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Teddy Roosevelt suffered from illness and the loss of his wife, and he rode with the Rough Riders.
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As a colonel leading a unit of (horseless) cavalry volunteers, known as the Rough Riders, he turned a relatively minor role in the San Juan battle into a national legend powerful enough to sweep him to the presidency.
ECONOMIST: THE WAR OF 1898
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Before he became the youngest ever President of the United States, Roosevelt enjoyed a promising political career as a state assemblyman and the New York City police commissioner before decamping to the military, where he served as a Naval Secretary for a year and organized the volunteer army the Rough Riders who fought in Cuba.
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