Episode Details

Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest by a would-be assassin and delivered a ninety-minute speech before going to the hospital. That single anecdote captures the man — a force of nature who transformed the American presidency from a restrained constitutional office into the center of national power. Before Roosevelt, presidents waited for Congress to act. After him, they never waited again.

This episode traces Roosevelt from sickly asthmatic child to Dakota rancher to Rough Rider to the youngest president in American history, examining how he busted trusts, built the Panama Canal, created the national park system, and permanently expanded the reach of executive power.

• How Roosevelt overcame childhood illness through sheer physical will
• The Rough Riders, San Juan Hill, and the military heroism that launched his political rise
• Trust-busting, the Square Deal, and the birth of progressive presidential power
• The Panama Canal, conservation legacy, and the Nobel Peace Prize for ending a war