Theodore Rex

Here's something I decided while reading the book: if TR were alive today, he would have a weblog; the guy wrote hours everyday: articles, letters, books, speeches. Reminds me a lot of Churchill's prolificacy. Roosevelt's topics ranged from bird watching (and listening) to naval warfare. A voracious and multilingual reader, as well.

Author Edmond Morris , (despite his missteps on the Reagan biography, Dutch) is a tremendous storyteller. Roosevelt and his times provide excellent material for Morris's skills. I couldn't help drawing parallels with today, as Roosevelt's era (turn of last century) saw so many changes taking place in transportation, communication and technology. The roles of and relationships between government and business were also major issues as they are today.

There are parallels in his years in the White House with today's headlines like the Microsoft antitrust case and the imploding of Enron. Also some striking similarities to today's challenges militarily and geopolitically. Politics aside, Roosevelt is a fascinating historical figure. And did he ever know how to get a way from it all. Even though it is not mentioned in either this book or Morris's volume on TR's earlier life, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, I seem finally to understand why TR made it onto Mt. Rushmore with Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.

I found the recent David McCullough biography of John Adams as the closest comparable work. Both biographers rely a lot on the subject's own words and those of the people he interacted with. I found three qualities of Theodore Rex to be superior to the Adams biography. First, Mr. Morris has chosen to magnify issues that are of more interest to us today which are often virtually ignored in conventional histories. Some of these subjects involved Mr. Roosevelt's attitudes towards minority groups including African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Jews. Other related subjects included what he chose to say and do about discrimination and lynchings, willingness to address a pogrom in Russia, and atrocities conduced by the Army in the Philippines. Second, Mr. Morris doesn't try to "pretty up" the ugly sides of his subject. In these first areas above, President Roosevelt did some good things . . . but he also did some pretty awful ones. His support for bad conduct dismissals of African-American troops after complaints in Brownsville, Texas, was particularly questionable, coming at a time when he had little at risk politically by doing the right thing and he was outspoken in other areas. Third, Mr. Morris has an eye for detail that makes the scenes come alive to extend beyond the mere words and events being presented. I particularly enjoyed the description of Roosevelt's first few days as president.

The Adams biography is superior in that most of that material came in the form of letters from Abigail and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and the quality of what they had to say was usually a lot more interesting than what President Roosevelt and his cronies and family wrote or said.

The perspective on Roosevelt is almost totally a near contemporary one. This material reads like something we might review now about President Reagan's presidency. For those who are not familiar with U.S. political, social, and economic history prior to and during this time, some of the sections will be hard to fathom. That is a major weakness of the book.

The other major weakness is that the coverage of subjects is unbalanced in length. For example, there is a lengthy section on some gunboat diplomacy to help out two hostages in Morocco, one of whom is thought to be an American. Other than showing that Roosevelt liked to send in the Navy, this material didn't warrant the attention it receives here.

If you are like me, you will enjoy the way that Mr. Morris displays how Roosevelt built a power base by espousing popular issues like trust-busting to wean himself away from political dependency on Senator Mark Hanna. President Roosevelt's ability to work the newspapers to his advantage was astonishingly adroit for an "accidental" president with limited prior experience in public office.

On the personal side, the book is filled with examples of President Roosevelt's love of all forms of physical activity, including eating, and the way that he sought to preserve privacy for his personal life. Late in his presidency, he could not read very well with his left eye due to a boxing injury received in a match while president. Having become president due to the assassination of President McKinley, you will read with interest his own close calls with death and a potential assassin. The vignettes involving his very independent daughter, Alice, will amuse you in many cases. On the other hand, you may be annoyed (as I was) to learn that President Roosevelt's final decision about the Brownsville soldiers was withheld for a few days with the probable motive of helping his son-in-law, Alice's husband, be re-elected to Congress.

The almost total silence on the drawbacks of American geographic expansion through influence over the Philippines, Panama, Puerto Rico, Cuba and some South American countries was also unwarranted. Apparently, the ideology that justified all of this was a form of Social Darwinism.

Having finished the book, I thought about the task of a presidential biographer. We want to learn about the important history of the period. We also want to learn how the president did, compared to the alternatives. We further want to know about the president's character and style. And we want to see all of this in context. Reading this fine biography of President Roosevelt made me realize what a tough task this really is.

How would our world be different today if McKinley had not been assassinated? Probably not as good because the abuses of the trusts would probably have lasted longer, conservation would not have emerged as soon as a social force, and our tradition of encouraging international peace would not be so well established.

Be prepared to encourage others to do the right thing!

The book falls short in two areas - the first is in the discussion of Roosevelt's personal life. Morris provides anecdotes but not any real view of how his family affected him. Given the apparent amount of time he spent with them (a contrast to his early years), something other than anecdotal snippets of the life of daughter Alice should have been included.

Second, and more significant, is that Morris again does little to address the huge paradoxes in Roosevelt's policies. This is most evident in his views and actions on race relations. Clearly, Roosevelt tried to make some progress in this area; but, he only attempted to make small steps forward. The president who made America a real world power, cut the Panama canal, reined in the trusts, surely had the political power to do more with race relations. Roosevelt appears to have been genuinely sympathetic to the needs of American minorities, but Morris never makes it clear what restrained him. It appears that TR thought race was a lower political priority than other parts of his agenda. If that's the case, Morris should provide that explanation; if not, then the question is unanswered.

These concerns should not stop you from reading this otherwise terrific book. TR was definitely one of our great presidents, and this biography makes it clear how he transformed America and the world for the better.

There may be mitigating circumstances for why this is so. Roosevelt's pre-presidential life is more interesting than his presidency, more wide-ranging and adventurous. And yet there is also an overarching theme to Roosevelt's early life that gives continuity to the narrative in "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" in a way that "Theodore Rex" lacks. As we read the first volume, we constantly ask ourself 'How will the young Roosevelt steamroll this obstacle on his rise to ultimate power?'

But there is no such unifying theme in Roosevelt's presidency to give coherence to his blur of activity while in office: no great depression, no major war. As a result, "Theodore Rex" feels more disjointed even as it covers less territory than the first volume. We jump from race relations to congressional relations, from the Panama Canal to The Treaty of Portsmouth, from conservation to the Great White Fleet. Most of it is quite interesting, even fascinating, but one can read a section without feeling a compelling need to go on. That was not true of the first book, where even the ending left one yearning for volume two so the story would continue.

One can argue that this is not Morris's fault, and I'm inclined to agree. No matter what your talents as a biographer and a writer, you are always constrained by the material. But where one can fault Morris in "Theodore Rex" is in the decline of the quality of his prose. There are numerous lines, metaphors, and similes in the first volume that are so memorable as to make one believe the book came from the pen of a poet; those type of lines are far and few between in this volume, even though it's still well-written.

I hope I have not given the impression that I dislike this book. It's a fine biography and one which I can recommend without hesitation. But for those who've read the first volume, there is a noticable drop in quality and inspiration.

Morris however does an excellent job of including Roosevelt's associates in his narrative. John Hay in particular comes across as someone who is somewhat uncertain of how to take T.R. and is often swept aside by his sometimes rash boss. On the other hand, the reader will easily begin to see that Hay and Roosevelt bonded in such a way as to end in a deeply affectionate relationship. His relationships with the rest of his entourage are well covered also as one gets a pretty full picture of their interaction. Morris has also done an excellent job of presenting Teddy's relationship with several members of Congress, including GOP stalwarts such as Mark Hanna and Joseph Foraker, along with a few Democrats like "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman. Through these relationships one gets a very clear picture of the President as he moves with great political skill, picking a fight here, and spreading manure there to get his way. It becomes very clear very early in this book that Theodore Roosevelt was one of the great politicians of all time.

The Roosevelt foreign policy is a little harder to figure as his decision making process, if indeed there was one, is a little hard to fathom. It is clear of course that he is an imperialist but some of his actions regarding conflicts in Europe defy description. Although he spent a large amount of time in Germany in his youth, Roosevelt come across as very anti-German. In a sad comment on Roosevelt's style of leadership, he seems to have sometimes made judgments based on the advice of his favorite tennis buddies. The French Ambassador being one of his favorite tennis opponents might help to explain the President's attitude toward Germany.

After being elected on his own in 1904, Roosevelt made a leftward shift and began pushing even more progressive reforms. The shift is clear in this book but not much discussed and in fact much more than half of the book is taken by the first term. In dealing with the second term the author seems to dwell on the President's legislative successes and mostly ignores the many things Roosevelt unsuccessfully tried to push through Congress. Unfortunately, the failures may much more clearly illustrate the real Roosevelt than the successes and again an opportunity to more fully understand the subject of the book is lost. Morris does however touch on Roosevelt's growing admiration for William Jennings Bryan, a clear indication of the President's leftward shift.

Morris has put together a book that is sometimes very informative and sometimes a little lacking in depth. It is overall a very good book and is a well-written and easy to read volume. Some of the more personal antidotes dealing with T.R. are excellent and Morris certainly had an interesting subject to work with. Unfortunately, one never gets the feeling of really knowing Roosevelt. There is a lot of fascinating information here but I can't help but feel that something is missing. Still, I highly recommend this book because while it may come up a little short of the mark, it is no doubt the best work on Roosevelt's presidency to date.

Morris' research was just as impressive for "Theodore Rex" as it was for "The Rise of TR," using countless collections of letters, diaries, books by TR, and books about TR to paint the picture of his subject.

Unfortunately, and perhaps this is the result of the sheer quantity of presidential accomplishments by Roosevelt, Morris' work reads like a laundry list of activities, events, dialogues, and crises. I felt like I was reading TR's daily planner, with Morris' commentary added under each day's schedule.

To be fair, one would expect Morris' account of TR's presidential years to be more sequential and less anecdotal that his account of his pre-presidential years. That having been said, I've read many other presidential biographies that are not like this at all, that give the big picture of a President's term(s) in office and then get into the nitty-gritty of his major accomplishments and failures.

Of course, "Theodore Rex" focused only on TR's presidential years, so Morris didn't have to spend any time or space describing how Roosevelt's mind and soul were formed (he had already done so in "The Rise of TR.").

Given this challenge of having already written an account of TR's early years, Morris does an incredible job of researching his subject, and a good job of telling his story.

Morris's next book is the current one being reviewed, "Theodore Rex." This book covers his presidency, from the succession to the office on the death of William McKinley to his leaving office seven and a half years later. There is a great deal of detail about his life in office, his relations with his family and contemporaries, and the legislative issues that confronted him. The author, while pro-Roosevelt, isn't blindly so. There are instances in the book where he clearly disagrees with what the President did, and is critical of him in consequence. Most notable is the Brownsville Texas incident, where Roosevelt and the high command of the army decided that some black soldiers were guilty of rioting on the streets of that city, and the president decided to cashier the whole unit from the army without court martial or anything.

Other characters of the administration are well-drawn and interesting. These include Elihu Root, who held various cabinet positions, and could earn more money on Wall Street, John Hay, who had been personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln forty years before and seen three presidents be assasinated, William Howard Taft, the overweight Secretary of War Roosevelt chose as his successor, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, the Supreme Court Justice who wasn't quite as dependable on cases before the court as Roosevelt thought he was.

The issues of the day are carefully delineated in enough detail to satisfy the reader and still not be boring. The coal miner's strike, the Great White Fleet, various war scares, the negotiations that ended the Russo-Japanese War, all are dealt with carefully, and intelligently. The whole of Roosevelt's presidency is here, and interesting.

I do have a few issues. The author has an unusual pedigree (see above) and it shows in his penchant for using strange words and phrases. Some of them (a lame duck congress quacking its last, for instance) are amusing, but others are just weird. Nouns become adverbs, sentences are long or clumsy, and it's occasionally difficult to tell what the author meant by something. Also, the way the book is constructed is sort of strange. The author uses short, choppy sections at points to illustrate things. And lastly, the author recounts events and occurances that don't seem to have much, or anything, to do with Roosevelt. One anecdote involves Woodrow Wilson telling a racist joke, another recounts briefly the Wright Brothers flying their airplane the first time. One is occasionally left wondering why they're in the book.

All in all, though, I enjoyed this book a great deal, and would recommend it.

Happily, the second book, "Theodore Rex", is far more interesting. The book begins with Theodore assuming the presidency after the assassination of William McKinley. And, what a time it was to become President! The United States was undergoing tremendous progress and technological change. Railroads were spanning the country. Electricity was beginning to illuminate all major American Cities. Use of the telephone was becoming more widespread. American production of goods and services had surpassed every country on the planet. Morris somehow has a way of making the reader feel the excitement of being in America at the turn of the century. In fact, I felt that the book was as much a recitation of the historical period as it was a chronicle of the Roosevelt Presidency.

Yet Morris also points out the difficulties. Many people labored in low paying jobs for ten and twelve hours a day. Monopolies and trusts were carving up entire industries to profit a mere handful of people. Natural resources were being plundered in an unwise fashion. The people of the United States had yet to understand the responsibilities that went along with becoming a great economic power.

Morris chronicles how TR jumped into the void left by the death of McKinley to become one of our country's greatest Presidents. TR immediately took charge and initiated the antitrust prosecution of the Northern Securities Company which ultimately ended with a court ordered breakup of that railroad trust. He hotly pursued the creation and building of the Panama Canal and left office as construction was well underway. He successfully arbitrated a strike in the coal mines that paved the way for union recognition and collective bargaining. He presided over the passage of legislation mandating the production of sanitary foods and beverages. He got legislation passed limiting and restricting freight rates by monopolistic railroads. He succeeded in getting money from Congress to build a world class navy and military. Finally, he promoted conservation of natural resources and got the legislation passed that allows presidents to designate national monuments.

Morris points out some of Theodore's failures as a President. His rhetoric while speaking sometimes made enemies instead of winning converts. He was not immune from racism. He presided over the discharge of many black soldiers from the military based on the "Brownsville Incident" where proof of individual wrong-doing was totally lacking. Sometimes he was impulsive and inclined to ignore the law based on his interpretation of the greater good. Finally, he failed to win passage of other progressive legislation he championed such as the eight hour work day and child labor laws.

Its a fascinating book. Its on par with "Truman" and "John Adams" both excellent books written by historian David McCullough. This book simply should not be missed by anyone interested in American History.

Mark

I so much prefer David McCullough, E. W. Brands and Doris Kearns Goodwin for their straightforward presentation of a story. Which is not to say that their writing is not compelling. But I think it takes greater skill to make a page-turner out of the unvarnished facts that it does to burden them with syrup-y prose.

Theodore Roosevelt came into office in September 1901 after an anarchist assassinated President William McKinley. The atmosphere of fear and alarm that swept the country then bears a sharp resemblance to our national mood since September 11. Fortunately, the events of September 1901 brought into office one of our most intellectually able and energetic chief executives. The next seven and a half years were among the most dynamic in our history.

Theodore Roosevelt was a primal force. Nothing like him has held power in Washington before or since. His energy was boundless, his enthusiasm contagious, his charisma eternal. He seized control of the national agenda and forced the United States into the twentieth century.

After such a stupendous job of chronicling one of the most stupendous Presidents, I wonder how Morris will manage the third volume's inevitable tale of decline. Given his track record, I'm sure it will be well worth the wait. (I just hope it isn't another twenty years!)

The book opens with an account of Roosevelt receiving word of McKinley's assassination and closes with Taft's inauguration on March 4, 1909. The author does an excellent job narrating the challenges Roosevelt faced during his first term including handling of the anthracite coal strike and ending the Russian-Japanese War. The text describes how the President adroitly handled all challenges including domestic political problems and crises on Wall Street. Later, Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to facilitate the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russian-Japanese War.

The book covers his second term equally well. Roosevelt, a Republican,won a second term by a sizable majority. He had strong public support and the text quotes H.G. Wells stating "Never did a President so reflect the quality of his time" A frustrated Democratic Senator Tillman shouted " . . . the Democratic party can always be relied on to make a damn fool of itself at the critical time".

His second term was also demanding; and having publicly announced he would not run for a third term, his legislative clout was weakened. Among his second term challenges were a situation involving black soldiers in Brownsville, Texas; and anti-immigrant riots in San Francisco involving Japanese immigrants. The cooperation of the Japanese government was required but not immediately forthcoming. The author notes "Roosevelt confessed another fear . . . that of war with Japan. He did not think it would come soon, but he was sure it would one day." - how true! One reason that he sent the Great White Fleet around the world was not only to impress Europe but also to show to Japan the U.S. strength in the West Pacific. It worked and Japan became cooperative on the immigrant problem.

While handling his many second term challenges, he initiated a Governors' Conference (attended by 350 persons) covering ninety-five aspects of conservation, preservation and planned exploitation. The discussion of his relationship, during his second term, with heir apparent, William Howard Taft is revealing. In most aspects, Taft was the antithesis of Roosevelt.

It is interesting to note that many issues Theodore Roosevelt faced in both terms are issues today. For example: in his first message to Congress, regarding a ban on all political violent immigrants Roosevelt wrote "They and those like them should be kept out of this country and if found here they should be promptly deported to the country whence they came; and far-reaching provisions should be made for the punishment of those who stay." Shades of 11September 2001.

In conclusion, the author writes "Statue books and official histories would celebrate his administrative achievements: the Monroe Doctrine reaffirmed, the Old World banished from the New World, the great Canal being cut; peace established in the Far East; the Open Door swinging freely in Manchuria and Morocco; Cuba liberated (and returned to self-government...); the Philippines pacified; the Navy hugely strengthened, known literally around the world; the Army shorn of its old deadwood generals...; capital and labor balanced off, the lynch rate declining, the gospel of cleaner politics now actually gospel, and enough progressive principles established, or made part of the national debate, to keep legislative reformers busy for at lest ten years." To this should be added that he created five national parks and established sixteen national monuments plus initiated twenty federal irrigation projects in fourteen states.

The books concluding paragraph states that "...he left behind a folk consensus that he had been the most powerfully positive American leader since Abraham Lincoln."

Edmond Morris' style make this is a very readable book. For example, referring to Roosevelt's previous call for legislation in the area of employer's liability the author writes "That call had been mainly propaganda, since the lame-duck Fifty-eighth Congress had soon after quacked its last..."

Whether you like or dislike with Theodore Roosevelt, this book is a must for all American government history "buffs."

Morris tells me more about the President's lifestyle, his ability to "live large" and the minutia of his policy than I want to know. He tells us a lot about who the President saw and when. He tells me about the weather. He tells me about where the President hunted and what the President shot. And many of these stories are enjoyable.

But, Morris tells me less about the real politics of the time and of the man than I'd like to know. Was the President really a "progressive?" Did the President really believe in his "progressive" agenda of corporate regulation or was it just smart politics. If he believed, why? If not, was he an earlier version of Nixon or Clinton doing the "right" thing for votes and knowing all along the ultimate outcome was at best a gamble?

Having read the book I don't know the answer.

But I did enjoy the book. Morris can tell a story and tell it well.

The book starts with the news of President McKinley's assassination, and fills in much detail on events about which I basically knew nothing. Some highlights of these events include the negotiation surrounding the building and rights to the Panama Canal, the Brownsville, TX shootings, the general racial tension that was pricked when TR invited Booker T Washington to dinner at the White House, the peace treaty between Japan and Russia that TR played a large part in, the building up of our naval fleet, and the creation of national parks.

I also learned a great deal about the main characters in TR's life at that time, namely his Cabinet members and his wife and children. Morris also threads together numerous hunting stories and snippets of Roosevelt's love for adventure that truly made me laugh. I was amazed at his intuition as a politician and his knack for getting his way in most circumstances through sheer force of will.

Theodore Rex was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who is curious in learning more about that time in our country's history, or if you are like me and want to find out more about a brilliant mind who also happened to love the outdoors.

I was interested throughout the book, and listened with anticipation for details about the Panama Canal, and his many firsts as president (first to leave the country, first to fly in an airplane, first to ride in a submarine...), but these were not even mentioned. Granted, there was a lot to work with, but hteir omission surprised me.

Theodore Roosevelt is a large reason why our country is as dominant as it is, even 80 years after his death. This book will definitely teach you about the man and his presidency, but is not up to the Pulitzer-Prize winning effort of its earlier work Morris wrote before.

Chronologically arranged from the assassination of President McKinley to inauguration day, 1909, "Theodore Rex" covers the major issues to confront the Roosevelt Administration, both domestic and foreign. From his first day in office, TR was confronted with the task of winning over the Republican party in order to ensure his nomination in 1904. In this task he had to get around the hostility of McKinley's patron, Sen. Mark Hanna of Ohio.

Domestically, TR faced a number of issues, some more successfully than others. Although a believer in Anglo-Saxon superiority, TR did respect the accomplishments of individuals. Race relations was one issue which TR confronted early and often, motivated by a mixture of interests, grounded both in politics and principle. Much of Hanna's influence came from his control of Southern delegations, a particularly corrupt wing of the Republican party. Having no power of their own, the Republican party in the South consisted almost exclusively of whites seeking federal patronage and blacks. In a effort to gain leverage with the black wing of the party, TR made an overture to Booker T. Washington, making him the first black invited to dinner at the White House. This overture was met with overwhelming disapproval by almost all segments of the body politic. Attempts to appoint blacks to federal positions ran into Senate opposition. Even to speak out against the practice of lynching tempered the courage of a leader with calculated political risk. Toward the end of his term, his handling of the case of the 25th Infantry in Brownsville, Texas was to undue much of his record in race relations.

Labor relations presented an early test when TR became the first President to mediate a labor dispute as he brought the anthracite coal operators and miners together, turning a potential political nightmare into a major personal victory.

His prosecution of the antitrust suit against the Northern Securities company, the railroad trust, brought him into conflict with the captains of industry and finance. This would be followed by his promotion of legislation to allow federal regulation of railroad rates. He would later work with some of these same captains in averting a financial panic.

An early consumerist, TR lead the fight for the Pure Food and Drug Act, a measure inspired by Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and opposed by strong congressional forces.

Much Of TR's legacy survives in the lands he set aside in National Parks and his beginning of conservation policies. Unimpaired by Congressional opposition, TR employed executive orders to expand the wilderness held for future generations.

It was in foreign policy that TR had some of his most enduring and spectacular successes. Confronted with a potential German takeover of Venezuela, TR reached back to the Monroe Doctrine and anticipated the war to occur with Germany in the following decade. Unlike some successors, TR was able to go to the brink of war without falling over the edge.

When negotiations with Congress and Columbia failed to secure a canal treaty, TR supported the Panamanian revolt and secured the treaty which would lead to the Canal which he considered to be the greatest accomplishment of his administration.

Mid-Eastern terrorism was not unknown in TR's day. The kidnapping of the American expatriate, Ion Perdicaris, from his home in Tangier, Morocco by the Raisuli, placed the issue on the President's desk. TR applied mounting pressure on the Sultan to achieve Perdicaris' release. With warships in place, TR finally issued the ultimatum: "We want Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead".

Japan would figure prominently among his foreign policy initiatives. Intervening to bring an end to the Russo-Japanese War won TR the respect of the world, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize, the first Nobel Prize won by an American. Despite his belief in Anglo-Saxon superiority he admired the Japanese race and preferred their victory over Russia, a victory which he confirmed after both sides had exhausted themselves in their struggle.

