In 1883, Theodore Roosevelt was on a Buffalo hunting trip in the rugged and untamed Badlands of Medora, North Dakota, when a couple of cowboy pranksters made “the dude” from the big city the target of a devious practical joke. In this episode of Classic Influence, we travel back to the lawless and violent Wild West to learn how a twenty-five year old rich kid from New York City named TR faced ridicule and defeat, but refused to back down, even as the raucous laughter of the cowboy bullies began to draw a crowd from the nearby saloon. But would the “toughest little town in the Badlands” witness the infamous bucking bronco, White-Faced Kid, murder another tenderfoot? Or was it Roosevelt that would have the last laugh? Listen in and learn more—discover the key characteristic that transformed a sickly, asthmatic young boy into one of the greatest and most tenacious leaders in American history.
