Henry Latrobe Roosevelt was an Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

Assistant Secretary of the Navy is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy....

.

A member of the Roosevelt family

Roosevelt family

In heraldry, canting arms are a visual or pictorial play on a surname, and were and still are a popular practice. It would be common to find roses, then, in arms of many Roosevelt families, even unrelated ones...

, he was born in Morristown, New Jersey

Morristown, New Jersey

Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...

, to Nicholas Latrobe Roosevelt, who had a naval career of distinction and was a grandson of Nicholas Roosevelt

Nicholas Roosevelt (inventor)

Nicholas Isaac Roosevelt was an American inventor, a major investor in Upstate New York land, and a member of the Roosevelt family. His primary invention was to introduce vertical paddle wheels for steamboats.-Inventor:Nicholas Roosevelt was carefully educated...

, an inventor and land-owner. Roosevelt entered the United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

 in 1896 but did not graduate. He became a Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...

 in the Marine Corps

Marine corps

A marine is a member of a force that specializes in expeditionary operations such as amphibious assault and occupation. The marines traditionally have strong links with the country's navy...

, in which he served during the Spanish–American War. He was at times stationed in Philadelphia, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 and Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

. After retiring in 1920, he served as the European manager for the Radio Corporation of America from 1923 to 1928 and oversaw the building of large radio stations at Ankara

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, and Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

.

He returned to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1933 to head the Radio Real Estate Corporation, but was soon selected by Naval Secretary Claude A. Swanson

Claude A. Swanson

Claude Augustus Swanson was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Virginia.He served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1893 until 1906, was the 45th Governor of Virginia from 1906 until 1910, and represented Virginia as a United States Senator from 1910 until...

 for the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He became the fourth Roosevelt and fifth member of the Roosevelt family to occupy that office, after Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

, Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 (the current president at the time), Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

Theodore D. Roosevelt, Jr. , was an American political and business leader, a Medal of Honor recipient who fought in both of the 20th century's world wars. He was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt from his second wife Edith Roosevelt...

 and Theodore Douglas Robinson

Theodore Douglas Robinson

Theodore "Teddy" Douglas Robinson was an American politician and member of the Roosevelt family.He was born in New York City to Douglas Robinson and his wife Corinne Roosevelt, sister of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. He was Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1924 to 1929...

. Due to Swanson's poor health, Roosevelt was at times Acting Secretary. He made many tours of inspection and speeches, calling for the strengthening of the navy as a deterrent to war.

In 1902, he married Eleanor Morrow, daughter of California Circuit Judge W. W. Morrow. He had three children, William Morrow, Henry Latrobe, and Eleanor Katherine, who married Reverdy Wadsworth, son of U.S. Representative James W. Wadsworth, Jr.. He died at Bethesda Naval Hospital of a heart attack following intestinal influenza.