Roosevelt, Tweed

Tweed Roosevelt acknowledges that there were five errors in his previous column on “One Hundred TR Firsts.” He lists five statements that were in error and two others that were challenged by readers, and he provides details about the five errors, including assertions about Theodore Roosevelt’s first inauguration, his marriages, and his daughter Alice’s White House wedding. Roosevelt also says that he received many suggestions for additions to his list. Five photographs accompany the essay.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2009

Tweed Roosevelt reveals the genesis of his project with Carlos Camargo to study Theodore Roosevelt’s struggle with asthma as a child. Roosevelt writes that he was skeptical of David G. McCullough’s assertion that Roosevelt’s condition was psychosomatic and designed to keep him from attending Sunday church services. Roosevelt and Camargo found that Theodore Roosevelt never shirked church attendance, and they also note that, despite his assertions, Theodore Roosevelt did not cure himself of his asthma by his vigorous exercise regimen and living a strenuous life.

A photograph of Tweed Roosevelt and the front cover of McCullough’s biography, Mornings on Horseback, accompany the essay.

Tweed Roosevelt chronicles the history of Theodore Roosevelt Island in the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. Roosevelt traces the history of the island back to Native American inhabitants and notes the island’s swings between use and neglect. Roosevelt also charts efforts to establish a national memorial to Theodore Roosevelt in the nation’s capital and how those efforts finally led to the dedication of a memorial on the island in 1967. Roosevelt concludes the essay by noting how the island has once again fallen victim to neglect, and he proposes that the Theodore Roosevelt Association work with the National Park Service to restore and reinvigorate the island for visitors.

Four photographs and three illustrations supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Tweed Roosevelt describes his trip to Brazil to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Colonel Candido Mariano da Silva Rondon who led, with Theodore Roosevelt, the expedition down the River of Doubt in 1914. Roosevelt describes the landscape of the state of Mato Grosso and highlights its largest city Cuiaba. Roosevelt examines the Pantanal, a massive wetland, and its Bororo Indian inhabitants, and he gives a brief overview of Rondon’s career. Roosevelt closes his essay with remarks about some of the Brazilian politicians and guides who accompanied him during his visit.

Two color photographs accompany the essay which is followed by a twelve page album of eighty-four photographs taken by Tweed Roosevelt and Mark Greenberg which chronicles various aspects of the trip.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Tweed Roosevelt explores Theodore Roosevelt’s scant record of fishing and why he preferred hunting. Roosevelt details Theodore Roosevelt’s modest record as a fisherman, and he explains how hunting, with its twin attractions of difficulty and danger, appealed to Theodore Roosevelt’s zeal for the strenuous life while the largely sedentary and placid sport of fishing did not. Roosevelt looks at Theodore Roosevelt’s 1917 trip to Florida to harpoon manta rays which was more akin to hunting than fishing, and he highlights some of Roosevelt’s more dangerous hunts like those he undertook during his African safari.

Five photographs and four illustrations accompany the essay.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Tweed Roosevelt recounts a murder trial that centered on the granddaughter of Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, the uncle of Theodore Roosevelt known as RBR. Roosevelt examines the secret, scandalous life of RBR, who fathered three illegitimate children, and he shows how one of these children, Granville Fortescue, carried on the scandalous life of his father. Fortescue’s daughter, Thalia Massie, would inherit the dissolute traits of her family and would be at the center of high profile rape and murder cases in Hawaii. Roosevelt describes the racial atmosphere of 1930s Hawaii, and he chronicles the two trials, the participation of famed lawyer Clarence Darrow, and the political maneuvering resulting from the verdicts.

The feature is populated with seven photographs, a political cartoon, an illustration, and an arrest document.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Tweed Roosevelt discusses the subject of Theodore Roosevelt impersonators, and he states that most of them “are bad; many are truly atrocious.” Roosevelt asserts that these impersonators need to look like Theodore Roosevelt and know something about him, but many do not. He relays an anecdote about attending an event with an obviously intoxicated Roosevelt impersonator, and he notes that John A. Gable, the long-time executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), refused to endorse any impersonator or let them attend TRA events in costume. Roosevelt also says that it makes members of the Roosevelt family uncomfortable to be in the presence of the impersonators. 

