Vintage 12.75 x 12.5 Pach Bros. halftone portrait photo of Roosevelt in a three-piece suit, staring intently into the lens, signed and inscribed in fountain pen as president, “To George R. Peck from Theodore Roosevelt, June 28, 1902.” Photo is housed in its original circular mat and backing, complete with Pach Bros. information printed on reverse. In fine condition, with a separated top right corner, undetectable under mat. In 1902, Roosevelt averted a national emergency when he found a compromise to the anthracite coal strike by the United Mine Workers of America that threatened the heating supplies of most homes. Workers in eastern Pennsylvania were on strike for 163 days before it ended, and they were granted a 10% pay increase and a 9-hour day (from the previous 10 hours). Also in 1902, in response to the assassination of President William McKinley on September 6, 1901, Roosevelt became the first president to be under constant Secret Service protection. Roosevelt’s lasting popular legacy is the stuffed toy bears (teddy bears), named after him following an incident on a hunting trip in 1902. Roosevelt famously refused to kill a captured black bear cub simply for the sake of making a kill. Bears and later bear cubs became closely associated with Roosevelt in political cartoons thereafter. A striking and seldom seen example. LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
