Eleanor Roosevelt Had A Tragic Childhood

(Eleanor Roosevelt in school portrait. Date, 1898, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (known as Eleanor), one of the most inspiring women in the history of the United States, had an unbelievably bleak childhood. Her parents, Elliott and Anna Roosevelt, were loving toward their children, but suffered from a troubled marriage. In particular, Eleanor’s father, Elliott, was an alcoholic and a drug addict. He was also thought to have fallen ill with a sickness that caused nervousness and anxiety. His condition grew so severe that, during a family trip in France, Elliott was committed into the care of a medical asylum from 1890-1891. The next year, his older brother, Theodore Roosevelt, transferred Elliott to the Keeley Center in Iowa to receive help for alcoholism.

All this unhealthy family disruption was soon followed by tragedy. Eleanor’s mother, Anna Roosevelt, died a sudden and unexpected death brought on by diphtheria in 1892, only a year after her husband was interned with the Keeley Center. Anna was only twenty-nine at the time, and Eleanor was just nine. The very next year, in 1893, Eleanor Roosevelt’s younger brother, Elliott Jr., also died too early a death. A year later, in 1894, Eleanor’s troubled father also died. In a two-year period of time, Eleanor was left an orphan before she had even reached the age of ten.

After the death of Anna Hall Roosevelt, young Eleanor and her siblings were taken in by Mary Hall, their grandmother on their mother’s side. Under the guardianship of her grandmother, and support from uncle Theodore, Eleanor Roosevelt continued her education and regained a sense of normalcy.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=33 
• http://www.history.com/topics/first-ladies/eleanor-roosevelt 
• https://www.biography.com/people/eleanor-roosevelt-9463366 
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/first-ladies/eleanorroosevelt  

President Theodore Roosevelt, The Prolific Best-Selling Author

(Left—Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, pre-1919, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons. Right—List of books by Theodore Roosevelt, c. 1919, [Public Domain] via the Theodore Roosevelt Center)

Not only was Theodore Roosevelt one of the greatest presidents in United States history, but he was also a very successful author. Before, during and after Theodore Roosevelt’s term of office from 1901 to 1909, he was constantly writing a wide variety of books. In the last 37 years of his life, around the same number of books were published with Theodore Roosevelt as a collaborator or author.

Teddy Roosevelt wrote works belonging to multiple literary genres. He wrote histories, such as The Naval War of 1812 (written 1882) and The Winning of the West (four volumes written 1889-1896). His biographies covered such people as the painter, Thomas Hart Benton, the U.S. founding father, Gouverneur Morris, and even Oliver Cromwell. Theodore Roosevelt also wrote several memoirs and autobiographies about himself, recounting his political achievements, as well as his ranching, hunting and soldiering. In the last decade of his life, Teddy Roosevelt published several collected essays and books of political philosophy. In the year of his death (1919), two collections of Theodore Roosevelt’s personal letters were also published—Letters to Anna Roosevelt Cowles and Letters to Kermit, 1902-08.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record/PrintSingle?libID=o274790&imageID=1  
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/theodoreroosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt, Despite His Immense Athleticism, Suffered From Asthma

(Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in military uniform, c. 1898, photographed by George Gardner Rockwood [Public Domain-US] via Creative Commons)

Theodore Roosevelt may easily be ranked as one of the most athletic presidents of the United States. Among his many physical activities, he hunted, ranched and soldiered in the army as a ‘Rough Rider.’ He also boxed, learned gymnastics and lifted weights.

Despite his impressive athletic resume, Theodore Roosevelt was sickly as a child, and was plagued by asthma. The ailment, however, did not dampen Theodore’s athleticism—quite the opposite, the asthma inspired him to pursue an athletic lifestyle. All of the strength and cardio training allowed Roosevelt to improve his body’s constitution and largely nullify the effects of his asthma.

Source:

• The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Ken Burns (PBS Documentary), available on Netflix.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Mother And First Wife Both Died On The Same Day

(Theodore Roosevelt in 1885, from the United States Library of Congress, [Public Domain-US] via Creative Commons)

At only twenty-three years of age, Theodore Roosevelt was elected as a member of the New York Assembly, and within three years he became one of the state’s most prominent politicians. He was a long way from considering a run for presidential office (he would later be the 26^th President of the United States), and he was not yet a member of the ‘Rough Riders,’ that would become an iconic piece of his legendary persona.

No, in 1884, Theodore Roosevelt was a state politician content with his lot in life. He was happily married and anxiously anticipating his first daughter. By February, his wife was nine months pregnant.  His world, however, would be shattered on February 14^th 1884, when he received devastating news—His wife and mother were both dead. His wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, died due to childbirth complication. Roosevelt’s first child, his daughter Alice, was born only two days prior. Theodore’s mother also died on February 14^th.  She caught ill while tending to the needs of her pregnant daughter-in-law, but she never recovered and eventually succumbed to the illness.

Theodore Roosevelt fled from New York to face his grief in the Dakotas, where he ranched and lived the life of a frontiersman. He spent free time hunting the local wildlife, and even helped chase down a criminal. He proved to be a lackluster rancher, but the rough and gritty lifestyle brought Roosevelt back from his depression. He was ready to return to public life.

Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com

Source:

• PBS Documentary: The Roosevelts: An intimate History by Ken Burns.