In 1901, President McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist and Roosevelt became president of the United States. At 42, he was the youngest person to become president. He was also the first president to succeed to the office after a president’s death and then later also win by election when it came to staying in office. Speaking of firsts, Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to ride in an airplane, dive in a submarine, ride in an automobile during time in office, invite an African American man to the White House (Booker T. Washington), host the Olympics (Missouri, 1904), travel outside of the United States, and the first president to have a telephone in his home.