TR Vs. Christmas Trees
12/22/19 • 15 min
Theodore Roosevelt loved Christmas, but the Roosevelt family never had a Christmas tree. If you believe the stories, it's because TR, an avid conservationist, had banned them—and that ban is supposedly what led his son, Archie, to sneak a tree into the White House, a stunt that reportedly earned him a stern lecture.
That's what the stories say, but what actually happened? In this episode, we'll reveal the fact, and fiction, behind this pervasive Theodore Roosevelt Christmas tale.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Theodore Roosevelt loved Christmas, but the Roosevelt family never had a Christmas tree. If you believe the stories, it's because TR, an avid conservationist, had banned them—and that ban is supposedly what led his son, Archie, to sneak a tree into the White House, a stunt that reportedly earned him a stern lecture.
That's what the stories say, but what actually happened? In this episode, we'll reveal the fact, and fiction, behind this pervasive Theodore Roosevelt Christmas tale.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Previous Episode
TR Vs. The World
Theodore Roosevelt was the first American to win a Nobel Prize, which he clinched in part for brokering peace between Japan and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. During his presidency, he also paved the way for the construction of the Panama Canal. He got so far by “speaking softly and carrying a big stick,” as he famously advised to others. But how did that Big Stick Energy go over with his fellow politicians, the press, and the people? Find out all that and more in this episode.
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Next Episode
TR Vs. Death
At age 55, Theodore Roosevelt embarked on an Amazonian jungle trek along the River of Doubt, where he very nearly lost his life. It was, in many ways, the icing on the cake of a life brimming with near-death experiences. He had close encounters with wild animals on hunting trips, chased down dangerous boat thieves, and quit his secretarial post in the Navy to fight in the Spanish-American War. So did Roosevelt die as he lived? Decide for yourself after this week’s History Vs.
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Mental Floss Presents: The Quest for the North Pole - TR Vs. Christmas Trees
Transcript
History Versus is a production of I Heart Radio and Mental Flaws. It's six am on Christmas morning and Theodore Roosevelt's children, Alice, Ted Kermit, Ethel, Archie and Quentin are pounding at the President's bedroom door. As per tradition. Their stockings, which Tier notes are all bulging out with queer angles and rotundities, are hanging above the fireplace in their parents room. Theater and his wife Edith get up, remove the stockings, light
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