title: Theodore Roosevelt: Icon of the American Century

Theodore Theodore Roosevelt's dynamic view of the presidency infused vigor into a branch of government that traditionally had been ceremonial and sedate. His famous "Tennis Cabinet" was indicative of how he liked to work. Riding and hiking were daily pastimes; one senator jested that anyone wishing to have influence with the President would have to buy a horse. When the press could keep pace with him, it reveled in his activities, making him the first celebrity of the twentieth century. His spectacled image adorned countless magazine covers before beauty, sex, and scandal became chic. This image of Roosevelt by Peter Juley appeared on the cover of Harper's Weekly, July 2, 1904.


President Roosevelt in riding attire
Peter A Juley (1862-1937)
Photograph, gelatin silver print, 1903
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Gift of Joanna Sturm



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