The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America

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The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America

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In this groundbreaking epic biography, Douglas Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials to examine the life and achievements of our "naturalist president." By setting aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a universal endeavor. This crusade for the American wilderness was perhaps...more In this groundbreaking epic biography, Douglas Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials to examine the life and achievements of our "naturalist president." By setting aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a universal endeavor. This crusade for the American wilderness was perhaps the greatest U.S. presidential initiative between the Civil War and World War I. Roosevelt's most important legacies led to the creation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906. His executive orders saved such treasures as Devils Tower, the Grand Canyon, and the Petrified Forest.

Tracing the role that nature played in Roosevelt's storied career, Brinkley brilliantly analyzes the influence that the works of John James Audubon and Charles Darwin had on the young man who would become our twenty-sixth president. With descriptive flair, the author illuminates Roosevelt's bird watching in the Adirondacks, wildlife obsession in Yellowstone, hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, ranching in the Dakota Territory, hunting in the Big Horn Mountains, and outdoor romps through Idaho and Wyoming. He also profiles Roosevelt's incredible circle of naturalist friends, including the Catskills poet John Burroughs, Boone and Crockett Club cofounder George Bird Grinnell, forestry zealot Gifford Pinchot, buffalo breeder William Hornaday, Sierra Club founder John Muir, U.S. Biological Survey wizard C. Hart Merriam, Oregon Audubon Society founder William L. Finley, and pelican protector Paul Kroegel, among many others. He brings to life hilarious anecdotes of wild-pig hunting in Texas and badger saving in Kansas, wolf catching in Oklahoma and grouse flushing in Iowa. Even the story of the teddy bear gets its definitive treatment.

Destined to become a classic, this extraordinary and timeless biography offers a penetrating and colorful look at Roosevelt's naturalist achievements, a legacy now more important than ever. Raising a Paul Revere-like alarm about American wildlife in peril--including buffalo, manatees, antelope, egrets, and elk--Roosevelt saved entire species from probable extinction. As we face the problems of global warming, overpopulation, and sustainable land management, this imposing leader's stout resolution to protect our environment is an inspiration and a contemporary call to arms for us all.(less)

Hardcover, 960 pages

Published July 28th 2009 by Harper (first published 2009)

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Aug 13, 2009 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Looking forward to this. A very good (and prolific) writer, and a subject I feel some kinship with. My grandfather met Teddy and Taft about 100 years ago. He was impressed that they seemed like regular, unassuming guys. My grandfather took more pride in his adopted country (as seems typical) than many natives. Also interested in the conservation angle. .....Update: Terrific!!! A unique personality, tied to the birth of the movement to conserve the American wilderness. Shows why TR is remembered,...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Ralph Hermansen rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Wilderness Warrior by Douglas Brinkley is a delightful and inspiring read. It is delightful because Theodore Roosevelt (TR) realized the irreplacable value of our natural treasures and fought vigorously and successfully to preserve them. He loved the natural wonders of America such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and the coral paradise of the Florida islands. He was bird lover first and foremost and was appalled at the wholesale slaughter of beautiful birds for their plumes. He gr...more The Wilderness Warrior by Douglas Brinkley is a delightful and inspiring read. It is delightful because Theodore Roosevelt (TR) realized the irreplacable value of our natural treasures and fought vigorously and successfully to preserve them. He loved the natural wonders of America such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and the coral paradise of the Florida islands. He was bird lover first and foremost and was appalled at the wholesale slaughter of beautiful birds for their plumes. He grew to treasure all wildlife and acted to not only save birds, but also bison, elk, deer, and any threatened animal. The book is inspiring because TR was untiring and relentless in his missions. This is a fairly long book (8oo plus pages) and I read a few pages each morning with my usual two cups of coffee in my recliner. From my comfortable perch, I have a hilltop panoramic view of the Southern Sierras. Everyday as I read further, I felt uplifted by the efforts of this great president and wished he were alive today.

