quickly distinguished himself as a naval historian and up-and-coming statesman. A member of the New York State Assembly in the early 1880s, he took a brief sabbatical from public life following the 1884 Presidential Election to live a cowboy's life on his ranch near Medora, North Dakota. A harsh winter decimated his cattle herd and he returned to New York City in 1886, ran for the office of city mayor, but came in a disappointing third behind candidates Abram Hewitt and Henry George. Following the 1888 Presidential Election, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Roosevelt to the U.S. Civil Service Commission. He accepted a position on the board of the New York City Police Commissioners in 1895. In 1897, President William McKinley appointed him as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He resigned from the post the following year to fight in the Spanish-American War.
Famous for his leadership in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt returned to New York, accepted the state Republican Party's nomination for governor, and defeated Augustus Van Wyck in the 1898 Gubernatorial Election. When Vice President Garret Hobart died 1 year later, Roosevelt reluctantly accepted the Republican Party's nomination to run alongside incumbent William McKinley in the 1900 U.S. Presidential Election. While McKinley ran a sedate reelection campaign from the porch of his home in Canton, OH, Roosevelt's hectic schedule included hundreds of stops in 23 states to rally crowds against Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan. Thanks to Roosevelt's exuberance on the campaign trail, the McKinley-Roosevelt ticket won a decisive victory against Bryan and his vice presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson on November 6, 1900.
On September 6, 1901—6 months after President William McKinley's second inauguration—anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot the president as he greeted visitors to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. Roosevelt visited President McKinley while he recuperated in Buffalo, but left for the Adirondack Mountains after doctors assured him that McKinley would recover from his injuries. Unbeknownst to doctors at the time, infection was spreading through McKinley's stomach and pancreas. On September 13, the president's condition began deteriorating rapidly. The next day, a stunned nation woke to news that President McKinley had died during the early morning hours of September 14, 1901. Roosevelt left North Creek, NY, and rushed to Buffalo, NY. At 3:00 pm on September 14, in the presence of mourning McKinley cabinet secretaries and dignitaries, including Secretary of War Elihu Root, Attorney General Philander Knox, and Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson, U.S. District Court Judge John R. Hazel administered the oath of office to Theodore Roosevelt in the home of Buffalo attorney Ansley Wilcox.
Over the next 8 years of his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt's domestic policies supported "common Americans" through his efforts to break up price-fixing trusts—like Standard Oil's oil industry monopoly; improve the quality and safety of food and pharmaceuticals; conserve the nation's wilderness; prosecute government corruption; and advocate that the nation's coal miners and workers receive a "fair deal" in labor negotiations. Internationally, Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for successfully mediating a peace deal that ended the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War; helped avert conflict between Germany, France, and Great Britain over control of Morocco; and oversaw the settlement of disputed Alaskan borders between the United States, Great Britain, and Russia. Perhaps most important to the future of the United States as a global power was Roosevelt's support of a 1903 Panamanian rebellion against Columbia that secured a swath of land through the Isthmus of Panama for the American construction of the Panama Canal.
Roosevelt decided against running for president in 1908, deciding instead to support his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, who ultimately defeated Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan in his third attempt to win the presidency. The relationship between Roosevelt and Taft quickly soured, and the former president led a split of the Republican Party between his own progressive reform supporters and Taft's conservative-leaning followers. When the Republican Party nominated Taft as its candidate in 1912, Roosevelt announced he would challenge Taft as candidate of the Progressive "Bull Moose" Party. On October 14, 1912, Roosevelt proved he was still "fit as a bull moose" to serve as the nation's president after being shot in the chest by a would-be assassin in Milwaukee, WI. He refused medical attention until he finished his speech, informing the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."
With the Republicans split between Roosevelt and Taft, Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson won the 1912 Presidential Election. In the years that followed the 1912 election, Roosevelt led an expedition of South America and frequently denounced the Wilson Administration's policies related to World War I and negotiations following the November 11, 1918 Armistice. By late 1918, Roosevelt no longer presented the figure of the burly "bull moose" as the effects of illness contracted in the jungles of South America took their toll on the 60-year-old statesman. He died in his sleep at his Cove Neck, NY, home on January 6, 1919.
