A couple of pre-presidential Theodore Roosevelt medalets

[BillJones]

Last month I posted a brief biography of Theodore Roosevelt together with some TR collectables ATS in honor of his birthday which is in late October. Here are couple more pieces I recently acquired that mark the meteoric rise of TR to the top of politics. This first piece marks TR's time as New York City police commissioner from 1895 to 1897. Roosevelt was famous for going out a street patrols with his men. You might notice that a picture of Theodore Roosevelt is shown on the set of "Blue Bloods" in commissioner Tom Selleck's office.

 

 

In 1897 Theodore Roosevelt was narrowly elected governor of New York with the support of Elephant Party boss, Tom Platt. Roosevelt had achieved fame for his charge up San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders, and he would appear in uniform on many of his campaign pieces for the rest of his political career. This piece marked Roosevelt's inauguration as governor.

 

 

Roosevelt was too much of a reformer for Boss Platt who had looked forward to "doing business as usual" with the New York State government. That prompted Platt to "kick Roosevelt upstairs" to the vice presidential nomination in 1900. No one thought that William McKinley would not live through his second term, although McKinley fundraiser, Mark Hanna, warned people that that was a real possibility. An assassin's bullet would prove Platt and company wrong.

[cpm9ball]

I have to admit that I enjoy collecting medals more than coins because there is so much more history related to them.

 

Those are really nice, Bill. Thanks for sharing them with us.

 

Chris