“The Best Man I Ever Knew”

On 9 February 1878, Theodore Roosevelt Sr. died from stomach cancer at the age of 46.

 In his Autobiography, T.R. wrote the following about his father:

“My father, Theodore Roosevelt, was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. He would not tolerate in us children selfishness or cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness. As we grew older he made us understand that the same standard of clean living was demanded for the boys as for the girls ; that what was wrong in a woman, could not be right in a man. With great love and patience, and the most understanding sympathy and consideration, he combined insistence on discipline.

I never knew any one who got greater joy out of living than did my father, or any one who more whole-heartedly performed every duty; and no one whom I have ever met approached his combination of enjoyment of life and performance of duty.”