college preparation in less than two years. He also passed all of his preliminary
             exams. He entered Harvard in late September 1876. During the summer of
             1877 Theodore published his first work entitled The Summer Bird of the
             Adirondacks in Franklin County, NY. While he was away at college, his father
             died at the young age of 46 from stomach cancer. Theodore made it home only
             hours after his father had died. The loss of his father would have a profound
             effect on Theodore as seen later in his life. Yet, he returned to Harvard the
             following year, and was during this time that he met Alice Lee. He fell madly in
             love with, and they married on October 27, 1880. After moving to New York,
             Teddy decided to go into the field of politics. With the help of Jack Hess and
             Joe Murray, Roosevelt was elected to his first political office in 1881 as a
             representative for the New York Assembly. At the age of 23, he was the
             youngest man on the floor. He would not be bound by the political machine and
             would fight for what he believed in. He was soon appointed as a member of
             the Committee of the City. Soon afterwards, his reputation as a reformer began
             to build. He introduced four reform bills immediately after entering office.
             Because of his strong personality Roosevelt was elected for two more terms.
             He introduced a bill that became known as the Roosev...