rook Most abundant Eurasian bird (Corvus frugilegus) of the crow fam¬ ily (Corvidae). Rooks, 18 in. (45 cm) long, are black and have shaggy thigh feathers and bare white skin at the base of the sharp bill. They are migratory and range discontinuously from Britain to Iran and Manchuria. They dig for larvae and worms in meadows and plowed fields. They nest in large colonies (rookeries) in tall trees, sometimes within towns; the nest, solidly constructed of twigs and soil, is used year after year.
Roon \'ron\, Albrecht Theodor Emil, count von (b. April 30, 1803, Pleushagen, near Kolberg, Pomerania—d. Feb. 23, 1879, Berlin, Ger.) Prussian army officer. He aided Prince William (later Emperor Wil¬ liam I) in suppressing the insurrection in Baden (1848). As minister of war (1859-73), he improved the Prussian army by requiring universal mili¬ tary service and a permanent reserve. His reforms contributed to the army’s decisive victories in the Seven Weeks' War (1866) and the Franco- Prussian War (1870-71), which helped make Germany the leading power on the European continent.
Rooney, Mickey orig. Joe Yule, Jr. (b. Sept. 23, 1920, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. film actor. He joined his family in their vaudeville act from the age of 17 months and made his film debut playing a cigar¬ smoking midget con man in 1926. He starred in 50 RKO short comedies as Mickey McGuire (1927-33) and won praise for his roles in A Mid¬ summer Night’s Dream (1935) and Boys Town (1938). From 1937 he played the cocky, energetic Andy Hardy in a series of popular films, often teamed with Judy Garland. His later film successes include The Human Comedy (1943), National Velvet (1944), Baby Face Nelson (1957), and The Black Stallion (1979). He made a successful Broadway debut in Sugar Babies in 1979, and he continued to perform in popular musical theatre productions, appearing in the title role of The Wizard of Oz in 1998.
Roosevelt Vro-zs-.velt, 'ro-zo-vohA, (Anna) Eleanor (b. Oct. 11, 1884, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d.
Nov. 7, 1962, New York City) U.S. first lady and diplomat. The niece of Theodore Roosevelt, she married her distant cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1905. She raised their five chil¬ dren and became active in politics after her husband’s polio attack (1921). As first lady (1933-45), she traveled around the U.S. to report on living conditions and public opinion for her husband, and she supported humanitarian causes such as child welfare, equal rights, and social reforms. During World War II, she traveled in Britain and the South Pacific as well as to U.S. military bases to help raise morale. She wrote the syndicated column “My Day,” as well as several books. After her husband’s death, she was appointed a delegate to the UN (1945, 1949-52, 1961), whose founding she had strongly advocated. As chair of its Commission on Human Rights (1946- 51), she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). In the 1950s she traveled around the world for the UN and remained active in the Democratic Party.
Roosevelt, Franklin D(elano) (b. Jan. 30, 1882, Hyde Park, N.Y., U.S.—d. April 12, 1945, Warm Springs, Ga.) 32nd president of the U.S. (1933-45). Attracted to politics by the example of his cousin Theodore Roosevelt, he became active in the Democratic Party. In 1905 he married Eleanor Roosevelt, who would become a valued adviser in future years. He served in the New York senate (1910-13) and as U.S. assistant sec¬ retary of the navy (1913-20). In 1920 he was nominated by the Demo¬ crats as their vice presidential candidate. The next year he was stricken with polio; though unable to walk, he remained active in politics. As gov¬ ernor of New York (1929-33), he set up the first state relief agency in the U.S. In 1932 he won the Democratic presidential nomination with the help of James Farley and easily defeated Pres. Herbert Hoover. In his inaugural address to a nation of more than 13 million unemployed, he pronounced that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Congress passed most of the changes he sought in his New Deal program in the first hundred days of his term. He was overwhelmingly reelected in 1936 over Alf Landon. To solve legal challenges to the New Deal, he proposed enlarg¬ ing the Supreme Court, but his “court-packing” plan aroused strong oppo-
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Roosevelt ► Rorschach I 1641
sition and had to be abandoned. By the late 1930s economic recovery had slowed, but Roosevelt was increasingly concerned with the growing threat of war. In 1940 he was reelected to an unprecedented third term, defeat¬ ing Wendell Willkie. He developed the lend-lease program to aid U.S. allies, especially Britain, in the early years of World War II. In 1941 he met with Winston Churchill to draft the Atlantic Charter. With U.S. entry into war, Roosevelt mobilized industry for military production and formed an alli¬ ance with Britain and the Soviet Union; he met with Churchill and Joseph Stalin to form war policy at Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945). Despite declining health, he won reelection for a fourth term against Thomas Dewey (1944) but served only briefly before his death.
Roosevelt, Theodore known as Teddy Roosevelt (b. Oct. 27, 1858, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 6, 1919, Oyster Bay, N.Y.) 26th president of the U.S. (1901-09). He was elected to the New York legis¬ lature (1882), where he became a Republican leader opposed to the Demo¬ cratic political machine. After political defeats and the death of his wife, he went to the Dakota Territory to ranch. He returned to New York to serve on the U.S. Civil Service Commission (1889-95) and as head of the city’s board of police commissioners (1895-97). A supporter of William McKinley, he served as assistant secretary of the navy (1897-98). When the Spanish-American War was declared, he resigned to organize a cavalry unit, the Rough Riders. He returned to New York a hero and was elected governor in 1899. As the Republican vice-presidential nominee, he took office when McKinley was reelected, and he became president on Mc¬ Kinley’s assassination in 1901. One of his early initiatives was to urge enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act against business monopolies. He won election in his own right in 1904, defeating Alton Parker. At his urging, Congress regulated railroad rates and passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act (1906) to protect public health. He created national forests and set aside mineral, oil, and coal deposits for conservation. He and secretary of state Euhu Root announced the Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which reasserted the U.S.’s position as protector of the Western Hemisphere. For mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War, he received the 1906 Nobel Prize for Peace. He secured a treaty with Panama for construction of a trans-isthmus canal. Declining to seek reelection, he secured the nomination for William H. Taft. After traveling in Africa and Europe, he tried to win the Republican presidential nomination in 1912; when he was rejected, he organized the Bull Moose Party and ran on a policy of New Nationalism. Though he lost the election, he secured 88 electoral votes—the most successful third- party candidacy in the 20th century. Throughout his life he continued to write, publishing extensively on history, politics, travel, and nature. See also Big Stick policy; Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Roosevelt Island formerly (until 1921) Blackwell's Island and (1921-73) Welfare Island Island in the East River, between the bor¬ oughs of Manhattan and Queens, New York, New York, U.S. Administra¬ tively part of Manhattan, it has an area of 139 acres (56 hectares). In 1637 the Dutch bought the island from the Indians. In 1828 the city acquired it and built a penitentiary there. It was renamed in 1973 to honour Pres. Franklin Roosevelt. Now the site of moderate-income housing and shop¬ ping complexes, it is connected to Manhattan by aerial tramway and to Queens by bridge.