Friday Fun
Theodore Roosevelt as a Mii in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
by Ally Hecht
I was recently gifted Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream for my Nintendo Switch– a social simulation game that allows the player to create and interact with an island of characters called Miis. These Miis can be given unique personalities, dressed, fed, and made to interact with other Miis and items on your island. The Mii characters can be based on people you know, people you make up, and, in my case, historical figures. One day, a thought was born– “Why not make Theodore Roosevelt into a Mii on my island? I don’t get enough of him at work!” So, I did.
Creating Mii Theodore Roosevelt
I first debated which version of Roosevelt to craft in my game– young TR, Badlands TR, Rough Rider TR, Presidential TR, adventuring TR– with Presidential TR eventually winning. I fitted Mii TR with light brown hair, a mustache, blue eyes, and a smile. By shrinking the size of some glasses, changing the color to silver, and adding a chain, his pince-nez completed the look. It was at this moment I began feeling like Dr. Frankenstein, exclaiming “It’s alive!”
After naming him Theodore R. (President Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt both had too many characters and wouldn’t fit in the text box), the next step was determining Mii TR’s personality. This is done by deciding how your Mii ranks in five categories (Movement, Speech, Energy, Thinking, and Overall) on a sliding scale (see photograph 2 for the chart). There are four possible personality categories in Tomodachi Life: Considerate, Outgoing, Reserved, and Ambitious, with each of these categories having four sub-personalities.
Out of the 16 possibilities, I assumed when I created Mii TR that he would naturally fall somewhere in the “ambitious” category, but the personality I most wanted for Mii TR was an “outgoing dynamo,” defined as “Assertive and highly regarded. Trusts their own instincts, and easily commands the respect of others.” Because there is no way to pre-select a personality in this game, the only way to assign a personality to your Mii is to rank the five categories on the personality chart. Here is how I ended up ranking each of Mii TR’s traits:
Because of TR’s athleticism and adventuring spirit, I ranked him fairly high in the Movement category. In the Speech category, I hovered in the middle of Honest and Polite, but leaned slightly more Honest. Looking back at this ranking, I would shift this score one or two more spaces towards Honest, as I don’t believe the presidency had that much effect on dulling the honest opinions of TR in the long run. Throughout his life, he remained steadfast in what he believed in, and he let everyone know it. The Energy category was easy for me to rank– he was more varied than flat without a question. Of his energy, his wife Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt famously labeled TR her “oldest and rather worst child.” (Sylvia Jukes Morris, 147)
In the Thinking category, President Roosevelt ranked slightly on the more serious side because of his presidential duties, but I did not want to move him further to the left because of his relationship with his children and his childlike spirit. William Roscoe Thayer, in his book Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography, writes of his dedication to making time to play with his children, even while in the White House. Most days at 4pm, his children would claim him as their playmate, and he would drop what he was doing to play with them, “crawling…near the children’s rooms, with two or three children riding on his back” and taking part in pillow fights. His child-like spirit also shone through in picture letters to his children, like the one sent to Kermit Roosevelt on October 27, 1903, where he sketches family life for the Roosevelts, including pillow fights and Ethel holding onto the dog as he chases a rabbit. Furthermore, Roosevelt delighted in the antics of the White House Gang, a club founded by his own sons; however, was strict when the boys went too far (like blowing spitballs at a portrait of Andrew Jackson) or when safety was at risk.
Finally, in the Overall category, it was impossible for me to rank Roosevelt any further towards “Normal.” As any Ted-head will tell you, he was a far-from-normal individual. But restrictions from his class, his time period, and his beliefs made me refrain from ranking him any closer to “Quirky”.
To my shock, Mii TR’s personality aligned with none of my assumptions. Instead, he turned out to be an “Outgoing Merrymaker,” defined as, “Outgoing and pleasant to be around. Makes friends easily, and can turn any bad situation into a good one.”
Although I could have edited this personality to reshape Mii TR into one of the personalities I believed he could be (shifting his Speech score one or two spaces towards Honest would have been all I needed to do to get the Outgoing-Dynamo personality), I decided to leave his personality as it was when I created him. Roosevelt was passionate about several topics, like conservation of natural resources and the importance of being a good citizen. He followed his instincts and let the laws catch up, famously quoted as saying “I so declare it.” as he made Pelican Island a federal bird reservation, the first federal bird reservation in the country’s history.
