Hello Internet!
I hope everyone had a wonderful week! I know that my week was pretty good. I was single for Valentine’s Day, but that’s okay. I spent some time with my family, got to watch Critical Role on Thursday, and had a good week in general. It was a week full of self-love and self-care, because everyone deserves love no matter your relationship status. I know last week’s Weekly Blog was long, so I’m hoping to give you a shorter one this week, so let’s just talk quickly about all the things that got published this past week. Last Sunday, I published a lengthy Weekly Blog about Critical Role and how The Mighty Nein had progressed from the start of the second season to now, 50 episodes later. If you haven’t read that Weekly Blog and you wan to, be careful of spoilers up to episode 50. If you are all caught up, then it should be spoiler free! On Wednesday, I published a Poem titled “Glass Heart.” This Poem I had actually written awhile ago, but I saved it for Valentine’s Day week because it has a focus on love and finding your perfect match in the world. It was pretty popular when it came out and people seemed to really enjoy it which makes me really happy. On Thursday, which was Valentine’s Day, I published Valentine’s Day Haikus 2019. Last year I wrote a ton of Valentine’s Day Haikus and decided to do the same this year. This year has a mix of funny or silly Haikus and more serious, heartfelt ones. On Friday, I published a Writing Prompt titled Enduring Love which is about a Lesbian couple celebrating Valentine’s Day together. However they both have a secret which they chose to share with one another. On Saturday, I published the twenty second chapter of my Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver Fanfiction titled Pokémon HGSS#22: The Adventure Begins Again. After Jonathan and Beatrice helped take down Team Rocket in Goldenrod City, they return to New Bark Town. It’s here where they must decide what to do next and what the next step of their journey will be.
A couple of week’s ago, I wrote a Weekly Blog talking about Groundhog Day and people seemed to really enjoy it even though it was a day late. Well this time I’m going to talk about another February Holiday, but now I’m a day early. Tomorrow, Monday the 17th is President’s Day here in the United States. It’s a day that celebrates not only Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12th) and George Washington’s Birthday (February 22nd), but the rest of the US Presidents as well. It’s a federal holiday where we get to celebrate our leaders throughout history and learn a little bit about the people who lead this country through the good and bad. This day obviously reminds Americans of Presidents like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but it also gives us an excuse to learn about less known Presidents like Millard Fillmore, Chester Arthur, or James Polk. It’s kind of crazy that there are people who have been leaders of the country I live in and I know little to nothing about them. I guess I can sort of blame the US Education System and the jump in teaching from Colonial Times to The Civil War to World War I and World War II to the Cold War and then Modern Times. Lots of Presidents were just skipped over and weren’t interesting enough to talk apparently. However there is one President which I want to talk about specifically which also happens to be my favorite US President: Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt was actually a junior born to his father Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt. He was the second of four children and grew up dealing with asthma and sickness. However this did not stop him from living out a fulfilling childhood. Theodore Roosevelt looked up to his father and loved zoology. He was home schooled where he accelerated in geography and history before he went off to Harvard for college. He originally studied biology while also participating in boxing and rowing at the college, but after his father passed away, he decided to attend Columbia Law School. He studied law and was determined to get into politics. Eventually he became a New York State Assemblyman and he dropped out of law school. After that Roosevelt had many ups and downs in politics and he moved out to North Dakota. He bounced between political life in New York and the life of a cowboy in North Dakota (Read Theodore Roosevelt’s Wiki for more information). While out in North Dakota, Roosevelt was focused on hunting and conservation which were aspects of his life that would stick with him forever.
Theodore Roosevelt started to emerge as a leader during the Spanish-American War when he created the First US Volunteer Calvary Regiment also known as “The Rough Riders.” Roosevelt was promoted to the rank of Colonel and “[under] his leadership, the Rough Riders became famous for the charge up Kettle Hill on July 1, 1898, while supporting the regulars. Roosevelt had the only horse, and rode back and forth between rifle pits at the forefront of the advance up Kettle Hill, an advance that he urged despite the absence of any orders from superiors” (Wikipedia). In August of 1998, Roosevelt and the rest of the Rough Riders were sent home and he returned to New York. He was later approached by Republican Party Leadership to run as Governor of New York. He accepted and went on to gain the nomination and campaigned on his war effort to defeat the Democratic candidate by just 1%. As Governor of New York, Roosevelt “[…] learned much about ongoing economic issues and political techniques that later proved valuable in his presidency. He was exposed to the problems of trusts, monopolies, labor relations, and conservation” (Wikipedia) while also bolstering the ideas of “The Square Deal” which emphasized “honesty in public affairs, an equitable sharing of privilege and responsibility, and subordination of party and local concerns to the interests of the state at large” (Wikipedia).
