He Called Himself Theo Poem by VICTORIA HEIM

He Called Himself Theo

Came into his family on October 27,1858
was a descendant of Klaes Martenson van Roosevelt
who settled in the tiny Dutch colony
of Nieuw Amsterdam in 1644
that would be just twenty years
before the British arrived
and the name became
New York
The whole world was to know him as Teddy
but Theodore Roosevelt didn't care for the name
His mother came from an old Georgia family
He would often get to hear stories
of the Civil War
Uncle Jimmy, an admiral in the Confederate navy
built the famous sea raider Alabama
Uncle Irvine fired
the last guns from her decks
in the battle with the Union Kearsarge
The winter of 1884 of his life
would take his young wife and mother
on the same day
he found his way to the Dakota Territory
from his experiences he settled
with himself and his values
Septembert 13,1901
Theodore, his wife Edith and children were
enjoying Mount Marcy
when word arrived Mr. McKinley would
not survive the bullet he had taken
at the Pan American Exposition
The next day in Buffalo
he became at the age
of forty-two
The youngest President in the nation's history
His accomplishments numerous
even a Nobel Peace Prize
The words of his friend W. W. 'Bill' Sewall
can sum it up
'he was quick to find the real man in
very simple men.'