Theodore Roosevelt, often referred to as Teddy or TR, was an American statesman, author, explorer, soldier, naturalist, and reformer who served as the 26th President of the United States, from 1901 to 1909. A leader of the Republican Party, he was a leading force of the Progressive Era. Born a sickly child with debilitating asthma, Roosevelt embraced a strenuous lifestyle and successfully regained his health. He integrated his exuberant personality, vast range of interests, and world-famous achievements into a "cowboy" persona defined by robust masculinity. Home-schooled, he became a lifelong naturalist before attending Harvard College. His first of many books, The Naval War of 1812,
He established his reputation as both a learned historian and a popular writer. He entered politics, becoming the leader of the reform faction of Republicans in New York's state legislature. Following the deaths of his wife and mother, he escaped to the wilderness and operated a cattle ranch in the Dakotas. He returned to run unsuccessfully for Mayor of New York City in 1886.
He served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under William McKinley,
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Leading his party and country into the Progressive Era, he championed his "Square Deal" domestic policies, promising the average citizen fairness, breaking of trusts, regulation of railroads, and pure food and drugs. Making conservation a top priority, he established myriad new national parks, forests, and monuments in order to preserve the nation's natural resources. In foreign policy, he concentrated on Central America, where he began construction of the Panama Canal. He also greatly expanded the United States Navy and sent the Great White Fleet on a world tour to project the United States' naval power. His successful efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War won him the 1906 Nobel Peace