Brinkley repeatedly makes the point that Charles Darwin had a huge influence on TR's thinking. I found this point to be important because here we are a century later than TR's time and Darwin's immense contribution to our understanding of life is not yet appreciated by the great unwashed masses. Could an avowed Darwinist be elected president today? I doubt it. TR was frail and asthmatic as a child and fought his way to good health and high physical fitness by using a strenuous lifestyle as his cure. The Darwinian concept of natural selection was evermost in his mind and forged his philosophies. TR had a mental strength (i.e., toughness)and determination that few possess.

Brinkley barely touches on the other great accomplishments of TR such as building a mighty naval force, digging the Panama Canal, and passing anti-monopoly legislation to restore competition to the land. The book is overflowing with TR's accomplishments in protecting forests, natural wonders, antiquities, animals and birds alone. He added 234 million acres to the nation's national parks, national forests, national monuments, and national bird preserves. He had many friends that were dedicated to his causes and Brinkley develops those relationships in the book very thoroughly. He made many enemies as well. He was fearless even against powerful and rich interests. This is another reason I find the book so inspirational. Such courage and fortitude are hard to find these days.

I hope as many people as possible read this marvelous book. We, today, don't appreciate the legacy that has been handed down to us. If we don't appreciate it, we won't fight to preserve it. So, buy this book, read it, enjoy it as I did, and pass it on to others to read.
Ralph Hermansen 2/22/2010 (less)

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Feb 04, 2013 Turtlesongs rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a facinating book about TR, especially if you like nature, camping and the great outdoors. Roosevelt was an oudoors enthusiast to the max and enjoyed birds, plants, indigenous animals (he brought back the buffalo to certain parts of the country), wild animals, national parks he later ordained and many, many camping sites all over the country detailed in this book. TR was a roughing it kind of guy, and the stories of TR camping with his pals in the South Dakota Badlands and eating a dozen...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Glen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a very long book and a bit of a slog in the early chapters, but perseverance pays off as the total portrait of this American titan's accomplishments on behalf of the preservation of wild nature begin to emerge and take shape. In the end I found myself thinking, "thank God for Teddy Roosevelt, for we shall not see his like again." Not all aspects of his character are attractive, but so what? He was a man, for all that, and what he did! I will never again be able to visit a national forest...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Amy Moritz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Throughout the entire book, I could not get one thought out of my mind: Gosh, what can't one accomplish in the absence of Netflix and Facebook? An extraordinary thorough look at Theodore Roosevelt and his conservation polices that shaped the nation. The book begins with some personal history of TR to better understand where his love of nature and "the strenuous life" comes from. No doubt he was influenced by being ashamed that his father bought his way out of being in the Civil War and by his ch...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Andy Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars

This biography of Theodore Roosevelt is an in depth focus on the conservationist. Douglas Brinkley, the author, does an excellent job of capturing Roosevelt's passion for the outdoors which started at a young age. Even the reader of other biographies will learn a lot, including the influence of his "black sheep" paternal uncle who was an early pioneer in the "outdoor" movement, Roosevelt's involvement in the beginnings of the Boone and Crocket club, Field and Stream magazine and his outdoor adve...more

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Sep 30, 2012 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

At a critical time in our Nation (and the world) when much attention is focused on environmental issues ranging from improved water quality and disease control to destruction of forests and degraded coastal communities, the current generation is often portrayed at the first serious crusaders for environmental awareness and protection. However, that song has been sung numerous times in history, only to a different melody, but perhaps never as effectively as during the Theodore Roosevelt era. Roos...more At a critical time in our Nation (and the world) when much attention is focused on environmental issues ranging from improved water quality and disease control to destruction of forests and degraded coastal communities, the current generation is often portrayed at the first serious crusaders for environmental awareness and protection. However, that song has been sung numerous times in history, only to a different melody, but perhaps never as effectively as during the Theodore Roosevelt era. Roosevelt provided a call to arms in environmental protection decades before it was fundraiser topic for the nouveau riche or a soapbox for the nature-loving activist.

