Courage & Leadership
Theodore Roosevelt
Rough Rider. Reformer. Father of six.
1858–1919
Sickly as a boy. Broken-hearted as a young man. He rebuilt himself into someone others could lean on.
1 min read
Roosevelt was asthmatic as a child. His father told him he would need a strong body to match a strong mind. He listened — for the rest of his life.
He ranched in the Dakotas, led the Rough Riders, and read a book most days. He grieved openly after his first wife died, remarried, and played with his children on the White House lawn. He believed a man's life should be measured by what he overcame, not what he inherited.
Strength without tenderness is brutish. Roosevelt held both.