The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris (1979)

How’s a guy to review an epic, Pulitzer-Prize winning tome about the rise of the most entertaining President in American history without simply saying, “Great book!” While that’s totally true, more should probably be added.

I can’t say that I burned right through this book’s 780 meaty pages (or the additional 140 pages of notes and appendices), but I can confirm that every chapter captivated me, as each was so well-drawn and filled with pertinent information that I felt as a fly on the walls of Sagamore Hill or Tammany Hall, or in the dusty fields of the Badlands. If you enjoy reading the daily growth of a nineteenth-century Renaissance man or the minute details of century-old local politics, this book is for you. There’s little drudgery and much still to anticipate in Theodore Rex, the next installment to the trilogy by Edmund Morris.

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I originally picked up this book as part of my Strenuous Life membership through ArtofManliness.com Learning more about Teddy Roosevelt and his strenuous lifestyle of books and guns, energy and conversation is supposed to spark us all toward greater strenuosity. While we may not all be wired like Teddy, we certainly can a;; be inspired by his genius and his go-gettum approach to life.

Perhaps my favorite description of TR from the entire volume came later in the book, immediately after he served as Acting Secretary of the Navy in 1898 for a mere four hours, during which time he ordered the nation’s worldwide fleets to make preparations for inevitable war with Spain, though no possibilities of such a war had yet been discussed.

The man’s personality was cyclonic, in that he tended to become unstable in times of low pressure. The slightest rise in the barometer outside, and his turbulence smoothed into a whirl of coordinated activity, while a core of stillness developed within. Under maximum pressure Roosevelt was sunny, calm, and unnaturally clear. (631)

Such an apt description of such an oddly active man! He had written fifteen books of history and travel before being reluctantly nominated for Vice President at the age of forty-one, despite his incredibly busy schedule as Police Commissioner of New York City, Colonel of the Rough Riders, or Governor of New York. His life truly was a whirlwind of activity, which is why I am so looking forward to Theodore Rex and his ascension to the Presidency.

I can’t help but compare The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt to another Roosevelt biography I recently completed, Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough. While that book promised to cover only the early life of the President, it also covered much more of his immediate family, including the lives of his siblings. Reading that book in tandem with this, I did gain a better understanding of the atmosphere in which he was raised, so I found them both extremely valuable.

This book, however, reads more like a chronicle, a newspaper that obviously weeded through countless sources in order to deliver the most accurate picture of what really happened throughout Roosevelt’s early life and early careers. As such, it’s an historical gem that truly does take the reader back in time, without romance or platitudes, but with raw details expertly described. Of the two books, I found Morris’ a far more entertaining read.

I can’t expect many of my readers to rush to the local library for this massive volume, Part One of a trilogy, but if you’re inclined toward historical works and want to learn more about one of America’s most fascinating men, you certainly can’t go wrong with this book. I highly recommend it.

©2020 E.T.

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Read More Books Written by and about U.S. Presidents:

Abraham Lincoln

• Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson (2006)
• Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (2011)

Teddy Roosevelt

• Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America by Eric Rauchway (2003)
• Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Story, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough (1981)
• Don’t You Dare Shoot That Bear! A Story of Theodore Roosevelt by Robert Quackenbush (1984)
• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris (1979)
• Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris (2001)

John F. Kennedy

• Killing Kennedy by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (2012)

Jimmy Carter

• Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis by President Jimmy Carter (2005)

Ronald Reagan

• Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation by Ronald Reagan (1983)
• When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan by Peggy Noonan (2001)
• Ronald Reagan: a Life in Pictures, 1911-2004 by LIFE Magazine (2004)
• The Notes: Ronald Reagan’s Private Collection of Stories and Wisdom by Ronald Reagan, ed. Douglas Brinkley (2011)
• Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault that Changed a Presidency by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (2015)

Bill Clinton

• The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson (2018)

George W. Bush

• The Faith of George W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield (2004)
• Decision Points by George W. Bush (2010)

Donald Trump

• How to Get Rich by Donald J. Trump and Meredith McIver (2004)
• The Mueller Report Graphic Novel by Shannon Wheeler and Steve Duin (2020)