The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

Apr 07, 2013 Steve aka Sckenda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those Needing an Injection of Iron in the Spine

Recommended to Steve aka Sckenda by: Angie

Shelves: history-united-states, children, coming-of-age, biography, presidents, new-york, nature, national-book-award, national-book-award-author, pulitzer-prize, pulitzer-prize-author, series, modern-library-nonfiction-100

My life has been saved and rebuilt by books, and this is one of those books. Though I love this story. I love it not for the typical reasons that one might be inspired by the life of President Theodore Roosevelt. My older sister bought me this book in 1981, a few days after my father died, and I read it several years later as a teen boy on a church youth ski-trip to Glorietta, New Mexico. I could not afford the rich boys’ sport of skiing, so while the rest of the group went either skiing or shop...more My life has been saved and rebuilt by books, and this is one of those books. Though I love this story. I love it not for the typical reasons that one might be inspired by the life of President Theodore Roosevelt. My older sister bought me this book in 1981, a few days after my father died, and I read it several years later as a teen boy on a church youth ski-trip to Glorietta, New Mexico. I could not afford the rich boys’ sport of skiing, so while the rest of the group went either skiing or shopping, I hiked up the mountain by myself, found a commanding viewpoint, and, as the puffy snow fell around me, I read about the life of TR-- from the time of his birth to his becoming the youngest President of the United States after the assassination of President McKinley.

President Reagan was so impressed with author Edmund Morris, who won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for this book, that he gave Morris unprecedented access to his own life, so Morris could become his official biographer. Morris would return to TR project, decades later, after the Reagan book "Dutch," to conclude TR’s life with two more volumes.

I was fascinated by TR’s life growing up in Oyster Bay, New York. He was a sickly and asthmatic boy who was tired of being weak, so he started a program of strength training and exercise in which he transformed himself into a man-- strong of body and spirit.

TR, as a boy, was a naturalist who collected flora and fauna and drew detailed pictures of the natural world that surrounded him. He read a book a day and went on to write nearly forty books of his own. TR graduated law school and embarked upon a promising career in politics.

Most memorable to me was that TR knew suffering. Like me, his father died while he was a teenager and, a few years later, his wife and his mother died on the same day, in unrelated misfortunes. After his wife’s, death, TR, in his early twenties headed west to remake himself yet again. He said, “Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough.” He never mentioned his first wife’s name ever again.

Little did I know, as I read the book, that I would eerily imitate TR’s life. My father died when I was young, and I would also become a young widower who had to reshape himself and save himself from shipwreck in his early twenties. Where TR turned west and to hunting, I turned to books. I never became important (as I once dreamed), and I regret TR’s leading America away from it foundation as a Republic and toward the path of Empire, but I will always salute the young man who had the courage to overcome shipwreck and to reshape himself against the odds. Thus, he became my role model and this book became one of the most influential that I ever read. It is in this spirit that I fondly remember this book, one of the greatest biographies ever written, and commend it to the world.

April 6, 2013(less)

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Sep 16, 2012 Erik Graff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Americans

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: biography

Having been invited by Nate and Robyn Gregory to spend two weeks with them in NW Wisconsin and having had several prior visits to the nearby town, I brought up two books for scholarly review and trusted to the Hayward animal welfare resale shop for supplementary pleasure reading. There I picked up this text and a couple of birthday gifts for a niece, expecting to make a start while still up in the north woods, but to finish it at home.

In fact, the text was so engrossing that I finished it in a f...more

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Oct 18, 2007 Marcel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Teddy Roosevelt ranks among the most colorful characters in American history. We all have heard of the charge of Roosevelt's Raiders up San Juan Hill. But who knows that Teddy once captured a horse thief? Who knows that Roosevelt was a prolific writer, and somewhat of an expert scientist? Teddy ranks alongside characters such as Alexander the Great, George Armstong Custer and Kit Carson as people one wonders, "How did they do so much in a single life?"

Edmund Morris is one of the best writers of...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Markus Molina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Firstly, I'd like to preface this review by stating, I'm really not into politics much at all and find it boring for the most part, so I can imagine more political folk enjoying this book a lot more than I did. I decided to pick up this review after my professor was discussing him in class with such pep and enthusiasm, I was compelled to read up on him.

