Badge, Theodore Roosevelt, 1904

In 1898, Theodore Roosevelt resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to accept command of the First U.S. Volunteer Calvary, more commonly known as the Rough Riders. Led by Colonel Roosevelt, the unit garnered more publicity than any other during the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt’s war hero image helped him become governor of New York in 1899 and vice president under William McKinley less than two years later when they defeated the Democratic ticket of William Jennings Bryan and Adlai Stevenson. Just six months into their term McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt became president. In 1904 he ran for a full term in his own right defeating Democrat Alton Parker. The Republicans capitalized on his fame as a war hero and images of Roosevelt as a soldier appeared on many artifacts in both his vice presidential and presidential campaigns. This 1904 campaign badge features small cavalry swords modeled on those Roosevelt carried into battle.