Custom generic container class

I am trying to create a class named "tree_node" which can hold a label
(char) and any type of data. I came up with the following code.

template<typename T>
struct node_traits
{
     typedef T& reference;
     typedef T* pointer;
};

template<typename T>
struct node_traits<T*>
{
     typedef T* reference;
     typedef T* pointer;
};

template<typename T>
class tree_node
{
     public:
         typedef typename node_traits<T>::reference reference;
         typedef typename node_traits<T>::pointer pointer;

         tree_node(reference item)
         {
            //item_ = item; Works only if T is pointer
            item_ = new T(item);
         }

         reference item()
         {
             return item_;
         }

     private:

         pointer item_;
};

My intention here is to create a container that can hold any type of
object. Like STL, I would like to copy create the object for all non-
pointer types. The above code will not work as I expected. Consider
the following usages.

Foo f;
tree_node<Foo> node(f); // works well
tree_node<Foo*> node1(new Foo); // will not work until i change the
implementation of class

1 - How will I create the class in such way that it accepts all types.
2 - Is there anyway to keep the object inside the class without using
pointers?

I'd not be interested in any libraries that have such a class because
I am creating this just for learning.

Thanks

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