Theodore Douglas Robinson (April 28, 1883 – April 10, 1934) was an American politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

who served as the

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy. From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depa ...

from November 1924 to 1929. He was a member of the

Roosevelt family The Roosevelt family is an American political family from New York whose members have included two United States presidents, a First Lady of the United States, First Lady, and various merchants, bankers, politicians, inventors, clergymen, arti ...

through his mother and was the eldest nephew of President Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr. (1858–1919). As an Oyster Bay Roosevelt, Theodore was a descendant of the

Schuyler family The Schuyler family ( /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especial ...

Early life

Theodore Douglas Robinson was born on April 28, 1883, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Douglas Robinson Jr. Douglas Robinson Jr. (January 3, 1855 – September 12, 1918) was an American businessman who was married to Corinne Roosevelt, a sister of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Early life Robinson was b ...

and Corinne Roosevelt. He attended St. Paul's School in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third larg ...

and graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1904.

Family

His father was a real estate dealer who was president of Douglas Robinson Company, Charles S. Brown Company, and the Douglas Land Company, trustee of the

Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company The Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company was a mutual insurance company which offers personal, marine, commercial property, and casualty insurance.Atlantic Mutual Companies, ''Meeting the Challenges of Our Time: 2001 Annual Report,'' 2001. It is pa ...

, director of the Equitable Life Insurance Society and the

Astor Trust Company The Astor Trust Company was a historic American banking organization. The firm merged with Bankers Trust in 1917. History The Astor National Bank of New York was authorized to begin business on February 9, 1898, with initial capital of $300,000. ...

. He had three younger siblings: Corinne, Monroe, and Stewart. His maternal grandparents were Theodore "Thee" Roosevelt Sr., a businessman/philanthropist, and Martha Stewart "Mittie" Bulloch, a socialite. His paternal grandparents were Douglas Robinson Sr. and Frances Monroe, who was a grandniece of President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

Career

In 1910, he first ran for the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...

, but was defeated in the primaries by Charles S. Millington. He ran again in 1912, and was elected to the 135th Legislature, serving in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

. In 1912, Robinson was elected chairman of his uncle Theodore's Progressive "Bull Moose" Party in the State of New York, and served until 1914. From 1917 until 1918, he was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan comp ...

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

and

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the even ...

(both 32nd D.). Also in 1918, he was campaign manager for then

Attorney General of New York The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government ...

Merton E. Lewis Merton Elmer Lewis (December 10, 1861 – May 2, 1937) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st Attorney General of New York state. Life He was born on December 10, 1861, in Webster, Monroe County, New York, the son of Char ...

's bid for the Republican nomination for governor against incumbent Governor Charles S. Whitman. Lewis lost the nomination to Whitman, who lost his reelection campaign to

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Ci ...

. Later in 1918, he declined renomination and enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

, becoming an officer at

Camp Zachary Taylor Camp Zachary Taylor was a military training camp in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened in 1917, to train soldiers for U.S. involvement in World War I, and was closed three years later. It was initially commanded by Guy Carleton and after the war i ...

, a training camp in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. He returned to the New York State Senate and served again from 1921 to 1924, sitting in the 144th, 145th, 146th and

147th New York State Legislature The 147th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to April 11, 1924, during the second year of Al Smith's second tenure as Governor of New York, in Albany. Backgro ...

s, all four with the 35th district. During his time with the New York State Senate, he introduced a number of bills focusing on stray cats, census of men and materials, and revocation of the New York branch of the German American Alliance. In 1921, along with Assemblyman Joseph Steinberg, he led an investigation into

John Francis Hylan John Francis Hylan (April 20, 1868January 12, 1936) was the 96th Mayor of New York City (the seventh since the consolidation of the five boroughs), from 1918 to 1925. From rural beginnings in the Catskills, Hylan eventually obtained work in Broo ...

, the then

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

. In 1924, he was appointed

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

, taking the reins from his cousin,

Theodore Roosevelt III Theodore Roosevelt IV ( ) (June 14, 1914 – May 2, 2001), also known as Theodore III, was an American banker, government official, and veteran of World War II. He was a grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt through his father, Brig. Gen. The ...

. He served from November 1924 to 1929, and during his term changed the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

's slogan from "Join the Navy and See the World" to "Join the Navy and Show the World."

Personal life

In 1904, he married his sixth cousin Helen Rebecca Roosevelt (1881–1962), daughter of James "Rosey" Roosevelt Roosevelt (1854–1927) and Helen Schermerhorn Astor (1855–1893) from the

Astor family The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settled ...

