Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

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Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. bigraphy, stories - American political and business leader, Army Medal of Honor recipient, eldest son of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. : biography

November 13, 1887 – July 12, 1944

Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt III (generally known as Theodore, Jr.) (September 13, 1887 – July 12, 1944), was an American political and business leader, a veteran of both the 20th century’s world wars, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Roosevelt.

Notes

Military service

World War I service

All the Roosevelt sons except Kermit had some military training prior to World War I. With the outbreak of war in Europe in August 1914, the United States’ leaders had heightened concern about the nation’s readiness for military engagement. Only the month before, Congress had authorized the creation of an Aviation Section in the Signal Corps. In 1915, Major General Leonard Wood, President Roosevelt’s former commanding officer during the Spanish–American War, organized a summer camp at Plattsburgh, New York, to provide military training for business and professional men, at their own expense. This summer training program provided the base of a greatly expanded junior officers’ corps when the country entered World War I. During that summer, many well-heeled young men from some of the finest east coast schools, including three of the four Roosevelt sons, attended the military camp. When the United States entered the war, the armed services offered commissions to the graduates of these schools based on their performance. The National Defense Act of 1916 continued the student military training and the businessmen’s summer camps; it placed them on a firmer legal basis by authorizing an Officers’ Reserve Corps and a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).

After the declaration of war, when the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) was organizing, Theodore Roosevelt wired Major General "Black Jack" Pershing asking if his sons could accompany him to Europe as privates. Pershing accepted, but, based on their training at Plattsburgh, Archie was offered a commission with rank of second lieutenant, while Ted was offered a commission and the rank of major. Quentin had already been accepted into the Army Air Service. Kermit volunteered with the British in the area of present-day Iraq.

With a reserve commission in the army (like Quentin and Archibald), soon after World War I started, Ted was called up. When the United States declared war on Germany, Ted volunteered to be one of the first soldiers to go to France. There, he was recognized as the best battalion commander in his division, according to the division commander. Roosevelt braved hostile fire and gas and led his battalion in combat. So concerned was he for his men’s welfare that he purchased combat boots for the entire battalion with his own money. He eventually commanded the 26th Regiment in the First Division as lieutenant colonel. He fought in several major battles. He was gassed and wounded at Soissons during the summer of 1918. In July of that year, his youngest brother Quentin was killed in combat. Ted received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the war. France conferred upon him the Chevalier Légion d’honneur on March 16, 1919. Before the troops came home from France, Ted was one of the founders of the soldiers’ organization that developed as the American Legion. The American Legion’s Post Officers Guide recounts Ted’s part in the organization’s founding:

When the American Legion met in New York City, Roosevelt was nominated as its first national commander, but he declined, not wanting to be thought of as simply using it for political gain. Acceptance under such circumstances could have discredited the nascent organization and harmed Ted’s own chances for a future in politics.

Ted resumed his reserve service between the wars. He attended the annual summer camps at Pine Camp and completed both the Infantry Officer’s Basic and Advanced Courses, and the Command and General Staff College. By the beginning of World War II, he was eligible for senior commissioned service in World War II.

World War II service and death