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10. First to leave the country

Roosevelt was the first president to travel outside of the continental United States while in office. In 1906, he traveled to Panama.

9. Church and State

Although Roosevelt had been a Sunday school teacher, he believed strongly in the separation of Church and State. While taking the oath of office during his inauguration after McKinley’s assassination, he did not swear on the Bible.

When the $20 gold coin was designed in 1907, the words “In God We Trust” were not present. In a letter written by Roosevelt, he said it was irreverent to have the words printed on the coins because the money was used to buy worldly goods and services. After public outcry, Congress passed legislation requiring “In God We Trust” be restored to all U.S. coins which it had been previously printed on.

8. Nobel Peace Prize

In 1906, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role of negotiator in the Russo-Japanese War. He was the first American to win the Nobel Prize.

7. A multitasking homeschooler

Roosevelt’s education was mostly homeschooling by his parents and tutors. He was an avid reader and developed a photographic memory. It is said he was a great multitasker, able to dictate letters and memos to two separate secretaries while browsing through a book at the same time.

6. Just call me TR

President Roosevelt was the first president to be commonly known by his initials.

5. Boxing injury

Roosevelt was blind in his left eye, the result of a boxing injury he sustained while in office.

4. Skinny-dipper

Roosevelt was known to go skinny-dipping in the Potomac River during the wintertime.

3. First in flight

On October 11, 1910, Roosevelt took a four minute flight in a plane built by the Wright brothers, making him the first president to fly in an airplane.

2. Youngest President

Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest president, assuming the office at the age of 42 after President McKinley was assassinated. John F. Kennedy was the youngest president to be elected to office. He was 43 when he became president.

1. You can’t kill a Bull Moose

On October 14, 1912, Roosevelt was campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when a local saloon-keeper shot him. The bullet lodged in his chest after passing through a jacket pocket containing his steel eyeglass case and a copy of his 50 page speech which had been folded in half. Being an anatomist, Roosevelt concluded that since he wasn’t coughing blood the bullet had not penetrated the chest wall into his lung. He declined immediate treatment and gave his 90 minute speech with blood seeping from the wound into his shirt. “Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot,” Roosevelt said, “but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”