Theodore Roosevelt was the first U.S. president to have his career and life chronicled on a large scale by motion picture companies (even though his predecessors, Grover Cleveland and William McKinley, were the first to be filmed). This presentation features films which record events in Roosevelt's life from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to his death in 1919. Besides containing scenes of Roosevelt, these films include views of world figures, politicians, monarchs, and friends and family members of Roosevelt who influenced his life and the era in which he lived. Commemorative events up to 1921 are also included. All in all, it gives a fascinating look at the life of a president in the early 20th century. The films are silent as they were all shot before sound films were made.

Below you will find sample stil clips from four of the films on this CD

Below you will find a of each film on this CD

Shall we prepare?

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Paramount Pictures, 1916.

SUMMARY Two sequences of TR: 1) views of TR walking onto the porch of Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, N.Y., facing the camera, and then speaking on military preparedness during WWI; 2) views of TR sitting at his desk in the Metropolitan Magazine office in New York City and speaking with a man who may be Carl Hovey, editor of the magazine.

Terrible Teddy, the grizzly king

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Edison Manufacturing Co., 1901.

SUMMARY From Edison films catalog: A burlesque on Theodore Roosevelt hunting mountain lions in Colorado and taken from the New York Journal and Advertiser. The scene opens in a very picturesque wood. Teddy with his large teeth is seen running down the hill with his gun in hand, followed by his photographer and press agent. He reconnoiters around a large tree and finally discovers the mountain lion. He kneels on one knee and makes a careful shot. Immediately upon the discharge of his gun a huge black cat falls from the tree and Teddy whips out his Bowie knife, leaps on the cat and stabs it several times, then poses while his photographer makes a picture and the press agent writes up the thrilling adventure. A side splitting burlesque.

Theodore Roosevelt

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : American Mutoscope Co., 1898.

SUMMARY TR, in formal dress with hat, walks down the steps of the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. and turns and walks toward the stationary camera. The south portico of the White House is visible through trees in background.

TR and Leonard Wood at the New York flower show, 1917

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1917.

SUMMARY Shots of TR and Leonard Wood on March 20, 1917, at the 5th Annual International Flower Show, Grand Central Palace in New York City. Medium-close view of TR and Wood standing together and talking, facing camera; TR, seated, poses for photographer, with Wood and an unidentified man standing behind him.

TR and Mrs. Roosevelt at the Panama-California Exposition, 1915

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1915.

SUMMARY At the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego, California, on July 27, 1915, Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Roosevelt speak with officials on the steps of what is probably the United States Government Building. Close view of group smiling and talking.

TR at Baltimore 1918 ; TR at Sagamore Hill, 1918

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n., 1918

SUMMARY Sequences of TR speaking on two occasions: on Sept. 28, 1918, he addresses crowds in Baltimore in support of the fourth Liberty Loan; at Sagamore Hill on April 2, 1918, he encourages workers for the third Liberty Loan. At Oriole Park in Baltimore TR, wearing a mourning armband for his son, Quentin, helps open the fourth Liberty Loan campaign. Views of TR and man who appears to be Phillips L. Goldsborough, chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee for Maryland and former Maryland Governor (1912-1916), walking across Oriole field with other officials; TR stops and speaks with Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore, whose back is to camera; beside flag-decorated table TR speaks to packed stadium, with man who appears to be current Maryland Governor, Emerson C. Harrington, Mrs. Thomas J. Preston (who had been the wife of former President Grover Cleveland), and Dr. Thomas J. Preston among notables on platform; close-up of TR as he vigorously delivers address. At Sagamore Hill, with reporters behind him, TR addresses Liberty Loan workers from the New York District on Apr. 2, 1918.

TR at Billings, Montana 1918

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n., 1918

SUMMARY In Billings, Montana, on October 5, 1918, to speak on behalf of the Liberty Loan and to denounce the Nonpartisan League of Farmers for its pacifist orientation, TR appears in a touring car greeting Billings citizens. Long shot of TR doffing his hat and shaking hands from a parked car in downtown Billings; after he is seated, car moves through crowded, flag-draped street

TR at Fargo, N.D., during Progressive campaign, 1912 (in 2 parts)

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n., 1912

SUMMARY As part of a western campaign tour, TR speaks to crowds and firms up Progressive Party structure in the area of Fargo, North Dakota, September 6, 1912. Several views from varying distances of TR greeting and speaking to crowds from rear of train; TR addressing large crowd from a decorated platform, apparently in a stadium; TR speaking from rear of train to Indian men, women, and children assembled on open plains; several long shots of crowds; medium-close silhouette of TR and three men conversing, one of whom appears to be George E. Roosevelt, TR's cousin and campaign secretary in the 1912 election.

TR at Forest Hills, New York, 1917 (in 2 parts)

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1917.

SUMMARY At Forest Hills, July 4, 1917, TR speaks in support of vigorous American war involvement and attacks conscientious objectors in an address at the Forest Hills Gardens railroad station; he later reviews the Forest Hills Rifle Club in a nearby field. Views of TR marching with Rifle Club members, speaking informally with individuals, standing at attention as Club marches past, and talking with an officer who may be Col. J. A. Delafield. Long shot of the speaker's balcony on the outdoor stairway of the Forest Hills Gardens railroad station, with Frederick Burgess, Bishop of Long Island, speaking and introducing TR; crowd cheers TR, who then begins to speak; panning shots of crowds.

TR at Sagamore Hill 1916

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n., 1915 or 1916

SUMMARY On May 27, 1916, shortly before the Republican Party and Progressive Party conventions, the newly formed Roosevelt Non-Partisan League sponsors a demonstration of support for TR at Sagamore Hill. Many prominent men are included in the over 2,000 people who traveled from New York City to Oyster Bay to see TR and hear him speak on "Americanism." Panning shots of crowd gathered around porch; TR shakes hands. The man who appears to be addressing TR may be Richard M. Hurd, chairman of the committee which arranged the demonstration. TR addresses the crowd. At ca. ft. 43, there is a brief sequence of TR speaking in the Court of the Universe at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, on July 2l, 1915. Final views of TR speaking at Sagamore Hill.

TR at San Diego Exposition, 1915

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1915.

SUMMARY Theodore Roosevelt attends the Panama-California Exposition on Roosevelt Day, July 27, 1915. He arrives at the United States Government Building in an open touring car with two men in the rear seat. The man who is wearing a ribbon on his coat appears to be George W. Marston, park commissioner. Gilbert Aubrey Davidson, president of the Exposition, and others greet Roosevelt and his party. The final scenes are of him and his wife, Edith, speaking with various officials and a child on the steps of the building and a close-up of the group talking.

TR attends his son Archie's wedding at Boston, 1917

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1917.

SUMMARY On April 14, 1917, Archie Roosevelt marries Grace S. Lockwood at the Emmanuel Church in Boston, Massachusetts. Side view of TR entering an automobile with two women, the one following TR may be his wife Edith; TR doffs his hat as he faces camera; view of crowd outside the Emmanuel Church; and long shot of woman holding blanket up, perhaps to shield the bride's entrance into the church. Last two segments appear to be unrelated scenes: medium close shot of TR sitting in a car with an unidentified man and a close up of TR with a man in uniform, both scenes are outside in undetermined locations.

TR calls on neighbors at Christmas, 1917

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n., 1917?

SUMMARY Opening scene of a man, woman, and two children with presents walking up to a house in Oyster Bay, N.Y.; one child enters house, comes back out, then the woman enters; two older girls stand in doorway; TR, carrying a present, walks up to the house; final scene is of TR talking with group as they all pose while a small girl peeks out of the door.

TR in a rowboat on Oyster Bay, Archie assists with boat to shore, 1914

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : Hearst-Selig News Pictorial, 1914 or 1915

SUMMARY On Oyster Bay, Theodore Roosevelt rows alone away from shore. In the second sequence, his son Archie and an unidentified boy beach the boat as Theodore Roosevelt looks on.

