Only the United States could have produced a national leader like Theodore Roosevelt. From his birth in 1858 to his death in 1919, TR lived life as fully and vigorously as almost any other human being. He was a man of enormous talents, widespread interests and huge appetites. Physically and intellectually vigorous, he participated in athletic and sporting adventures for most of his days, wrote books and articles throughout his life and claimed to have read a book every day. He dominated political life in New York, the nation and the world; social events both formal and informal; and his family. He was admired, feared, hated and loved, sometimes by the same people at different times. He bored people to tears but also kept them rollicking with laughter. He was kind and gentle but also ferocious and, as some said, "completely mad." He became president by accident, was reelected overwhelmingly, and as a third party candidate in yet another presidential election, he got the highest percentage vote of any third-party candidate in history, outpolling the incumbent President of the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt's major contribution to American history was probably his vigorous performance is a Progressive leader. When he became president after McKinley's assassination the US was at the dawn of the Progressive era. Capitalism had grown uncontrolled throughout the last half of the nineteenth century, and reform was necessary. Workers were treated badly, slums in cities were horrific, and politics was rife with corruption. Roosevelt stepped in and helped to clean up the mess that had been created during the Gilded Age. as a progressive, one of his major areas of interest was conservation, and he did much to further the cause of protecting America's natural resources.

TR is also known for having made America a major player on the world stage. Pushing the US to get involved in the Cuban Revolution from his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he followed an aggressive foreign policy placing his own imprint on the Munroe Doctrine. Yet he won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end the Russo-Japanese War.

As a devoted husband and father, TR enjoyed life immensely, but he was never so happy as one of the center of great events. He was a great if flawed man, earned his place on Mount Rushmore, and began the transformation of the office of President of the United States into its modern, powerful form.