Temporarily setting aside the impressive accomplishments of Roosevelt as Lt. Col. of the Rough Riders during the Battle of San Juan Hill, the driving force behind the construction of the Panama Canal, and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Russo-Japanese War, The Wilderness Warrior focuses on the profound effect Roosevelt had on conservation and preservation at a time when the US was rapidly expanding due to the industrial revolution. Through the power of Executive Orders, Roosevelt and his hand-picked team of Darwinian naturalists created or enlarged 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reservations, 4 national game preserves and 6 national parks. Brinkley depicts the life of Roosevelt in vivid detail from his childhood in New York City where he harbored a fascination and love of all things nature, through his obsession as a hunter of big game who took pride in bagging the biggest and the best, to the end of his presidency when he secured his place in the annals of political and environmental heroes.

I cannot begin to express what a gift Brinkley has for making history not only readable, but enjoyable. He doesn't just spout out facts (although this tome is certainly full of them) but weaves together historical stories involving some of the most colorful characters of the time - you couldn't imagine more entertaining people of the West: Catch 'Em Alive Abernathy wrestled wild wolves to the ground with his bare hands, Holt Collier killed more than 3,000 bears, and John Muir revolutionized the philosophy of nature. My one criticism of this wonderful book is that it simply ends when Roosevelt's presidency ended. I would have liked at least a chapter that described his hunts and efforts during the last decade of his illustrious life.

If you are interested in conservation, national parks, the preservation of the West, or nature in general, then I highly recommend The Wilderness Warrior. (less)

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Dec 26, 2009 Hood rated it 5 of 5 stars

Bound Miami SunPost November 15, 2009

http://miamisunpost.com/themorgue/200...

The Rough Riding Tree Hugger

Teddy Roosevelt’s Deep Green Militancy

John Hood

There’s a good reason why Teddy Roosevelt’s mug is on Mount Rushmore. Because of all the president’s, he’s the one who’s legacy is large enough to stand alongside the likes of Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson. Like our first president, Roosevelt was a war hero, even if the fight he fought was in but “a splendid little war.” Like Lincoln, Rooseve...more

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Nov 04, 2009 Clif rated it 5 of 5 stars

I always wondered why Teddy Roosevelt's face was on Mount Rushmore. Now I don't. He belongs there at least as much as the others there and I owe that knowledge to this book.

Wilderness Warrior is an account of the life-long naturalist who gave us most of our National Parks, Monuments and game reserves. From his precocious youth, Teddy (he hated that name) was captivated by nature and driven with a desire to know, record and collect the plants and, in particular, the animals of our world.

With a ze...more I always wondered why Teddy Roosevelt's face was on Mount Rushmore. Now I don't. He belongs there at least as much as the others there and I owe that knowledge to this book.

Wilderness Warrior is an account of the life-long naturalist who gave us most of our National Parks, Monuments and game reserves. From his precocious youth, Teddy (he hated that name) was captivated by nature and driven with a desire to know, record and collect the plants and, in particular, the animals of our world.

With a zest for life and action, TR burst into every room he entered with such enthusiasm that all were swept away. Never afraid of confronting entrenched power, as President he relentlessly put the office to use saving wild places for the future as an environmentalist far ahead of the movement we know today. He belongs on Mt. Rushmore not only for this work but also because he had a special affection for the Badlands and Black Hills area.

Never one to let physical discomfort keep him from action, he was always out front in the wild, looking for big game, but at the same time sensitive to the flowers and birds around him.

This is one big book but I was never bored in the 800 pages because TR's life is so fascinating, action filled and associated with so many colorful characters of a type that has largely disappeared. Never one to be pompous, TR loved to associate with outdoorsmen and the quirkier the better. He'd sit right down at the campfire and trade adventure stories until the flames died down. Similarly, there was always time at the White House for a visit from a friend in from the West. This didn't keep him from affectionate friendships with such as John Muir and John Burroughs. Brinkley's accounts of Roosevelt's vacation escapes from the White House are hilarious reading. The man in many ways remained a fun-loving child and was a wonderful father and husband.

