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Occupation: Graduate of Harvard University where he studied history, literature, and natural sciences. Roosevelt was elected to the New York State Assembly 1882 and 1884. He was appointed to the U S Civil Service board by President Benjamin Harrison and to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President William McKinley Position on Issue: Roosevelt was a strong imperialist. Believing that the US was a “civilized nation” and they had the right to stop the “chronic wrong doing” in the western hemisphere. He also believed that the president must be willing to use force when necessary while being persuasive. Roosevelt was firm in his ideals of a strong executive and strong power. He was not afraid to use his “police power” to strengthen his country, yet being careful to not upset the balance of world powers. Reasons for Interest: Imperialists in general were interested because it would open up a new trade port, serve as a naval and military base, and if the US didn’t claim it some other nation would.
 * Increase and influence America’s prestige on the world
 * Exportation of American values and ideals would have a positive effect
 * Assemble powerful and reliable defenses for the US to avoid conflicts
 * Following in McKinley’s footsteps
 * Taft’s ideas of establishing a civil government with elected legislatures

Works Cited "American President: Theodore Roosevelt." __Miller Center__. 08 Nov. 2011 . __Small Planet __. 08 Nov. 2011 . "Theodore Roosevelt Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." __Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com__. 08 Nov. 2011 . <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">"Theodore Roosevelt." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 08 Nov. 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>.