Theodore Roosevelt: The Pronounciation

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	Theodore Roosevelt: The Pronounciation

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The proper pronounciation Roosevelt's last name rhymes the first syllable with "rose."

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For more than 100 years there has been confusion over the proper pronounciation of "Roosevelt."

One of Theodore Roosevelt's great-grandchildren wrote Dr. Zebra in no uncertain terms that the desired pronounciation rhymes the first syllable with "rose." He wrote:

If further proof is necessary there was a wonderful exchange of letters in the New York Sun in 1903 between Richard E. Mayne (Chairman, Department of Reading and Speech Culture, NY State Teachers Association) and Robert B. Roosevelt, uncle of Theodore. (TR asked him to answer the Professor's letter, believing correctly in was improper for him as President to attack a private citizen.) After a short introduction R.B. Roosevelt declares "It is rather a dangerous proceeding to assume that a man does not know how to pronounce his own name" and goes on with great fun from there. ... It has been published in the TRA Journal [TRA = Theodore Roosevelt Association] several times, most recently I believe in 1990 (Vol. XVI, no 2, pp 84-5).
[Received Feb. 17, 2006; lightly edited]

Different views do exist. According to one, only Franklin Roosevelt's side of the family pronounced it as in "rose," while Theodore Roosevelt's side pronounced as in "roof" [6a].

Dr. Zebra has been unable to locate a copy of the TRA Journal, but has been converted to the Robert Roosevelt view!

Resources

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Boller, Paul F. Jr. Presidential Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-19-502915-1 @ Amazon [a] p. 201
Boulware MH. Snoring: New Answers to an Old Problem. Rockaway, NJ: American Faculty Press, 1974.
Cited by: Fairbanks DNF. Snoring: an overview with historical perspectives. Pages 1-16 in: Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. 2nd ed. Fairbanks, David N. F. and Fujita, Shiro (eds.). NY: Raven Press, 1994.
Bromley, Michael L. William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 2003. ISBN 0-7864-1475-8 @ Amazon [a] p. 72 [b] p. 16
Davis, Oscar King. Released for Publication: Some Inside Political History of Theodore Roosevelt and his Times 1898-1918. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1925. [a] pp. 216, 356, 367 [b] pp. 374-393, 398 [c] p. 373 [d] p. 429 [e] p. 458 [f] p. 303 [g] p. 434
Foley, WJ. A bullet and a Bull Moose. JAMA. 1969;209:2035-2038. Pubmed.
Gary, Ralph. Following Lincoln's Footsteps. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2001. ISBN 0-7867-09413 @ Amazon [a] p. 457
Hoover, Irwin Hood (Ike). 42 Years in the White House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1934. [a] p. 270
The Library of Congress contains more of Hoover's first-hand recollections of eight presidents.
Manners, William. TR and Will: A Friendship that Split the Republican Party. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1969. [a] pp. 310. Marshall was Wilson's Vice-President and is best known for his remark: "What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar." [b] p. 8 [c] p. 286 [d] p. 295 [e] p. 303 [f] p. 309 [g] p. 300 [h] p. 306
Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed). Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of American. 2nd ed. London: Burke's Peerage Limited, 1981. ISBN 0-85011-033-5 @ Amazon [a] p. 184 [b] pp. 411, 495
Enumerates the ancestors and descendants of American presidents up through Ronald Reagan.
Web page: http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/NYTobit.htm
Pringle, Henry F. The Life and Times of William Howard Taft: A Biography. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1939. [a] p. 836 [b] p. 912
Ross, Ishbel. An American Family: The Tafts - 1678 to 1964. Cleveland, OH: World Publishing Co., 1964. [a] p. 308
Russell, Francis. The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1968. [a] p. 311
Smith, Ira R. T.; Morris, Joe Alex. "Dear Mr. President:" The Story of Fifty Years in the White House Mail Room. New York: Julian Messner, 1949. [a] p. 52
Ira Smith was a peppery fellow who ran the White House mail room from 1897 to 1948. He started working during the administration of William McKinley and was the only mail room staffer until the volume of mail made it necessary to hire help during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.
The Theodore Roosevelt web page at the White House.
(7 matches when checked in November 2003)

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