Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) was an American statesman, conservationist, soldier and author who served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. A sickly child, he built up his health through vigorous exercise, a lifelong commitment to what he called "the strenuous life." After his mother and his first wife died on the same day in 1884, he found renewal as a rancher in the Dakota Badlands, deepening his love of the American wilderness. He led the volunteer "Rough Riders" in the Spanish–American War and became president after the assassination of William McKinley. In office he protected about 230 million acres of public land as national forests, parks, monuments and bird reserves, and advanced the building of the Panama Canal. His mediation of the Russo-Japanese War earned him the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, and his face is carved on Mount Rushmore.