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Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (September 13, 1887-July 12, 1944)
    Born in Oyster Bay, New York
    Eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Roosevelt
    Commanded the 26th Regiment of the 1st Division during World War I
    Founding member of the American Legion (1919)
    Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1920-24)
    Governor of Puerto Rico (1929-32)
    Governor-General of the Philippines (1932-33)
    Returned to active military duty (April, 1941) and again commanded the 26th Regiment of the 1st Division
    Appointed Brigadier General (1941)
    Appointed Commander of the 4th Infantry Division (February, 1944)
    Highest-ranking officer to land at Normandy with the first wave of troops during D-Day (June 6, 1944)
    Died of a heart attack in France one month later
    Posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his leadership on Utah Beach during D-Day

Why he might be annoying:

    Although referred to as Theodore, Jr., he was really Theodore III, since his father the President was already Theodore Jr.
    He admitted that he almost had a nervous breakdown as a teen from the stress of living up to his father’s expectations.
    As Assistant Secretary of the Navy, he triggered the Teapot Dome Scandal when he transferred petroleum leases in Wyoming and California to the Department of the Interior, after which Interior Secretary Albert Fall transferred the leases to private oil companies without competitive bidding.
    His brother Archibald happened to be a vice-president at Sinclair Oil, one of the beneficiaries of Fall’s actions.
    When he ran for governor of New York (1924), his cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt denounced his ‘wretched record’ as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and Eleanor Roosevelt dismissed him as ‘immature.’
    Generals George S. Patton and Omar Bradley criticized his leadership of the 26th Regiment, arguing that his closeness with his soldiers made it difficult for him to maintain discipline.
    Patton wanted him out of the Army, claiming, ‘Brave or otherwise, [he’s] no soldier.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    During World War I, he used his own money to buy combat boots for the soldiers serving under him.
    He was wounded and gassed at the Battle of Soissons (1918).
    The Senate committee that investigated the Teapot Dome scandal cleared him and Archibald of wrongdoing (1924).
    He was the first American Governor of Puerto Rico to try to learn Spanish, setting a goal of learning twenty words a day.
    In the Philippines, he was nicknamed ‘One Shot Teddy’ for his marksmanship during a water buffalo hunt.
    He was known for frequently visiting the front lines during combat.
    On D-Day, after realizing that the landing ships had drifted a mile south of their intended objective, he rallied the soldiers with the declaration ‘We’ll start the war from right here’ and began dispatching regiments to new objectives.
    Years later, when Omar Bradley was asked to name the single most heroic action he had ever seen in combat, he replied, ‘Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 10 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 30.77% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 49 Votes: 53.06% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying