Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. - Biography - Political Career

Political Career

After service in World War I (see below), Roosevelt began his political career. In 1919 he was elected to the New York State Assembly. Grinning like his father, waving a crumpled hat, and like his father, shouting "bully", Ted participated in every national campaign that he could except when he was Governor-General of the Philippines.

In 1921, when Warren G. Harding was elected president, Roosevelt was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Here he oversaw the transferring of oil leases from the navy to private corporations. The navy's petroleum reserves consisted of three fields (which had been established by President Taft); Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3, Teapot Dome Field, Natrona County, Wyoming; and Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 at Elk Hills Oil Field and Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 2 Buena Vista Oil Field both in Kern County, California. In 1922, Albert B. Fall, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, leased, without competitive bidding, the Teapot Dome Field to Harry F. Sinclair of Sinclair Consolidated Oil Company, and the field at Elk Hills, California, to Edward L. Doheny of Pan American Petroleum & Transport Company. During the transfers, while he was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, his brother Archibald B. Roosevelt, Sr., was vice president of the Union Petroleum Company, the export auxiliary subsidiary of the Sinclair Consolidated Oil. All of this came to be known as the Teapot Dome scandal. The connection between the Roosevelt brothers could not be ignored. After Sinclair sailed for Europe to avoid testifying, G. D. Wahlberg, Sinclair's private secretary, advised Archibald Roosevelt to resign to save his reputation. Although both Archibald and Ted Roosevelt were cleared of all charges, their images were tarnished.

In 1924, he was the Republican nominee for Governor of New York. His cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) spoke out on Ted's "wretched record" as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the oil scandals. Eleanor Roosevelt played her part as well in ending Ted's political future. She campaigned vigorously to link Ted to the recent Teapot Dome Scandal, going so far as to follow him around in a car around New York State with a steaming teapot on its roof. Eleanor used that campaign tactic after Ted commented of FDR, comparing him to Ted's father, TR, "He's a maverick! He does not wear the brand of our family." Eleanor had been infuriated by these remarks. She would later decry these methods, admitting that they were below her dignity but saying that they had been contrived by Democratic Party dirty tricksters. Ted never forgave Eleanor for her stunt, though his half-sister, Alice Longworth, later forgave Eleanor and resumed their formerly close friendship. These conflicts served to widen the split between the Oyster Bay TR and Hyde Park FDR wings of the Roosevelt family. Because of Eleanor's efforts Ted lost the support of many of his would-be voters. His opponent, incumbent governor Alfred E. Smith, defeated him by 105,000 votes. But in the simultaneous race for President, the Republican Calvin Coolidge won New York by over 850,000 votes. If Ted Roosevelt had won the governorship of New York in 1924, FDR's chances for the 1928 New York governorship and the 1932 presidency would have been less favorable.

Read more about this topic:  Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Biography

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