Up next in 10
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was more than the man behind the Panama Canal and the inspiration for the teddy bear. He was a cowboy. A soldier. An explorer. A badass.When Teddy Roosevelt, or T.R. as he was commonly known, was a child, he had health issues. He overcame these by living what he called a "strenuous life." That's putting it lightly.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States
0:03
the inspiration for the teddy bear, a cowboy, a police commissioner, a soldier, and an explorer
0:09
But most of all, he was an all-around badass. Today, we're going to take a look at the 12 most hardcore facts about Teddy Roosevelt
0:18
Okay, now as Teddy used to say, the only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything
0:30
When Teddy Roosevelt was young, he would often have asthma attacks. To clear his lungs, his father, Theodore Sr., would take him on carriage rides
0:38
Young TR also had bad eyesight, and it was when he realized he couldn't see a shooting target
0:43
that his father gave him his now iconic glasses. When his illnesses prevented him from keeping up with other children of his age
0:50
his father would say to him, You have the mind, but you have not the body
0:54
You must make your body. Taking the advice to heart, young T.R. engaged in all types of athletic activity
1:00
including things like hiking and hunting. It was at this point that he started living what he would later call a strenuous life
1:11
For unrelated reasons, Teddy Roosevelt's wife, Alice Lee, and his mother, Mitty
1:16
both died on the same day, February 14, 1884. The future president grieved in a traditional way, by leaving the city behind
1:25
and moving to the Wild West to become a cowboy. OK, maybe it wasn't so traditional
1:30
but it was still his way of mourning. Probably. Anyway, TR operated a cattle ranch in the Dakotas
1:36
for a few years and spent the time learning to ride, rope, and hunt. He also worked alongside more experienced men
1:42
who helped him get tougher. In Roosevelt's own words, they took the snob out of him
1:47
He would later consider his time spent in the West as one of the most important periods of his life
1:51
even saying, I never would have been president if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota
2:02
So you might be thinking, OK, so he worked on a ranch. But it wasn't like he was a tough-as-nails sheriff
2:07
from a cowboy movie or anything like that. Well, he was. While living in North Dakota, TR became a deputy sheriff
2:16
On one occasion, he pursued three boat thieves through a frozen river. After capturing them, he personally
2:21
took them to Dickinson for trial, rather than allow them to be hanged by vigilantes
2:26
The journey took 40 hours, and Roosevelt watched the thieves the whole time not falling asleep for even a moment How did he keep himself awake all that time By reading Tolstoy That being said he remained ready for action According to the man himself
2:40
I kept guard over three prisoners who were huddled into a sullen group some 20 yards off
2:45
just the right distance for the buckshot in the double barrel. So Teddy Roosevelt may have been like a cowboy
2:56
right out of a John Wayne movie. It's not like he was also a 19th century Elliot Ness
3:00
That'd be crazy, right? Wrong. In 1895, TR became the New York City Police Commissioner
3:07
and in his two years in the post, he made quite the impact. He fired the police chief
3:12
He took on political bosses, fought corruption, and created what would become the basis for the modern-day police academy
3:19
T.R. also made a habit of going on walks in the middle of the night, in disguise, to check that his officers were on duty
3:25
His secret midnight walks were so successful that journalists began to follow him everywhere
3:30
which naturally made the secret walks a whole lot less secret. He didn't care. He was having a blast, telling reporters
3:37
these midnight rambles are great fun. As if Frontier Cowboy and Big City Police Commissioner weren't enough
3:48
Teddy Roosevelt was also a war hero. While serving with the Rough Riders
3:52
T.R. led the charge up Kettle Hill during the notoriously bloody Battle of San Juan Hill
3:57
in the Spanish-American War. T.R. had the only horse and led it back and forth
4:02
between the guns at the front of the advance. And then when his horse got injured
4:06
Roosevelt just continued on foot. The most important thing to note, though, is this
4:10
The entire advancement of the Rough Riders up Kettle Hill was T.R.'s call
4:15
He received no orders from his superiors. According to T.R. himself, he was basically asking his men to do a deed that many European military thinkers believed to be
4:24
impossible, saying, that is, to attack over open ground, an unshaken infantry army with the best
4:30
modern repeating rifles behind a formidable system of entrenchments. As you might imagine
4:35
the men weren't too enthused about the whole thing, at least until they heard Roosevelt was
4:39
going with them. In his own words, the only way to get them to do it in the way it had to be done
4:45
was to lead them myself. Most men only have one thing on their mind during their honeymoon, mountaineering
4:56
Wait, what? OK, at least Teddy Roosevelt did. So while he did spend a great deal of his honeymoon with his wife
5:01