Theodore Roosevelt's confident and energetic personality continues to sustain his popularity as a statesman, adventurer, and pop culture icon. He was featured in the popular Night at the Museum movies as well as television series, documentaries, and video games that highlight his "rough rider" persona. In the 120 years since taking office, the 26th president of the United States remains one of the greatest American presidents according to historians, politicians, and scholars.
You can learn more about the life and presidency of Theodore Roosevelt using census data and records. For example:
- Along with Theodore Roosevelt—who was born in New York City, NY, in 1858—four other presidents of the United States were born in the State of New York. Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, NY, in 1782; Millard Fillmore was born in Summerhill, NY, in 1800; Franklin D. Roosevelt was born in Hyde Park, NY, in 1882; and Donald Trump was born in Queens, NY, in 1946.
- New York City has been the most populous city in the United States every decade since the nation's first census in 1790, when 33,131 people called it home. Shortly after Theodore Roosevelt's birth in 1858, the 1860 Census found that New York City's population numbered 813,669. It had grown to 3,437,202 when he served as vice president to William McKinley at the time of the 1900 Census. One year after his death in Oyster Bay, NY, New York City's 1910 Census total grew to 4,766,883. More recently, the 2019 American Community Survey estimated New York City had a population of 8,419,316.
- Five members of the Roosevelt family have served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Theodore Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from April 19, 1897, until resigning to fight in the Spanish-American War on May 10, 1898. Fifteen years later, President Woodrow Wilson appointed "Teddy" Roosevelt's fifth cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt to the post where he served from March 17, 1913, to August 26, 1920. Theodore Roosevelt's eldest son—Theodore Roosevelt Jr.—accepted President Warren Harding's appointment to the assistant secretary's position from March 10, 1921, to September 30, 1924. Upon his resignation, Calvin Coolidge appointed a Roosevelt cousin—Theodore Douglas Robinson—to the post, which he held from November 11, 1924, to March 4, 1929. A fifth Roosevelt family member—Henry L. Roosevelt— served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during Franklin Roosevelt's administration from March 17, 1933, to February 22, 1936.
- As president, Theodore Roosevelt secured the region of Panama through which the Panama Canal was constructed between 1904 and 1914. Roosevelt became the first President of the United States to travel abroad while in office when he visited Panama in November 1906. The Canal Zone (or Panama Canal Zone) was first enumerated by the United States in 1904 and again in 1912. It was included in the decennial censuses from 1920 through 1970. On October 1, 1979, the United States transferred sovereignty over the Canal Zone to Panama in accordance with the terms of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties signed by President Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos in 1977.
- Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States from September 14, 1901, to March 4, 1909. During that time, the United States' population grew from 76,212,168 in 1900 to 92,228,496 in 1910—a 21 percent increase during the decade. Immigration fueled a significant percentage of the nation's growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to census data, the nation's foreign-born population grew from 9.2 million in 1890 to 13.5 million in 1910, and 14.2 million in 1930. More recently, nearly 40 million reported being-foreign born in 2010, and the 2018 American Community Survey estimated that approximately 44.7 million people living in the United States were foreign-born.
- Friends and family called President Theodore Roosevelt "Theodore" or "Colonel," but the general public began calling him "Teddy" as early as 1900—thanks to the nickname's frequent use in newspapers. Roosevelt despised the moniker, which gained even more widespread popularity following a 1902 hunting trip during which he refused to shoot a black bear that had been captured and tied to a tree. The episode was satirized in a 1902 Washington Post cartoon by Clifford Berryman. Inspired by the story, candy shop owners and stuffed toy makers Morris and Rose Michtom began manufacturing and marketing the popular "Teddy's Bear" with President "Teddy" Roosevelt's permission. Today, millions of children around the world fall asleep each night with a "Teddy Bear" by their side, helping the United States' Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing sector's (NAICS 339930) 5,787 employees at 503 establishments record sales, value of shipments, or revenue of $1.6 billion in 2017.
- Theodore Roosevelt had a lifelong passion for hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation. Keen to conserve the nation's natural resources for future generations, he used his authority to protect approximately 230 million acres of land by establishing five national parks—Crater Lake, OR; Wind Cave, SD; Sullys Hill, ND (part of present-day White Horse Hill Game Preserve; Mesa Verde, CO; and Platt, OK (part of the present-day Chickasaw National Recreation Area); 18 national monuments, including Wyoming's Devils Tower and Arizona's Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon (present-day Grand Canyon National Park); 150 national forests; 51 federal bird reserves, and four national game preserves. You can learn more about our nation's national parks, monuments, and forests using census data and records at our archived America's National Parks and Forests history Web page.
- Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep on January 6, 1919, at his Sagamore Hill home in the village of Cove Neck near Oyster Bay, NY. Cove Neck was first counted apart from Oyster Bay in 1930, when enumerators recorded its population at 276. In 2019, the village's estimated population was 268. Nearby Oyster Bay received its charter from the English colony of New York in 1667. During the first U.S. census in 1790, Oyster Bay had a population of 4,097. In 2019, the American Community Survey estimated Oyster Bay had a population of 297,822.
- Records from the 1790 to 1940 censuses are publicly available from the National Archives and Records Administration. Use these records to learn more about 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt as well as 37 of our nation's other presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Calvin Coolidge, and Ronald Reagan at our Famous and Infamous Census Records Web page.
Garret A. Hobart served as William McKinley's vice president from March 4, 1897, to November 21, 1899. When Hobart died in 1899, New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt
became McKinley's vice presidential candidate for the 1900 election. The McKinley-Roosevelt Republican ticket won the 1900 election against William Jennings Bryan and
Adlai E. Stevenson with a popular vote of 7.2 million to 6.4 million.
Following McKinley's death on September 14, 1901, U.S. District Court Judge John R. Hazel administered the oath of office to Theodore Roosevelt.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Did you know?
Director C. Louis Kincannon hosted a ground-breaking ceremony for the U.S. Census Bureau's new headquarters building in Suitland, MD, on September 16, 2003.
The first waves of employees began moving into completed sections of the Census Bureau's new headquarters in 2006, and the agency hosted a demolition ceremony of Federal Office Building #3—the Census Bureau's home since 1942—on September 19, 2007.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) moved into the Suitland, MD, building in 2016. In 2022, the Census Bureau and BEA anticipate sharing space at the Suitland Federal Center with employees of the newly relocated Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Medal of Honor
Theodore Roosevelt resigned his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy when the Spanish-American War began in 1898. Soon after, he and U.S. Army Colonel Leonard Wood formed the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and began training in San Antonio, TX.
Nicknamed the "Rough Riders," the regiment landed in Daiquiri, Cuba, on June 23, 1898, and fought and won the Battle of Las Guasimas the next day.
On July 1, Roosevelt led a series of charges up Kettle Hill during the Battle of San Juan Heights. The battle was a decisive victory for the United States despite the loss of 200 killed and 1,000 wounded. Roosevelt reminisced that the battle was, "the great day of my life."
On January 16, 2001, President William Clinton posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor to Roosevelt for his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty . . . while leading a daring charge up San Juan Hill" thus making Roosevelt the only president to receive the nation's highest honor for valor in combat.
Roosevelt's son—Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.—received the Medal of Honor following the June 6, 1944, D-Day Invasion. They are one of just two fathers and sons to receive the Medal of Honor.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
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For the Record
American sculptor Gutzon Borglum included Theodore Roosevelt among the four presidents he carved into the face of Mount Rushmore in Keystone, SD.
South Dakota historian Doane Robinson proposed the mountain-sized sculpture of the presidents in 1923 to promote tourism and persuaded Borglum to oversee site selection and construction.
Borglum chose four presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln—for the sculpture because he believed they represented the nation's birth, growth, development, and preservation.
Begun in 1927, Gutzon Borglum oversaw the monument's construction until his death on March 6, 1941. His son Lincoln Borglum completed the project later that year.
Just as Doane Robinson hoped, Mount Rushmore is one of the most visited tourist attractions in South Dakota drawing more than 2 million visitors every year.
Photo courtesy of the National Parks Service.
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