About James Foote - as Theodore Roosevelt :

Making a career from his uncanny resemblance to Theodore Roosevelt has been a thrill for Jim Foote, who is often eerily mistaken for the past president. With his encyclopedic knowledge and admiration of Roosevelt, Foote brings the former president to life with his words and mannerisms. His first-person portrayals cover topics dear to Roosevelt himself: leadership, citizenship, motivation, and ethics.

"We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune." - Theodore Roosevelt

When a young Theodore Roosevelt stepped from his train car in September 1883, he had only a dim idea of what lay before him in the remote settlement of Little Missouri. Roosevelt’s interest in hunting a buffalo, as well as some personal interest in the lifestyle of the West, had led him to this remote outpost. With his pregnant wife Alice at home 2,400 miles away, Roosevelt stood alone in the dark as the train lurched away toward Montana. He knew no one in the small settlement before him, and was unsure how the locals might receive him. As he walked toward the Pyramid Park Hotel, the four-eyed New York dude was immersed in a world he had only read about, a place that bristled with distrust of outsiders, especially Easterners. Roosevelt could not have imagined how his adventure in this unfamiliar environment brimming with tough, independent men would forever alter the course of his life.

"We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation." - Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt first came to the badlands in September 1883. The prospect of big game hunting had initially brought him to the West, but, by the time he arrived, the last large herds of bison were gone, having been decimated by hide hunters and disease. As time passed and he was able to spend more time in the area, he became increasingly alarmed by the damage that was being done to the land and its wildlife. He witnessed the virtual destruction of some big game species. Overgrazing severely impacted the grasslands which also affected the habitats of small mammals and songbirds. Conservation increasingly became one of Roosevelt's main concerns. After he became President in 1901, Roosevelt used his authority to protect wildlife and public lands by creating the U.S. Forest Service and establishing 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 4 National Game Preserves, 150 National Forests, 5 National Parks, and enabling the 1906 American Antiquities Act which he used to proclaim 18 National Monuments. During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt protected approximately 230,000,000 acres of public land.

Theodore Roosevelt was the nation's 26th President and is considered by many to have been our country's "Conservationist President." Here in the North Dakota badlands, where many of his personal concerns first gave rise to his later environmental efforts, Roosevelt is remembered with a national park that bears his name and honors the memory of this great conservationist.

Roosevelt is also represented on Mt. Rushmore (SD). Two of his homes are part of the National Park Service: Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site (NY) and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (NY), as is the site where he was sworn in as president (Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, NY) and a park in Washington D.C., Theodore Roosevelt Island.

"There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children's children forever, with their majestic beauty all marred."  - Theodore Roosevelt

Sample List Performances:

USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71

Sagamore Hill

T.R. Birthplace

White House

Smithsonian

History Channel

A&E Biography

Explorer’s Club

C-Span School Bus

School Districts in both Nassau and Suffolk County

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuge @ Pelican Island for their Centennial Celebration

2002 Duck Stamp Contest

Roosevelt Savings Bank

L.L Rough Riders Soccer Team

Louisiana State University

Frazier Historical Arms Museum, KY