The New York of the Roosevelts
In a country that prides itself on democracy and equal opportunity, we don't like to use words like dynasty and dominate very much. Yet there are certain periods in American history, especially in certain regions, where certain names keep cropping up again and again.
In New York, particularly in the first half of the 20th Century, Roosevelt was one of these names. Even older than New York itself (when the first family members arrived from Holland in the 1600s, the place was called New Amsterdam), the Roosevelts over several centuries became quite wealthy, making their money in banking, shipbuilding, importing, and real estate. Two of their descendents - Theodore (1858-1919) and Franklin Delano (1882-1945) - eventually became Presidents of the United States and served a total of twenty years between them.
Even though they lived in very different times, the two men had a lot in common. Despite being born into wealth, both became champions of the common man. Both graduated from Harvard University, married, and fathered several children. Both were elected to the New York state legislature and eventually became governor. Both served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Washington. And both not only became president but sought to occupy the office beyond the traditional two terms.
Yet these two men had some notable differences as well. One was a Republican; the other a Democrat. One was an energetic war hero; the other a consoling wartime leader. One was an accomplished naturalist and big game hunter; the other a stamp collector. One championed what he called "the strenuous life"; the other found even walking difficult.
The private worlds of both these men (as well as that of Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin's wife and Theodore's niece) are preserved today in several historic sites located within a hundred miles of New York City. Except for one site in lower Manhattan, all are easily accessible by car.
The Manhattan site is officially known as Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace NHS and is located at 28 East 20th Street. It was here, on October 27, 1858, that Teedie (he disliked the nickname Teddy) Roosevelt was born and lived until the age of fourteen. Although the present four-story brownstone has been reconstructed, many of the furnishings inside are original, and five rooms have been made to look the way they did when TR was a boy.
The site also has a museum containing a number of Roosevelt memorabilia, among the most unusual of which is a portion of a speech Roosevelt planned to deliver during the campaign for his third Presidential term in 1912. He was just getting ready to enter the Hotel Gilpatrick in Milwaukee when a mentally unbalanced individual named John Schrank approached his car with a .38 caliber pistol and shot Roosevelt in the chest. The former Rough Rider (who was not unknown to carry on occasion) was unarmed, but the speech probably did as much for him as body armor. Fifty pages in length and doubled over in his coat pocket, the speech (along with a steel spectacle case, currently not on display) kept the projectile from inflicting major damage. The shot did manage to draw blood, though, and rather than seek immediate medical attention, Roosevelt, true to form, went on to deliver the speech anyway after informing the audience what had happened and showing them his tattered manuscript. You can still see the hole the bullet made as it tore through page after page. The bullet itself remained in Roosevelt's body for the rest of his life.
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