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Theodore Roosevelt

"Teddy" Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858, in [ny:newyork]. He was a 5th cousin of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and an uncle of Eleanor Roosevelt. Roosevelt graduated from Harvard University in 1880. He briefly studied law at Columbia University but instead went into politics. After stints in the New York state assembly, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of [ny:newyork] in 1886. He continued in non-elective public service for the next decade. He became famous during the Spanish American War when he organized the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalary, better known as the Rough Riders. He was elected governor of New York in 1898.

Elected vice-president in 1900, he became president on the assassination of William McKinley. He was elected in his own right in 1904. His administration fought corruption of politics by big business and backed many progressive changes. In 1908, Roosevelt endorsed William Howard Taft but ran unsuccessfully against him as the Bull Moose candidate in 1912. He died on January 6, 1919, at Oyster Bay NY.