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Title: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Modern Library Paperbacks)
ISBN: 0375756787
Author:
Edmund Morris
Publicate Date: 2001-11
Publish: 2001-11
List Price: $17.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.18
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $4.46
Amazon Merchant Price: $12.21
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1: A double review of two great biographical works - get them both!
I came to an interest in the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt via a roundabout route. I am a big fan of his Confederate Uncle James Dunwoody Bulloch (1823 - 1901), the man who, almost single-handed, organised the building and the cruising of the CSS Alabama that, in turn, nearly turned the tide in 'The War for Southern Independence.'
(Captain Bulloch died in exile in Liverpool in 1901 at the age of 77. In his will he left $30,000 to his nephew, Theodore Roosevelt, soon to become the 26th US President. His gravestone is inscribed "an American by birth, an Englishman by choice").
There is little doubt that Roosevelt was proud of his Southern relatives and his Southern blood, though he was, through his paternal line, an instinctive Northerner (not necessarily a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee, though he went to Harvard and was Republican in much of his politics).
Anyway, my first subject-specific Roosevelt reading was David McCullough's 'Mornings On Horseback,' a marvellously moving account of TR's tortured childhood and younger manhood. There is little doubt that the first President Roosevelt was a complex and intriguing figure as well as being attractive in his own right, notwithstanding any of his amazing political achievements. I don't much care for Republicans but, from a very mixed bunch, it is easy to select TR and Ronald Reagan as having been hugely successful and it is very fitting that the former should have had his visage carved by Gutzon Borglum at Mount Rushmore. (There seems to me to be a strong case for the latter to be likewise immortalised).
I told my better-educated and extremely well-read brother-in-law of my growing interest in TR and he promptly lent me two more volumes, the twin subjects of this review, Edmund Morris's 'The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt' and 'Theodore Rex,' which deal in sequence (and do read them in sequence, please) with TR's life until September, 1901, when an assassin did for William McKinley in Buffalo, New York, and TR was translated from Vice-President to President.
The two books are big 'uns - 920 pages and 772 pages respectively - and they are thoroughly researched (with extensive notes in each case) as well as being beautifully written. Edmund Morris is evidently an extremely well-read author and his subject was obviously an amazingly well-read gentleman. The books are not just about being learned and being successful in politics and statecraft, however, for TR's life was so full of adventure, too, and, even if he had not been President, such a man would have justified and merited any number of biographies.
What did I learn? Well, I learned more about New York City and some of its more shady inhabitants; I learned more about Harvard and its habits and habitu??s; I learned more about the truly Wild West; I learned more about New York State politics; I learned more about the increasing influence of the United States in the latter part of the nineteenth century; and I learned about some people of whom I had never before heard - Marcus Alonzo Hanna, Elihu Root, Philander Chase Knox, Joseph Benson Foraker and Archibald Willingham de Graffenreid Butt - and, no, I have not invented any of these gloriously-named men - as well as some of whom I had heard, such as William Jennings Bryan, the Democrat who might have been a successful Presidential Candidate (and a successful President) had he not been faced with TR or TR's man, William Howard Taft.
And what are my conclusions after so much enjoyable reading? Well, first, I believe that TR made a big mistake in not seeking a second elected term - and possibly a third, for it was perfectly legal then - as a Republican: he was a better man than the fat and lazy Taft and the world's history may have been very different had TR been around to counter the Kaiser instead of the useless Taft or the over-intellectual and over-idealistic Woodrow Wilson; second, it has become obvious to me that TR was nothing short of brilliant in his dealings with such as the Panama and Venezuela crises; and, third, it is just possible that there may have been more to TR's relationship with the charismatic Archie Butt who was to die an heroic death when the Titanic went down. How 'bully' it would have been if the vigorously masculine and ultra-heterosexual TR had discovered a different sort of closeness to the unmarried Butt.
I cannot wait much longer for Edmund Morris's projected third volume on TR: a buyer awaits its emergence here in England!
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2: Great biography of a fascinating subject
I'll spare the details that others have provided and simply at my 2 cents:
This is, simply, a great biography. I found it an incredibly easy read, despite its astonishing depth (and length). The sheer detail and volume of primary sources is fascinating but nothing can outdo the awesomeness of the book's subject matter. Roosevelt springs from the pages and looms like a giant over the history of the United States. His astonishing memory, his endless reserves of energy, his expertise in such diverse fields, and his rigid morality make him seem more like a legend than a man and the book conveys a sense of u
This is a must read for students of American history or those interested in the great presidents of US history.
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3: Teedie grows up with discipline and fire
My Son commented to me that I give a lot of 5 Star reviews. Yes, I do. And why not, every Saturday I pore over the New York Times Book Review. I also subscribe to the London Review of Books. Before I purchase a book I do research it.
I've read Edmund Morris' narrative of the formative years of Theodore Roosevelt. I've learned the following:
1. Theodore was born to wealth and privilege in 1858 before the Civil War.
2. Teedie fought ill health with asthma and through sheer will overcame its disabilities.
3. He disciplined and willed himself to extraordinary study to graduate from Harvard.
4. At a young age he saw himself as a Patrician seeking to help humanity as a New York City Police Commissioner and later Governor of the State of New York.
5. He survived the death of his wife and mother on the same day.
6. He became the leading American to begin an appreciation for life in the great outdoors. This later led to the development of the National Park System when he became President.
Edmund Morris brings all this to life with a fiction like narrative. But what makes the book great is that is was a real. He won a Pulitzer Prize for this book. OK Scott, it does rate 5 Stars!!
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4: The Early Years of Teddy
This book details what an extraordinary man President Roosevelt was.
Physically and intellectually, there was never a president like him or perhaps, anyone else. His leadership skills were second to none as well as his integrity. He was one of a kind and the mold was broken with his passing. Beware, reading this book may make you feel somewhat inadequate. But, reading this book will also give you great insight to a great man. A role model in many ways.
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5: Absolutely Wonderful!!!
I could not put it down. A wonderfully written book about an exciting president, with great photos included. I enjoyed it so much, that I started the sequel, Theodore Rex, immediately after finishing. I recommend it highly.
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