The Everything Theodore Roosevelt Book (45 page)

TR yearned for Bullock’s company at times. He wrote, “When, after the close of my term, I went to Africa, on getting back to Europe I cabled Seth Bullock to bring over Mrs. Bullock and meet me in London, which he did; by that time I felt that I just had to meet my own people, who spoke my neighborhood dialect.”

A few months after the monument was dedicated, Bullock joined his friend in death. Their relationship was a true definition of a symbiotic and long-lasting friendship, the type TR shared with a few other people in his lifetime.

Gifford Pinchot

Gifford Pinchot and conservation are synonymous in American history. He introduced a scientific method to forestry management that revolutionized the practice and intrigued TR.

Gifford Pinchot graduated from Yale University in 1889, after which he studied at the French National Forestry School for one year. He returned to the United States and began what he called “the art of producing from the forest whatever it can yield for the service of man.” He used his self-coined term the “conservation ethic” to carry out his work.

The avid conservationists started working together when TR was governor of New York state. Based on Pinchot’s growing reputation as a conservationist, TR sought his advice on conserving forests. He acknowledged that Pinchot’s suggestions shaped his recommendations about forestry.

Theodore Roosevelt with Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot on river steamer
Mississippi
, 1907

The two men continued their working relationship after TR became president. Pinchot was in charge of the Forestry Bureau at the time. President Roosevelt reorganized the service and renamed it the U.S. Forest Service.

During his first term in office, Pinchot became TR’s “moving and directing spirit in most of the conservation work, and as counsellor and assistant on most of the other work connected with the internal affairs of the country.” TR considered him the most invaluable member of his staff.

Much to his chagrin, TR’s successor, President William Howard Taft, dispensed with Pinchot’s services in January 1910 because Pinchot spoke out frequently against the president’s policies.

Pinchot and TR also got involved in a 1907 controversy. Congress felt that the two were conserving too much Western forestland. It passed a bill to stop the creation of any more forest reserves in the region. Minutes before the ban took effect, TR designated 16 million acres of new national forests, which became known as the “Midnight Forests.”

Pinchot and TR partnered for years in saving resources for the nation. Their professional relationship evolved into a friendship that endured—and paid significant benefits for conservationists across the globe. They frequently walked together, played tennis, and had dinner at the White House. It is safe to say that the two men had profound effects on one another in their social and professional relationships—and on the country in general.

Henry Cabot Lodge

Perhaps no one person other than Thee had a bigger influence on TR’s career than Henry Cabot Lodge. Even though Lodge was eight years older, he exercised a profound impact on TR’s career.

Both Lodge and TR were Harvard graduates. That was a significant bond, as far as TR was concerned. But Lodge was more interested in TR’s potential—which he fostered as much as possible—than where he had graduated from.

The two men formed a bond in Washington when TR served as Civil Service commissioner. TR described Lodge as one of his “especial cronies.” Like TR, Lodge, then a member of the House of Representatives, abhorred the spoils system. (Lodge was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1893 and served there until 1924.) When TR began to crack down on it, Lodge was one of his most ardent supporters.

They also supported one another in the days leading up to the Spanish-American War, when TR consulted the senator frequently on matters pertaining to naval preparations. Lodge was one of the few proponents of the war in the U.S. Senate. Their cooperation was mutually beneficial.

On February 25, 1898, when TR was preparing his telegram to Admiral Dewey to order the Asiatic fleet to Manila, Senator Lodge happened to be in his office. As TR noted, “Lodge called on me just as I was preparing the order.” Dewey said that the telegram was the first step regarding naval war preparations—and Lodge and TR were the first two to know about it.

Their close relationship continued while TR was president. He confided in Lodge on almost every domestic and foreign issue. They did not disagree often, so TR felt very comfortable with Lodge’s advice and guidance. There were times when it was almost TR and Lodge against the world.

Lodge on TR’s side

When TR was trying to create a treaty with Santo Domingo to get the Panama Canal built, the opposition to it was extreme from all sides. Democrats, the press, businesspeople, and even members of TR’s own party rebelled against his efforts, allegedly on constitutional grounds. Lodge was among the few people who stood beside the president. His support epitomized the allegiance Lodge had to TR and explains why they got along so well for so long.

As was the case with so many of his advisors and champions, Lodge was also a social companion. It was not unusual for the Roosevelts and the Lodges to get together for meals and amusement, especially on holidays.

They spent Christmas together in 1902, ending the day with dinner at the White House and dancing later in the East Room, “closing up with the Virginia Reel.” Six years later, on Thanksgiving Day in 1908, the Lodges and Roosevelts went on a three-hour horse ride and ate dinner in the new State Dining Room.

The highlight of the day for TR was dancing the waltz with Mrs. Lodge and his all-time favorite friend and mentor, Edith, who, he told Kermit, “looked just as pretty as a picture.”

TR enjoyed his friendships and working relationships with the Lodges and his other longtime companions. He prized loyalty, a trait that he and Henry Cabot Lodge shared. So did TR and Leonard Wood, who was apt to be nearby whenever the Lodges and Roosevelts socialized.

Leonard Wood

Like many of TR’s closest friends, Leonard Wood was a graduate of Harvard. That was not the most important criterion TR considered when selecting his friends; it often happened to be coincidental. Other factors included age, political philosophy, and physical prowess—especially the latter.

People had to be able to keep up with TR while riding horses, taking strenuous walks, playing tennis, or whatever physical activity he fancied at any given moment. The “strenuous life” continued to play an important role in his regimen, practically until the day he died.

Leonard Wood, who attended Harvard Medical School, received his medical degree from Boston City Hospital in 1884, where he interned. As an army doctor, he was the personal physician to presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley through 1898. Wood was not TR’s White House physician: that was Rear Admiral Presley M. Rixey. (Andrew Lambert was TR’s personal physician in New York.)

Wood was born roughly two years after TR. They did not meet until TR went to Washington, D.C., to serve as secretary of the navy. Their blooming friendship set the stage for TR’s army career and subsequent heroics in Cuba.

Theodore Roosevelt with General Leonard Wood

TR relied heavily on Wood’s military background and organizational skills to form the Rough Riders and prepare them for the Spanish-American War. He said about Wood, “He had every physical, moral, and mental quality which fitted him for a soldier’s life and for the exercise of command.” TR felt that he could learn something from his friend, while doing his share of the work.

Mutual respect between the two grew as the regiment’s evolution progressed from raw recruits to efficient fighting machines and seasoned veterans, all in the space of a few months. Wood demonstrated his respect for TR’s courage and military leadership by supporting the recommendation for his Medal of Honor.

A Temporary Separation

After the fighting in Cuba ended, the two men parted ways for a while. Wood stayed in Cuba to serve as its military governor. He did not return to the United States until 1902, as a brigadier general.