At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt was serving as the assistant secretary of the navy. He promptly resigned his post, and volunteered. Recruiting and forming the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, Roosevelt was at first the second-in-command of the regiment, and soon became its commanding officer. He ended the short war a colonel, and a national hero.
The highlight of his brief military career came July 1, 1898. Roosevelt and some of his roughriders charged up Kettle Hill (wrongly called San Juan Hill by a reporter in his dispatch). The press reports of that charge thrilled the nation, and made Roosevelt a national hero. Roosevelt’s commanding officer, Major General Leonard Wood, described Roosevelt’s heroism for the record in his report dated December 30, 1898: “Colonel Roosevelt, accompanied only by four or five men, led a very desperate and extremely gallant charge on San Juan Hill, thereby setting a splendid example to the troops and encouraging them to pass over the open country intervening between their position and the trenches of the enemy. In leading this charge, he started off first, as he supposed, with quite a following of men, but soon discovered that he was alone. He then returned and gathered up a few men and led them to the charge. . . Everybody finally went up the hill in good style. . . During the assault, Colonel Roosevelt was the first to reach the trenches in his part of the line and killed one of the enemy with his own hand.”
Roosevelt described his own feelings about his service: “I would rather have led that charge and earned my colonelcy than served three terms in the United States Senate. It makes me feel as though I could now leave something to my children which will serve as an apology for my having existed.” Roosevelt returned, was elected governor of New York and, two years later, Vice President of the United States.
William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt all had no military service. William Howard Taft served as Secretary of War under Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt served as assistant secretary of the navy during World War I. Franklin D. Roosevelt requested active duty during World War I, but President Wilson refused his request saying that he was needed in his navy position.
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