Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush all had their ranches (and their signature Stetsons), but America has only had one cowboy President. Though others embraced the cowboy persona and its symbolism, Theodore Roosevelt genuinely lived the life, suffered its hardships, and emerged with the scars and stories to prove it. By his own admission, it marked the turning point of his existence. Beginning this July, the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota brings his legacy front and center, along with a timeless call to action that feels especially relevant as America celebrates its 250th anniversary.

“I do not believe there ever was any life more attractive to a vigorous young fellow than life on a cattle ranch in those days,” Roosevelt wrote in his 1913 autobiography, “It was a fine, healthy life, too; it taught a man self-reliance, hardihood, and the value of instant decision.”

Though the TRPL covers the complete Roosevelt story, its stunning location in the Badlands allows visitors to experience firsthand the area and landscapes that would come to shape his personality, his governing style and ultimately the laws of the land. “I would not have been President had it not been for my experience in North Dakota,” he said during a speech in 1910.

Roosevelt moved to the Badlands in the spring of 1884, grieving the dual loss of his mother and wife, both of whom had died tragically on Valentine’s Day. There, the homebound asthmatic boy who read tales of cowboys became one himself. The man who would espouse “Get action” would see more of it in his two years living there than most see in ten lifetimes.

While he lived in greater comfort than most, he threw himself into the daily toil of ranch life. He stopped stampedes and took part in months-long cattle round-ups, working alongside the cowboys, bronc-busters and flash riders of the day. He also encountered the old-timers—grizzled hunters and trappers that still lived in the backwoods and were among the true frontiersmen. As a rancher, he formed and was unanimously elected head of the area’s first stockmen’s association and became a deputy sheriff for Billings County. With two ranch hands, he chased and captured three riverboat thieves during the freezing winter of 1886 before leading them on a 45-mile journey to the nearest judge. He lost 60% of his cattle herd to the catastrophic conditions of that same season. Yet he returned to New York—and to political life—a harder, more resilient man with renewed purpose, a stronger sense of justice, and a deeper connection to the country’s great open spaces.

Visitors to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will hear some of these exploits during a campfire storytime at a recreation of his famous Elkhorn Ranch, one of many interactive exhibits. There’s also an AI-powered avatar of Roosevelt himself, custom-built from the library’s trove of his personal writings, with a little more personality than your average Alexa. Debate with it at your peril.

While such technological marvels inside the TRPL are fun, the real star of the show is the natural world around it, something the library integrates at nearly every turn. Designed to blend into the landscape, the 96,000-square-foot building is naturally lit by extensive skylights and its walls are composed primarily of excavated earth from the construction site. It’s the only carbon-neutral presidential library in the world, with 216 geothermal wells and solar generation supplying 105% of its electricity needs. The sprawling space encourages organic wandering. Its sloped roof is part of a one-mile outdoor walking path, which loops around native grasslands that surround it, and offers panoramic views of the same hills and plateaus where Roosevelt said “the romance of my life began.”

The grounds also connect to the 144-mile Maah Daah Hey Trail, a multi-use route for hiking, biking and horseback riding through the Badlands. (The library is equipped with hitching posts, naturally).

These details, like many others, reflect an ethos that runs throughout the TRPL’s mission—to offer “a physical connection to the land that influenced Roosevelt’s ideas about conservation, citizenship, and stewardship.” Its purpose is not merely to educate visitors on Roosevelt’s life, but to inspire visitors to put his philosophy into present-day action.

“‘Library’ and ‘museum’ are the two worst descriptions of what the TR Library actually is,” said TRPL CEO Edward O’Keefe on CBS Sunday Morning. “It’s a call to adventure. I want kids in particular to come in and to understand that if you want to change something in this world, then you have got to be the source of that change.”