To top it off, Roosevelt was an outstanding writer, author of several respected books on wildlife and right at home with the leading authorities on wildlife at the time.

I was set straight on TR's Cuban experience during the Spanish American War. Though full of chest-pounding Americanism, he was a bold and respected leader of the Rough Riders, displaying courage and compassion for his men that kept them at his side long after the war was over.

Wilderness Warrior is great history, vivid and affecting. I challenge anyone to read this book and not turn the last page with a close bond to TR, a man to whom we owe so much and of whom most these days (including me until now) know very little.(less)

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Jan 15, 2013 Bonnie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have always thought highly of Theodore Roosevelt, but he has moved up in my estimation to hero status. Thanks to him, my favorite places still exist in a natural state.

I have had a problem reconciling his penchant for hunting with his love of nature, but after reading this book, I realize he probably did too. Apparently he felt the need, from his youth as a small, sickly, bookish boy, to prove his manliness. And, he did love adventures. Also, he was very interested in the scientific identific...more

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Jun 29, 2010 Richard Maxwell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Lucy was kind enough to give me this book for my last birthday. It is a tome but reads quickly. Brinkley goes into a great deal of detail about TR's love of nature and his efforts to preserve the wilderness of America from the repaciousness of speculators and land-hungry businessmen of the early 20th century. Some may feel there is too much detail devoted to TR's classification of birds, etc. but the writing is good and detail is interspersed with anecdotes and stories. Brinkley never does succe...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Catherine Woodman added it

This book really is too long--there is a lot of good information in here, and there were chapters that I really enjoyed, but there is much overlap from section to section, where we go back over the same material and the same people, but from a slightly different angle, and I think a more gifted storyteller would have been able to weave the tale a little tighter to come up with say a 500 page biography instead of a 900 page one. I read it on the kindle, so usually picked it up on trips where I wa...more

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Oct 03, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nov-dec-2009

Drawing on unpublished research on Theodore Roosevelt and the rise of conservationism in America -- no small task, considering the many biographies on Roosevelt published over the last decade -- Brinkley offers a weighty tome that, while shedding new insight into the former president's environmentalism, tends to overwhelm with detail and, according to some critics, underwhelm with substance. Over two decades and more than two dozen books, Brinkley has mastered the art of balancing scholarship an...more

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Oct 14, 2010 Billbob Spear rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

I picked it up to look over at the grocery as I sipped a Starbucks waiting for my wife. Must have happened three of four times, before I decided I just couldn't go on without adding to my Library. This big book (over 900 pages) is written from the conservationist aspect of his life by a history professor at Rice University, Douglas Brinkley. He also wrote the best book I have read on Katrina and New Orleans - The Great Deluge. A fellow Texan that has one fault- he can't stop writing.

He somehow w...more

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Sep 18, 2009 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: presidents

Let there be no question who the 'environmental president' was. Brinkley establishes that in meticulous, painstaking detail. I think I now know every bird TR observed, every book on nature he read, every park he created. A monograph would have been enough. Oh, there are great anecdotes and analyses here. But this bordered on Too Much Information. And the problem is that TR was not just a conservationist president. By focusing only on TR's conservationist actions, Brinkley does TR and history a...more

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Nov 24, 2010 Brad Hodges rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is a testament to the fascinating life that Theodore Roosevelt led that this doorstop of a biography, The Wilderness Warrior, weighing in at over 800 pages, ends with Roosevelt leaving the presidency. It also has a singular emphasis--Roosevelt's abiding passion for protecting the wilderness. As the subtitle suggests, he was a crusader with an evangelist's zeal.

Douglas Brinkley has written an exhaustive study of Roosevelt's almost radical approach to preserving wildlife and its habitation. The...more It is a testament to the fascinating life that Theodore Roosevelt led that this doorstop of a biography, The Wilderness Warrior, weighing in at over 800 pages, ends with Roosevelt leaving the presidency. It also has a singular emphasis--Roosevelt's abiding passion for protecting the wilderness. As the subtitle suggests, he was a crusader with an evangelist's zeal.

