Good morning Ladies and Gents! Happy New Years! I hope everyone is having a great day and are taking things in full swing! It has been nearly four months since we’ve gone live and three months since we started our social media. Let’s be honest, the feedback to this day has been great so Thank You Very Much. SERIOUSLY! To this day we have well over 1600 followers on our Socials in under 3 months. Let me be the first to say, WOW! Y’all are pretty awesome! So, in lieu of that, I am bringing you the Black Sheep of the Year, Teddy Roosevelt.
Many of you may know that one of our architects and THE first Black Sheep of the Month was none other than Alexander the Great for his heroics, intelligence, and tactics. However, Alexander is not the only influence in the creation of Black Sheep Heritage.
This brings us to our Black Sheep of the Year, Teddy Roosevelt.
Like Alexander, Teddy was a renowned leader of his time. Through his tenacity, perseverance, fighting spirit and environmentalism, Teddy paved the way for many after him. If you ask me, he was one of the greatest presidents we’ve ever had. So, what makes him so great, well let me give you his backstory before getting into why he is one of the forefathers of Black Sheep Heritage.
Born very sickly in 1858, Teddy adopted what many call the strenuous lifestyle. A lifestyle personifying a mix between cowboy, gentleman, and philosopher. From a very young age, Teddy was a very curious kid from which he built his concepts of naturalism which will later inspire him to create many national parks, reserves, and monuments that preserved American history. Unlike many of his competitors, Teddy was constantly tested throughout his life. From losing elections to losing both his wife and mother within days of each other and nearly dying many times throughout his life, he led his life with conviction and a fiery tenacity that many admired.
Unlike many other political candidates, he was a forefather of the mind, body, and spirit ethos along with his connection to the natural environment. He was well known for his boxing, hunting, and reforms in the political world. This man is the embodiment of walking the walk and talking the talk. Furthermore, to add to his vast repertoire, he was a learned historian and writer. He is one of the legendary few with a Nobel Peace Prize.
But how was he able to accomplish this, you ask?
Many attribute his many successes to his overreaching curiosity. From the moment he was able to witness the local market, he caught, studied, released, or prepared animals for his Museum of Natural History. As a result of his many adventures, his asthma eventually subsided, and his constitution improved through time. His health’s improvement later allowed him to continue to nurture and grow his mind and body. As a boy, he took many trips with his father around the world. From climbing the Alps, touring Europe, and studying Egypt, he continued to develop what we now know as the strenuous lifestyle. Fast track many years later, through his studies and ever growing exercise regime, he became a boxing prodigy for Harvard and an accomplished naturalist. Continuing on his road for growth, he attended Law School only to later drop out to take hold of the opportunity of being a Senator.
He would later lead an inquisition on political corruption which would guarantee his re-election thus leading him to run for president. Unfortunately, his first and second attempt at the presidency would be relinquished by political squabbles within the party.
Following the loss of his first wife and mother, plus his political losses, Roosevelt left for North Dakota to continue his strenuous lifestyle beliefs. While in North Dakota, he began life as a cattle rancher and cowboy. This was his much needed success! Teddy was able to reevaluate and address the common interest of blue collar citizens. From this, he returned to the political world where he faced further losses, but due to his ever growing popularity with the middle and lower class, he eventually gained favor and was appointed as the head of the United States Civil Service Commission. Regrettably, after two terms in civil service he attempted to re-enter the race for New York’s Mayor for the second time where he would lose again, but this time was given a position as New York’s Police Commissioner. Like many of his previous positions, Teddy made it a point to make changes. As commissioner, he implemented regular inspections of physical fitness, firearms, mental health qualifications, corruption and was the first to establish service medals. Unlike past commissioners, Teddy realized that one could not implement change from the sidelines or in the office, in response to this, he made it a habit to walk officer’s routes late at night and early mornings. This would later earn him respect that would help him towards his presidency goal.
Clearly, Teddy was a man that seeked to understand and implement change at the cost of his own reputation and beliefs. Luckily, his “can do” attitude is also what built his strong persona with the people he seeked to serve.
Regrettably, his new and improved popularity with the people was not enough when he attempted to solidify the presidency yet again. Instead, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, where he successfully brought our naval strength up with the construction of new battleships and the dejection of Spain from Cuba. Roosevelt was later credited for the victory of the Battle of Manila Bay for his naval tactics.
Following his appointment and work as Assistant Secretary, he resigned his position in 1898 to fight in the Spanish American War with his temporarily commissioned units, The Rough Riders. The short lived Rough Riders were popularized for their Battle of Kettle Hill. Teddy later received a Medal of Honor for his heroics on that day. These heroics would later assure him the presidency.
In November 1899, with the vice presidential candidate passing of heart failure, Teddy took the position that would later make him the 26th president of the United States with the assassination of McKinley.
From that point forward, he implemented everything he learned working with the people. He implemented domestic policies that would assure people fair trade, food and drug. In his words, Teddy wanted a “square deal for every man.” He lowered rates on railroads, fought corruption, started what would later become the FDA, conserved land and wildlife, created the Panama Canal, strengthen overseas ties, reformed the Republican party, and was the first to shed light about life in the White House in partnership with the Media. Clearly, his whole life’s learnings resulted in impactful change that he seeked to solidify in this countries future.
From boxing, to writing, to cavalry battles, and earning the Medal of Honor, Teddy solidified his persona of a man’s man.
He made it a point to venture into unknown lands and literature. From his early childhood to his dying day, he made it a point to take life’s losses in full stride and learn at every opportunity available. Clearly, he personifies many aspects of what Black Sheep should strive for. Hell, he was such a Black Sheep even within his own party that it cost him several nominations and opportunities to implement that change he so desired. Teddy lived and breathed the values and ideals we impart with y’all today. For that, the Black Sheep of the Year, is Teddy Roosevelt.