Theodore Roosevelt 1858–1919

In style and in substance, Theodore Roosevelt, who occupied the White House from 1901 to 1909, was the first modern American president. A gifted and courageous politician and a natural leader with an intuitive grasp of the value of public relations, Roosevelt employed the “bully pulpit” of the presidency to great effect as he pursued pathbreaking, transformative programs in both domestic and foreign affairs. Roosevelt’s various initiatives pertaining to workers’ rights, consumer protection, and restrictions on corporate behavior in the public interest were labeled the Square Deal, and they launched the process of progressive reform that was to become a central feature of American life in the twentieth century. Roosevelt also was the first— and remains the most ambitious and the most significant— environmentalist president in U.S. history. Regarding foreign policy, Roosevelt determinedly built up the U.S. Navy (particularly its battleship fleet) and brought America into the center of global diplomacy by establishing U.S. hegemony in the Caribbean, upholding U.S. interests in the western Pacific, constructing a strong partnership between the United States and Great Britain, and employing personal mediation to end one great power war and to prevent another. In the process, Roosevelt greatly enhanced the international image and stature of the United States.