Roosevelt is probably the most interesting man to ever run for office, in my opinion. And this book brought him to life waaay better than my pro...more Firstly, I'd like to preface this review by stating, I'm really not into politics much at all and find it boring for the most part, so I can imagine more political folk enjoying this book a lot more than I did. I decided to pick up this review after my professor was discussing him in class with such pep and enthusiasm, I was compelled to read up on him.

Roosevelt is probably the most interesting man to ever run for office, in my opinion. And this book brought him to life waaay better than my professor did. Roosevelt is unreal. He reminds me of the tall tales I'd hear as a kid, but honestly he is more manly than 4 Paul Bunyans in my mind. His heroics are jaw-dropping. From being the young gun in congress, to standing face to face and preparing to fight against assailing native americans out for his head, to swimming with sharks, reading 3 pages a minute and 2 books a day, capturing thieves who stole his boat by building a boat with his bare hands and chasing them way farther than he should have, patrolling the streets at 3 in the morning, cleaning up the crooked NY cops and politicians like some sort of super hero, and at 40 years old making due of his promise that he'd fight for america when the time came. So, he goes and starts his rough riders, riding horses like maniacs into cuba, for the Spanish/American war. His own soldiers couldn't even believe his heroics, from his jumping with joy when snipers starting reigning down on his squad, and staying on his horse to fight back against them. The dude was nuts! And he did all these things while being one of most important politician of all time AND while writing a ton of books. Oh yeah, then he goes and becomes the youngest president of all time.

The man was incredible, and for that, this book is worth reading.

The things I didn't like about this book, like I said, were a lot of the really political stuff was very dry for me. I know, you're thinking, "why would you read about a politician if you weren't interested in politics?" I wanted to educate myself, is that so strange?

Hahahhaar, anywho,
I love Teddy, I think most people would.

Check out this book if you're interested.
I'm feeling patriotic!(less)

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Sep 11, 2011 Dick Gullickson rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's hard to separate my admiration for Theodore Roosevelt from my appreciation for Edmund Morris's great biography. Theodore is an unexpectedly remarkable and fascinating individual. Edmund paints a compelling picture of Teddy with his boyish enthusiasms, boundless energy, magnetic personality, odd speaking style (at least for much of his early career), and top flight intellect. Roosevelt was a committed amateur biologist who wrote one of his many books on the big game animals of the west. He w...more

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Apr 05, 2008 Mary Mason rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm a fiction reader, mostly; this was one of the efforts I made at reading some non-fiction after hearing Edmund Morris in an interview on a talk radio station. He was immensely impressive--so well spoken, so literate, so knowledgeable about, it seemed, nearly everything.

The book was as good as I had hoped, full of wonderful detail of Theodore Roosevelt's personal life. This first of (3?) books by Morris on Roosevelt was on his formative years--the love of his parents, the love of his family, t...more

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Mar 30, 2008 rmn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction-history, biography

It is hard to believe this is not fiction. Roosevelt led an amazing childhood and early life, one that is not to be believed.

Aided by Morris' lively writing, this book follows TR from birth until just before he becomes President. It is not only a great picture of the precocious, intellectual, and multi-talented Roosevelt, but a good look at what America was like in the late 1800s and delves into alot of history that gets glossed over in school.

While this is the first book of a planned trilogy (T...more

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Jan 10, 2008 Bethany rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: heartily-recommended, non-fiction, biography, historical, politics

This book has been on my to-read list for a very long time, largely because it has so many pages and the content is incredibly dense. I finally buckled down and read it; I am immensely glad that I did. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is a masterpiece of a biography that - though long - is never tedious. Even as larger-than-life as Roosevelt is, Morris manages to express these characteristics while maintaining Roosevelt’s humanity. I liked Roosevelt before I read this book, and now I must confess...more

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Feb 26, 2008 Bud rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is an outstanding biography written about one of America’s most unique personalities. As the name suggests, this is written about TR’s early life and the experiences that shaped the man.

As a child, Theodore Roosevelt overcame early physical aliments to become a man who had incredible stamina and a strong constitution.

And throughout the rest of the book, Morris portrays a man largely unaffected by his wealth who developed a voracious appetite for reading, outdoor...more

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Feb 25, 2008 Adrienne rated it 5 of 5 stars

I always like the "rise of" biographies because that's where I feel I am in my life. I had always turned up my nose at Teddy Roosevelt but after reading this I really admire him as a great man who made the most of his life. He coped with horrible tragedy (wife and mother died within 24 hours of each other). I don't particularly agree with his politics (he didn't like Jefferson, and leaned toward the progressive/liberal side of the spectrum) but I still am grateful that he became our president an...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Philip rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" is a fascinating look at one of the more fascinating presidents of the United States. Tracing his journey from boyhood to the presidency, this volume exhibits careful and thorough research, massive interaction with original sources, delightfully inclusions of dialogue, and a knack for wit and humor. I finished it in about a week because I found the work irresistible. Morris has truly written the biography of Theodore Roosevelt.

There were a number of positive less...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone interested in US History or Biographies

Wow! What an amazing man! This biography covers the first 42 years of Roosevelt's life; from his sickly, asthma riddled childhood to his determined physical transformation as a teenager to his magna cum laude graduation from Harvard (having already published one of the more than 35 books he would write in his lifetime). From his graduation until he became the President of the United States at age 42 (the youngest ever) and the point at which the book ends, he had served two terms as a New York s...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Michael O'Neill rated it 4 of 5 stars

A detailed narrative with the page-turning energy of a good novel, probably because of the burning energy of the subject. Teddy Roosevelt was an explorer, an adventurer, a voracious reader, a classicist, and a brilliant bulldog of a politician who went after what he wanted, damn the torpedoes and political correctness, a notion he would never had heard of or would have given two cents about if he had. He was also a bit of a nut who probably never would have survived in today's political climate...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Paul Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I came to this book after reading not just Morris's THEODORE REX (the second of the trilogy chronicling Roosevelt's life), but Roosevelt's own biography, published just prior to the election of 1912, where TR went into a slug match with his former friend Taft not just for the Republican nomination, but also the presidency (it was this political brawl--which shares startling similarities to the election of 1992--that allowed Woodrow Wilson, no one's idea of a sure-thing). But, as opposed to Roose...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Scott Rhee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't typically read biographies, so I'm not sure what compelled me to read Edmund Morris' biography of Theodore Roosevelt, but I was quite enthralled by it. Part of the appeal is probably Morris's smooth prose. Another factor is that Teddy Roosevelt was just an amazingly fascinating man. "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" covers his childhood through to his becoming president; his later years are covered in Morris's sequel "Theodore Rex", which I am reading now. Roosevelt still stands as an ins...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

As someone who never reads non-fiction, I found this book about Teddy Roosevelt's rise to the presidency interesting and informative. I originally picked it up because I wanted to learn how Roosevelt overcame challenges, how he operated as a leader, and other factors that played into his success. This book is definitely more historical than psychological. I learned a lot about the U.S. federal government in late 19th century and New York political history, and found the parts about Roosevelt's t...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Andrew Hunt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those seeking instruction in the manly virtues

Recommended to Andrew by: No one

Shelves: biography

It's a masterful treatment of the life of an American icon. I didn't come to this book looking specifically for a work of scholarship - this, Gödel, Escher, Bach, and Diarmaid MacCulloch's The Reformation are my "beach reads" before I take up more serious reading tasks later in the summer - but of course the scholarship itself is unimpeachable, all but the shortest chapters having over one hundred endnotes, which, for the sake of full disclosure, I did not read. (Most are simply abbreviated cita...more It's a masterful treatment of the life of an American icon. I didn't come to this book looking specifically for a work of scholarship - this, Gödel, Escher, Bach, and Diarmaid MacCulloch's The Reformation are my "beach reads" before I take up more serious reading tasks later in the summer - but of course the scholarship itself is unimpeachable, all but the shortest chapters having over one hundred endnotes, which, for the sake of full disclosure, I did not read. (Most are simply abbreviated citations of references listed in the bibliography, but a quick glance reveals that a few contain supplementary information or obscure anecdota.) That Morris is able to tell such a bully, rough-riding yarn without getting bogged down in his almost terrifyingly extensive research and documentation gives testimony to his formidable historical gifts.

Morris's fondness for his subject is evident, yet he never sweeps the Bull Moose's flaws under the rug. Roosevelt displayed such a sense of honor and egalitarianism throughout the whole of his early career that when he (view spoiler), my flabber was entirely gasted. (A word on those views: they constitute my greatest point of disagreement with Roosevelt, associated as they are with noxious myths of "the warfare of the cradle" or "the struggle of the races.") I also can't say much for Roosevelt's attitude toward animals, but I suppose he would not have been TR without his big-game hunts, and perhaps a grizzly bear or elk could hope for no nobler end than one by the hands (sometimes literally by the hands) of a Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt is something of a sphinx in his beliefs regarding animals, anyway; clearly he has a great admiration and respect for the majestic beasts he so temerariously fills with high-velocity lead and buckshot. But I digress.

