American Boy's Life of Theodore RooseveltStratemeyer, Edward
History
American Boy's Life of Theodore Roosevelt
Stratemeyer, Edward
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919 -- Juvenile literature
Theodore Roosevelt had decided to make the most of himself, and while at
Harvard scarcely a moment was wasted. If he was not studying, he was in
the gymnasium or on the field, doing what he could to make himself
strong. He was a firm believer in the saying that a sound body makes a
sound mind, and he speedily became a good boxer, wrestler, jumper, and
runner. He wrestled a great deal, and of this sport says:--
"I enjoyed it immensely and never injured myself. I think I was a good
deal of a wrestler, and though I never won a championship, yet more
than once I won my trial heats and got into the final rounds."
At running he was equally good. "I remember once we had a stiff run out
into the country," said a fellow-student. "Roosevelt was behind at the
start, but when all of the others got played out he forged ahead, and in
the end he beat us by several minutes. But he never bragged about it.
You see, it wasn't his style."
With all his other sports, and his studying, the young collegian did not
give up his love for driving. He had a good horse and a fancy cart,--one
of the elevated sort with large wheels,--and in this turnout he was seen
many a day, driving wherever it pleased him to go. Sometimes he would
get on the road with other students, and then there was bound to be more
or less racing.
With a strong love for natural history it was not surprising that he
joined the Natural History Club of the college, and of this he was one
of the most active members. He also joined the Athletic Association, of
which he was a steward, and the Art Club, the Rifle Corps, the O.K.
Society, and the Finance Club. In his senior year he became a member of
the Porcellian Club, the Hasty Pudding, and the Alpha Delta Phi Club,
and also one of the editors of a college paper called the _Advocate_. On
Sundays he taught a class of boys, first in a mission school, and then
in a Congregational Sunday school. It was a life full of planning, full
of study, and full of work, and it suited Theodore Roosevelt to the last
degree.
As he grew older his love of natural history was supplemented by a love
for the history of nations, and particularly by a love of the history of
his own country. The war of 1812 interested him intensely, and before he
graduated he laid plans for writing a history of this war, which should
go into all the details of the memorable naval conflicts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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