Theodore Roosevelt campaigns for the Presidency in 1904. AP Photo Theodore Roosevelt is widely regarded by historians as one of the greatest American presidents.

Born to a wealthy Manhattan family in 1858, Roosevelt grew up both sickly and pampered, but decided that he would not only overcome his debilitating asthma and become a cowboy but serve the American people through politics rather than relax with his father's money. This resilience and drive would inspire his distant cousin and future president Franklin D. Roosevelt decades later.

Teddy Roosevelt served as a New York assemblyman, the New York City police commissioner, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War, assistant secretary of the Navy, the governor of New York, and then President William McKinley's vice president. After McKinley was assassinated in 1901, he became the country's youngest president at age 43.

Roosevelt brought the US into the Progressive Era, breaking up corporate monopolies, forming the conservation movement, and greatly increasing American influence around the world. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for brokering the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

He was also a master orator and prolific writer. We've gone through speeches, interviews, and letters for a few of his most memorable insights.