Eight photographs of Roosevelt impersonators accompany the essay.  

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

To mark the centennial of the publication of Theodore Roosevelt’s autobiography, Tweed Roosevelt relates some of the anecdotes found in Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography. The essay quotes extensively from the autobiography in relaying stories about Theodore Roosevelt’s sparring with wrestlers and boxers, an anecdote about a former Rough Rider, and the love of books. A photograph of Tweed Roosevelt, a photograph of the front cover and spine of the autobiography, and a text box with the mission statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association accompany the essay. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2013-11-06

Tweed Roosevelt recounts the Battle of Cuzco Well during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. A combined Navy and Marine Corps force captured the water supply that supplied the Spanish garrison at Guantanamo Bay, one of the finest natural harbors in the Caribbean. Roosevelt believes that the successful seizure of the well allowed American forces to hold and use Guantanamo for naval operations that were crucial to the prosecution of the war. Roosevelt asserts that the Battle of Cuzco Well was instrumental in maintaining the existence of the Marine Corps whose usefulness had been called into question at the time of the conflict. Roosevelt relates some of the earlier history of the area, describing battles between British and Spanish forces during the War of Jenkins’ Ear in the mid nineteenth century. 

Three photographs, two illustrations, and a map supplement the essay. A text box with the mission statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) appears at the end of the essay. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

In a foreword to Joseph R. Ornig’s My Last Chance to Be a Boy: Theodore Roosevelt’s South American Expedition of 1913-1914, Tweed Roosevelt discusses Theodore Roosevelt’s lifelong interest in natural history, and he commends Ornig for including an examination of the speaking tour that Theodore Roosevelt undertook before he began his expedition. Roosevelt, a member of the Rio Roosevelt Expedition of 1992, details the similarities and differences between his expedition and the one completed by his great-grandfather. 

Six photographs, the front cover illustration of Ornig’s book, and the logo of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appear in the article.

Tweed Roosevelt provides two lists of books about Theodore Roosevelt. He lists what he considers to be the five best books to introduce Roosevelt to newcomers, and he also lists fifty books that he classifies as essential to those wanting “a well-rounded education” on Roosevelt. He lists the five books for newcomers in a a paragraph in the text, but the fifty essential books are numbered and placed in alphabetical order by the author’s or editor’s last name with publication dates ranging from 1906 to 2010. The front cover illustrations to four titles supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2011

Tweed Roosevelt describes a visit to the White House in which he and members of his family met President Barack Obama. Roosevelt notes that he took the opportunity to ask Obama to consider declaring the Elkhorn Ranch site in North Dakota a national monument to protect it from the encroachments of the oil industry in the Badlands. Roosevelt quotes a long passage from Theodore Roosevelt’s writing about the ranch site, and he highlights the two most immediate threats to the area, proposals for a bridge across the Little Missouri River and a gravel mine. Roosevelt says that the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) must act to save the site that was so important to Theodore Roosevelt and the American conservation movement.

Four photographs and an illustration, including one each of the Elkhorn Ranch site, supplement the text. 

Tweed Roosevelt describes two failed attempts by Scottish settlers to establish a colony on the isthmus of Panama. Roosevelt examines the conditions in seventeenth-century Scotland, notably a prolonged drop in temperatures or “the Little Ice Age,” that prompted the exodus, and he highlights how the lack of proper planning, poor leadership, and the harsh conditions doomed both expeditions. Roosevelt highlights one of the survivors of the second attempt, Archibald Stobo, who settled in Charleston, South Carolina, rather than return to Scotland. Stobo’s daughter would marry into the Bulloch family and her lineage can be traced to Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt’s mother. 

Two photographs and two illustrations appear in the article.

