This hall features four exhibition areas that examine Theodore Roosevelt in four stages of his life: as a young naturalist with an early passion for nature; a firsthand observer whose experiences as a rancher in the North Dakota Badlands impressed him with the threat of extinction to animals such as the American bison; the Conservation President who took unprecedented action and placed some 230 million acres under federal protection; and the Lifelong Explorer whose post-presidency expeditions took him to an arduous exploration of Brazil’s River of Doubt.

Footage from award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns’ The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is on view in the hall, and a touch-screen timeline highlights important milestones in Roosevelt’s life, with photo galleries, archival footage, and video interviews with Roosevelt’s biographers, Museum scientists, and other experts.

A bronze sculpture of Theodore Roosevelt at the center of the hall invites visitors to sit next to him and contemplate his role in conservation, as well as the vital importance of protecting nature today. Next to the sculpture, a bronze medallion embedded in the floor depicts American bison grazing in Theodore Roosevelt National Park with an inscription “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country”—an excerpt from Roosevelt’s Confession of Faith speech, delivered at the Progressive National Convention in Chicago on August 6, 1912.