I had known that President Theodore Roosevelt suffered from depression later in life. I watched the other day the PBS' program the American Experience about Theodore Roosevelt's exploration of the Amazon. This trip would break any of us and probably most of us would remain dead in the rain forest, yet this remarkable man survived.
He had originally planned a trip into the wild where supplies and equipment would have given him an adventure that was more suited to his age and health. While on the ship he was challenged to take and exploration trip mapping an unknown river deep into the Amazon jungle. The change in the trip made it closer to the exploration of Lewis and Clark, Fremont and Carson that opened the frontier of American to settlement, Livingston in Africa.
Roosevelt was not prepared for this kind of trip. Roosevelt was not fit for it, but he was mentally. He
had true grit. At a period of time with no antibiotics or adequate malaria medicine, Roosevelt was done in by a cut in the leg and malaria. The food supplies were not sufficient and nothing was packed for a river are trip. They actually had to cut out their own canoes from logs and portage them hundred of times. To make matters worse they had to deal with Indians hostile to their presence. The trip changed from map making to a trip to survive and in the final stretch to save the life of a president.
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| Roosevelt's clothes are very loose, the river still bears his name |
The president lost fifty pounds. In the photos, you could see that Theodore was once a muscular man who had built himself up from a weak childhood. Gone was the over weight man, but weight-loss was because of starvation and illness. Getting malaria in a time where you have to keep moving is a testament to his will power.
Fighting at the same time an infection in the tropics would kill most men. Roosevelt at his weakest, his son Kermit took over the decision making. The exploration took on a new mission, save the president's life. It was his son's finest hour.
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| Kermit is sitting on ground with legs crossed |
The trip cost Roosevelt with his health ruined for the next five years of his life. In this fight for his life, Roosevelt character is seen and thinks a wonderful story.
Roosevelt gained all his weight back and then some. Like today there were people wanted to discredit Roosevelt for his exploration into the unknown. As I see it there is no need to do so. The majority of us given the same conditions the jungle would have grown over our bones. I think we can lean a few things:
- Choose adventures that are doable - we ain’t 20
- Some our biggest battles is fighting disease or infections - plenty of courageous fights for life going on
- Take a moment when your children step up for their finest moments - and sometimes that comes when they take care of you
- Enjoy life and live everyday with thanks both to God and others who are there for us - but more for each other
- My respect for Theodore increased as I learned more of his battles in later life. Even in his weakest moments there was character. Bully for him and his son Kermit, who did well taking care of his father. Later Kermit Roosevelt would commit suicide from years of alcohol and loss. Sometimes it is good to see a brighter moment in his life and think kindly of people who often suffer with depression and alcohol - we need to boost our kindness
