Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York City in 1858, the second of four
brothers and sisters. Although blessed with a quick mind he was not blessed with a
strong body. He suffered from life-threatening asthma attacks throughout his childhood.
Urged on by his father, Theodore began to build up his body by strenuous exercise, and
by adulthood he had become a model of physical courage and toughness. This early
example of his character was critical of the way he lived the rest of his life. He did not
back down in the face of hardships, and he continually displayed remarkable physical and
Partly because of a severe asthmatic condition, Theodore was educated
by private tutors until 1876, when he entered Harvard College. Abandoning plans to
become a naturalist, he developed political and historical interests and finished twenty-
first in his class. Four months after his graduation in 1880, he married Alice Hathaway
Lee, with whom he had a daughter. Bored by the study of law in the office of an uncle
and at Columbia University, Roosevelt willingly gave it up in 1882 to serve the first of
three terms in the New York State Assembly. Roosevelt's last term was spoiled by the
sudden deaths of his mother and his wife within hours of one another in 1884.
After this he moves to North Dakota to find himself and he looses his snobbery.
He then moves back to New York and runs for mayor. He then went to London to marry
Edith Carow, with whom he had four sons and a daughter. Roosevelt returned to New
York City in 1895 to serve two years as president of the police board. Roosevelt resigned
in the spring of 1897 to become President William McKinley's assistant secretary of the
Anxious to prove himself under fire, Roosevelt resigned as assistant secretary of
the Navy in April to organize the "Rough Riders". He took command of the unit in
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