Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919) served as the 26th President of the United States from September 14, 1901, to March 4, 1909, becoming the youngest person to hold the office, at age 42, after President William McKinley was assassinated. Before the presidency he served in the New York State Assembly from 1882 to 1884, as New York City Police Commissioner from 1895 to 1897, and as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1897 to 1898, gained national fame commanding the Rough Riders cavalry regiment during the Spanish-American War, and was elected Governor of New York before party leaders placed him on McKinley's 1900 ticket as vice president. As president he pursued a Square Deal domestic agenda of fairness, antitrust enforcement and railroad regulation, earning the nickname the Trust Buster, and made conservation a priority, establishing numerous national parks, forests and monuments; in foreign policy he pursued construction of the Panama Canal and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project American naval power. He was awarded the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.