Theodore Roosevelt: the man behind the teddy bear
Micah Webster, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
It’s time to bust out the teddy bears, because October 27 is Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday.
Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for many things, but perhaps the most famous of these is the story that inspired the creation of the teddy bear.
The story goes that one day in 1902, Roosevelt, a prolific hunter, was hunting for bears in Mississippi with the governor. This is an activity Roosevelt would usually have excelled at, but this time the bears seemed to be evading him.
Roosevelt went three whole days without so much as sighting a bear, much less shooting one.
After getting more and more desperate, a local guide ended up finding an elderly bear, but rather than shoot it himself, he tied it to a tree and left it. His plan was to give the president something to shoot so he could at least leave the trip with something to show for it.
Roosevelt would not have it though. When he was guided to the bear, upon seeing it he refused to shoot it, declaring such an act unsportsmanlike.
This story spread like wildfire across the United States, and the bear eventually became a symbol associated with Roosevelt himself.
A political cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, eventually picked up the story and drew a cartoon depicting the famous event.
The image depicted by Berryman and the original story itself prompted the owner of a candy shop in Brooklyn to sell some stuffed bears that his wife had made. In honor of Roosevelt, he named them “Teddy’s bears.”
Thus, the famous stuffed animal was born, and now teddy bears are a commonplace toy in American households (White House Historical Association).
Roosevelt isn’t just famous for his connection with the teddy bear though, he is also known as a conservationist.
Roosevelt is responsible for putting 230 million acres of land under federal protection, including five national parks, 51 federal bird reservations and 150 national forests.
Altogether, the land he set aside is equal to the entire eastern coast of the Unites States, from Maine to Florida.
Yet the 26th president of the United States is known for even more than Teddy bears and national parks. He’s also a celebrated war hero.
During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt headed the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry unit, known as the Rough Riders, which were active throughout the war.
During the war, he earned fame for leading a charge up Kettle Hill where he repeatedly led attacks claiming ground on the hill.
At one point, Roosevelt called for a charge up the final stretch of the hill, but in the clamor of battle, only five men heard him and charged. When he realized he wasn’t being followed, Roosevelt angrily turned around and got the attention of the rest of the men.
The charge then went on, and they successfully took the hill. Many historians believe that it was Roosevelt’s direct leadership that won the battle that day (Theodore Roosevelt Association).
Theodore Roosevelt had many other exploits, as well as a bold and expansive political career, but he is most known for the legends he lived out as a bear-sparer, conservationist and war hero.
