Roosevelt continued to hold to his principals and use his authority to help people in each of the appointed government offices that he held. Roosevelt was incredibly successful and effective because he always took the initiative to fix problems when he identified them. It is safe to speculate that a corrupt police force had been causing some issues for the people of New York. The fact that corruption was still an issue when Roosevelt took the office shows that none of his predecessors had taken the necessary steps to eradicate it. Perhaps they were lazy, scared, or corrupt themselves, but what is the truth is that Roosevelt was none of those things, and he was not afraid to stir the pot and make some heads roll in order to do what must be done. Roosevelt also demonstrated initiative …show more content…
The cause was later found to be a mine, and the U.S. took this as an act of war by the Spanish. When Congress declared war on Spain, Roosevelt resigned from his post as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and sought a commission in the US Army. He lobbied for the Secretary of War to allow him to form a volunteer regiment, and the request was granted. Roosevelt was to be promoted to Colonel and given command of the regiment, however, he declined this offer and recommended that Col. Leonard Wood be given command, as Wood had more experience and was better equipped for the task. Roosevelt was given the rank of Lt. Colonel and began to recruit men for the newly minted 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. He and Col. Wood received about 23,000 applications, most of which were addressed to Roosevelt. 560 of these men, who included great eastern athletes, western cowboys, sharpshooters, and Native Americans, were selected to join the newly dubbed “Rough Riders.” A vigorous training regimen earned the Rough Riders a deployment to Cuba when most volunteer units were left back in the United States for reserve