Theodore Roosevelt: The First Modern President

How would you classify the greatest president to over take office in the United States? Would it be by persona, how he leads, or the congressional actions and policies he enforces? There has been one individual that made a huge impact on the role of the president, also being touted as the first modern president. His name is Theodore Roosevelt. What separates Roosevelt from other presidents is his foreign policy, conservation, modernism, and leadership.
Theodore Roosevelt is well known for his foreign affairs, he goes by the saying “speak softly and use a big stick”. Teddy accomplished a lot with this for example, in 1901 Teddy paired up with England so he could go to Colombia and buy Panama. They wanted Panama so they could have a passage
through the Atlantic and the Pacific. Having access like this would cut 8,000 miles off a trip from San Francisco to New York. After pairing up with England and determining what they thought would be fair to Colombia they went and proposed an offer. After proposing this offer, Colombia basically laughed in their faces. Teddy really wanted to get this Panama Canal so he supported a Panamanian revolution, he gave the people of Panama money and a Naval blockade. “In 1903 the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty with Panama gave the United States Perpetual control of the canal for a price of $10 million and an annual payment of $250,000”.(Theodore Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs, Sidney Milkis). In 1906 Teddy visited Panama and became the first president to leave the country while he was serving.
Teddy is looked at as the first modern president, he changed it so the President was the most powerful person, not congress or political parties.
When Teddy was in office, he tried to eliminate big business because at the time the government would let them do whatever they wanted to as long as they could get what they needed to be done. Being a conservationist, he realized that people wanted to have parks and other things, so he reserved land and made national monuments. Teddy always valued the working class, he helped make everything more regulated so they could have a better life and the best possible working conditions. Teddy made sure that the medicine and food were regulated to the point where they were actually safe to consume. Teddy used whatever he could to improve life for the working class and the average citizen. He believed that he could use whatever power he needed to use as long as the constitution did not say he couldn't do it. Teddy helped shape the Presidency to what it is today and will always be remembered for
that.
Roosevelt had a genuine passion to help the environment.
During his presidency he made many moves to enforce and create new laws regarding environmental issues. Theodore owned multiple ranches in the badlands of North Dakota. He personally saw the devastation that was occurring. Bison, elk, bighorn sheep, deer, and other game species were being decimated at an alarming rate. Roosevelt stated, “We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gasoline are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation.” (Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation,
2017)

Conservation became a focus for Roosevelt during his presidency. Others saw natural resources as being unlimited while Roosevelt knew at the rate of destruction occurring there needed to be change. In all he took 230 million acres of public land and created National Parks. Teddy worked with the legislative branch to establish 23 new national parks. There has not been a president to this day that has made the effort Roosevelt did in conserving our nation's resources as well as thinking about the future. Theodore had leadership skills that no other president can come close to. Being on the front lines taught teddy some valuable assets that he applied to his role of being a president. Are leaders created or born? The ideals of Theodore were that an individual could be created into an effective leader. During the Spanish American war, he assembled an unlikely bunch of volunteers to form the Rough Riders. The Rough Riders were the first volunteer cavalry in the Spanish American War. Without the Rough Riders the war might have had a dreadful outcome. Roosevelt also believed that leaders are learners. Theodore described being a voracious reader from youth. His knack to learn and curiosity never left. Teddy was a very well educated man for his time, which helped him be even more respected as a leader. There is a reason that there are only four presidents on Mount Rushmore. Theodore Roosevelt stands among the greats of our Nation's past. He was an exceptional leader who was admired by the public. Theodore changed conservation and saved resources exponentially. In the future looking back i believe that Roosevelt
Is the greatest president that has been in office.