Tweed Roosevelt describes the arduous process of removing an obelisk named Cleopatra’s Needle from Egypt to New York City. The project was planned and managed by Henry H. Gorringe who persuaded Theodore Roosevelt to hunt buffalo in Dakota Territory in the fall of 1883. Roosevelt explains how obelisks were constructed in ancient Egypt, and he provides a history of the two obelisks known as Cleopatra’s Needles, one of which was moved to London, England. Roosevelt details the process of moving the obelisk which included specialized rigging and lifting mechanisms, and he laments that the obelisk’s presence in New York City is virtually unknown because of its location behind buildings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Six photographs and seven illustrations, including seven depictions of the obelisk, populate the text along with a text box with poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Tweed Roosevelt examines five different types of books about Theodore Roosevelt, ranging from biographies to other works in which he plays only a marginal role, and Roosevelt cites several examples of each. Roosevelt also identifies four “really, really bad books” about Theodore Roosevelt, but he focuses on James Bradley’s The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War. Roosevelt details some of the shortcomings of Bradley’s book, including unnecessary numbers of footnotes, unsubstantiated claims against Theodore Roosevelt, and selective use of quotations. Roosevelt also considers how authors manage to publish and publicize such bad books, and he cites the unwillingness of reviewers to write negative reviews and the historical ignorance of those who interview the authors.

Eight photographs and two illustrations supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Tweed Roosevelt recounts his role, beginning in the fall of 1998, to secure the Medal of Honor for Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt admits that he was initially skeptical about the effort, but he decided to volunteer and became a lobbyist to secure passage of the necessary enabling legislation. Roosevelt highlights the various members of the House and Senate who helped secure the bill’s passage, highlighting the roles of Congressmen Rick A. Lazio, Paul F. McHale, Steven E. Buyer, and especially, Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota. He also notes how the bill’s passage was threatened by the impeachment proceedings swirling around President Bill Clinton. Roosevelt describes several White House visits, including meetings with Clinton and President George W. Bush.

Twelve photographs appear in the article, nine of which include Tweed Roosevelt, and three each featuring Clinton and Bush. A Frederic Remington painting, a letter, and two documents related to the conferral of the Medal of Honor also accompany the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Tweed Roosevelt relates memories and stories from the time he spent with his grandparents, Archibald B. Roosevelt and Grace Stackpole Lockwood Roosevelt, at their home on the north shore of Long Island near Sagamore Hill. Roosevelt describes their home in detail, and he writes of the summers and holidays he spent there which included rowing, sailing, bird watching, and hunting with his grandfather. Roosevelt also describes some of the people who worked at his grandparents’ house, and he describes visits to Sagamore Hill when Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt was still alive. 

Two photographs of the house and photographs of Roosevelt and his grandfather accompany the essay.

In an address to mark his election as Chair of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), Tweed Roosevelt lays out his plans for the association, and he acknowledges the contributions of several members of the TRA’s leadership who have assisted him and the TRA during a difficult period in the association’s history. Roosevelt announces that he will focus on retaining and recruiting members of the TRA and that he will use his background in finance to improve the TRA’s fiscal condition.  

Two photographs of Roosevelt at the 2009 annual meeting of the TRA appear in the text.

Tweed Roosevelt lists 100 firsts by Theodore Roosevelt, ranging from the more widely known at number one, that Roosevelt was the first American to win a Nobel Prize, to the obscure at number 100, that Roosevelt was the first American president to have a wife sail on a battleship. In addition to a photograph of the author, the column features ten photographs of Roosevelt, some of which depict his firsts, from riding in a car to flying in an airplane. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2009

Tweed Roosevelt describes the results he found when he entered Theodore Roosevelt’s name into a Mormon genealogy website. Roosevelt notes some of the famous people, from actors, to kings, and presidents, that are supposedly distantly related to his great grandfather. Roosevelt speculates on what Theodore Roosevelt might have thought about some of the people on the list, and he notes that the exercise should probably not be taken too seriously. Seven photographs accompany the feature, including one of its author.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2008