Theodore Roosevelt

On September 2, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt advised "Speak softly & carry a big stick". From the article:

"A New York governor who became the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for his foreign policy, corporate reforms and ecological preservation.
Who Was Theodore Roosevelt?
Theodore Roosevelt was governor of New York before becoming U.S. vice president. At age 42, Roosevelt became the youngest man to assume the U.S. presidency after President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. He won a second term in 1904. Known for his anti-monopoly policies and ecological conservationism, Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in ending the Russo-Japanese War.

Early Life
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, in New York City, to Theodore "Thee" Roosevelt Sr., of Dutch heritage, and Martha "Mittie" Bulloch, a Southern belle rumored to have been a prototype for the Gone with the Wind character Scarlett O'Hara. His family owned a successful plate-glass import business.

As a young boy, Roosevelt — or "Teedie," as he was known to his family members (he wasn't fond of the nickname "Teddy") — spent a lot of time inside his family's handsome brownstone, homeschooled due to his illnesses and asthma. This gave him the opportunity to nurse his passion for animal life, but by his teens, with the encouragement of his father, whom he revered, Roosevelt developed a rigorous physical routine that included weightlifting and boxing.

When his father died during his second year at Harvard College, Roosevelt channeled his grief into working even harder. After graduating magna cum laude in 1880, he enrolled at Columbia Law School and got married to Alice Hathaway Lee of Massachusetts.

Political Life
Roosevelt didn't stay long at law school, opting instead to join the New York State Assembly as a representative from New York City — becoming the youngest to serve in that position. Not long after, Roosevelt was speeding through various public service positions, including captain of the National Guard and minority leader of the New York Assembly. However, the tragic deaths of his mother and his wife, which occurred on the same day (February 14, 1884), propelled Roosevelt to leave for the Dakota Territory for two years. There, he lived as a cowboy and cattle rancher, leaving his infant daughter in the care of his elder sister.

Returning to political life in 1886, Roosevelt was defeated for the New York City mayorship. Around the same time, he married his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, whom he had known as a child (they had watched the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from a window in his grandfather's house on Union Square in New York City). Roosevelt soon resumed his career trajectory, first as a civil service commissioner, then as a New York City police commissioner and Assistant U.S. Navy Secretary under President McKinley.

Taking a keen interest in the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt left his government post to organize a volunteer cavalry known as the Rough Riders, which he led in a bold charge up San Juan Hill in the Battle of San Juan Heights, in 1898. A war hero, and nominated for the Medal of Honor, Roosevelt was elected governor of New York in 1898.

U.S. Presidency
Roosevelt's progressive policies in New York ran him afoul of his own party, so Republican Party bosses plotted to quiet him by naming him on the McKinley ticket in the thankless post of vice president. However, after his re-election in 1901, President McKinley was assassinated. At age 42, Roosevelt became the youngest man to assume the U.S. presidency.

Roosevelt’s presidency is distinguished by his dedication to prosecuting monopolies under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Out of this commitment grew a benchmark of his first term, the "Square Deal" — a domestic program that embraced reform of the American workplace, government regulation of industry and consumer protection, with the overall aim of helping all classes of people. Roosevelt's charismatic personality and impassioned combination of pounding fists and emphatic rhetoric undoubtedly helped in pushing his agenda.

In 1905, Roosevelt walked his niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, down the aisle (Theodore's brother, Elliott, had died in 1894) during the wedding ceremony for Eleanor and her fifth cousin once removed, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Around the same time, believing that America needed to take its rightful place on the world stage, Roosevelt initiated a massive public relations effort. Engaging his unofficial policy of “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” Roosevelt bulked up the U.S. Navy and created the "Great White Fleet," sending it on a world tour as a testament to U.S. military power. He also helped expedite the completion of the Panama Canal by providing tacit approval of the Panama revolution with funds and a naval blockade preventing Columbian troops from landing in Panama. President Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his role in negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt believed that if Japan had devastated Russia, it would lead to an imbalance of power in the Pacific, one that the United States would eventually have to realign, but at a disastrous cost.

Roosevelt's international stance was the impetus for the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which claims the right to intervene in cases of wrongdoing by a Latin American or any other nation, though some critics assert that the doctrine designates the United States as the "policeman" of the western world.

While it is true Roosevelt supported desegregation and women's suffrage, his administration took an often passive, sometimes contradictory approach to improve civil rights. He defended Minnie Cox, who experienced racial discrimination in the South while working as a postmaster and strongly supported a woman’s right to vote in 1912. Roosevelt was also the first president to entertain an African American, Booker T. Washington, as a guest at the White House. However, the political backlash from the event was so severe that he never invited Washington back again."