Roosevelt was sociable and outgoing as he greeted hundreds and thousands on his travels around the country and the world. In letters to children (as have been covered in “Letters to Roosevelt” Substack posts), he often signed the letters “Your friend”. Roosevelt also had several longtime friends, including Henry Cabot Lodge, Owen Wister, William Wingate Sewall, Wilmot Dow, Seth Bullock, Hermann Speck von Sternburg (Speck), Cecil Spring-Rice (Springy), and others. Spring-Rice in particular met Roosevelt on a ship travelling to England in 1886 and was subsequently asked to be Roosevelt’s best man at his wedding to Edith.
Gifts for Mii Theodore Roosevelt
In Tomodachi Life, there are several items you can give to your Miis once out of the Mii creation phase. These gifts boost their mood on the island (which in turn gives you more in-game currency to buy more items for more Miis) and in Mii TR’s case, help reaffirm the character you are creating. Clothing, food, room decorations, and gifts are all available for your Miis, with new options appearing daily. The clothing I gave to Mii TR was perhaps the most important step to create a true recreation of President Roosevelt in the game; however, Tomodachi Life only offers a select amount of clothing to purchase each day in game. Luckily, dress shoes, a black suit with a red tie, and a black top hat were available for purchase after a few days. Like clothing, food also appears for sale daily. Mii TR has enjoyed treats like peaches, coffee, fried chicken, and pie.
Another easy customization for my Mii TR was his room. I selected a pre-fabricated room called the “Bookworm set” featuring hundreds of books on the walls and on the floor with a desk and a lamp in the corner. For a man who consistently read a book a day, wrote over 150,000 letters in his lifetime, and authored around 35-40 books and many, many articles, I felt this room was fitting!
The realization that a lion could be gifted to a Mii as a pet is what initially inspired me to create a Mii TR in the first place! Other gifts I have given Mii TR include a globe (commemorating his trip to Panama during his presidency and his lifelong travels), a bird feather (symbolizing his lifelong interest in birds), a wooden bear statue (Roosevelt inspired the creation of the teddy bear), and a “Muscle Building 101 DVD” (because of his lifelong dedication to living the strenuous life).
During the game, the Miis interact with their gifts– taking their pets on walks, studying their items, or using their DVDs to practice hobbies. I most often find Mii TR lifting weights and doing crunches or pushups around the island, playing with his bird feather, or showing off his globe to other Miis on the island.
Quirks
Lastly, while playing the game and having your Mii characters “level up” as their happiness increases, you can select “Quirks” and create “Lingo” for them to use. So far, I have selected “Greets proudly,” “Stands proudly,” “Eats with gusto,” and “Flips out when angry” quirks for my Mii TR. The two expressions currently assigned to Mii TR are “BULLY!” as a catchphrase and “I’m deee-lighted!” to be used when he is happy. I’m hoping to eventually add more quirks as I keep playing the game to influence how Mii TR walks, how much he eats, how he talks, and expressions during conversations.
As I write this Substack post, I realize it is an interesting and perhaps bizarre undertaking to create President Theodore Roosevelt in a video game. However, Theodore Roosevelt permeates the lives of the individuals who study him and connect with him. He appears randomly to us, in movies, in television shows, on merchandise, and in video games, whether we expect to see him or not. Roosevelt, for everything he was, remains an ever-intriguing historical figure that individuals in the present can relate to in the strangest and most seemingly-unusual ways, and that’s why I made him into a Mii!
As fellow Ted-heads (or those who are simply interested in this Tomodachi endeavor), I’m curious what you think about my Mii TR. If you could change anything about him, or if you were to create a Mii TR of your own, what would you change? His personality? His clothing? His gifts? Would you add a catchphrase or include lingo I haven’t thought of yet? If anyone decides to make a Mii TR (or a TR in other life-simulation video games), please share them with the Theodore Roosevelt Center Staff and tag us on social media! We can’t wait to see what you create.
Ally, I loved this post. It's so fun that you have a Mii TR and a Mii Samantha Parkington (my favorite American Girl doll growing up). One phrase I might add is “My friends and fellow citizens.” TR regularly began speeches that way, and it always makes me think of TR. Of course, as you mention in your post, he liked to sign letters, “your friend,” so it seems particularly apropos!
This makes my TR nerd heart so happy! Please keep doing periodic updates with history lessons -- this idea is fantastic!
As the Director of Education at the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House, I am incredibly tempted to get this game and make both a TR and a Susan B. Anthony to bug him about supporting women's suffrage (as she did historically)! 🤣