In 1899, Roosevelt was being considered for the Vice President slot on the Republican Presidential ticket. He was reluctant to take the position, but was eventually nominated where he won unanimously and he joined the ticket under President William McKinley. Roosevelt’s time as Vice President was mostly uneventful, but during this time he did give a speech where he used the phrase “Speak softly and carry a big stick” which is one of his most famous quotes nowadays. On September 6th, 1901, President William McKinley was shot and died 13 days later leaving Theodore Roosevelt to become the 26th President of the United States. Domestically Roosevelt focused on breaking-up/regulating trusts, rooting out corruption, and regulating the railroads. However the thing Theodore Roosevelt is best well known for was his focus on conservation. Roosevelt “established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51 bird reserves, four game preserves, and 150 National Forests” (Wikipedia). He used executive orders to “establish 150 million acres of reserved forestry land” and was “unapologetic about his extensive use of executive orders to protect the environment” (Wikipedia).
When it came to Foreign Policy, Theodore Roosevelt put the motto of “Speak softly and carry a big stick” into practice. Roosevelt helped negotiate a Peace Treaty between Russia and Japan in 1905 which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize. Roosevelt also positioned America as a World Power by growing its Navy. He used America’s growing influence in the Caribbean to support a rebellion of the Panamanian people against Columbia, and pushed for the creation of the Panama Canal. In his second term, Roosevelt moved left compared to many others in the Republican Party, but he stuck by these same principles that were prominent during his Presidency. Roosevelt did not initially seek a third term, and William Howard Taft went on to become President. However between 1908 and 1912, Taft and Roosevelt no longer saw eye to eye. Taft distanced himself from Roosevelt, wanting to be his own President without having to live in Roosevelt’s shadow, which made Theodore Roosevelt seek out the Republican nomination in 1912. At this point Roosevelt was a self-proclaimed Progressive who wanted to bring more progressive reforms to the Republican Party. Roosevelt failed to get the nomination, Roosevelt dropped out and started the Progressive “Bull-Moose” Party. On Election Night, he split the vote between him and Taft (The Republican Candidate) which allowed Woodrow Wilson (The Democrat) to win and become the 28th President of the United States.
There’s a lot more that could be said about Theodore Roosevelt, but I believe I touched on many of his highlights. I highly recommend checking out his Wikipedia Page which I got a lot of this information from and doing your own research on the man. He was a Progressive, a Republican President, a War Hero, a Hunter, a Writer, a Conversationalist, and so much more. He is also my favorite President and you can see why. Theodore Roosevelt surely has a mythos around him which is quite alluring. He wasn’t without his faults, but he was a great leader who truly cared about this country and that’s what I respect the most about him.
Thank you for reading that Weekly Blog full of historical fact. I talked a little bit more about Theodore Roosevelt than President’s Day, but I can’t help it. There’s just so much about him that I want to talk about. If you liked this Weekly Blog, feel free to give it a like and Follow me on WordPress if you don’t already. You can also leave a comment down below if you enjoyed this more history focused Weekly Blog. Go ahead and tell me about your favorite US President, or if you are not from the US, tell me about a favorite historic figure from your country. I love to learn about history no matter if its US History or World History. If you didn’t like this Weekly Blog, that’s okay too. There are many other Weekly Blogs that focus on more personal stuff and less history as well as over 370 published pieces including Poetry, Writing Prompt pieces, and Fanfiction. Hopefully you will spend some time on the website and you will find some other stuff you like to read.
Thank you again for all your support and I hope you have a fantastic week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to The National Park Service
https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm
Allen The Writer 