This photo of a Rough Riders TR is hung up in my bedroom.
I'm not a fan of fireworks. As my years grow in number, I began to dislike 1. loud noises and 2. people having fun while making loud noises. My inner curmudgeon dialog thinks that everyone can still have a great time, sitting quietly and not bothering their neighbors. So, I choose to celebrate America on the day we Brexit'd ourselves in 1776 in a different fashion: by fan-girling over my favorite president, Theodore Roosevelt.
He's synonymous with the Wild West, and it's easy to picture him hiking the rugged land of his then-foreign ranch (now present day South Dakota), but he's the only president that was born and raised in New York City. He spent his sickly childhood inside, reading books and collecting specimens for his own "museum". His father would later build one of the largest museums (and one of my absolute favorite places) in the world, the American Museum of Natural History. A statue of his son stands outside as a tribute to his efforts of conservation.
During William McKinley's first term, Spain had threatened Cuba's independence, and in typical American fashion, we intervened. I'm not a proponent of war (and I think we've already established that I like people to mind their own damn business) but I'm a fan of TR gathering a group of ivy league athletes, cowboys, ranchers, Native Americans, and essentially anyone else who could pick up a gun, and established the volunteer calvary known as the Rough Riders. They sailed to Cuba, defeated the Spanish army at the Battle of San Juan Hill, and TR came home a war hero.
The short version is, he became McKinley's Vice President during his second term. McKinley only lasted a few months before he was assassinated. The then VP went hiking in the Adirondacks while McKinley was living out his last few hours in Buffalo, NY. A telegram arrived for Roosevelt on the top of Marcy Mountain saying the president was gravely ill. TR read the note, finished his picnic and hiked down the mountain as the new President of the United States.
Badassery aside, my favorite thing about him was his dedication to conserving our (dare I say) majestic land. He developed the American Antiquities Act during his term, which states that the President has full authority to create national monuments, historic sites, and national parks without hesitation. He established 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reserves, 4 national game preserves, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments, which equates to about 230 million acres of public land, all protected under the US government.
It's no secret I'm a nerd for the Department of the Interior, and I'm so happy to know that our greatest gifts still live on to be experienced by generations to come. His greatest legacy is that he pushed us as Americans to continue to explore, and to see the beauty in our country. He pushed us to always be up for the adventure.
"We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune."