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bkeving_74's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent biography of TR's presidential years
TR is a fascinating man to read about and this biography describes in detail his years as president. The greatest act in my opinion is his establishment of national parks and monuments. He wasn't a man who focused on what was wrong but what he could do to ensure future generations had the benefits of what this country had to offer. He focused on potential rather than deficits. That is not a very common trait today. Highly recommend that leaders today use his example.
TR is a fascinating man to read about and this biography describes in detail his years as president. The greatest act in my opinion is his establishment of national parks and monuments. He wasn't a man who focused on what was wrong but what he could do to ensure future generations had the benefits of what this country had to offer. He focused on potential rather than deficits. That is not a very common trait today. Highly recommend that leaders today use his example.
horanjack77's review against another edition
4.0
Theodore Roosevelt is a complicated historical figure, who holds many beliefs that we would not agree with today, and doing a biography on anyone requires focusing in heavily on that person. That being said Edmund Morris does a great job in his book of covering the scope, and contextualizing both the good and bad of Roosevelt.
The book is long, but does not feel like a slog. I found myself invested in it, and the figures in this book are extremely well rendered. It is worth a read.
The book is long, but does not feel like a slog. I found myself invested in it, and the figures in this book are extremely well rendered. It is worth a read.
finfortess's review against another edition
4.0
Teddy is one of the greatest people who ever lived and this is a great biography of him
clarks_dad's review against another edition
5.0
This second volume of Edmund Morris's biography of Theodore Roosevelt covers his presidential years and is marked by the same level of dogged and rigorous research as the first. Morris, once again, blends the fastidiousness of serious academic research with a compelling journalistic narrative uncommon in professional historical works. I've found that a lot of the most readable histories out there have in fact been written by journalists, with most works by serious historians being rather dry by comparison. Not so, in Morris's case. Certainly he has the benefit of an extraordinarily fascinating individual whose every utterance seems larger than life and epic in the Homeric sense. Even the way Roosevelt ate breakfast seems legendary. Every undertaking of the man is done with enthusiasm, verve and a whole-hearted attention that makes it seem like his sole preoccupation - the goal to which his entire life has directed him. Henry Adams once said of Roosevelt that he was "pure act." I find no better way to describe him, and certainly Morris's narrative portrays him as such.
In the first volume, Morris's strength lay in his interpretation of Roosevelt's personal characteristics and how the course of his life seemed the inevitable consequence thereof. In this volume, that theme is continued, although Roosevelt's academic-side is stressed less and his political genius is made manifest through the complicated and overlapping nature of his policy initiatives, his international and domestic legislative wrangling and his management of his public image. I can see that this volume might be less interesting than the first for those without an interest in the workings of politics. There is a lot of legalism and arcane political workings covered in intricate detail in the text; the finer points of order in the Republican national convention's nominating process, committee mumbo jumbo and procedural dicta. Overriding a lot of this discussion however is a continuing discussion of Roosevelt's boldness. He literally smashes through red tape, makes unaffected and unselfconscious decisions and comments, gets his hands dirty and sticks by his principles in ways that would make most modern politicians scoff. I recall in an interview Morris once said that a man like Roosevelt wouldn't have a hope of winning the presidency. Indeed the modern presidency seems to go to the person with the least air of uniqueness, the most bland Americanism, and the least obtrusive personal and professional characteristics. Boldness of the type we see in Roosevelt the assemblyman, Roosevelt the governor, Roosevelt the scholar, Roosevelt the president is often looked at as a liability in the age of personal image consultants and media directors.
Anyhow, Morris paints a picture of Roosevelt undaunted, in fact thriving, by the great weight of responsibilities thrust upon him by the death of William McKinley. In fact, the narrative suggests that the more pressure he was under, the greater and loftier the accomplishments he managed to achieve. This Roosevelt is tempered. Haughty, moralistic, and disdainful of those with weaker constitution and principle, you can forgive him because of the fastidiousness with which he sticks to his own ethical code. In short, it is the image of a saint, irreproachable even in his more questionable decisions because of the fervor with which he made them. Rightly accused of having a lust for power by his critics, he nevertheless was an ardent believer in the majoritarian process. In correspondence dug up by Morris and in his annual addresses to Congress he professes that the concentration of power in the hands of the few is the best means to hold people accountable for their actions. An interesting philosophy, and one that seems pertinent in the current age of large government and sprawling bureaucracy where politicians find it all to easy to blame this or that committee or this or that agency for governmental failure or shortcomings. Rising above everything else is a sense of political mastery unheard of in his age, and probably unheard of since his age. I dare say after reading Morris's account that a more able politician, with a more developed sense of timing, prescience, crowd control, maneuvering, coalition building and frankly, at times, cold, calculating ruthlessness has not existed in American politics before or since. And he was adored during his time whilst being reviled by his enemies probably more so than any other president. He won his own election with the greatest majorities ever seen in American presidential politics to that time and there were unprecedented calls for a third Rooseveltian term. And in spite of that lust for power and the joy he had in the exercise of it, like Cincinnatus and Washington before him, he walked away from it.
