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Theodore Roosevelt

Presidential Library

Roosevelt and the Badlands: Why North Dakota

TR was a New Yorker by chance, and a North Dakotan by choice; he was an easterner and a westerner, but above all he was quintessentially American.

© Houghton Library

The Badlands

The Badlands is a striking landscape that spoke to Roosevelt when he first visited in September 1883 to hunt buffalo. He returned not long after, seeking refuge following the deaths of his wife, Alice, and his mother, Mittie, on the same day, February 14, 1884.

It was in the Badlands that Roosevelt grieved and healed as he pursued the “strenuous life,” transforming himself from a frail and underweight city dweller into a larger-than-life character, as he is popularly remembered today. TR himself credited his time in the Badlands as one of the foundational experiences of his life.

I have always said I would not have been President had it not been for my experience in North Dakota. It was here that the romance of my life began.

Theodore Roosevelt
26th President of the United States

Medora has been chosen as the ideal location within the state to develop the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum (“the Library”) due to the strong association with TR. It was in the Badlands that Roosevelt grieved and healed as he pursued the “strenuous life,” transforming himself from a frail and underweight city dweller into a larger-than-life character, as he is popularly remembered today. TR himself credited his time in the Badlands as one of the foundational experiences of his life.

© The Library of Congress, Houghton Library

National Parks

The main entrance to the National Park, which bears his name (“TRNP”), is located in Medora, providing visitors with direct access to the unique landscape of the Badlands, including his ranch.

The impact of this landscape on Roosevelt is an important aspect of the TRPLF vision for the project: TRPLF wishes to construct a building that celebrates not just Theodore Roosevelt, but also his connection to this iconic American landscape that influenced him – and, by extension, our nation – so deeply.

Medora, North Dakota

Our Progress

Building a library befitting the unique legacy of Theodore Roosevelt takes time. Here's how we see the next year unfolding.
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Our Vision

Theodore Roosevelt died—unexpectedly—on January 6, 1919, and the nation awoke, stunned by the news that such a vigorous, larger-than-life figure was gone. Memorials were planned, associations formed, historic homes preserved, and yet Theodore Roosevelt does not have a presidential library.
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