The Strenuous Life

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Five months into his first term, T.R. launches his trust-busting campaign by suing the Northern Securities Co. He also establishes himself as a conservationist, creating Crater Lake National Park in Oregon (the first of five such parks he designates) and proclaiming Pelican Island, Fla., the first federal bird reservation. (He will set up 50 more.) Other highlights include his July 4, 1903, "Square Deal" speech in Springfield, Ill., and the treaty with Panama to build the Panama Canal.

SECOND TERM

1904-09

On Nov. 8, 1904, Roosevelt wins the election, saying, "I am glad to be elected President in my own right." His Dec. 6 message to Congress includes the so-called Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which justifies U.S. intervention in Latin America. In 1905 he establishes the Forest Service; gives away his niece Eleanor Roosevelt at her March 17 wedding to distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt; brokers the Treaty of Portsmouth--signed on Sept. 5 in New Hampshire--ending the Russo-Japanese War; and persuades colleges to make football games less dangerous. The next year, T.R. mediates a dispute between France and Germany over Morocco and signs the Antiquities or National Monuments Act--which enables the President to protect sites like California's Muir Woods, New Mexico's Gila cliff dwellings and the Grand Canyon--as well as the Pure Food and Drug Act and a meat-inspection law. On Feb. 17, T.R.'s daughter Alice marries Ohio

Congressman Nicholas Longworth, and in November he and

Edith inspect the partly built Panama Canal--the first time a President has left the U.S. while in office. On Dec. 10, T.R. wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Russo-Japanese War; he is the first American Nobel laureate. Finally, on Dec. 16, 1907, T.R. dispatches the "Great White Fleet" on a round-the-world voyage that he believes is "the most important service that I rendered to peace."

T.R.'S LEGACY

1909-19

Soon after the Inauguration of his successor, William Howard Taft, on March 4, 1909, Roosevelt and his son Kermit sail to Africa, where they spend nearly a year shooting animals for the Smithsonian. In early 1912, T.R. announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, but the party renominates Taft--even though Roosevelt won all but one primary and caucus. The new Progressive (Bull Moose) Party promptly adopts T.R. as its candidate. That October he is shot while campaigning in Milwaukee, Wis., but gives a 90-min. speech before seeing a doctor. Democrat Woodrow Wilson is elected on Nov. 5, 1912; T.R., the runner-up, garners the largest percentage of votes ever by a third-party candidate. In the fall of 1913, T.R. travels to South America, where he gives lectures and explores Brazil's "River of Doubt." He nearly dies, but later says, "I had to go. It was my last chance to be a boy." After he returns to the U.S., war breaks out in Europe, and the Panama Canal opens to traffic. The U.S. enters World War I in April 1917; 15 months later, T.R.'s son Quentin, 20, is killed in France. Devastated, Roosevelt declines to run (again) for Governor of New York. On Jan. 6, 1919, T.R. dies in his sleep at Sagamore Hill of a coronary embolism. He is only 60.