From Harvard to the Arena of State Politics

I. The Harvard Reputation

A. Current--Harvard today has a stellar reputation, and is always among the top 5 universities (if not higher). This has not always been the case, and was not the case when Roosevelt attended university there. It was a rather provincial place then--Roosevelt, from New York City, would have definitely been labeled an outsider, even without his little quirks

B. 1876--when Roosevelt arrived on campus, only males were allowed to attend school there. Outside of the  classroom, students generally did not approach their "tutors" (as the professors were then known), and they were discouraged from asking questions.

1. Most students came from the immediate  Boston area, and from families whose male members had themselves attended college there.

2. Charles W. Eliot--president of Harvard for 40 years, including the time that Roosevelt attended. Eliot is credited with beginning the changes that transformed the college into the leading research university.

C. Roosevelt at Harvard--considered  something of an oddball during this time there. During most of this freshman and sophomore years, Roosevelt was a teatotaler, along with a good friend during this time.

D. Death of Thee--a shattering experience for TR, as it would be for many people. As a result, he temporarily lost his moral bearings, and began to drink and behave more like a college student of today.

II. Alice Lee

A. Alice the Unattainable--besides here great beauty, Alice attracted TR because he considered here "unattainable," meaning she was too beautiful. I would argue that she reminded TR of his own younger mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt.

B. Roosevelt the Politician--was elected to the New York State Assembly at age 23, the youngest man ever elected to that body. Gained a reputation as a reformer,  largely on the strength of badgering those he saw as corrupt. The press also found him charming, since they could rely upon him for a sharp, pithy quote on just about any subject.

C. Birth--and Death

1. Baby girl--Roosevelt was in Albany on legislative business when he received word of the birth of his daughter.

2. Bright's Disease--Alice probably contracted Bright's Disease while pregnant, and after giving birth her kidneys failed. Roosevelt was able to rush home to hold her in his arms as she expired.

3. Typhoidhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/tr/--Roosevelt's mother, meanwhile, was dying in the same house from typhoid; both expired within hours of one another.

4. Burials--after burying his wife and his mother, Roosevelt left his infant daughter in the care of his sister and went to the Badlands to heal.