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jimbowen0306's review
5.0
This is a well packaged three book biography that covers Theodore Roosevelt's pre-presidential (book 1), presidential (book 2), and post-presidential life (book 3).
Book 1 The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
"The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris charts Roosevelt's early life. It actually wasn't bad. I have an instinctive suspicion of modern Republicans (I've been put off by the recent crop I think) so I fully expected to dislike the guy, but I didn't.
This book covers Roosevelt's early life, from his birth to a well meaning patrician father in New York, to his finding out that he had ascended to the Presidency after the assassination of McKinley (the President who dies because they were poking round his intestines without anaesthetic).
Roosevelt comes across as a sort of centrist patrician type (like Bush Snr.) with a common touch (unlike Bush Snr.), who loved his hunting and fishing as much for the scenery as for the hunting. By today's standards he is hideously patronizing to what he might call the "lesser races" (he seems to assume they should all aspire to being white, even though they would never achieve "caucasian class" for want of a phrase), but he is a product of his time so that shouldn't be all that surprising. It did, however, result in him making some odd decisions though, especially with regard to foreign policy.
All in all it's a balanced biography but I'm left with a couple of thoughts after reading it. Firstly, part of me thinks that he would struggle to get the nomination today (or even possibly be a Bill Clinton style center-right Democrat at a stretch) because of his centrist views. Secondly I don't think he'd have been nominated as Vice-President had people known he would ascend to the Presidency after taking office.
Americans presumably know a lot more about Roosevelt than I do (and so can correct my views on the guy if I'm wrong), but my instinct is that I’m not all that far off about the guy!
Book 2 Theodore Rex
"Theodore Rex," by Edmund Morris, didn't really tell me much new about the Roosevelt philosophy (Morris had already established he was a centrist Republican whose most obvious "Republican Characteristic" was his "world stage interventionism" in an earlier book), but it did tell me what happened during the Roosevelt presidency, which was interesting.
The one grumble I would have with the book would be that it applied an overly positive gloss to some of the things that occurred in his presidency. As an example, I believe that America had problems in both Cuba and the Philippines, but both were glossed over. The only real reference to them in the book focused on him bringing Taft back from the Philippines to serve as his Secretary of War. I'm not sure about anyone else but I sometimes wished the author went on the attack with Roosevelt more, because I might have got a more rounded view of this interesting President.
Book 3 Colonel Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th American President and the youngest person to assume that office (JFK is the youngest to be voted into the position). Edmund Morris has written a three part biography of his life. The first book examines the 42 years till he assumed the Presidency. The second book looks at the 7.5 years he was in office. This book looks at the 10 years after he left the White House.
The series is an interesting group of books. You'll learn a lot about one of the four occupants of Mount Rushmore, and discover why he induced love (amongst his supporters) and loathing (amongst his opponents -and members of his own party) in this book in particular.
As I said, this book looks at the 10 years after he left the Presidency. Anyone who knows something about Teddy Roosevelt will probably know that he went on a safari, and then made an abortive run for the presidency 4years after he left office. Both those areas are covered in detail here.
What people probably won't realise is that he tried to live a positively heroic (and packed) life after leaving the Oval Office. When he wasn't discovering the origins of rivers in Brazil or shooting animals for the Smithsonian, he was an iconoclastic politician, journalist and author who was predicting the start of WWI (and the consequential need to re-arm) long before most other American politicians realised there was a problem. His iconoclasm split his party and might have cost it the Presidential Elections in 1912 and 1916.
Morris thoroughly covers all these aspects of a "man called Roosevelt" in the series. This book is as interesting as either of its' predecessors because you'll see what sort of man (and character) it takes to split a party and return to it later. You'll learn what he did, how he thought, why he behaved as he did in the later stages of this book, and understand the sort of man who was prepared to send all his sons to war.
In short read this book if you want to understand one of the great American leaders of the the 20th Century, and comprehend how a man can be both war hawk and social liberal at the same time.
Book 1 The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
"The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris charts Roosevelt's early life. It actually wasn't bad. I have an instinctive suspicion of modern Republicans (I've been put off by the recent crop I think) so I fully expected to dislike the guy, but I didn't.
