About Us
The Roosevelt Group is a membership organization, think tank, and publication whose purpose is to nurture a community and reveal perspectives on the world via our members.
Who We Are
Founded in 2017, the Roosevelt Group is a student-led organization situated in St Andrews, Scotland. The Group is largely composed of student members at the University of St Andrews.
The Roosevelt Group combines each member’s international outlook, academic rigour, and curiosity to generate a range of conversations. Our 50-member active roster includes a variety of nationalities and spans various academic degree paths.
We aim to gather students and professionals alike for our speaker events and networking opportunities.
The Roosevelt Group publishes two formats of written work that allow our members to explore and express their passions and interests: Quick Takes and New Annales.
Quick Takes are short pieces on a member’s topic of choice, while New Annales is the Roosevelt Group’s biannual publication. The name comes from the 20th-century French Annales school of history, created by Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre, which considers numerous structures like time, natural history, and social history. Its beauty rests in the fact that the Annales has no sens unique—it is left to take on a life of its own from generation to generation.
Advancing the British-American connection
Our Name
We take our name from
Theodore,
Franklin,
and Eleanor.
Theodore Roosevelt was a dynamic, ambitious leader whose presidency embodied energy and reform. He overcame childhood infirmities to become a formidable politician, challenging corporate monopolies and corruption. He was a keen foreign policymaker with bold and expansive diplomatic missions, which, though reflecting the imperialist attitudes of his era, embodied the vigour of America’s rise at the turn of the century. Roosevelt’s dedication to conservation, inspired by his partnership with Scotsman John Muir, remains one of his most enduring legacies—a reminder of the balance between progress and stewardship.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt redefined leadership in times of unprecedented crisis. Confronting the Great Depression with innovative policies and resolve, his New Deal reshaped the American economy and expanded the social welfare of millions of Americans. As a wartime president, FDR demonstrated unparalleled strategic foresight, steering the United States through the crucible of World War II and laying the foundation for a postwar global order centred on cooperation and democracy. His ability to navigate domestic and international challenges with vision and empathy underscores his stature as one of history’s great statesmen.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a trailblazer who transformed the role of First Lady into a platform for activism, advocacy, and global diplomacy. Her relentless pursuit of justice extended across diverse communities: she fought for gender equality, worker protections, economic fairness, and African American civil rights, and later became a leading figure in shaping international human rights as the chair of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafting committee. Her legacy as a writer, diplomat, and conscience of her era continues to inspire those who seek to elevate the voices of the disenfranchised while challenging the status quo.
The Roosevelts remind us to work toward bettering ourselves and the world at large.