Massive Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library to open in North Dakota Badlands

Theodore Roosevelt is best known as the 26th President of the United States and the “bad rider” of the Spanish-American War. But much less is known about his deep connection and love for North Dakota, the state that played a major role in shaping his larger-than-life personality, creative spirit and great love of the outdoors.

Now, nearly 106 years after his death, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation plans to celebrate and honor that connection between the man and the land that shaped him by opening a state-of-the-art presidential library built on more than 90 acres of land. in the North Dakota Badlands.

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The project is based on Roosevelt’s three values ​​of citizenship, leadership and conservation. The library, built on the edge of Medora, North Dakota, will overlook Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the only national park named after a man.

In the spirit of Roosevelt, the foundation of the project is not just to build any ordinary library. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will harness the power of both technology and nature to provide visitors with a more immersive experience that is more immersive than indoor, inspiring and pushing you to find outdoor joys like Roosevelt did.

The library doesn’t just want to teach people about Roosevelt. Instead, it will use immersive storytelling techniques, the latest technology, including augmented reality, and the natural surroundings of Medora, North Dakota, to show people of all ages what they can learn from the life and experiences of the man and the president.

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Teddy Roosevelt fell in love with the Badlands during a hunting trip in the 1880s, according to historians.

Ethnicity

In a message announcing the project, Edward O’Keefe, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, said, “TR took great pleasure in criticizing the critic, and encouraged everyone to ‘enter the arena’ of life.”

O’Keefe, a native of North Dakota, explained that the vision of the library is to serve as a place for community interaction, learning, and research. The library will include a large auditorium that the foundation envisions as a potential venue for future presidential debates.

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is intended to serve as a place for public interaction, study and research. The library will include a large auditorium that the foundation envisions as a potential venue for future presidential debates. (Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation)

Above all, O’Keefe said the library will seek to connect people to what Roosevelt described as the “hard life” of the North Dakota wilderness.

“North Dakota is the epitome of the hero’s journey in TR’s almost unbelievable life story,” O’Keefe said.

North America, USA, North Dakota, Medora, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Painted Canyon. (Photo by: Bernard Friel/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“[Roosevelt] he wrote that if all his memories were to be taken from him, and he was forced to remember only one of his wonderful life he would choose to remember ‘my life on the farm and its experiences close to nature and among the men who lived near him,'” he explained. “He did not choose the memory of the Roughriders or charging the Kettle Hill; he would not remember McKinley’s assassination and his rise from the presidency to the Oval Office … TR chose to remember North Dakota, so North Dakota chooses to remember TR.”

Leadership

Roosevelt, who served two terms as president from 1901 to 1909, moved to the North Dakota Badlands in 1884 in his early twenties. He was suffering from heartache after the death of his wife and mother in one tragic day. It was in North Dakota that a broken man found solace in the solitude and beauty of the wilderness.

Above all, Edward O’Keefe, CEO of Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, said the library will seek to connect people with what Roosevelt described as the “hard life” of the North Dakota wilderness.

He later wrote that he “would not have been president if it had not been for my experience in North Dakota.”

With this in mind, O’Keefe said the library “won’t be a box in the Badlands with artifacts under glass,” but “like TR’s life, it will be an experience.”

“We want everyone who visits the TR presidential library and museum to come away with an understanding of nature’s role as a restorative force in TR’s life, and that each of us can be the change we want to see in the world,” O’Keefe said. . “This museum can be a forum for public dialogue, thoughtful debate, and inspiration around the world.”

In front of the library there will be a large circular trail around the butte with several unique viewpoints along the way that encourage visitors to explore and reflect.

Conservation of nature

After receiving approval from Congress and former President Donald Trump, the foundation completed its purchase of the library property from the US Forest Service in 2022. The land is close to Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Roosevelt’s famous Elkhorn Ranch.

The building was designed to be able to live off the land, just like Roosevelt did.

The project’s website says that just as “through his action, passion, and foresight, Roosevelt ushered in a new era of conservation and stewardship of America’s natural environment,” the library’s design “will reflect and expand upon those values, setting new standards.” the level of leadership in conservation and sustainability.”

The foundation uses local contractors and is building a library of materials that will allow the building to reduce waste and emissions as well as water and energy use.

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The building has a curved clay roof with a nearby boot. The field and roof will be built with native plants and grasses to help restore the region’s biodiversity that has been destroyed over time.

Instead of disrupting the “hot hills” of North Dakota, with grass, the library’s design team from the US-Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta envisioned a building that blends naturally with the landscape. The building has a curved clay roof with a nearby boot. The field and roof will be built with native plants and grasses to help restore the region’s biodiversity that has been destroyed over time.

Photos shared exclusively with Fox News Digital by the foundation show that the interior of the library is already taking shape. Natural light pours down from the glass ceiling panels, coloring a set of large pre-finished earth walls, made of a mixture of stone, sand, mud and clay.

A photo first shared with Fox News Digital shows a set of large walls that have already been completed, made of a mixture of stone, sand, mud and clay. (Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation)

Right in front of the library will be a large circular trail around the butte with a few unique viewpoints along the way that encourage visitors to explore and reflect.

A new chapter

The library is slated to open on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of America and the Declaration of Independence.

Theodore Roosevelt V, great-great-grandson of the 26th president and a partner in the project, said of the library “The people of North Dakota have ensured the legacy not only of their state but of our nation and the world.”

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will be located in the North Dakota Badlands where the legendary president transformed from a New York City man to a “fierce rider.” (Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation)

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But beyond North Dakota, Roosevelt said all Americans can be inspired by his great-grandfather’s continuing legacy.

“My great father’s legacy of citizenship, leadership, and conservation is as important today as it was when he was president,” he said in a statement on the library’s website. “When you focus on people who are interested in solutions rather than divisive discourses, it becomes clear that there is more that unites us than divides us – as was the case at the beginning of the 20th century.”

Theodore Roosevelt standing on a podium pointing to the crowd during a campaign speech. Ca. 1900s. (Getty Images)

“Like Theodore Roosevelt, a man of contradictions – republican and progressive, crusade against violence and capitalism, hunter and threat, independent and private – our country is many different things. Finding commonality between them may be the key to America’s future.”