TR in Africa 1909, 2 (in 4 parts)

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1909.

SUMMARY Scenes of African peoples and of TR's safari party, all probably filmed in British East Africa (Kenya) in 1909. View of TR planting a tree in front of trading company building, possibly located in Mombasa, long shot of busy amusement area in Kenyan seaport of Mombasa, including shot of ferris wheel filled with Swahilis; shots, taken from observation platform on train engine, of plains along the Uganda Railway, with herdsmen who are probably Masai and railroad workers visible along tracks; train pulls into small community; women who are probably Masai, incorrectly identified by interior title as Zulu, gather water at spring, accompanied by children.

Rainmaker dances in ritual ceremony, surrounded by Swahilis; members of unknown tribe draw water from a well, with large thatched structure in background; views of Masai men, women, and children in kraal, with clear shots of mud houses; TR and his party appear in group of Kikuyu and/or Masai tribesmen; women who are probably Masai, incorrectly identified by interior title as Zulu, form ceremonial circle on open plain; TR and members of his party examine a gun in the presence of African tribesmen; unidentified tribesmen pose individually for camera at close range, with campsite visible in background; at campsite porters work busily, either setting up or breaking camp, with TR briefly visible; view of Kikuyu and/or Masai dance, incorrectly identified by interior title as Zulu dance, in honor of TR's visit; Roosevelt party crosses stream, with porters carrying gear and safari members across water toward camera.

TR in Baltimore during Liberty Loan drive, 1918

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1918.

SUMMARY On Sept. 28, 1918, Theodore Roosevelt is the principal speaker at the opening of the fourth Liberty Loan campaign in Oriole Baseball Park, Baltimore, Maryland. Wearing a mourning armband for his son, Quentin, Roosevelt walks across the field with Liberty Loan officials, including a man who appears to be Phillips L. Goldsborough, chairman of the Liberty Loan Committee for Maryland and former governor of the state. Roosevelt pauses and speaks with Cardinal James Gibbons. On the speaker's platform, Roosevelt is cheered by the crowd. Among the notables behind him on the platform are Cardinal Gibbons, a man who appears to be Governor Emerson C. Harrington of Maryland, Mrs. Thomas J. Preston, who was the wife of former President Grover Cleveland, and her husband, Dr. Thomas J. Preston, with the dark mustache. Roosevelt addresses the crowd. There are long and close-up shots of the crowd.

TR in Louisiana , 1915

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1915.

SUMMARY Views of TR walking on beach; holding his hat, TR stands near bushes on an island and follows the flight of birds. Film photographed by Herbert K. Job of the National Audubon Society, on an expedition with TR to bird sanctuary islands off the Louisiana coast in June 1915.

TR in New Mexico, 1916

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1916.

SUMMARY On Oct. 23, 1916, Theodore Roosevelt campaigns for Republican presidential nominee Charles Evans Hughes and assails the Wilson administration in Albuquerque, N.M. A young woman rides on horseback carrying a bouquet of flowers. There is an auto parade. Roosevelt passes by in an open touring car. Seated next to him is a man who appears to be Albert B. Fall, one of New Mexico's first U.S. Senators (1912-1921) and later secretary of the interior until exposure of his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal. There are long and close-up shots of Roosevelt seated on a stone pillar in front of the Alvarado Hotel in downtown Albuquerque, as he amiably talks with men gathered around him, including Sen. Fall, with cigar in hand, and George Curry, the tall man in a light hat, former territorial governor of New Mexico (1907-1911) and U.S. Representative (1912-1913). There is a long shot of Roosevelt speaking to a large crowd from a narrow platform in front of the Alvarado Hotel. Two young women on horseback bring flowers to Roosevelt.

TR in Norway and Denmark, 1910 (in 2 parts)

CREATED/PUBLISHED United States : s.n. , 1910.