EDUCATORS ’ PERSPECTIVE
Colorized image of US President Theodore Roosevelt and family from a 1903 postcard .
his adventures . Shortly after returning to the United States , he ran for a third term . After suffering defeat at the hands of Woodrow Wilson , he set off on another expedition to the Amazon . Although it nearly killed TR , the Amazon adventure provided material for yet another book .
After TR ’ s death in early 1919 , Edith was able to live out her life in a comfortable and generous fashion . Her investments performed admirably , even during the Great Depression , and when she died in 1948 , her estate was worth over $ 400,000 .
On April 11 , 1908 , TR wrote to his friend Cecil Spring Rice that , “ It is an exceedingly nice thing to have a good house and to be able to purchase good books and good pictures , and especially to have that house isolated from others .” Edith ’ s financial acumen enabled TR to achieve , maintain and exceed these modest goals . His own ambitions and genius lay elsewhere and made him one of the most popular US Presidents ever .
Brian Grinder is a professor at Eastern Washington University and a member of Financial History ’ s editorial board . Dr . Dan Cooper is the president of Active Learning Technologies .
Notes
1 . The firm continued to operate until August of 1974 , when the following notice appeared in The New York Times announcing its demise : “ Roosevelt &
Son , Inc ., a brokerage firm that traces its beginning back to 1797 , will cease to do business as a member of the New York Stock Exchange , effective August 22 . This brief notice was carried yesterday in the Big Board ’ s weekly bulletin . In February of this year , Clark , Dodge & Co ., Inc ., took over some of the personnel and the lease of Roosevelt & Son at 72 Wall Street . One month before , Roosevelt & Son transferred its securities transactions and customer accounts to Abraham & Co . because of losses sustained when a large customer failed to meet margin calls estimated at around $ 1 million .”
2 . According to Edith ’ s biographer , Lewis L . Gould : “ Edith would soon master the complex art of running [ Sagamore Hill ].
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