Before Theodore Roosevelt became the twenty-sixth President of the United States (at the age of 42), he was a New York State Assemblyman, Governor of New York, and Vice President. He also served as deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory, Police Commissioner of New York City, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Colonel of the Rough Riders. During his presidency, he thrust aside isolationism to make America an international power, while domestically seeking to bring order, social justice, and fair dealings to American industry and commerce. He designated 150 National Forests, the first 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 5 National Parks, the first 18 National Monuments, the first 4 National Game Preserves, and the first 21 Reclamation Projects. Altogether, in the seven-and-one-half years he was in office, he provided federal protection for almost 230 million acres, a land area equivalent to that of all the East coast states from Maine to Florida. He began the Panama Canal, established the Department of Commerce and Labor; negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War (and won the Nobel Peace Prize); he preached a Square Deal for all Americans, enabling millions to earn a living wage; he built up the Navy as the Big Stick, thus establishing America as a major world power; while reducing the National debt by over $90 million. An original member of the American Institute of Arts and Letters, and he was one of the first elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as a founder of the Boone and Crocket Club, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Long Island Bird Club. He was President of the American Historical Associationand was considered the world's authority on large American mammals, (he led two major scientific expeditions for prominent American Museums, one in South America and one in Africa). He maintained a ranch in the West, hunted on several continents, raised a family of six children, read nearly one book a day, wrote more than thirty-five himself, and developed a mail network of friends and contacts, resulting in over 150,000 letters.