Theodore Roosevelt
Lincoln and Secret Service
06/05/24 14:36 Filed in: History
An interesting Presidential history fact:
On April 14, 1865, just hours before he was tragically shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Secret Service. At the time, however, the new department’s purpose was not to provide presidential protection — it was to combat counterfeit currency.
By the end of the Civil War, nearly one-third of the U.S. currency in circulation was forged; the Secret Service was founded as a bureau within the Treasury Department to rehabilitate and safeguard the country’s monetary system. The night of Lincoln’s assassination, just one local police officer was assigned to escort the President from the White House to the theater, but the officer’s whereabouts at the time of the shooting are unknown. It was not until after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, when Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took over, that the Secret Service’s mandate was expanded to include the protection of the President.
Theodore Roosevelt attended and watched Lincoln's funeral train at the age of six. Another Mt. Rushmore historical incident.
On April 14, 1865, just hours before he was tragically shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Secret Service. At the time, however, the new department’s purpose was not to provide presidential protection — it was to combat counterfeit currency.
By the end of the Civil War, nearly one-third of the U.S. currency in circulation was forged; the Secret Service was founded as a bureau within the Treasury Department to rehabilitate and safeguard the country’s monetary system. The night of Lincoln’s assassination, just one local police officer was assigned to escort the President from the White House to the theater, but the officer’s whereabouts at the time of the shooting are unknown. It was not until after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, when Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took over, that the Secret Service’s mandate was expanded to include the protection of the President.
Theodore Roosevelt attended and watched Lincoln's funeral train at the age of six. Another Mt. Rushmore historical incident.
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Post Presidency-Theodore Roosevel
20/02/24 19:17 Filed in: History
President's Holiday was just yesterday. I did not get a post written. I plan to catch up today in posting about Theodore Roosevelt. He was a President who had an interesting and active life before and after his Presidency. This is information from History Facts.
"Theodore Roosevelt was never a man to sit on the sidelines twiddling his thumbs. Following his disappointing loss to Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election (which would have given Roosevelt a third term in office), the 55-year-old decided to embark upon a dangerous expedition down an uncharted tributary of the Brazilian Amazon called the Rio da Dúvida, or River of Doubt. Accompanied by his 23-year-old son Kermit and a team of porters, explorers, and scientists, Roosevelt set off in December 1913. By the time they reached the River of Doubt in February 1914, they had already lost a number of team members to tropical illnesses, and half their pack animals had died. As they ventured farther down the unmapped territory, they had to contend with everything from mosquitoes to alligators to the potential threat of attack from Indigenous peoples in the area. Roosevelt got malaria during the lengthy expedition, and became dangerously ill. Still, the team managed to reach the end of their journey, at which point Roosevelt sent an understated telegram describing it as “a hard and somewhat dangerous, but very successful trip.”
"Theodore Roosevelt was never a man to sit on the sidelines twiddling his thumbs. Following his disappointing loss to Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election (which would have given Roosevelt a third term in office), the 55-year-old decided to embark upon a dangerous expedition down an uncharted tributary of the Brazilian Amazon called the Rio da Dúvida, or River of Doubt. Accompanied by his 23-year-old son Kermit and a team of porters, explorers, and scientists, Roosevelt set off in December 1913. By the time they reached the River of Doubt in February 1914, they had already lost a number of team members to tropical illnesses, and half their pack animals had died. As they ventured farther down the unmapped territory, they had to contend with everything from mosquitoes to alligators to the potential threat of attack from Indigenous peoples in the area. Roosevelt got malaria during the lengthy expedition, and became dangerously ill. Still, the team managed to reach the end of their journey, at which point Roosevelt sent an understated telegram describing it as “a hard and somewhat dangerous, but very successful trip.”