Shortly thereafter, relations between Japan and the U. S. drifted toward war when the San Francisco school board voted to segregate Japanese and white students. A combination of moral suation on the school board and a naval display in the Pacific delayed war by 35 years.

The buildup of the Navy, which had begun during Roosevelt's service as Assistant Secretary of he Navy, was capped by the circumnavigation voyage of the Great White Fleet, concluding a month before TR's own term.

At the end of his term, TR enjoyed an odd mixture of love by the people and hatred by the captains of industry. He was still able to take pride in his accomplishments. He had calmed a nation plunged into grief. This most beligerent of presidents, with his soft speech and big stick had achieved his goals while keeping the peace. He has showed, albeit timidly, how to treat those of other colors as equals. He had limited trusts, affirmed the Monroe Doctrine, built the great Canal, brought peace to the Far East, faced down Mid-East terrorists, settled labor disputes, reduced the lynching rate, expanded the national parks and monuments, had become the first vice-president to succeed to the presidency and win a term on his own and had honored the two term limit.

Theodore Roosevelt lived quite a story. Edmund Morris has written quite a book.

I believe his conservation agenda alone ranks him among the best of American leaders, and current "conservative" moralists like Jerry "global-warming-is-a-myth" Falwell would do well to read some of his thoughts about the inextricable connection between conservation and morality. We owe many of our national parks and monuments to Teddy's foresight.

I hope Edmund Morris continues the tale of Roosevelt's life, the post-presidential years, in a third book. I'll be waiting.

Morris makes two essential points about Roosevelt, which he repeatedly emphasizes through his episodic narratives. First, Roosevelt's conservatism sought to maintain equilibrium between interests. Second, Roosevelt was quintessentially a man of action, even if he possessed prodigious powers of intellect and persuasion. Morris arranges his narrative chronologically, but the momentum of his argument increases until Roosevelt's departure from Washington provides a tidy end.

Morris brilliantly devises fitting metaphors for his discussions. He starts his narrative about conservation with a hunting trip, where Roosevelt notices the dearth of birds. Railroads, however, provide the most fitting metaphor for the entire narrative. Beginning and ending with two superb accounts of train voyages, railroads, like Roosevelt, were fast and powerful. But railroads also provided Roosevelt an historical opportunity to wrestle the corporations into government authority, and also played a role in resolving a coal miner's strike. Calculating a train's pace through the isthmian mountains also allowed Roosevelt to coordinate a revolution in Panama.

Purposefully having bought the book to find out Roosevelt's attitude about the Russo-Japanese War, for which negotiations he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Morris's account of the Philippine War, the Yellow Peril scandals, and the Portsmouth negotiations make his dismissal of the Koreans all the more callous. Roosevelt, more than any of his contemporaries, was concerned about racial issues. The only explanation Morris's account leaves is, that Korea fell short of Roosevelt's need for balance and action. Roosevelt's decisions reveal a practical political philosophy midway between idealism and balance of power realism.

Like James, however, Morris's prose is slippery and deceptive. His account of the 1907 Brownsville Incident, the only tactical mistake of the Roosevelt Administration, is ambiguous. Like a train, Morris just allows the narrative to roll forward, crushing the scandal under the weight of history. His accounts of the Roosevelt family are also ambiguous and selective. Morris can be critical about the children's personalities, but about Roosevelt's paternal abilities Morris is relatively quiet. The account is solidly devoted to Roosevelt's political life, and is not merely an installment in his life.

This book lacks the historical sweep (and any remnant of the sense of humor) of Morris' first TR biography, however. The issues TR deals with are presented more or less in serial format, and there are no attempts to draw any great themes or lasting conclusions. The reader is left to do all of that him or herself. Also, I never got any real feeling about Edith, TR's second wife. She is mentioned throughout, but we're never given a true sense of her feelings toward her husband and his Presidency.

Finally, parts of this book were somewhat confusing to me -- one needs to be a very attentive reader to remember an individual who is briefly introduced 30 pages earlier, but then is not fully re-introduced. It almost feels like this book was somewhat rushed out the door.

But this is an important addition to the scholarship of one of the country's most distinguished and important Presidents. TR redefined the Presidency on a level with Washington, Jackson, JFK, and FDR. His involvement in more issues (labor strikes, international diplomacy, etc.) than any President before him would be copied by many of his successors. His prescience regarding the environment, big business, and world war were remarkable.

I do recommend this book, but it is not at the extremely high level of Morris' first book. That first book set a high standard, though, and this book is still relevant and worthwhile.

And can I say -- it's horribly written. It gushes. Many of these reviews single out its wonderful prose and vivid portraits. I thought they were awful: almost purely visual, and so overwrought as to be almost embarrassing, as if one were listening to a fawning correspondent breathlessly describe a royal occasion. Here's one of my faves, describing John Hay:

"The severe cut of his Savile Row clothes gave line to his five-foot-two-inch figure, while a slight fulness of silk under the winged collar focused attention on his unforgettable face. In youth, when merely mustached, Hay had looked almost mandarin, with his high cheekbones and Ming-smooth brow. Now the mustache floated over a magnificent whitened Vandyke, while the skin above was slashed with creases, two of the deepest plummeting in a frown so anguished that photographers felt obliged to retouch them."

