The youngest president of the United States was Theodore Roosevelt. He had been vice-president under William McKinley. He came into office in 1901, just before his 43rd birthday, when McKinley was killed by an anarchist. He was elected in his own right in 1904.
In September 1905, Roosevelt brought about a peace conference between warring Russia and Japan. The conference was held in Portsmouth, N.H. (see Russo-Japanese War). For this service he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize.
Roosevelt was active in planning the Second Hague Peace Conference, where representatives from 44 countries adopted rules governing arbitration. One dispute settled by the Permanent Court of Arbitration concerned the rights of American fishermen in Canadian waters (1910). It was settled in America's favor.
On Jan. 6, 1919, Roosevelt died in his sleep. He was buried near Sagamore Hill. In 1962 his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, and his boyhood home in New York City were established as national historic sites. His Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota is part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park, which was established in 1947.