Morris's style, for its part, brilliantly balances academic precision with literary panache. (In solidarity with every other reviewer of this volume, I'll mention that The Rise... apparently began life as a screenplay.) As the reader approaches the Rough Riders' fateful Cuban landing and their legendary charge at (say it with me) San Juan Hill, Morris outdoes himself, both in the ebullience of his descriptions (supported by the ubiquitous avalanche of citations, of course) and in the sheer volume of the same: the year 1898 alone stretches to fill four chapters of a 28-chapter book covering 42 years of TR's monumentally eventful life.

My only quibble with the book is that I would have liked to have learned more about the young Roosevelt, a.k.a. "Teedie," during his formative years - Morris seems to breeze through a childhood that for unadulterated adventure and legend-making potential could shame Dos Equis's The Most Interesting Man in the World.

Still, this is a minor hiccup in a consistently awesome narrative. I look forward to reading Theodore Rex and Colonel Roosevelt, whenever I can obtain them.

I add the final note that The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt gets five stars as a biography (it is already a classic, and is quite obviously definitive). It receives four stars only because of the idiosyncratic nature of my patented Absolute Book Rating Scale, which affords the coveted 5-star rating only to fossilized classics of the canon which I also happen to personally like. It is my hope that Mr. Morris will not find himself grievously wounded by my verdict.(less)

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Feb 12, 2012 Clint rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I'd always known Teddy Roosevelt was kind of like Davy Crockett, Charles Bronson, and set of encyclopedias wrapped up into one dude, but this book had tons of kickass details new to me. Like, he was kind of the first government official to push for an air force, 13 or 14 years before the Wright brothers even got their first plane in the air. He rounded up dangerous outlaws in the wild west, was a badass boxer, could read 2 or 3 books a day, even on a cattle drive, and the Rough Riders thing, whi...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Jim Leffert rated it 4 of 5 stars

This Pulitzer Prize winning classic initial volume of a biographical trilogy weighs in at 780 pages. Morris, especially in the beginning sections, writes with such energy and color that he makes Stacy Schiff seem staid by comparison. A wealth of journalistic detail contributes to the liveliness and immediacy of the story. If you like American history, read it!

Morris proves his point that Roosevelt merits this treatment. Cowboy, historian, naturalist, politician, war hero—he lived enough life to...more This Pulitzer Prize winning classic initial volume of a biographical trilogy weighs in at 780 pages. Morris, especially in the beginning sections, writes with such energy and color that he makes Stacy Schiff seem staid by comparison. A wealth of journalistic detail contributes to the liveliness and immediacy of the story. If you like American history, read it!

Morris proves his point that Roosevelt merits this treatment. Cowboy, historian, naturalist, politician, war hero—he lived enough life to be five separate people and the story of his first 43 years provides a window on several major aspects of American history during the second half of the 19th century.

For example, we learn about undergraduate life at Harvard in the 1870’s, the settlement and development of the South Dakota badlands, the shenanigans at the State House in Albany (nothing has changed there since the 1880’s), ward politics in Manhattan, and military strategy during the Spanish American War. Roosevelt was not just the hero of the Battle for San Juan Hill. During the months leading up to the war, Roosevelt, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, made the decisions that put the relatively somnolent U.S. military on a war footing. He accomplished this despite the McKinley administration’s deep reluctance to go down that path.

We also learn about the unexpected consequences of turns in Roosevelt’s path. Roosevelt was propelled to the Vice Presidency in 1901 largely because an alliance of corporate interests and the political machine in New York urgently wanted him out of the state and dry-docked as Vice President. Roosevelt desperately wanted another term as governor. All the way to the convention, he fought the idea of running for this “do nothing” position in Washington. Mark Hanna, McKinley’s long time campaign manager, detested Roosevelt and warned “Don’t you all realize that there’s only one life between this madman and the Presidency?” Six months after the inauguration, with McKinley’s assassination, Roosevelt became President.

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Jan 10, 2012 Elf M. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Edmund Morris's The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt was recommended to me by someone who was head-deep into something called "men's studies," deliberately named by analogy to "women's studies." He told me that Roosevelt was an example of a truly manly man, one that should be emulated by all right-thinking men.

I don't know that I agree with that. If Edmund Morris is to be believed, Roosevelt approached some apotheosis of human willpower, preternaturally blessed from birth with powers that destined him...more Edmund Morris's The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt was recommended to me by someone who was head-deep into something called "men's studies," deliberately named by analogy to "women's studies." He told me that Roosevelt was an example of a truly manly man, one that should be emulated by all right-thinking men.

I don't know that I agree with that. If Edmund Morris is to be believed, Roosevelt approached some apotheosis of human willpower, preternaturally blessed from birth with powers that destined him for a position of great authority. The book follows Roosevelt from his birth, through the death of his father and his first wife, to his strange adventures in the Dakota badlands, all the way up to his being Governor of New York and finally President of the United States.

Roosevelt was born a sickly child with severe asthma and a very small frame. His father doted on him to keep him alive, and when he was young bought Teddy a complete gymnasium in the basement, instructing the young man that he must "build his own body to support the mind within." He was an obsessive dilettante, studying everything that came his way enough to satisfy his curiousity that he could master it. Only two things really sparked his life-long interest, though: the natural sciences, and politics. Roosevelt kept at both throughout his career, spinning off a long series of important books about American History and North American wildlife, as well as leaving behind an impressive body of work in a variety of government roles before becoming President of the United States.

It's hard to encapsulate one man's life. The book is long-- 700 pages before the end notes! But it's a worthwhile life. You would exhaust yourself trying to emulate Roosevelt. And while it's admirable to be faithful to one's precepts and positions, Roosevelt's romantic priggishness is knee-jerk and not worthy of direct emulation; his morals make no room for human relationships that aren't also of a type sanctified by the Rick Santorum types of this world. That aside, though, Roosevelt deserves to be read, and so does his biography.(less)

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Nov 10, 2011 ***Dave Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, audiobook

(Original review Dec 2006 http://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2006/12/... )

Overall 4/5
Story 4/5
Re-Readability 3/5
Audio 4/5

This audio adaptation (abridged, but still weighing in at a dozen discs or so) of Morris’ Pullitzer Prize-winning biography, is a solid and entertaining, if not overly-illuminating chronology of TR’s childhood through his brief vice-presidency, leaving off just as McKinley dies from an assassination. It covers this broad and interesting subject with enthusiasm and extensive use of...more (Original review Dec 2006 http://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2006/12/... )

Overall 4/5
Story 4/5
Re-Readability 3/5
Audio 4/5

This audio adaptation (abridged, but still weighing in at a dozen discs or so) of Morris’ Pullitzer Prize-winning biography, is a solid and entertaining, if not overly-illuminating chronology of TR’s childhood through his brief vice-presidency, leaving off just as McKinley dies from an assassination. It covers this broad and interesting subject with enthusiasm and extensive use of the diaries and letters of TR (and some of his family and associates), but in the end the subject remains a big-grinning bespectacled icon of American history. I learned more about TR’s life, but not as much as I’d like about him.

Part of that is because TR was, for all his outgoing energy, a very private man. There were subjects (such as the death of his first wife) that he never talked or wrote about, even to acknowledge they had happened. He was zealous in building himself from a frail, distracted poindexter of a child into an ideal man, for both the public and his own self-image — rough and tumble as a westerner and “Rough Rider,” yet learned and of unimpeachable ethics. As a result, much of what can be gleaned, even from primary sources, is that ideal image. It wasn’t just about reputation, though that was clearly of far more importance to TR than he would admit, but about how he saw himself, reflected in others’ eyes and his own.

TR, in this work, lives up to that ideal — a Man’s Man, a Man of Virtue — remarkably well. If still a man of his times — his description of the Indians, Cubans, Spaniards, and the glories of hunting and war, for example, would all be highly impolitic today — he also served as one of the key torchbearers of the progressive movement, serving on the cutting edge of civil service reform, financial reform, and caring for the working class and poor, as well as the early stirrings of his natural conservationism.

If there are plenty of areas he could be criticized for today for falling far short of modern sensibilities, at the time he was considered a radical, a loose cannon, someone who, even as a Republican, was a threat to the status quo.

If nothing else, we learn here the facts (if not always, the reasons) for Roosevelt’s ascent and shaping. I ended up knowing a lot more about TR — his youthful love of biology, his bouts of illness, his western ventures, his romantic entanglements, his service in Cuba, and his political career — than I had (which was part of the intent, after all).

The book is narrated by Harry Chase, who does a solid job of it. He gives accents and mannerisms to the written dialog in places that sometimes seem to jar, but never too much, and his diction is clear, his pace steady and solid.

Worth either reading or listening to. I have the presidential sequel, “Theodore Rex, on my wish list …(less)

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Jul 27, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: award-winners, bio-autobiography, pulitzers, american-history

How does a madman become president of the United States? A man that didn’t even want to be president? It might suffice to say that fin-de-seile America was mad itself, burgeoning after the Reconstruction and the manic frenzy of invention. America was young, beautiful, talented and ambitious; a teenager that knew where it was going and didn’t show any signs of restraint. Theodore Roosevelt’s eccentric zeal brought out the embodiment of these traits, and with a little luck, that magic wand of dest...more How does a madman become president of the United States? A man that didn’t even want to be president? It might suffice to say that fin-de-seile America was mad itself, burgeoning after the Reconstruction and the manic frenzy of invention. America was young, beautiful, talented and ambitious; a teenager that knew where it was going and didn’t show any signs of restraint. Theodore Roosevelt’s eccentric zeal brought out the embodiment of these traits, and with a little luck, that magic wand of destiny, he was raised on a pedestal to light the torch of a century that witnessed the blazon of America’s influence as a great world power for years to come.

Morris’ style is precious and fluent- a contrast to the bombastic personality of Teddy, but it works nonetheless, and is well-deserving of a Pulitzer. It must be said that this volume only covers only his rise to presidency. It’s the first of a three volume series, and since it’s almost 800 pages long you get the sense of how prolific his life was: there isn’t any one profession or activity he sought to cement himself in.

My opinion on Roosevelt during this period is mixed. His charming, energetic, comical persona came off the pages in waves, and you can see how almost everyone he met seemed to like him (I imagined him as a more aggressive Robin Williams, haha). He was intelligent, diverse in both mental and physical exploration, with an insanely courageous drive to exalt himself despite the odds. But, while he was one of the few politicians of his time to fight corporate corruption (who had infiltrated politics after the insidious Santa Clara County vs Pacific Railroad ruling), he ultimately helped the bigger ones by opening doorways to globalization. He was even an insatiable warmonger who played a huge part in the first American expansionist wars; those being the invasions of Cuba & The Philippines. But during his presidency the U.S. was not involved in any wars, so one might infer that his adventure in Cuba was horrific enough for him to change his mind about warmongering. Another irony was that he claimed to be an environmentalist and established the first Wildlife Refuge in the U.S., yet he hunted animals voraciously and agreed to commence deforestation on American soil. Then, early in his political career he was indifferent to the laboring class, but I know that during his presidency he supported the labor strikes of the early 1900s... and to be so anti-Jeffersonian, yet stand for many of the same ideas, huh?... I don’t know whether or not he was aware of these ironies, or if he changed later on in life- I’ll have to read volume 2 to find out, but these complicated opinions are just a few of the many shades of his ambiguous character, making this both an exciting read and a depressing one. If only I could sit down with Teddy and have a soda to clear some things up. Among other things, I’d probably ask him how it feels to be sculpted next to Thomas Jefferson on Mt. Rushmore! (less)

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Jan 05, 2011 Marissa Morrison rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Morris traces the incredible life story of Theodore Roosevelt from birth up to the point where he's about to take over as President. I cannot imagine a more amazing and inspiring subject. In addition to his mental brilliance (he never forgot a person's face or life story and could recite passages of books read dozens of years earlier), Roosevelt had a natural curiosity that his parents allowed to develop: they not only permitted him to kill and stuff thousands of animals throughout his childhood...more Morris traces the incredible life story of Theodore Roosevelt from birth up to the point where he's about to take over as President. I cannot imagine a more amazing and inspiring subject. In addition to his mental brilliance (he never forgot a person's face or life story and could recite passages of books read dozens of years earlier), Roosevelt had a natural curiosity that his parents allowed to develop: they not only permitted him to kill and stuff thousands of animals throughout his childhood but even provided a room to serve as his museum. His father attacked Roosevelt's debilitating childhood asthma with a regimen of hearty exercise, inspiring him to develop a body that was as strong as his keen mind.

