The Old Lion

The Teddy Bear

In November of 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt, a noted hunting enthusiast, was invited to join a bear hunt near the town of Smedes, Mississippi. While the President was unsuccessful, guide Holt Collier tracked, clubbed, and tied up a bear he found at a watering hole. A messenger was sent to summon the president. When Roosevelt arrived, he was unimpressed by the spectacle of a bound, dazed, and bleeding bear. He not only refused to claim the bear, but also forbade anyone else from doing so.

Reporters with the hunting party soon spread news of Roosevelt's fair play nationwide. Among those inspired by the story was Washington Post political cartoonist Clifford Berryman, who produced a wildly popular cartoon of the incident. New York City storeowners Morris and Rose Michtom were further inspired by the cartoon, and produced two stuffed bears for sale in their shop. “Teddy's bear” swiftly became a nation-wide fad, and later an enduring pop-culture symbol that has long outlasted its inspiration and namesake.

African Expedition

During the years following his presidency, Roosevelt returned to his childhood passion for natural history. In March of 1909, Theodore and his son Kermit sailed for a hunting safari of scientific exploration and study in Africa. They successfully brought back hundreds of specimens and trophies for museums across the country.  

The Bull Moose Party
Upon his return to the United States in 1910, Roosevelt became dissatisfied with President William Taft's policies. The progressive branch of the Republican Party felt betrayed by Taft and sought out Roosevelt as a mediator. Roosevelt felt compelled to heal the rift, but he was too closely identified with the progressives to gain support of the conservatives. When Roosevelt failed to win the Republican nomination for the presidency, he and his supporters formed the Progressive Party, more popularly known as the “Bull Moose” party. Roosevelt was nominated as the presidential candidate for the new party.

Roosevelt's popularity and the headlines he made were not enough to secure victory. The split in the Republican Party assured victory for the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson. In the polls, Roosevelt finished second and Taft, a distant third.

Assassination Attempt

During the presidential campaign, Roosevelt was the target of an attempted assassination on October 14, 1912. John Shrank shot Roosevelt just before he was to deliver a speech in Milwaukee. Roosevelt's spectacle case and a folded copy of his speech in his vest pocket deflected the bullet and probably saved his life. TR went on to deliver the speech, in spite of the bullet lodged in his chest. Within two weeks, Roosevelt was fully recovered from the wound.

Brazil Adventure

In 1914, Roosevelt and Kermit took part in an exploratory mission into the interior of Brazil. While there, TR contracted jungle fever, injured his leg, and lost sixty pounds. He returned weak and looking much older than his fifty-six years. Yet Roosevelt was undaunted.

The Final Years

Early in 1918, TR lost the hearing in his left ear. At that time, Roosevelt also revealed that he had been blind in his left eye since 1905. He had lost the sight in that eye while boxing with a military aide in the White House.

On January 6, 1919, Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep at Sagamore Hill from a blood clot that lodged in his heart. As he had requested, Roosevelt was buried in Oyster Bay without any fanfare or eulogy.

 

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