By the time he was running for re-election as president in 1904 and needed Southern votes, he denied that Black soldiers had participated in the battles in any meaningful way. But as time passed, he walked back his praise.

Soon after the Battle of San Juan Hill was won, Roosevelt praised the Black soldiers for their valor and steadfastness. According to Jerome Tuccille, author of “The Roughest Riders: The Untold Story of the Black Soldiers in the Spanish-American War,” Roosevelt “straggled up there (the top of San Juan Hill) with just a handful of the remaining Rough Riders” after Black soldiers had taken the hill and the fighting was over. Modern-day research has brought to light a different story, where Black troops from the 10th Cavalry (Buffalo Soldiers) and other units, led in much of the fighting of that campaign, and even rescued Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders from annihilation. One such instance involves the most famous narrative about Teddy Roosevelt.Īs schoolchildren, we were taught that in the Battle of San Juan Hill, the courageous Teddy Roosevelt led his valiant Rough Riders to victory against a larger enemy force during the Spanish-American War.īut that narrative is far from the truth. Washington to dine with him at the White House in 1901, the Southern white press condemned President Roosevelt, while many African Americans hailed him as a friend of the “Negro.”īut delving into the background of Theodore Roosevelt, it is not difficult to find troubling instances of his belief in white supremacy. When President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T.

The Roughest Riders by Jerome Tuccille