he also made sure he found time to sneak away on his own to climb the Matterhorn No word on how Alice Lee felt about the whole thing but we imagine that if her husband had to be sneaking out on their honeymoon to see someone he was probably glad it was a 200 Swiss Mountain
5:21
Presidents do a lot of kooky stuff, but you rarely see one naked in public
5:26
However, during his time as president, T.R. on more than one occasion went skinny dipping
5:30
in the Potomac. For what it's worth, this was allegedly all part of his strenuous life ethos
5:35
He was always moving, always active, and for whatever reason, he'd often take soldiers
5:41
foreign dignitaries, and diplomats on naked swims with him. He also took them on hikes
5:46
And no, not naked hikes, just plain old regular clothed hikes. In his own words, I chose a route which
5:53
gave us the hardest climbing along the rocks and the deepest crossings of the creek
5:56
and my army friends enjoyed it hugely. After being bullied as a child, TR took up boxing
6:06
and continued with it through college at Harvard. And he wasn't the type to let a little thing
6:11
like becoming president stop him from boxing. He would often box during his time in the Oval Office
6:16
That is, until he was blinded in one eye. According to Roosevelt, I had to abandon boxing
6:21
as well as wrestling. For in one bout, a young captain of artillery cross-counter me on the eye
6:26
And the sight has been dim ever since. Accordingly, I thought it better to acknowledge
6:30
that I had become an elderly man and would have to stop boxing. In case you were worried this meant he was slowing down
6:36
know that the next sentence he wrote was, I then took up jujitsu. Football has always been a rough sport
6:46
but back in the day, it was potentially very deadly. In 1904 alone, there were 18 football-related deaths
6:53
and 159 serious injuries. In order for the sport to survive, modern rules needed to be put in place
7:01
As such, Roosevelt invited the head coaches of the top collegiate teams to the White House
7:05
on several occasions, strongly urging them to reconsider the rules of the game
7:10
He wrote at the time that his goal was not to emasculate the game, but simply to make
7:13
it less lethal. His efforts worked, and by 1906, rule changes to the game of football were implemented, getting
7:19
rid of the unnecessary violence and even allowing the forward pass. On the whole affair, Roosevelt said
7:25
I believe in rough games and in rough manly sports. I do not feel any particular sympathy for the person who gets battered about a good deal, so long as it's not fatal
7:39
In 1909 Teddy became the youngest ex in American history and he was ready for his next adventure While modern presidents usually go on book tours that wasn really TR style
7:50
So only three weeks after his successor, Howard Taft, was sworn in, Roosevelt set off to East
7:55
Africa to hunt big game. During his time in Africa, TR and his massive team collected over
8:00
20,000 specimens, including lions, warthogs, zebras, hyenas, and rhinos, which were eventually
8:07
displayed at the Smithsonian. He also captured live animals, such as leopards, lions, eagles
8:12
and vultures, which were sent to the National Zoo. His post-presidency expedition lasted over a year
8:22
You may remember this from a previous Weird History video, but in 1912
8:26
T.R. was running for president as the candidate of the Bull Moose Party. One day on his way to give a speech, a man named John Schrenk fired a Colt .38 at Roosevelt's chest
8:36
from a distance of four or five feet. But Teddy miraculously survived, and not just because he was tough
8:42
He was lucky, too. The bullet was slowed by the rolled-up speech
8:46
in metal eyeglasses case in his jacket pocket. Instead of going to the hospital
8:50
TR insisted they continue on to the auditorium, where he delivered the speech for over an hour
8:55
At one point, when doctors tried to examine him, he had to address the crowd about it, saying
9:00
I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don't know whether you fully understand
9:04
and I have just been shot. But it takes more than that to kill a bull moose
9:08
After the speech, he went to the hospital, where doctors discovered the bullet was actually still
9:12
lodged in his ribs. The bullet would remain inside him for the rest of his life
9:22
Devastated after losing his final presidential election, Teddy once again dealt with his grief
9:26
in a solemn and dignified manner. Just kidding, he went on another crazy adventure
9:32
Accompanied by his son Kermit and famed explorer Colonel Candido Rondon, T.R. sent off on a journey down an uncharted anaconda and piranha-infested river in South
9:42
America known as the River of Doubt. The expedition didn't go so hot
9:46
They lost five of seven canoes and came in dangerously close proximity to cannibalistic tribes
9:52
One sailor died in the rapids. Another was murdered by a crew member gone mad
9:57
Teddy cut his leg trying to cross the river in order to free two jammed canoes
10:02
His injury led to an infection, which then led to a fever. Near death, he pleaded with his son to leave him behind
10:08
But Kermit refused. And yeah, he had a son named Kermit. In the end, TR did finish the journey
10:14
At least most of them did. He finished the trip 60 pounds lighter than he started it