A mustache floating over a magnificent Vandyke! A Ming-smooth brow! All those moveable features -- he sounds like a grandee Mr. Potato-head. For chrissakes, he was elegant and looked grave -- I'd like to know what he was *like.*

Thre isn't as much of Teddy's personality in "Theodore Rex" as there was in Morris's "Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" but we faithful readers already know Teddy. The events and challenges of the presidency are what this book is about and how the stubbornly brilliant Roosevelt dealt with them. Morris frequently mentions Teddy's love of tennis. The metaphor is not lost as the determined Roosevelt swats away tennis balls as he does political rivals and world crises.

Morris's book rarely drags as so many biographies do. He does not try to impress us with his thorough research of his subject even though he has done that. In the hands of a lesser author "Theodore Rex" might well be a three thoudsand page book. And that is Morris's genius -- giving us the essence of Theodore Roosevelt without boring us with every detail of his life. I look forward to the next installment of the Rooseveltian saga.

TR was a much better chess player than most people give him credit for being. He knew how to position the American navy in such ways to achieve the best strategic advantage for the United States. He was able to stare down the British and the Germans in Venezuela; and able to maintain the US's key possessions in the Pacific through hard bargaining with Japan. He gave the Russians the opportunity to maintain their pride if not their geopolitical importance, following the Ruso-Japanese war, earning himself the Nobel Peace Prize in the process. TR made a few mistakes along the way, such as selling out Korea for the sake of a peace treaty between Russia and Japan, but these pale in the light of his greater accomplishments.

On the domestic front, Morris illustrates TR's concern with the environment and labour. He also charts TR's trials and tribulations in starting the Panama Canal. As TR grew in confidence he was able to get much more accomplished. He seized control of the Republican Party, setting the agenda in his second term. The accidental president was now the driving force in politics, and could have very well served a third term had he not stood by the gentleman's agreement that a president should serve only two terms. A reluctant Taft had very big shoes to fill, as would have any person succeeding this larger than life president.

Morris lavishes attention on TR's oldest daughter, Alice. The precocious teenager grows into a fetching young beauty in the course of this narrative, stealing the show on numerous occasions. She upstaged her fellow Americans in Japan, endearing herself to the host country, who followed her every move in the press. Her wedding was a royal affair, with a treasure trove of gifts from the world over. It took a massive storeroom just to hold them all.

Morris doesn't spend as much time on Edith, largely because his wife, Sylvia Jukes Morris, has written a biography on Edith Kermit Roosevelt. Probably the only journalistic pair to write biographies of a first couple.

Not quite as satisfying as "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt," but a sterling portrait just the same. Morris seems very comfortable with TR, and one hopes that it won't take another 20 years for the concluding volume in this triptych.

Morris' research is impeccable -- you will be a fly in the wall for every event that took place in R's administration. I also think Morris did a fair job showing both his faults and his strengths -- he could be a bully at times, a boor, but also an incredibly charming and diplomatic man. You will come out of this book knowing infinitely more about the time period and the man himself. Overall, an exacting and detailed biography that at times gets weighed under by minutiae (although that minutiae will be fodder for true historians).

Ironically, it is the wonderfully rare photographs, neatly placed within pertinent text, that illuminate and touch: TR strides to work in his first week as President; TR and Alice engage in an intense tete-a-tete; TR and family pose at Sagamore Hill - he the essence of strength, Edith confident, Alice starry-eyed, Quentin affectionately clutching his dad. There are also some fascinating photo (and word) portraits of historical figures, such as a determined Booker T. Washington, elegant John Hay, slick Nick Longworth, world-weary Speaker 'Uncle Joe' Cannon, precise Philander Knox, idealistic John Mitchell, a cerebral William Howard Taft. The shots of TR in candid moments reveal more of him than whole chapters (TR on horseback; on tour (from behind, his right hand reaching for the sky, his top hat held behind his rippling back); on a trek rest with dog Skip on his lap). I'd buy this book for the almost 50 photos alone. The text, which does soar at times, can be a worthy bonus.

Theodore Rex examines the Roosevelt presidency, from William McKinley's assassination by an anarchist in September of 1901, to the swearing in of "Big Bill" Taft in a blizzard in March of 1909.

If you want to read about Roosevelt before his presidency, I would recommend Edmund Morris' The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. It is similar, in that it is an immensely readable historical examination of one of America's greatest leaders.

Theodore Rex, though, gives great insight into the life and times of Mr. Roosevelt, the way he changed the presidency, the way he changed America, and the way he changed the world.

