Theodore Roosevelt couldn't be still for a second. On the 27th day of October in the year 1858, he saw the light of day on a street in New York, in a home of privilege; yet he was plagued by poor physical condition, particularly a weak and troubled chest. To overcome his childhood asthma, young Teddy became an avid participant in athletics like boxing, hiking, and rowing. His personal regimen became his philosophy: a creed of the strenuous life.

Graduating from Harvard University in the year 1880, he made his way to the New York state legislature at 23 where he was well-known for his attacks on corruption. In February 1884, both his wife Alice and his mother died the same day. He sought refuge and solace in the west where he went to the Dakota Territory to ranch, hunt, and serve as deputy sheriff. It was there where he became an icon of the old west, of the permanent image of the cowboy. After marrying his longtime friend, Edith Carow, in 1886, the couple had six children and resided in a large home at Sagamore Hill, on the island of Long Island, New York.

Moving back to the east coast, Roosevelt became a United States Civil Service Commissioner and also a police commissioner in New York City where he was famous for taking night-time rounds of his patrolmen. Later, while serving as assistant secretary of the navy under President William McKinley, he prepared the nation for war with Spain. In 1898, he resigned from that post, organized the First Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and led the group up Kettle Hill, outside of Santiago. Roosevelt became a hero throughout the newspapers. His popularity was the catalyst to his election as the governor of New York and, a year later, to the vice-presidency in 1900.

It was on the 6th day of September of 1901, in the city of Buffalo, that the assassin Leon Czolgosz fired bullets into the body of President McKinley. McKinley died in the early morning hours of September 14, and that same day the 42 year old Roosevelt took his presidential oath, making him the youngest president to ever hold that position in American history. Upon his election, Roosevelt championed the square deal which argued that the government had a duty to mediate to make sure business and labor were both given a fair deal. In 1902, he brought an antitrust suit against the Northern Securities railroad holding company which was followed by 42 other major antitrust lawsuits. His political victories included the Elkins Act in 1903 and the Hepburn Act of 1906, which placed new controls over railroad prices. Following the publication of the novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, Roosevelt signed two laws in 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

Theodore's strongest legacy to his country was in the area of natural conservation. Together with his forester and friend Gifford Pinchot, the former protected some 230 million acres; created five national parks, designated 18 national monuments, including Devils Tower; and established 150 national forests. Roosevelt considered the public domain a trust for the future.

In international affairs, Roosevelt's foreign policy was often described as a combination of diplomatic negotiations with displays of military might. In 1905, after brokering peace between Russia and Japan, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first American to receive the award for this achievement. He had supported a Panamanian revolution in 1903 to gain an independent state for negotiation of the Canal. In his famous words, he had summed up his strategy as: speak softly and carry a big stick.

Leaving his position as president of the United States of America in 1909, Roosevelt saw his old friend and successor, William Howard Taft, as having abandoned the progressive tradition. In 1912, he ran for president as the candidate for the newly formed progressive party, also known as the Bull Moose party. On the 14th day of October that year, he stood at the Milwaukee Auditorium while being shot in the chest by one John Schrank. He gave an 84 minute address with the bullet in his chest before going to a hospital. Roosevelt's running helped the Republican party split, resulting in the election of Woodrow Wilson.

In 1913-1914, Theodore went on an expedition down the River of Doubt in Brazil which ended up destroying Roosevelt's health. During the remainder of his life, Roosevelt wrote books about his life and campaigned for American entry into the First World War. The 6th day of January in the year 1919 was the end of his life while back in his home at Sagamore Hill, Long Island, New York. Theodore Roosevelt was a man of contradictions; a New York born aristocrat who had romanticized the old western frontier as a source of American manhood; a soldier who had won the Nobel Peace Prize; and a reformer who relished the exercise of power. That very restlessness, perhaps, was an attribute that made him memorable.