Starting at age 16, various people who meet Roosevelt begin saying that he'll probably be president some day, because his knowledge is so great in a wide range of subjects, his actions are ethical and his personality is electric. In college, he writes his first two books (on birds), woos his wife, and loses his father. As a young man, he writes a few more books (including a thoroughly researched history of the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812 that becomes required reading for naval officers), studies law, socializes with other old-moneyed families in Manhattan, joins the NY state legislature, establishes himself as a cattle rancher, catches some horse thieves (while simultaneously reading Anna Karenina), and loses his wife and never speaks of her again (not even to the daughter born a few days before her death).

In his late twenties, Roosevelt remarries, starts breeding copiously and "patriotically," and uses political appointments in Washington and New York City to fight corruption. As assistant secretary of the Navy, he lobbies for war in Cuba and as soon as war is about to begin he joins the Army to lead the Rough Riders into battle (literally jumping up and down with glee). By the time Roosevelt ascends to the governorship of New York, he's written more than a dozen books and become a national hero.

Finally, having alienated Repbulican party bosses by legislating against big business, he realizes that a second term as governor won't be likely, so he might as well accept the vice-presidential nomination. The book ends when newly sworn-in Vice President Roosevelt, not sure what the future holds and contemplating a return to law school, gets the telegram informing him of President McKinley's death.

Although it's hard to imagine a dull book about the life of Roosevelt, Morris's clear prose and use of lively quotes make for especially fun reading. Even the footnotes are delightful.(less)

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Nov 30, 2010 Mike Hankins rated it 5 of 5 stars

When it comes to nonfiction, it doesn't get better than this.

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt traces the early life of our most singular President, from his birth and childhood, up until the day before he took office. It's a fascinating and inspiring story, and incredibly well told.

Roosevelt's life was remarkable in almost every way. I was thrilled by stories of him growing up, overcoming the hardships of severe asthma and illness through tough workouts of all kinds, including weightlifting and e...more When it comes to nonfiction, it doesn't get better than this.

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt traces the early life of our most singular President, from his birth and childhood, up until the day before he took office. It's a fascinating and inspiring story, and incredibly well told.

Roosevelt's life was remarkable in almost every way. I was thrilled by stories of him growing up, overcoming the hardships of severe asthma and illness through tough workouts of all kinds, including weightlifting and extreme cardio. Equally thrilling was tracing his path as a budding naturalist and historian, seeing him diverted into politics, and watching him grow and mature through living out "the strenuous life" in a multitude of ways, whether it be tough political dealings and taking down the corruptiuon of machine politics, or through breaking in horses in the frontier and becoming an accomplished cowboy and expert hunter. His formation of the Rough Riders, the regiment he led in the Spanish-American war, was both amazing and inspiring. There's a good reason why this intellectual yet bellicose progressive upstart captured the hearts and minds of the nation, even before he was President.

I was inspired by his uncanny mental abilities. Gifted with a photographic memory and voracious appetite for knowledge, Roosevelt not only read a ludicrous amount of literature, but also was an accomplished writer in his own right, contributing many important historical volumes, most notably a history of the War of 1812 which remains standard reading to this day, influencing some of the most important naval minds of the time, and for many years afterward.

Teddy's adventures led him through some fascinating events, including a brief stint as Police Commissoner in New York City, where he made himself famous by sneaking around at night in costume so as to catch corrupt officers who bailed on their duties in the night. That's right, Theodore Roosevelt--in addition to being a Cowboy, an important historian, an accomplished naturalist and preservationist, a brilliant naval strategist, the first proponent of American Air Power, a war hero, and an incredibly effective progressive politician--was only one small step away from actually being Batman. And all this was well before he became President.

The stories are amazing in and of themselves, but Edmund Morris truly brings them to life in a fascinating way. His writing is impeccable, managing to give you not only the facts, but the emotional thrill of each moment. While it's easy to get caught up in Teddy's adventures of felling grizzly bears in the Old West, Morris manages to make Teddy's paperwork as a Civil Service Secretary just as thrilling. The depth of research is simply astounding. It's obvious that Morris poured over thousands of documents, including a liberal amount of revealing excerpts from Roosevelt's own writing, and also inserting quotes and clips from the journals of other people Teddy encountered, newspapers of the time, and other official government documents. If it sounds boring, it's far from it. Morris weaves all his information together into a tight narrative, full of excitement and energy that is a thrill to read on every page.

I plan to read this book again and again. Luckily, it's part 1 of a trilogy (Part 2 is "Theodore Rex" which covers the presidency, and the yet-to-be-released "Colonel Roosevelt" wraps up the post-presidency years) so I've got plenty of greatness to look forward to.