This book covers Roosevelt's early life, from his birth to a well meaning patrician father in New York, to his finding out that he had ascended to the Presidency after the assassination of McKinley (the President who dies because they were poking round his intestines without anaesthetic).
Roosevelt comes across as a sort of centrist patrician type (like Bush Snr.) with a common touch (unlike Bush Snr.), who loved his hunting and fishing as much for the scenery as for the hunting. By today's standards he is hideously patronizing to what he might call the "lesser races" (he seems to assume they should all aspire to being white, even though they would never achieve "caucasian class" for want of a phrase), but he is a product of his time so that shouldn't be all that surprising. It did, however, result in him making some odd decisions though, especially with regard to foreign policy.
All in all it's a balanced biography but I'm left with a couple of thoughts after reading it. Firstly, part of me thinks that he would struggle to get the nomination today (or even possibly be a Bill Clinton style center-right Democrat at a stretch) because of his centrist views. Secondly I don't think he'd have been nominated as Vice-President had people known he would ascend to the Presidency after taking office.
Americans presumably know a lot more about Roosevelt than I do (and so can correct my views on the guy if I'm wrong), but my instinct is that I’m not all that far off about the guy!
Book 2 Theodore Rex
"Theodore Rex," by Edmund Morris, didn't really tell me much new about the Roosevelt philosophy (Morris had already established he was a centrist Republican whose most obvious "Republican Characteristic" was his "world stage interventionism" in an earlier book), but it did tell me what happened during the Roosevelt presidency, which was interesting.
The one grumble I would have with the book would be that it applied an overly positive gloss to some of the things that occurred in his presidency. As an example, I believe that America had problems in both Cuba and the Philippines, but both were glossed over. The only real reference to them in the book focused on him bringing Taft back from the Philippines to serve as his Secretary of War. I'm not sure about anyone else but I sometimes wished the author went on the attack with Roosevelt more, because I might have got a more rounded view of this interesting President.
Book 3 Colonel Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th American President and the youngest person to assume that office (JFK is the youngest to be voted into the position). Edmund Morris has written a three part biography of his life. The first book examines the 42 years till he assumed the Presidency. The second book looks at the 7.5 years he was in office. This book looks at the 10 years after he left the White House.
The series is an interesting group of books. You'll learn a lot about one of the four occupants of Mount Rushmore, and discover why he induced love (amongst his supporters) and loathing (amongst his opponents -and members of his own party) in this book in particular.
As I said, this book looks at the 10 years after he left the Presidency. Anyone who knows something about Teddy Roosevelt will probably know that he went on a safari, and then made an abortive run for the presidency 4years after he left office. Both those areas are covered in detail here.
What people probably won't realise is that he tried to live a positively heroic (and packed) life after leaving the Oval Office. When he wasn't discovering the origins of rivers in Brazil or shooting animals for the Smithsonian, he was an iconoclastic politician, journalist and author who was predicting the start of WWI (and the consequential need to re-arm) long before most other American politicians realised there was a problem. His iconoclasm split his party and might have cost it the Presidential Elections in 1912 and 1916.
Morris thoroughly covers all these aspects of a "man called Roosevelt" in the series. This book is as interesting as either of its' predecessors because you'll see what sort of man (and character) it takes to split a party and return to it later. You'll learn what he did, how he thought, why he behaved as he did in the later stages of this book, and understand the sort of man who was prepared to send all his sons to war.
In short read this book if you want to understand one of the great American leaders of the the 20th Century, and comprehend how a man can be both war hawk and social liberal at the same time.
cjgo's review
5.0
Incredible read, I actually didn’t know it was a series until about halfway through ‘Rise..’ I was excited to continue two more books on my favorite president. Theodore Rex has a chapter or two that gets a bit sluggish, but that’s only due to the fact that government decisions seem to be sluggish already. Colonel certainly brings to light some of the issues that I was unaware of post presidency for Teddy and was interesting to learn about them.
Would recommend to almost anyone if they have the time. The books are dense but full of incredible detail. It was a great read for the summer after I had been struggling to find a good history book.
Would recommend to almost anyone if they have the time. The books are dense but full of incredible detail. It was a great read for the summer after I had been struggling to find a good history book.