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The charge led by Theodore Roosevelt and his volunteer cavalry, the "Rough Riders," during the Battle of San Juan Heights on July 1, 1898, became one of the most famous and mythologized events of the Spanish-American War. The charge, which primarily took place on Kettle Hill, helped secure a decisive American victory and launched Roosevelt's political career. -
Theodore Roosevelt first became president on September 14, 1901, following the assassination of President William McKinley. At 42 years old, Roosevelt was the youngest person ever to assume the U.S. presidency. -
Theodore Roosevelt intervened in the 1902 Pennsylvania anthracite coal strike by threatening to seize the mines and use federal troops to operate them if owners refused to negotiate with the striking United Mine Workers. The strike, which threatened a winter fuel shortage, ended after the owners agreed to arbitration, and a presidential commission awarded the workers a 10% pay increase and a reduction in the workday from 10 to 9 hours. -
Theodore Roosevelt signed the National Reclamation Act into law on June 17, 1902, to fund irrigation projects in the arid western United States using proceeds from public land sales. Also known as the Newlands Act, it authorized the construction of dams, reservoirs, and canals to make arid land farmable and supported agricultural and economic growth in the West. -
Theodore Roosevelt signed the Elkins Act in 1903, which was a federal law that amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 to outlaw railroad rebates and make it illegal for railroads to give or for companies to take secret discounts on shipping prices. The goal was to create fair, published rates and prevent large corporations from getting unfair advantages over smaller competitors. -
The Theodore Roosevelt administration's case against the Northern Securities Company was a landmark "trust-busting" action in which the federal government sued the holding company for creating a monopoly that restrained interstate trade. In a 1904 decision, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the government, upholding the Sherman Antitrust Act and ordering the company to dissolve. -
Theodore Roosevelt won his first full term as president in the 1904 election. Running as the Republican incumbent, he secured a landslide victory over his Democratic opponent, Alton B. Parker. This election marked the first time that a president who had taken office due to the death of his predecessor went on to win a full term in their own right. -
In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt signed the Yosemite Recession Bill, which returned control of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to the federal government, making them part of Yosemite National Park. This action, prompted by a 1903 camping trip with naturalist John Muir, was a direct result of Muir convincing Roosevelt to protect these areas from state control and keep them for federal management and preservation. -
Theodore Roosevelt signed the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 into law, which mandated the inspection of meat and meat products for public health and banned the sale of adulterated or misbranded meat. The act was a direct result of public outrage, fueled by Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, which exposed the unsanitary and unsafe conditions in the meatpacking industry. -
Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act into law on June 30, 1906, creating the first version of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent the manufacture and interstate transport of adulterated or misbranded food and drugs. Spurred by public outcry after the muckraking novel The Jungle and decades of work by reformers like Harvey Wiley, the act prohibited false labeling and the addition of harmful ingredients to food. -
Theodore Roosevelt completed his second term as president on March 4, 1909, and just weeks later, on March 23, he began a year-long expedition to Africa. This Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition was a scientific and hunting safari that made international headlines.
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Theodore Roosevelt ran for president in 1912 under the Progressive Party, which was popularly nicknamed the "Bull Moose Party." He formed this party after the Republican Party nominated William Howard Taft, and Roosevelt, feeling he had been unfairly denied the nomination, led a faction of reformers out of the convention. The name "Bull Moose" came from Roosevelt's comment that he was "fit as a bull moose" when asked if he was healthy enough to run.