Even if you're not into history or politics, you owe it to yourself to check this out, it's a treasure.(less)

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Oct 10, 2010 Terry rated it 5 of 5 stars

This excellent biography of Theodore Roosevelt covers the period of his life from birth until just before his becoming President after the death of William McKinley in September 1901. Teddy Roosevelt was larger than life -- a man full of vigor and drive. People were predicting he'd become President of the United States while he was still a teenager. He was perhaps the first leader of the country to bridge the cultures of Easterner and Westerner. He is a study in contrasts -- an expert insider po...more

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Feb 25, 2010 Ty rated it 5 of 5 stars

I started another biography after finishing this and quickly realized not many non-fiction books can be this lively and engrossing. Morris succeeds in writing a surprisingly objective profile of a very complicated figure. The best insight into Roosevelt is Morris' description of him as less a calculating politico and more of a genuine force of nature. Many who met Roosevelt dislike him, quite a few feared him, but everyone was captivated by his energy and almost gravitational personality. The be...more I started another biography after finishing this and quickly realized not many non-fiction books can be this lively and engrossing. Morris succeeds in writing a surprisingly objective profile of a very complicated figure. The best insight into Roosevelt is Morris' description of him as less a calculating politico and more of a genuine force of nature. Many who met Roosevelt dislike him, quite a few feared him, but everyone was captivated by his energy and almost gravitational personality. The best line was the Republican Party chairman opposing Roosevelt's nomination to the vice-presidency with the horrified words "there will only be one life between that madman and the presidency!"

A couple other insights:
-Journalistic ethics are bull. The idea of objective journalism is so far removed from the publications of the late 19th century, when newspapers were at their most influential, that for modern commentators to lament the decline of ethical writing is a joke.

-Roosevelt was insanely popular and successful despite having very little real power for most of his political career. Before becoming New York's governor in 1899, Roosevelt had been a state assemblyman, a failed mayoral candidate, a rancher, a convention delegate, an author of naval and natural history, a federal civil service commissioner, one of the New York City police commissioners, and assistant secretary of the Navy. While he became governor at a young age, he became an assemblyman at 23 (depressing for me), meaning almost two decades of middling political influence in the intervening years. Yet despite the fact that being one of four municipal police commissioners was one of the more powerful positions Roosevelt had before assuming the presidency in 1901, he was still a national celebrity the entire time. No one outworked or out-publicized Roosevelt. Rather than subtle political maneuvering, Roosevelt simply made sure (1) he was utterly incorruptible and (2) he always worked in the spotlight. I can't think of another politician like him.(less)

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Feb 05, 2010 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Everyone, it seems, loves Theodore Roosevelt. He did so many things, and was so many things, in his fully-lived life, that there's an aspect of his personality that anyone - of any political persuasion - can latch onto.

A Democrat can support his love of nature, and the creation of the National Park system; Republicans can support the fact that Teddy would be more than willing to go into those National Parks and blow the hell out of whatever animal crossed his path. A Democrat can support the fa...more

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Sep 05, 2009 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, biography, non-fiction

Long and detailed, _The Rise..._ provides a very full and deep sweep of TR's life before the Presidency. My view of it may be somewhat influenced by the fact that I heard it as an audiobook on a long ride, but I felt that for all its depth I still couldn't quite get inside TR's head to understand his motivations and drives at a deeper level; it could be that, given the historical records we hove, Morris did absolutely the best job possible. I also found it a little but fan magazine rather than b...more

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May 22, 2011 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It won the Pulitzer Prize and it's easy to see why. In this first volume of Morris's trilogy, Theodore Roosevelt is examined from birth to the moment he discovers that President McKinley has died and he is now President of the Unied States. While much of the book focuses on Roosevelt's rapid rise to power--which Roosevelt himself compared to the trajectory of a rocket--Theodore Roosevelt was also a naturalist, a successful author, a husband, a father, a hunter, a rancher, and...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Frank Stein rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the best biographies I've ever read.

It apparently started out as a screenplay, and retains all the vivid dialog and dramatically drawn settings that one would expect from such a work, but it is also rigorously footnoted and filled with an intimate knowledge of American political and social life at the end of the nineteenth century.

Most of all it is a beautiful portrait of a truly singular man: a small, asthmatic child who grew through pure force of personal will into a rugged rancher and...more

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