Antiques: Teddy Roosevelt was a man of his times

Sometimes it's a personage instead of a brand or event that can light the collecting fire. Whether it's heroism (Audie Murphy) or genius (Albert Einstein) or excellence on the playing field (Babe Ruth), it's possible to make a connection with those qualities from the items they've left behind. Yet while there are certainly collectors of political artifacts or ephemera, relatively few individual politicians leave behind a lasting trail of acolytes.

One that did is Winston Churchill, and another would be Theodore Roosevelt.

Both had widely varied careers, spectacular successes and failures, and both are still lionized today for their accomplishments while holding political office. We'll get to Winnie in a future column, but let's look at Teddy today.

There is no way to do justice to Roosevelt's life in just a few paragraphs, but we can recall some highlights. Born in the fall of 1858 to a well-to-do New York household, he enjoyed a privileged upbringing while battling chronic asthma. Rather than fall prey to chronic ill health, he took up fitness and weightlifting and became a lifelong advocate of what he called the "strenuous life."

Following school and a taste of public service, personal tragedies prompted him to move to the Dakota Badlands and take up ranching. As it turned out, he was a poor rancher but discovered a considerable talent for writing. Upon returning to New York, Roosevelt began a serious career as a writer while working his way up the political ladder. After several state postings, he was appointed assistant secretary of the Navy in 1897 by then-president William McKinley, his national star firmly in ascent.

From there, his brief but legendary stint leading the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill during the Spanish American war made him a hero. Very few actual artifacts from that day still exist, but it was widely celebrated in subsequent years with paintings, ribbons and medallions.

Returning home, he was quickly elected to the governorship of New York and then nominated to be McKinley's vice-presidential running mate in 1900. The pair were duly elected, but an assassin's bullet a year later put Roosevelt in the White House at age 43. He would serve in that capacity for the next seven years. During his presidency, Roosevelt would regulate the railroads, force safety measures onto the mining industry and elevate the need for conservation to a national issue. Few 20th century presidents have had such a lasting impact.

Despite his accomplishments in higher office, some of Roosevelt's most interesting history came while not serving as this country's commander in chief. After leaving the White House in 1908, he embarked upon a lengthy African safari that almost killed him.\

Once home, he grew disenchanted with the policies of then-President William Howard Taft and founded the Progressive ("Bull Moose") party in opposition. As it happened, he and Taft split the 1912 Republican vote, allowing Democrat Woodrow Wilson a pathway to the Oval Office and ending Roosevelt's political career. His latter years were spent writing and advocating for reforms, and he died brokenhearted in 1919 following the death of his son during World War I.

Today's collectors of Roosevelt memorabilia have a lot to choose from. Inscribed first editions of his 47 books are highly sought, and he left behind a trove of ephemera in the form of notes and letters. The now-ubiquitous Teddy bear got its name from an incident involving Roosevelt while on safari, and there are many photographs and stereo cards from his time abroad.

Reunions from his first U.S. Cavalry Unit — the Rough Riders — took place for decades and spawned a whole range of artifacts. Galleries like ours almost always have something to do with Teddy Roosevelt and for good reason. He was the right man for his times.

Mike Rivkin and his wife, Linda, are longtime residents of Rancho Mirage. For many years, he was an award-winning catalogue publisher and has authored seven books, along with countless articles. Now, he's the owner of Antique Galleries of Palm Springs. His antiques column appears Sundays in The Desert Sun. Want to send Mike a question about antiques? Drop him a line at info@silverfishpress.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Antiques: Teddy Roosevelt was a man of his times