Life did not start out very well for Theodore Roosevelt. As a boy, he was often very ill with asthma, he was nearsighted, and he was so weak that he needed to be schooled at home. It seemed unlikely that he would become the sort of "rugged" son that his father had been expecting. However, both father and son believed that Theodore could improve his physical condition if he took it upon himself to do so. They built a gym in their home in New York City, and the young Roosevelt spent many hours daily building his endurance and strength.
The life of discipline that Roosevelt undertook influenced him throughout his life, and he was able to travel to many places in Europe and the Middle East with his family. Although he attended Harvard (largely on the basis of his father's prominence in New York state politics), Roosevelt was not a particularly good student. His primary achievement at Harvard was his success in the boxing ring.
his first wife, Ann--died on the same day, February 14, 1884.
Roosevelt married Ann Hathaway in 1880 and started studying at Columbia Law School. However, he soon left Columbia to start a career in public service. Not long after, Roosevelt’s mother died from typhus fever, and his wife Ann died from a kidney disease--on the same day. After that, Roosevelt seemed to spend all of his time thinking about his future career in politics. Examine his path from law school dropout to president in the table below.
| Roosevelt's Political Career | |
|---|---|
| New York State Assembly | 1882 |
| New York City Police Department President | 1895 |
| Assistant Secretary of the Navy | 1896 |
| Governor of New York | 1898 |
| Vice President | 1901 |
| President | 1901 |
Question
What was typical about Roosevelt's path to the White House?
