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Teddy Roosevelt is born
Roosevelt’s youth differed sharply from that of the log cabin Presidents. He was born in New York City in 1858 into a wealthy family, but he too struggled–against ill health–and in his triumph became an advocate of the strenuous life. -
Teddy Roosevelt named President when President McKinley was assassinated
With the assassination of President William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the 26th and youngest President in the Nation’s history (1901-1909). He brought new excitement and power to the office, vigorously leading Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy. -
The Coal Strike of 1902
The miners struck on May 12, 1902. There was hope for a settlement as long as firemen, engineers, and pump men remained at work. But when these maintenance crews walked out on June 2, both sides settled down for a long and bitter fight. On October 23, 1902, the 163-day anthracite coal strike ended. The following morning President Roosevelt met briefly with the commissioners and asked them to try to establish good relations between the employers and the workers in the anthracite fields. -
The Elkins Act was passed
The Elkins Act is a 1903 United States federal law that amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The Act authorized the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to impose heavy fines on railroads that offered rebates, and upon the shippers that accepted these rebates. The railroad companies were not permitted to offer rebates. Railroad corporations, their officers, and their employees, were all made liable for discriminatory practices. -
Pelican Island, Florida named first national wildlife refuge
Pelican Island was the first National wildlife refuge in the United States. It was created to protect egrets and other birds from extinction through plume hunting. -
Teddy Roosevelt wins first full term as president
American presidential election, held on November 8, 1904, in which Republican incumbent Pres. Theodore Roosevelt soundly defeated Democrat Alton B. Parker . Roosevelt’s win marked the first time that a president not originally elected to the office succeeded in retaining the presidency. -
Yosemite falls under Federal Control
He signed the American Antiquities Act of 1906 that transferred the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove back under federal protection and control. A decade later, when the National Park Service formed in 1916, Yosemite had its own agency to protect it, thanks to Roosevelt's efforts. -
Devil's tower in Wyoming is named the first national park
Theodore Roosevelt declared the site as the first national monument in 1906, Devils Tower was used as the appellation and the name became official. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN) was created in 1890 to ensure uniformity in the names of geographic location. -
The Passage of Pure Food And Drug Act
The statute for the first time regulated food and drugs that moved in interstate commerce and forbade the manufacture, sale or transportation of poisonous patent medicines. It arose, with strong White House support, in the wake of exposes by such muckrakers as Upton Sinclair and Samuel Hopkins Adams. -
Roosevelt leaves presidency to visit Africa
It was an epic adventure that lasted nearly a year, and took him and his son, Kermit (the expedition photographer), from Mombasa north along the Nile to Khartoum and west, deep into the heart of the Belgian Congo. It also resulted in the slaughter of carefully cataloged animals including big game species, birds and fishes. They believed in being inclusive and killed everything from elephants to dung beetles, although obviously big-game hunting proved more entertaining. -
Teddy Roosevelt unsuccessfully runs for president for the Bull-Moose Party
After the party's defeat in the 1912 presidential election, it went into rapid decline in elections until 1918, disappearing by 1920. The Progressive Party was popularly nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party" when Roosevelt boasted that he felt "strong as a bull moose" after losing the Republican nomination in June 1912 at the Chicago convention.
