Historical fiction about the president can be found in many movies, but the numerous biographies about the Rough Rider president ably tell his story from his sickly childhood to his adult life of adventure and honor.

The president has many places fans can get in touch with his life, but starting at the beginning – the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site in New York City at 28 East 20th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South – is the best way to “meet the president.”

Roosevelt was born in the building in 1858, a boy with health problems and asthma. According to the National Park Service, he began exercising to improve his life and soon changed his health issues, going on to have a lifelong passion for a “strenuous life.” The original building where he was born was torn down in 1916, but the current brownstone was built in 1919 and the museum was completed, and opened to the public in 1924. It was rebuilt by contributions from the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association and decorated with many original furnishings and color schemes thanks to Roosevelt’s wife and two sisters. There are five rooms with period furniture, two museum galleries and a bookstore in the building now.

The presidential birthplace, operated by the National Park Service, is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, except on federal holidays.

Some fantastic book recommendations to learn about President Roosevelt:

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris
 

Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris