After Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley were assassinated, Teddy Roosevelt was the first to receive Secret Service protection. At 42, Teddy is our youngest president, the war hero who led a cavalry charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, becoming the only president to earn the Medal of Honor, posthumously. A student of our weak navy in 1812, Roosevelt not only built new ships, but projected them in force around the world, building the Panama Canal in part to enable America to shift fleets between oceans rapidly. He was the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize, for negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War, after bringing the parties together here at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay on Long Island in New York.

The north wing above is the trophy room of his life and presidency, and many of the artifacts were gifts, including the tusks given by the King of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), the Remington bronze Bronco Buster given by his regiment, the samurai doll given by Admiral Togo, the swords given by the Emperor of Japan and the carpet from the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). The hat and saber on the elk horn on the left are from Teddy’s rough rider gear. Roosevelt shot most of the animals displayed, including the Cape buffalo—the most dangerous of the big 5 safari animals—over the entryway mantle, but the the polar bear hide in the living room was from North Pole explorer Robert Peary and the Siberian tiger hides were gifts from the Empress Dowager of China, including one in daughter Alice’s room after she threatened to run away unless she got it.

The children recalled being “expected to have fun, and we did”. Thomas Edison, John Muir and first solo circumnavigator Joshua Slocum were a few of the many guests with standing invitations to dinner, so long as they helped educate Teddy’s kids. The kids took boats out into the bay, traipsed through the woods, rode horses, learned to shoot, raced and played, ate fruit from the orchards and drank milk from their dairy. They were small witnesses to history, as Roosevelt ran the country from the Summer White House and met a constant stream of dignitaries.

For Teddy, his birthplace in New York was where his mother and first wife died, and his ranch in North Dakota was where he grieved and grew. After death, he would be remembered on Mt Rushmore and on his island in the Potomac. But, as much as he loved world travel, Teddy lived his happiest days here with Edith and his family. Edith held his life together, supported him and his presidency, lived here for almost thirty years after his death and is buried next to him on the property.

“Well, my dear, I was married to Theodore Roosevelt.”

Edith Roosevelt on being asked why she never remarried.