In November 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt went on a bear-hunting trip in Mississippi. While his fellow hunters had all made their kills, the President had not yet found a single bear. In an attempt to help, his attendants chased down a young bear, tied it to a tree, and suggested, "Now, Mr. President, you may shoot it!"
Roosevelt flatly refused. "Shooting a tied cub is unsportsmanlike," he declared, and immediately ordered the bear to be released.
Political cartoonist Clifford Berryman captured this moment in a newspaper illustration. Inspired by the cartoon, Morris Michtom, a toy store owner in New York, created two stuffed bears and displayed them in his shop window alongside the newspaper clipping. After receiving official permission from the White House to use the President's nickname, the "Teddy’s Bear" was born—a toy that would go on to be loved by millions worldwide.
On January 6th, 1919, the 26th President of the United States, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, passed away in his sleep at the age of 60. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall offered a powerful tribute that spoke to the President's legendary vigor: "Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake, there would have been a fight." Though the "Old Lion" is gone, his legacy lives on—not only in the grand National Parks he preserved but also in the soft, small bears that still bring comfort to children everywhere.
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