Theodore Roosevelt Junior

Ted Roosevelt as Secretary of State in the Department of the Navy, 1921

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (born September 13, 1887 in Oyster Bay , New York , † July 12, 1944 in Normandy ) was an American businessman, author, adventurer, traveler, civil servant, politician and army officer.

Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt, Jr. was the eldest son of US President (1901–1909) Theodore Roosevelt , in whose shadow he stood during the first half of his life. His own political ambitions were largely unsuccessful, as was his military career: he was the youngest regimental commander in action during World War I and the oldest soldier in combat on D-Day . Courage, bravery and high personal commitment despite advanced age and physical handicap led to his being one of the most highly decorated soldiers in the US Army towards the end of the Second World War . He had received all the war awards his country had to give to members of the ground troops.

Life

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., called Ted or Teddy , was born in 1887 on the family estate Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, New York, as the eldest son of the future President Theodore Roosevelt, who was at the beginning of his political career. Ted's mother was Edith Carow Roosevelt , Theodore Roosevelt's second wife. Ted spent a carefree childhood with his siblings on Sagamore Hill , attended the Groton School boarding school in Massachusetts and enrolled at Harvard University in 1905 , where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1908, a year early because of good performance .

In October 1908, at a party, he met Eleanor Butler Alexander, daughter of the well-known Wall Street man Henry Addison Alexander, and married her two years later (June 20, 1910, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church , New York City). The Roosevelts had four children together: Grace (* 1911), Theodore (* 1914), Cornelius (* 1915) and Quentin (* 1919). Eleanor published her memoirs in 1959, which is one of the most important sources on Ted Roosevelt.

In order to be financially independent, Roosevelt had taken a job as a worker in a carpet factory after graduating from university. Because he was intelligent and had a feel for the quality of wool, he rose quickly within the company. In 1912 he switched to banking and later became a partner in an investment bank in Philadelphia. In just a few years, he built up significant capital.

From September 9, 1929 to January 1932, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Governor of Puerto Rico , then President Hoover named him Governor of the Philippines . His successor Franklin D. Roosevelt removed him from this office in the same year.

Second World War

Ted Roosevelt as Brigadier General in World War II; his severe arthritis forced him to use a stick

As Assistant Commanding General of the 4th Infantry Division, Roosevelt was the oldest American at the age of 56 and the only general who landed with the first wave when landing on the coast of Normandy ( Utah beach ). The whole time he was armed only with his walking stick.

Roosevelt's grave cross

Because of his extraordinary personal dedication to the landing, Bradley wanted to promote him to major general and give him command of the 90th Infantry Division . The order to do so was already on Eisenhower's desk for signature , but Roosevelt died of a heart attack on the night of July 12, 1944. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his “bravery and fearlessness at risk of death ” ( General Order # 77 , September 28, 1944).

Roosevelt was buried on July 14, Bastille Day, in the makeshift military cemetery in Sainte-Mère-Église . Present at his funeral were Generals Bradley, Patton , Collins , Huebner , Barton and Hodges . His remains were later transferred to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial , where the remains of his younger brother Quentin Roosevelt, who died in 1918, were also transferred in 1955 .

reception

The journalist AJ favorite from New York wrote to Roosevelt's sudden death: "while Theodore Roosevelt [the father] was a dilettante as a soldier, but a first-class politician, was his son as an amateur politician, but a first-class soldier." Omar Bradley When asked years after the war about the most significant act of bravery he had experienced in over 40 years of service, he replied tersely: “Ted Roosevelt. Utah Beach ” . General George S. Patton described Roosevelt in his diary as the bravest soldier he had ever known.

In the 1962 film " The Longest Day ", Ted Roosevelt is portrayed by Henry Fonda .

In 1994, the highest honor for service in the Army Reserve was created and named after Ted Roosevelt Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., named Memorial Award .

In January 2001, US President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded President Theodore Roosevelt (Sr.) the Medal of Honor for his services in the Spanish-American War of 1898. He was with the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, The Rough Riders , guided. The Roosevelts are the second father-son couple in US history to receive this award. The other two are Arthur MacArthur and his son Douglas MacArthur .

Fonts

• Average Americans. - New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1919.
• East of the Sun and West of the Moon. - New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1926 (together with his brother Kermit Roosevelt).
• Rank and File: True Stories of the Great War. - New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1928.
• All in the family. - New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1929.
• Trailing the Giant Panda. - New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1929 (together with Kermit Roosevelt).
• The Three Kingdoms of Indo-China. - New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1933 (together with Harold J. Coolidge).
• Colonial Policies Of the United States. - Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1937.

literature

About Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

• The Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Papers, 1780-1962 . - Washington, CC: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress [1]
• Hanson W. Baldwin: Theodore Roosevelt, 56, Dies On Normandy Battlefield: Succumbs to a Heart Attack Soon After Visit From Son. In: New York Times , July 14, 1944.
• Mark M. Boatner: The Biographical Dictionary of World War II. - Novato, CA: Presidio, 1996. p. 472. - ISBN 0-89141-548-3 .
• Lewis L. Gould: Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr. - American National Biography Online , February 2000. (Access Date: Mon Aug 22 2005 20:24:08 GMT + 0200)
• H. Paul Jeffers: In the Rough Rider's Shadow: The Story of a War Hero - Theodore Roosevelt Jr. - Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 2003. - ISBN 0-89141-797-4 .
• Lawrence H. Madaras: The Public Career of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.- Dissertation, New York University, 1964.
• Natalie A. Naylor et al .: Theodore Roosevelt: Many-Sided American. - Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1992. - ISBN 1-55787-085-3
  therein:
  • Richard Loosbrock: Worthy Son of a Worthy Sire: The Early Years of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
  • Charles W. Snyder: An American Original: Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
• Michael Pearlman: To Make Democracy Safe for America: Patricians and Preparedness in the Progressive Era. - Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984. - ISBN 0-252-01019-1 .
• Eleanor Butler Roosevelt: Day before Yesterday: The Reminiscences of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. - Garden City, New York: Doubleday, [1959].

About the family

• Peter Collier: The Roosevelts: An American Saga. - New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. - ISBN 0-684-80140-X .
• Edward Renehan: The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War. - New York, Oxford University Press, 1998. - ISBN 0-19-512719-6 .

Web links

Commons : Theodore Roosevelt junior  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Theodore Roosevelt Jr. served… site
• Newspaper article about Theodore Roosevelt junior in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

supporting documents

1. ^ Lit .: Roosevelt, 1959
2. ↑ Lit .: Boatner, 1996; Collier, 1994