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Teddy Roosevelt’s War Against The Dangers Of Injuries Caused By Banana Peels

The former US President took on an unusual issue early in his political career

Andrew Martin
4 min readSep 12, 2023

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Former President Teddy Roosevelt developed a strong legacy during the eight years he served in the highest office in the country. His progressive agenda included staunchly supporting conservation and the labor movement. An advocate for many causes, one of the most unusual was earlier in his political career in the state of New York where he waged a war against the dangers of banana peels being left on busy sidewalks in the city.

After attending Harvard and serving in a variety of high-profile political positions, including the President of the Board of Commissioners that oversaw the New York City Police Department, Governor of New York and U.S. Vice President, Teddy Roosevelt was voted into the nation’s highest office as the 26th President, and served from 1901–1909.

Few Presidents produced the same level of advocacy that Roosevelt had while a resident of the White House. However, going way back into his career, he always threw the full weight of his support behind various causes that grabbed his attention.

In the 1890s, New York City was in the midst of a serious sanitary crisis. The city’s streets were…

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Andrew Martin
Andrew Martin

Written by Andrew Martin

Dabbler in soccer, history, investing & writing. Master’s degree in baseball history. Passionate about history, diversity, culture, sports, film and investing .

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