Theodore Roosevelt

Folding oak camp table used during Theodore Roosevelt's travels through Africa, 1909-10

Noted for his advocacy of the "vigorous life," Theodore Roosevelt did not retire quietly. He traveled to Africa from 1909 to 1910 with naturalists and taxidermists from the Smithsonian, where they acquired hundreds of plant and animal specimens for the Institution's collections. After that, Roosevelt toured Europe, and returned to the United States as popular as ever.

Unhappy with the administration of his successor, William Howard Taft, Roosevelt eventually formed an alternative Progressive Party. He did not win the national election of 1912, but remained visible, writing books, traveling to Brazil, editing magazines, and campaigning for the Republican presidential nominee in 1916.

Souvenir program from a dinner given for Theodore Roosevelt in 1910, after his return from the Smithsonian Institution's African expedition.
Theodore Roosevelt on the Progressive Party campaign trail in New Jersey, 1912
Courtesy of Library of Congress
Button, Theodore Roosevelt, 1912
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This campaign button features the symbol of Roosevelt's Progressive Party, better known as the Bull Moose Party.