Roosevelt's (and America's) role in the Panamanian revolution and secession from Colombia, and the subsequent securing of the Panama Canal Treaty, is highly enlightening, and at times bordering on humorous.

To briefly quote from the book (page 290):

"...another cable from Panama City announced that a government gunboat had tossed five or six shells into the city, 'killing a Chinaman in Salsipuedes street and mortally wounding an ass.' If that was the extent of Colombia's rage so far, a tired President could get some sleep."

The story of the kidnapping in Morocco of Ion Perdicaris, a wealthy, American-born expatriate who had given up his citizenship during the Civil War (unbeknownst to the U.S. at the time), and the pressure Roosevelt applied ("Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead"), during the 1904 Republican presidential nominating convention in Chicago, to secure Mr. Perdicaris' freedom, is another fascinating bit of American history. It is a prime example of America's rising stature in the world, and of Theodore Roosevelt's famous "big stick."

Other parts, big and small, of Roosevelt's presidency are conveyed with a keen knack for detail and a high degree of objectivity: mediating an impasse between labor and capital on more than one occasion and in more than one context; negotiating a peace between Japan and Russia (which won Roosevelt the Nobel Prize); intervening in Cuba; managing the Philippines; dining with Booker T. Washington; commissioning and sending off of the "Great White Fleet" around the world; and even just moments with his family and friends.

A look at a truly independent and forward-thinking individual, Theodore Rex is a joy to read and ponder. Any serious student of American history ought to read this book, but by no means should this book be limited to history buffs. Highly and excitedly recommended!

It is only a slight exaggeration to say that you could open up this book to almost any page and come away with at least one memorable sentence or paragraph. Mr. Morris has the ability to paint personalities with words, with a few impressionistic strokes of the pen. One of the best things about the book is that it isn't only T.R. who is portrayed- many, many people who came into the presidential orbit from 1901-1909 are brought to life in these pages. Here is an example, concerning J.P.Morgan: "There was something volcanic about Morgan. The hot glare and fiery complexion, flushing so deep that the engorged nose seemed about to burst, the smoldering cigar, the mountainous shoulders- merely to look at him was to register tremors. Yet interlocutors soon discovered that Morgan's sparks and smoke were a kind of screen, concealing someone essentially quiet and shy, almost clerical. As a youth, he had dreamed of becoming a professor of mathematics; he was equally attracted to the rituals of the Episcopal Church, in which he had served as a vestryman for forty years.... He sought relief from numbers by collecting indiscriminate quantities of great or ghastly art. His Madison Avenue library bulged with uncut volumes. Occasionally, in country homes, Morgan would fumble at a passing woman." Morris does this over and over throughout the book, seemingly effortlessly. Notice I said "seemingly!"

Morris can capture a scene just as well as he can capture a personality. Here he is on the signing of the Panama Canal treaty: "Conscious that Dr. Amador might at any minute knock on Hay's door, Bunau-Varilla was quite willing to forgo the reading. He had not thought to bring a seal, so the Secretary offered him a choice of sealing rings. Bunau-Varilla chose one embossed with the Hay coat of arms. The clock stood at 6:40 p.m. Pens scratched across parchment. Wax melted on silk. Two oceans brimmed closer, ready to spill." Great stuff!

After you finish reading this book T.R. will be with you forever, a force of nature- rising above the tired cliche "one of a kind." It will be readily apparent why, if he had wanted to run again in 1908, Roosevelt would have had no difficulty being re-elected by a wide margin.

I and countless others had to wait 20 years for this book. I only hope we don't have to wait another 20 for volume three!

I was excited about this book and learning more about TR. I love politics and detailed biographies so I am exactly the target of this book, but I simply find it boring. First, an extensive vocabulary is wonderful, but should be used to enlighten, not to obfuscate.

Second, while I love details, they should be offered in a biography to tell you more, not to simply add weight. Morris often recites meaningless, minute details about interactions that take place between TR and others, but gives very little useful background info on others around TR that are involved in the interaction. This leaves one with more questions about an incident than answers.

In the end, I don't need to know what happened in TR's life on a daily basis. A better book (McCullough's John Adams, for example) gives more details about individuals around the subject of the book (why they do what they do, etc.) and detailed accounts of major events.

I think Morris should be a book editor, not an author.

I was interested throughout the book, and listened with anticipation for details about the Panama Canal, and his many firsts as president (first to leave the country, first to fly in an airplane, first to ride in a submarine...), but these were not even mentioned. Granted, there was a lot to work with, but hteir omission surprised me.

Theodore Roosevelt is a large reason why our country is as dominant as it is, even 80 years after his death. This book will definitely teach you about the man and his presidency, but is not up to the Pulitzer-Prive winning effort of its earlier work Morris wrote before.