. Rosey was the half-brother of President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Together they had: *Douglas Roosevelt Robinson (1906–1964), who in 1933 married Louise Miller, daughter of former New York Gov.

Nathan L. Miller Nathan Lewis Miller (October 10, 1868 – June 26, 1953) was an American lawyer and politician who was Governor of New York from 1921 to 1922. Early life and education Nathan Miller was born on October 10, 1868, the son of Samuel Miller, a ten ...

. They divorced in 1948 and he married Micheline Ayaïs. *Helen Rebecca Robinson (1907–1980), who married John Arthur Hinckley (1906–1940) in 1930. After his death, she married George Walford Cutting (1892–1961) *Elizabeth Mary Robinson (1909–1979), who married Jacques Blaise de Sibour (1905–1979), son of

Jules Henri de Sibour Jules Gabriel Henri de Sibour (December 23, 1872 – November 4, 1938) was a French architect who worked in Washington, DC. Early life He was born in Paris, France, to Vicomte Gabriel de Sibour and Mary Louisa Johnson of Belfast, Maine. He mov ...

. They divorced and on July 9, 1963, she married Nelson T. Hartson (1887–1967) *Martha Douglas Robinson (1912–1912) *Alida Douglas Robinson (1915–1994), who married Kenneth S. Walker. They divorced and in 1944, she married Dean Sage (d. 1963). After his death, she married Edward T. H. Talmage Jr. in 1971, great-grandson of John Frelinghuysen Talmage. Robinson lived in

Herkimer County, New York Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer. The county was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. It is named ...

, where his family had an estate since 1725 called "Henderson House". He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

on April 10, 1934, after being ill for only a few days. His funeral was at the family estate, His

pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles o ...

s were Edmund B. Rogers, Franklin B. Lord, G. Palen Snow, Elbridge G. Chadwick, Wendell Blagden, Warren Motley, John Cutter, and James Hackson. The funeral was attended by

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non- monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the ...

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, Col.

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and Eleanor Alexander Roosevelt, Mr. and Mrs.

Kermit Roosevelt Kermit Roosevelt Military Cross, MC (October 10, 1889 – June 4, 1943) was an American businessman, soldier, explorer, and writer. A son of Theodore Roosevelt, the List of Presidents of the United States, 26th President of the United States, K ...

, Warren D. Robbins, Courtland Nichols, Mr. and Mrs. Phillip McKim Garrison, and Mr. and Mrs. Trubeee Davison, and Senators

Henry I. Patrie Henry I. Patrie (February 12, 1874 – March 3, 1935) was an American businessman and politician from New York (state), New York. Life He was born on February 12, 1874, in Livingston, New York, Livingston, Columbia County, New York, the son of Jo ...

, Walter W. Stokes, and Henry D. Williams.

Memberships

He was a member of the Masons and the

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

as well as the

Racquet and Tennis Club The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. History The Racquet Court Club opened in 1876 at 55 We ...

Harvard Club Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Union League The Union Leagues were quasi-secretive men’s clubs established separately, starting in 1862, and continuing throughout the Civil War (1861–1865). The oldest Union League of America council member, an organization originally called "The Leag ...

, Republican Club,

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most aristocratic gentlemen's clubs in th ...

The Brook The Brook is a private club located at 111 East 54th Street in Manhattan inNew York City. It was founded in 1903 by a group of prominent men who belonged to other New York City private clubs, such as the Knickerbocker Club and the Union Club.

, Downtown Association of New York City,

Meadow Brook Golf Club The Meadow Brook Club is a private golf club in Jericho, New York, Long Island, New York, United States. From 1894 to 1954 it was part of a hunting club, which soon evolved into a major polo club. After the original grounds were expropriated fo ...

Piping Rock Club Piping Rock Club is a country club in Matinecock, New York. It falls within the ZIP Code boundaries of Locust Valley, New York. History The Piping Rock clubhouse was designed by American designer Guy Lowell and built in 1911. Lowell based his ...

National Golf Links of America National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, Fort Orange Club of Albany,

Fort Schuyler Club The Fort Schuyler Club, founded in 1883, is a Private City Club club located in downtown Utica, New York, USA. Early members of the club included Elihu Root, Francis Kernan, Horatio Seymour, Charlemagne Tower, and Ward Hunt. The club's clubh ...

, Yahnundasis Golf Club of Utica and the Mohawk Valley Country Club.

References