The Story of an Extraordinary Story, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt

As part of The Strenuous Life, a Scouts-for-Men program designed by Brett McKay (ArtofManliness.com), I’m slowly pursuing the “Roughrider” badge, which is basically an attempt to try on the boots of Theodore Roosevelt for a while. While no man could be as prolific, wide-ranging, endearing, and successful as T.R. himself, it’s at least healthy (and rewarding) for a man to try.

This book by David McCullough is not part of the TSL reading list, but when the time came for me to select books for my Siblings’ Book Club this year and I saw this on my shelf gathering dust, I couldn’t resist. And apparently neither could my family, because this book was the third-highest selection out of a pool of nearly forty great books. So far, everyone but my sister-in-law is sure they’ll finish it, though it’s not exactly what they had expected.

Many of us had read David McCullough before, especially since we’re all related through our grandmother’s side to the Presidents Adams. We knew that he’s a master at narrative, entwining the most obscure facts and stories into accounts and histories that are otherwise quite familiar, yet very rarely giving a hint about himself as the author or the lengths to which he went as the researcher. These histories are so powerful, so engaging that they very nearly read like a novel—and with the presence of so many authenticated letters in this book, it almost feels like there’s dialogue included as well.

Published two years after the Pulitzer-Prize winning book, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris (the first in a trilogy by the author), Mornings on Horseback follows a unique stream, focusing more on the family of which T.R. was a part and product than most other books have ventured to try. In doing so, McCullough feeds his readers into a flowing stream of family history, attitudes, quirks, and traits that eventually branches off into four very different directions, the tributaries which are the Roosevelt children. You can read the book yourself to learn more about Elliott, Bamie (Anna), Theodore Jr., and Corinne, but suffice it to say that each child had his own unique quirks, and each had a hand in helping little Teedie rise to the level he did.

Having already read Edmund’s The Rise of Theodore Rossevelt, I knew a lot more about Elliott and his later faults, and I was a bit surprised that McCullough failed to hint more at these major issues in his book. Granted, these escapades and embarrassments came shortly after the 1886 cutoff for this book’s focus, but they constituted such a strikingly different road than what T.R. eventually took, that it would have been healthy for us to have seen where the cracks began. It’s hard to imagine that Elliot’s break from society (and ultimately reality) came only as a result of his younger brother standing up as a much stronger leader than he, but this opinion comes from “the baby” of our family. Perhaps my brothers will spend their remaining days in the opium dens after I inevitably become President. Only time will tell.

Something I enjoyed from the earlier chapters of McCullough’s close look at Teddy’s parents was the definite “vanished way of life” portrayed. The Civil War tension between a Southern Belle and her northern family was interesting. The struggles of parents with an asthmatic child in the late 18th century were fascinating, and I’m sure that was one thing that made the author so excited to write. The medical and psychological connections he made shone light not only on the uniqueness of Teddy’s growth through such a comfortably painful childhood, but also on the strain his parents endured so gracefully in their high-society positions. The character displayed by both Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and his wife through the trials they endured helps solidify their character as nothing more than genuine. Led by people of such integrity, it’s no surprise the depth of character that we see in several of the children, especially Bamie.

As I continued to read, I was also shocked at how quickly I breezed through the later chapter covering the Republican Convention in Chicago. I was so gripped by the reading, though I knew so little of the principal players, and I was excited to learn how it would all turn out. It speaks volumes about McCullough’s skill as a writer, to bring such energy to an event that occurred a century before.

A few of the greater lines from this thick volume deal with the character required of leaders:

“Organs are made for action…They are made to work not to be; and when they work well they can be well.” (Henry Wade Salter, 108).

“Take care of your morals first, your health next, and finally your studies,” the elder Theodore wrote [to Teddie when he went to Harvard]. (165)

“I would rather go out of politics having the feeling that I had done what was right than stay in with the approval of all men, knowing in my heart that I had acted as I ought to do.” (Theodore Roosevelt, 269)

I truly loved this book, though I doubt it will be one that I return to for another read-through. I’ve got a shelf chuck full of Roosevelt-related books to read, and I plan to hit them little by little over the coming years.

©2019 E.T.