Theodore Roosevelt lived an extremely active and strenuous life. While he endured many hardships during his childhood, he emerged mentally and physically stronger. His life definitely helped to prepare …show more content…
These travels, including spending five months with a German host family, helped Roosevelt to better understand foreign customs and mannerisms (“The Life of Theodore Roosevelt” 1).
After completing his adventures abroad, Roosevelt entered Harvard College in 1876. While in college, he gave up his childhood nickname in favor of Theodore, his formal first name. Contrary to popular belief, he never liked nor used the name “Teddy”. At Harvard, his studies included such subjects as German, Natural History, Zoology, Forensics, and Composition. Also, In keeping with his dedication to exercise and maintaining his physical form, he took up boxing and wrestling while in college.
Unfortunately, tragedy soon struck. During Roosevelt’s second year at Harvard, his father passed away. Instead of becoming overcome by grief, Roosevelt instead buckled down and focused even more fully on his work. . (“Theodore Roosevelt” 1). In 1880, Roosevelt accomplished two major milestones in his life: he graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and married Alice Hathaway Lee, whom he had met in …show more content…
With his iconic toothy grin and steel rimmed spectacles, he successfully charmed his way into the hearts of the American people. In fact, it is reasonable to assert that his charm as much to his intelligence and negotiation skills were responsible for many of his diplomatic successes. While Roosevelt’s delightful personality played a large part in his political success and overwhelming presidential popularity, it was not solely responsible for his status as a national icon. He also enjoyed more than his fair share of successes during his term in office, both in the United States and abroad.
One of Roosevelt’s most important domestic policy successes was the implementation of the Square Deal. This policy was based on his long standing dedication to honesty and fair play. Roosevelt wanted to battle the large corporate trusts which had been restricting trade for several years. Many companies had established monopolies over their fields,which restricted free trade and open competition. To combat this threat, Roosevelt spearheaded a series of over forty lawsuits against large corporate trusts under the Sherman Antitrust Act, in a process which became known as “trust busting”. While he was unable to stop the growing merger movement in the United States, he was able to help restore free and open competition to the