T.R.: A Life

This book is a little over 800 pages. I managed through about halfway. It's understood that Teddy Roosevelt was a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenal force to be reckoned with. Brands admits as much in his title "the last romantic." Yet in building his 'narrative' he can never admit Roosevelt was instinctively passionate, authentic, intelligent, and ofttimes sincere. He slowly begins rebuking Roosevelt as "calculated" and ultimately self-serving. Roosevelt had a strong backbone and took no prisoners. He was devoutly confident, a characteristic Brands seems threatened by. Even calling it egotistical. There are many Roosevelt books out that I've read. This is the first that has been shameful in the author's attempt to color history outside the lines.

Two of the finest historical biographies I have consumed in my lifetime have come from the pen of H.W. Brands. The work at hand on Theodore Roosevelt was published in 1997; the other, on Benjamin Franklin, in 2000. Both works pass muster for scholarly accuracy and content. What is intriguing is the author's ability to adapt style to his subject and the times. Franklin's life carries the gravitas of the building of the constitutional life of the United States of America. Roosevelt's, in contrast, bears the energy of a man who came to power as America was high on its own industrial hubris. Brands' Roosevelt is a product of the Gilded Age with the common sense to see its tarnish as well. The T.R. of this work may not be wise, but he was definitely smart. Born a sickly child to a New York family of some means in 1858, young Roosevelt almost from first consciousness set himself on the road to self-improvement. Brands suggests that one motivating factor may have been Roosevelt's regard for his father, Theodore Sr. The elder Roosevelt had been successful in business and family life, but there was one glaring omission in his resume: he had purchased his way out of the 1863 Union draft. How much this $300 gesture affected his son is a mystery, of course, but there is no denying that the young Theodore [and later, the middle-aged Theodore] would never miss a bugle call. Roosevelt's professional resume is eclectic and even eccentric. Although he was born into money, he was not so rich that he needn't work. A lawyer by profession, Roosevelt's drive and self confidence would never let him live conventionally, and he seems to have suffered from chronic "vocational crisis." For the young and the restless of his day, the two great frontiers were politics and the open West, and T.R. ventured into both. There is some irony in this, because in truth Roosevelt was not genetically suited for either. His Dakota ranching years proved to be an expensive, uncomfortable, and at times dangerous experiment that took a large bite from the family fortunes. On the other hand, he acquired the skills that would later help him corral enemies in his gilded Republican party. Dakota in many ways was the paradigm for the political Roosevelt: a man strangely out of place in a hostile environment who proved to be doggedly likeable and yet someone not to be trifled with, either. His rise through the Republican Party was the antithesis of, say, that of McKinley or Harding, or even his dear friend Henry Cabot Lodge. Put briefly, he was so loud and so popular that party leaders virtually had to hold their noses and swallow hard. Brands' description of Roosevelt's nomination to the vice-presidency sounds for all the world like the tale of a middle manager being booted upstairs because no one could work with him. Roosevelt in the executive branch was bearable; it was, after all, a McKinley universe. McKinley, sadly, departed the scene sooner than anyone expected. And yet, for his seven-

This book is an engaging, well-crafted study of Teddy Roosevelt. I found the book very pleasant and informative reading. Despite the 800+ pages, it took only a brief time to finish the entire book. The author allows TR to shine through in his own words as well as a generally sparkling narrative. One fascinating conclusion I drew from the book that TR was a man who became president about 10 years too early, then became an old(er) man with his glory days behind him. The last ten years of his life were spent twisting at windmills, bullying friend and foe alike while attempting to regain the power that he willingly gave up after 1909. Allowing a little bit of political opinion, one wonders if we will see similar behavior by the present White House occupant who also will leave a relatively young man. (Something to think about.)Nonetheless, the book is a fine testament to TR's immense talents, ego and passion. TR was a great man, a great president, but not without his flaws.

I enjoyed reading this book!I had read Henry Pringle's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of TR written in 1931 and found it to be dated both in writing style and historical interpretation. Brands's 1990's update reveals little in the way of new data about this most interesting American, but it certainly brought to life in vivid detail a grand character the likes of which we shall not see again.Brands correctly compared TR's successful effort to construct the Panama Canal to JFK's push to send a man to the moon. Historians can argue about which has had the more lasting practical impact. In the diplomatic game of hawks and doves, Roosevelt was the leading raptor of his generation. While president, TR stared down German Kaiser Wilhelm in a shrewd reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine during a crisis involving Venezuela. One wonders whether his "big stick" approach to international affairs and the particular influence he had on Germany might have changed the course of world history had he been elected in 1912, when he ran as a Progressive.As Brands points out, Roosevelt himself was a historian of some note and served as President of the American Historical Association after leaving the presidency. The author quotes from a keynote address Roosevelt gave to one of the Association's meetings in which TR advocated for a romantic interpretation of history focussing on the qualities he idealized: principled bravery, heroism and moral certitude. Brands's account of TR's life pays homage to this approach, but is nevertheless even-handed. Roosevelt's personality eventually verged on being megalomaniacal; still, the story of the sickly, asmatic child molding himself through sheer determination into the great man he became is truly inspirational.I found this book a pretty quick read despite it being over 800 pages.