If you’ve ever walked through a museum and seen those two distinct sets of spectacles—one pair perched on the rugged, outdoorsy face of Theodore Roosevelt and the other on the more refined, stoic visage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt—it’s only natural to wonder if you're looking at a father and son. Or maybe brothers? Honestly, the names are identical, the politics were world-altering, and they both ended up in the same house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But the family tree is a bit more tangled than a straight line.
So, was Teddy Roosevelt related to FDR?
The short answer: Yes. But it’s not the "father-son" dynamic people often assume. They were fifth cousins. If you’re trying to picture that at your next Thanksgiving dinner, it basically means they shared the same great-great-great-great-grandparents. Specifically, they both trace their lineage back to Nicholas Roosevelt, a Dutch colonist who lived in New Amsterdam (now New York) in the 1600s.
Nicholas had two sons: Johannes and Jacobus. That’s where the family split into two distinct clans. Johannes started the "Oyster Bay" Roosevelts—the Republicans, the rough riders, the Teddy branch. Jacobus started the "Hyde Park" Roosevelts—the Democrats, the old-money elites, the Franklin branch.
The Family Tree Tangle and the Eleanor Connection
History gets a little weirder here. While Teddy and Franklin were distant cousins, the bond between the two families was actually much tighter because of a wedding.
Franklin didn't just share a last name with Teddy; he married Teddy’s favorite niece.
Eleanor Roosevelt was the daughter of Elliott Roosevelt, who happened to be Theodore’s younger brother. This makes Eleanor and Franklin fifth cousins once removed. When FDR and Eleanor tied the knot in 1905, it was Uncle Teddy—who was the sitting President of the United States at the time—who walked the bride down the aisle. Legend has it that Teddy completely stole the show. He was a man who, as his own children said, "wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening."
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He reportedly leaned over to Franklin after the ceremony and said, "Well, Franklin, there's nothing like keeping the name in the family."
You can imagine the scene. It was a massive social event. The Hyde Park Roosevelts and the Oyster Bay Roosevelts weren't always the best of friends—there was a bit of a "city mouse, country mouse" rivalry going on—but for that afternoon, the two branches were fused together. This wasn't just a marriage of two people; it was a merger of two political dynasties that would define the 20th century.
Common Blood, Different Worlds
Even though they shared a name, the two men grew up in vastly different environments. Teddy was a sickly kid from Manhattan who basically willed himself into becoming a titan of strength. He was obsessed with the "strenuous life." He boxed, he hunted, he charged up San Juan Hill. He was a whirlwind of chaotic energy.
Franklin, on the other hand, was an only child raised in the lap of luxury in Hyde Park. He was pampered. He was polished. While Teddy was out in the Badlands of Dakota chasing horse thieves, Franklin was being tutored and sailing on the family estate.
But here is the thing: Franklin idolized Teddy.
Despite the fact that they belonged to different political parties—Teddy was the face of the progressive Republicans and FDR eventually became the king of the New Deal Democrats—Franklin consciously modeled his career after his "Uncle Ted."
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Look at the resumes. It’s almost eerie.
- Teddy was in the New York State Assembly; Franklin was in the New York State Senate.
- Teddy was Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Franklin was Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
- Teddy was Governor of New York; Franklin was Governor of New York.
- Both were, obviously, President.
Franklin even used the same "V" shaped grin and sometimes mimicked the enthusiastic "Bully!" vocalizations of his older cousin. He understood that the Roosevelt brand stood for a specific kind of energetic, interventionist leadership. He took the Roosevelt name and adapted it for a new era, moving the family legacy from the "Square Deal" to the "New Deal."
The Political Feud That Nobody Talks About
We like to think of them as a unified front, but the Oyster Bay Roosevelts (Teddy’s kids) often felt like Franklin was a bit of a "maverick" or even a traitor to the Republican roots of the name.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Teddy’s eldest daughter and a legendary Washington wit, was famously sharp-tongued about her cousin Franklin. She once described him as "one-third mush and two-thirds Eleanor." She didn't think he had the grit of her father. There was a genuine bitterness between the two branches of the family during the 1930s. The Oyster Bay Roosevelts viewed FDR’s massive government expansion as a betrayal of the more "rugged individualist" streak that Teddy championed (even though Teddy himself was quite the trust-buster and reformer).
It’s a classic family drama, really. You have two branches of a dynasty competing for the "true" inheritance of a legacy. One branch has the original hero, but the other branch has the man who held the country together through the Great Depression and World War II.
Why the Relationship Matters Today
Understanding that Teddy Roosevelt was related to FDR isn't just a fun trivia fact for Jeopardy. It explains a lot about how American power functioned in the early 1900s. It was a world of "knickerbocker" aristocracy where family names carried immense weight.
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Franklin's relationship to Teddy gave him an immediate "in" with voters. Even if people didn't like his specific policies, the name "Roosevelt" suggested a certain level of competence and vigor. It was a brand.
Moreover, the relationship via Eleanor meant that the two most influential Presidents of the first half of the century were connected by a woman who was arguably as influential as both of them. Eleanor used her position to push FDR toward more progressive social stances, often citing the moral fervor she saw in her Uncle Teddy.
How to Trace the Lineage Yourself
If you’re a genealogy nerd, you can actually see this play out in the archives.
- Start with Nicholas Roosevelt (1658–1742).
- Follow the Johannes line down to Theodore (born 1858).
- Follow the Jacobus line down to Franklin (born 1882).
- Note the "bridge" where Eleanor (Teddy's niece) crosses over to marry Franklin.
It is one of the few instances in American history where a single family produced two of the "Mount Rushmore" tier leaders (though only one is actually on the mountain).
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you want to dive deeper into this fascinating family dynamic, here is what you should do next:
- Visit the Sites: Go to Sagamore Hill in Long Island to see Teddy’s "Oyster Bay" life, then drive up to Hyde Park to see FDR’s "Springwood." The physical distance is only about two hours, but the vibe of the two estates tells you everything you need to know about their different personalities.
- Read the Dual Biographies: Pick up The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns. It’s the definitive look at how these two men and Eleanor shaped the American century together.
- Watch the Documentary: The Ken Burns series The Roosevelts is a masterpiece of storytelling that visualizes the family tree in a way that makes the fifth-cousin connection actually make sense.
- Analyze the Speeches: Compare Teddy’s "The Strenuous Life" speech with FDR’s "First Inaugural Address." You’ll hear the echoes of the same rhetorical DNA—a belief in the power of the American spirit to overcome any crisis, whether it’s a mountain or a global economic collapse.
The Roosevelt legacy wasn't a fluke. It was a calculated, generational effort by two different branches of a family to leave a permanent mark on the world. They succeeded. One did it with a "Big Stick," and the other did it with "Fireside Chats," but the blood running through their veins was exactly the same.