T.R. and Lipstick Sarah

I saw someone wearing a t-shirt (on tv) the other day that proclaimed the following:
"I love the outdoors (especially hunting) and have many children
I'm a reformer and have gone up against the Republican Party Establishment
I'm the VP candidate on a national party ticket and am under 45 years old. Who am I?"

I expected to find that the answer was Sarah Palin, but in fact it was our 26th President (and former vice president) Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy to the public.) I decided to do some research and see if they were actually similar. Here's a summary of what I found.

1) Both were 1 of 4 children (Both have 2 sisters and 1 brother, though Teddy was 2nd born and Sarah was 3rd born)...
*It should also be noted that Teddy Roosevelt and I have the same birthday.
2) Both were avid outdoorspeople. Roosevelt moved to the badlands in the 1860s after the death of his first wife, Alice. He learned to "run, rope, and hunt" despite a bad heart. Palin, after to moving to Alaska as a child, became an enthusiastic hunter, rider, and generally active woman. Both were also known for their love of the outdoors.
3) Roosevelt had 1 child with his first wife, Alice and had 5 children with his second wife, Edith Carow. Palin has 5 children.
4) Roosevelt reformed the NYC police department (the "most corrupt in the country") and Sarah Palin created a police force in Wasilla, Alaska (which, fyi, is the 5th largest population center in Alaska).
5) Roosevelt was 40 when he was elected as Governor of New York, Palin was 42 when she was elected governor of Alaska. Both ran on "anti-machine politics" platforms and rooted out significant amounts of corruption.
6) Both were governors for less than 2 years when tapped as VP candidates.

Teddy Roosevelt succeeded McKinley after McKinley was shot and killed by an anarchist. Roosevelt became the youngest president in our history (younger than JFK). On that sidenote, JFK wasn't exactly Mr. Experience either. Though he did serve in the House and the Senate, he spent most of his Senate years cooped up in a hospital because he needed several spinal surgeries. During that time, he wrote "Profiles in Courage" - or rather, his speechwriter Ted Sorenson wrote it (as he confirmed in his autobiography). JFK received the Catholic last rites 4 times in his life.

Now it is important to note that there are key differences between Palin and Roosevelt, too. Namely, that TR had military experience (in the Spanish-American War). But McCain more than makes up for that shortcoming, I think.

One more quick note: No one ever criticized Teddy Roosevelt's right to be president despite his large family. Upon being elected in 1901, TR had a 17 year old, a 14 year old, a 12 year old, a 10 year old, a 6 year old, and a 3 year old.