Morris's complete life of Roosevelt is inspiring, engaging and thought-provoking. It has certainly done much to elevate TR from the vagaries of American mythology in my mind to the forefront of the most able-bodied, effective and interesting human beings in world history in my mind.
In the first volume, Morris's strength lay in his interpretation of Roosevelt's personal characteristics and how the course of his life seemed the inevitable consequence thereof. In this volume, that theme is continued, although Roosevelt's academic-side is stressed less and his political genius is made manifest through the complicated and overlapping nature of his policy initiatives, his international and domestic legislative wrangling and his management of his public image. I can see that this volume might be less interesting than the first for those without an interest in the workings of politics. There is a lot of legalism and arcane political workings covered in intricate detail in the text; the finer points of order in the Republican national convention's nominating process, committee mumbo jumbo and procedural dicta. Overriding a lot of this discussion however is a continuing discussion of Roosevelt's boldness. He literally smashes through red tape, makes unaffected and unselfconscious decisions and comments, gets his hands dirty and sticks by his principles in ways that would make most modern politicians scoff. I recall in an interview Morris once said that a man like Roosevelt wouldn't have a hope of winning the presidency. Indeed the modern presidency seems to go to the person with the least air of uniqueness, the most bland Americanism, and the least obtrusive personal and professional characteristics. Boldness of the type we see in Roosevelt the assemblyman, Roosevelt the governor, Roosevelt the scholar, Roosevelt the president is often looked at as a liability in the age of personal image consultants and media directors.
Anyhow, Morris paints a picture of Roosevelt undaunted, in fact thriving, by the great weight of responsibilities thrust upon him by the death of William McKinley. In fact, the narrative suggests that the more pressure he was under, the greater and loftier the accomplishments he managed to achieve. This Roosevelt is tempered. Haughty, moralistic, and disdainful of those with weaker constitution and principle, you can forgive him because of the fastidiousness with which he sticks to his own ethical code. In short, it is the image of a saint, irreproachable even in his more questionable decisions because of the fervor with which he made them. Rightly accused of having a lust for power by his critics, he nevertheless was an ardent believer in the majoritarian process. In correspondence dug up by Morris and in his annual addresses to Congress he professes that the concentration of power in the hands of the few is the best means to hold people accountable for their actions. An interesting philosophy, and one that seems pertinent in the current age of large government and sprawling bureaucracy where politicians find it all to easy to blame this or that committee or this or that agency for governmental failure or shortcomings. Rising above everything else is a sense of political mastery unheard of in his age, and probably unheard of since his age. I dare say after reading Morris's account that a more able politician, with a more developed sense of timing, prescience, crowd control, maneuvering, coalition building and frankly, at times, cold, calculating ruthlessness has not existed in American politics before or since. And he was adored during his time whilst being reviled by his enemies probably more so than any other president. He won his own election with the greatest majorities ever seen in American presidential politics to that time and there were unprecedented calls for a third Rooseveltian term. And in spite of that lust for power and the joy he had in the exercise of it, like Cincinnatus and Washington before him, he walked away from it.
Morris's complete life of Roosevelt is inspiring, engaging and thought-provoking. It has certainly done much to elevate TR from the vagaries of American mythology in my mind to the forefront of the most able-bodied, effective and interesting human beings in world history in my mind.
nlbullock1's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very good, but after the excellence of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by the same author, it felt a bit like a letdown. That's not to say that this wasn't a good book, but the first volume was so great that it did pale a bit in comparison.
lesliejo's review against another edition
5.0
This was a really well written and researched biography. Will definitely read the third one.
danweigel's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent biography on perhaps our most interesting President. Morris did a great job of showing the many sides of TR. In light of today’s politics, it was refreshing to read of an independent thinking politician not beholden to strict party doctrine, and who was able to reasonably represent and give a square deal to all he dealt with. Two minor quibbles for me were a lack of detail about his formation of National Parks - the text does not mention which ones he specifically created (although it is alluded to in the epilogue), and the frequency of non-English words (primarily French?) in the main text. Overall a tremendously worthwhile read, just like the first one. On to part three...
coachadnycbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I've been wanting to read a book about TR for a long time. This one called out to me as it was sitting on a suggested reads shelf at the bookstore at the Milwaukee airport. For $8, how could I not get it?
It was certainly a long read, but what presidential bio isn't? Very well written and researched. I definitely learned a lot about TR that I didn't know and it made me like and respect him even more. What I particularly enjoyed about this book was how the politics were woven into it so well while still telling a very human story about TR. It was Dee-lightful! Bully!
It was certainly a long read, but what presidential bio isn't? Very well written and researched. I definitely learned a lot about TR that I didn't know and it made me like and respect him even more. What I particularly enjoyed about this book was how the politics were woven into it so well while still telling a very human story about TR. It was Dee-lightful! Bully!