Theodore roosevelt served how many years

After returning to New York, he served on the U. He also served as the assistant secretary of the navy from to When war broke out with Spain, Roosevelt went to Cuba and led a volunteer regiment that became recognized as the Rough Riders. After his military service, he secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor on November 8, During his tenure, park and forestry programs were advanced; labor laws were improved; public utility earnings were taxed; and banking and insurance laws were strengthened.

After leaving the governorship, Roosevelt served as the vice president of the United States. President McKinley was assassinated on September 14, , and Roosevelt, who was the vice president at the time, succeeded to the presidency.

In he was elected to a term of his own. The Republican political machine in New York threw their considerable support behind the returning war hero, helping Roosevelt defeat a popular Democratic candidate to win the governorship. Once elected, Roosevelt displayed his characteristic independence and unwillingness to buckle to the pressure of party bosses. Roosevelt campaigned vigorously for McKinley, traveling by train for more than 21, miles to speak in 24 states, and McKinley and Roosevelt won in a landslide over Democrats William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E.

McKinley died eight days later, and Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th president. From the time of his First Annual Message to Congress in December , Roosevelt expressed the progressive belief that government should mediate between conflicting forces including capital and labor, isolationism and expansionism and conservation and development in order to stabilize American society.

In , his government brought a successful suit under the previously ineffective Sherman Antitrust Act against the Northern Securities Company, a railroad combination formed by James J. Hill, E. Harriman and J. That same year, he intervened in a prolonged coal strike in Pennsylvania , using a combination of negotiation tactics to halt the strike and gain a modest pay increase for the miners. Roosevelt also used his executive power to further his passion for conservationism.

In June , the National Reclamation Act dedicated to large-scale irrigation projects in the American West became the first major legislative achievement of his presidency. In addition, Roosevelt set aside almost million acres—almost five times as much land as all his predecessors combined—for national forests, reserves and wildlife refuges. As part of that process, he favored the removal of many Native Americans from their ancestral territories, including approximately 86 million acres of tribal land transferred to the national forest system.

He was the first president to win reelection after gaining the White House due to the death of his predecessor. Like McKinley, Roosevelt sought to bring the United States out of its isolationism and fulfill its responsibility as a world power.

Roosevelt followed this big-stick policy most conspicuously in his dealings in Latin America. In , he helped Panama secede from Colombia in order to facilitate the beginning of construction on the Panama Canal , which he later claimed as his greatest accomplishment as president. Navy into a major international force at sea. He was elected to the New York Assembly and served two terms from to A double tragedy struck Roosevelt in On February 12th, Alice gave birth to a daughter, Alice Lee.

Two days later, Roosevelt's mother died of typhoid fever and his wife died of kidney disease within a few hours of each other—and in the same house. For the next few months, a devastated Roosevelt threw himself into political work to escape his grief.

Finally, he left his daughter in the care of his sister and fled to the Dakota Badlands. Once out West, Roosevelt soaked in the frontier lifestyle. He bought two ranches and a thousand head of cattle. He flourished in the hardships of the western frontier, riding for days, hunting grizzly bears, herding cows as a rancher, and chasing outlaws as a frontier sheriff.

Roosevelt headed back East in ; a devastating winter the following year wiped out most of his cattle. Although he would frequent the Dakota Badlands in subsequent years to hunt, he was ready leave the West and return to his former life. One of the reasons he did so was because of a rediscovered love with his childhood sweetheart, Edith Kermit Carow.

After returning to New York, Roosevelt continued his writing career, which began with the publication of his book, The Naval War of , in Roosevelt also resumed his political career by running unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City in In , he campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Benjamin Harrison.

When Harrison won the election, he appointed Roosevelt to the U. Civil Service Commission. As commissioner, he worked hard to enforce the civil service laws, although he regularly clashed with party regulars and politicians who wanted him to ignore the law in favor of patronage.

Roosevelt served dutifully as a commissioner until he accepted the presidency of the New York City Police Board in He demonstrated honesty in office, much to the displeasure of party bosses.

He also cleaned up the corrupt Police Board and strictly enforced laws banning the sale of liquor on the Sabbath. Roosevelt had long believed in the importance of the Navy and the role it played in national defense. But his time as vice president was brief; McKinley was assassinated in , making Roosevelt the President of the United States.

By the election, Roosevelt was eager to be elected President in his own right. To achieve this, he knew that he needed to work with Republican Party leaders. He promised to hold back on parts of his progressive agenda in exchange for a free hand in foreign affairs. He also got the reluctant support of wealthy capitalists, who feared his progressive measures, but feared a Democratic victory even more. TR won in a landslide, becoming the first President to be elected after gaining office due to the death of his predecessor.

Upon victory, he vowed not to run for another term in , a promise he came to regret. As President, Roosevelt worked to ensure that the government improved the lives of American citizens.

His "Square Deal" domestic program reflected the progressive call to reform the American workplace, initiating welfare legislation and government regulation of industry. He was also the nation's first environmentalist President, setting aside nearly million acres for national forests, reserves, and wildlife refuges. In foreign policy, Roosevelt wanted to make the United States a global power by increasing its influence worldwide.

He led the effort to secure rights to build the Panama Canal, one of the greatest engineering feats at that time. He also issued his "corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, which established the United States as the "policeman" of the Western Hemisphere. In addition, he used his position as President to help negotiate peace agreements between belligerent nations, believing that the world should settle international disputes through diplomacy rather than war.

Roosevelt is considered the first modern U. President because he greatly strengthened the power of the executive branch.