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Ted Jr.: 1920

Theodore Roosevelt Jr., husband of Eleanor, circa 1920 in Washington, D.C. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr., husband of Eleanor, circa 1920 in Washington, D.C. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Eleanor

I was really confused about this being Eleanor's husband. Someone clarified, though. Eleanor was the wife of FDR.

[You're still confused. The man is the photo is the husband of Eleanor Butler Roosevelt. - Dave]

Okay, now I'm utterly confused!

[There were two Eleanor Roosevelts. - Dave]

Obsessed with focus

It is the wonderful focus of this shot that allows the viewer to see the pores of the skin and the threads of the fabric while at the same time as Dave said makes it appear it is a different face on the head. ( The soft focus of the ears ) This is difficult with today's technology and instant view features. The photographer knew his lens. Does anyone know the photographer?

[The Harris & Ewing studio. - Dave]

Extra Texture

The texture in this simple photo is amazing--even his individual skin pores. It appears he had the closest shave in the world and a little talc on that.

Ante Mortem

TR Jr.'s Medal of Honor was in no way a political gesture to a dead man. He was nominated for the medal before he died. He had also been approved for promotion to Major General (two stars) and given command of an infantry division shortly before his demise.

Ted Jr.'s Medal of Honor

Ted Jr. likely met the criteria for the Medal of Honor more than his father, whose medal was awarded more than 20 years after the action it was referred to. Junior's Medal was posthumous because he died a month after D-Day, where he indeed served with extraordinary valor.

It's not well-known that selectivity in choosing Medal of Honor winners was considerably lower prior to World War II. On some occasions the Medal was awarded to every member of a unit, once for re-enlisting, once for serving as Lincoln's honor guard. (These were rescinded much later.)

In any case, it seems inappropriate to dismiss Theodore Roosevelt Junior's Medal as political.

Medal of Honor Winner

Posthumously, like his father, for political reasons -- in Ted here's case, 'cause his cousin FDR always feared him as a rival. TR and Ted are one of only two father-son MOH winners, the other being the MacArthurs. Ted was the oldest and highest ranking officer to go ashore on D-Day -- with use of a cane from his lingering WWI injuries and having suffered a heart attack shortly before. He's played by Henry Fonda in The Longest Day.

Mustache Time

OK Farkers, here's your chance. Show us your stuff.

She wasn't his cuppa tea

Eleanor was wife of Franklin D., not Theodore, Jr.

[Each had a wife named Eleanor. Eleanor Butler Roosevelt was married to Teddy. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was FDR's wife. - Dave]

Cubist-American

Somehow this looks like a bad artist's drawing where the facial features are all too large and the ears too small.

[My first impression was that this is a face pasted onto someone else's head, with the features a bit too large and too low. Then I found some more photos of the man. He really did look this way. - Dave]

Man of Action

Teddy Roosevelt Jr. was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service on D-Day. At age 56, he was one of the first troops, and the only general, to land on Utah Beach with the first wave of landing craft, a mile off course.

Hobbled by arthritis and the lingering effects of a gas attack in WWI, and wielding a cane in one hand and a pistol in the other, he personally made a reconnaissance of the area immediately to the rear of the beach to locate the causeways that were to be used for the advance inland. He then returned to the point of landing and coordinated the attack on the enemy positions.

Roosevelt's famous words in these circumstances were, "We’ll start the war from right here!" These impromptu plans worked with complete success and little confusion.

With artillery landing close by, each follow-on regiment was welcomed on the beach by a cool, calm, and collected Roosevelt, who inspired all with humor and confidence, reciting poetry and telling anecdotes of his father to steady the nerves of his men. Ted pointed almost every regiment to its changed objective. Sometimes he worked under fire as a self-appointed traffic cop, untangling traffic jams of trucks and tanks all struggling to get inland and off the beach.

Years later, General Omar Bradley was asked to name the single most heroic action he had ever seen in combat, and he replied, "Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach." His heroism earned him the Medal of Honor. He died a month later of a heart attack and is buried at Normandy.

Ted Jr. was a crazy child

Growing up in Oyster Bay, NY, home of TR's Sagamore Hill, we were regaled in school with stories of the Prez's family. As we got older the stories got more, let's say, bawdy. I always wanted to party with this guy.

Teddy Jr.

Teddy Jr. Fought in World War I and World War II. He led troops ashore as part of the first assault wave on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944. He died of a heart attack shortly after. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

General TR Jr

As I recall, he landed in Normandy on D-day. When there was some doubt about their location, he made the news with the line "We'll start the war right here." I think he died of a heart attack a few weeks later.

Get out your Magic Marker

Draw a mustache on him and he's a chip off the old block.

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