Theodore Roosevelt III

Theodore Roosevelt IV (known as Theodore III) (June 14, 1914 – May 2, 2001) was a World War II Veteran and eldest son of politician and World War II military leader Brig. Gen. Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt III and Eleanor Butler Alexander.

Early years
Theodore IV was born in New York City on June 14, 1914. He was the second born and the last surviving of four children to Theodore Roosevelt III (son of President Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr. and Edith Kermit Carow) and Eleanor Butler Alexander (daughter of Henry Addison Alexander and Grace Green). Theodore IV had an older sister, Grace Green Roosevelt (wife of William McMillan) and two younger brothers: Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt III and Quentin Roosevelt II.

Following his father Ted and paternal grandfather T.R., Theodore IV went to Groton School and graduated from Harvard in 1936, where he was a member of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and the Owl Club. Roosevelt worked for the DuPont company from 1936 to 1941.

Service in World War II
Following the Roosevelt tradition of military service during times of national emergency, during World War II, Roosevelt was a Navy pilot, serving as a flag lieutenant in the Pacific. For his service as a naval aviator, Theodore IV was awarded the Air Medal and left the Navy a lieutenant commander. His father, Ted, also volunteered for service, participated in the Allied invasion of North Africa and earned the Medal of Honor leading soldiers at Utah Beach on D-Day in France before dying of a heart attack a month afterward.

Post-war life
Upon his return from the Pacific Theater, Theodore IV joined the Philadelphia brokerage firm of Montgomery, Scott, becoming a partner in 1952. Appointed by Governor James Duff, Ted served as Secretary of Commerce of Pennsylvania from 1949 to 1951. For many years he was president of the Competitive Enterprise System, Inc., a nonprofit group that promoted free markets in the United States. Roosevelt was a trustee of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) for many years and a generous supporter of the organization. In recent years, he attended TRA Police Awards ceremonies in Boston and Philadelphia as well as TRA annual meetings in Boston and Norfolk, VA. He was an honorary plank owner in the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and a strong supporter of the efforts to preserve the Pine Knot site in Virginia, his grandparents' presidential retreat.

On February 3, 1940, Roosevelt married Anne Mason Babcock (December 3, 1917 — January 29, 2001), daughter of George Wheeler Babcock (May 12, 1879 — November 21, 1950) and Anne Mason Bonnycastle Robinson (January 10, 1886 — February 4, 1923). They had one son, Theodore V (born 1942). Roosevelt died on May 2, 2001 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He and his wife are buried near Somesville, Maine.