Douglas Brinkley has written an exhaustive study of Roosevelt's almost radical approach to preserving wildlife and its habitation. There is a long look at his precocious childhood, when his enthusiasm for animals and worship of Darwinism made it look like he would become a naturalist. He had his own museum of stuffed animals in his bedroom in Manhattan, and his father would be one of the founders of the Museum of Natural History (Roosevelt would, in turn, help found the Bronx Zoo).

Brinkley branches off to take estuaries that cover other major figures in zoological and conservation history, as Roosevelt went to Harvard. He became disenchanted with a career in biology, though, and ended up in politics, but he never lost his love for nature (his critics said he was more interested in birds than in the Constitution). Brinkley lands on all the frequent stops--his ranching days in North Dakota, his stint as New York City police commissioner, Rough Rider warring against the Spanish in Cuba, Governor of New York, Vice-President, and then, at age 42, unexpectedly president. But those stops are filled in by Roosevelt as lover of the wild, with extensive details on his forays, whether they be youthful hikes in Maine, or hunting trips in Dakota.

Viewed in modern terms, Roosevelt's attitude about animals contains a major contradiction--he loved them, but he also loved to hunt. He first went to Dakota out of concern that the buffalo were disappearing--before he had a chance to shoot one. He grew up a sickly child, and through his own efforts built himself into a "manly" man, and he maintained that American men must lead the "strenuous life" to avoid feminization, and that included hunting. (It also included war). He was never really dissuaded from this view, even by the likes of John Muir, who on an important meeting with Roosevelt at Yosemite during his presidency chastened him for the "boyish" fascination with killing things.

It was on a hunting trip to Mississippi that provided the inspiration for the Teddy Bear--Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear, because it was chained up and badly abused, and in his view not a sporting opportunity. The story and especially a political cartoon inspired two different toymakers to name stuffed bears after him, and the most popular toy that has ever been made was born (although he hated being called Teddy).

What Roosevelt did for preservation is the most lasting legacy of his presidency, and it is exhilarating to even contemplate it. As pointed out in my post on The National Parks, Roosevelt exploited a law called the Antiquities Act, which allowed him, with a stroke of a pen (and the spoken words "I so declare it") to set aside land from development. He did this with impunity, and scoffed at those who criticized him for it. He declared bird refuges and national forests, so much that if you do the math it turns out he protected 80,000 acres a day for every day in his presidency.

Brinkley's book doesn't examine all of Roosevelt's policy--it's not a thorough biography. He does touch on the major aspects, but we don't get the full effect of his presidency, particularly of his embrace of manifest destiny. We do get that he was loved by many (though not in the South, who wouldn't forgive him for dining with Booker T. Washington in the White House), and he fought those in his own party, which seems impossible today. The book ends with his departure from the White House (he promised he would not run again, and almost instantly regretted it). Thus we don't read about his safari to Africa, the 1912 presidential race, or his almost fatal trip to South America.

Brinkley's prose is very accessible, and at times almost novelistic, as when he describes a family pet as "poem of a dog." I really liked this passage: "Unfortunately, Roosevelt never published his campfire stories. With meat in the pot and log flames jumping high and low, on these outdoor outings Roosevelt would recount moments from the strenuous life with cliff-hanging suspense. There were accounts of sumo-wrestling with a 300-pound Japanese man; tramping toward the Mississippi River headwaters, boxing with the heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan, and encountering rattlesnakes in North Dakota. Holding his audience's attention with theatrical gestures, Roosevelt made it seem as if he had strode over the Alleghenies and down the Ohio River valley with Daniel Boone." He was the real life version of that guy in the Dos Equis commercials--the world's most interesting man. He was the first president to publish a book while in office, and it wasn't about politics, or economics, or foreign affairs--it was called The Deer Family.

The book does have a few problems. After a while one grows weary of yet another hunting trip, and he declared so many wilderness areas off limits that the accounts pile up like cord wood. And there are some shocking lapses in copy editing. We hear that Roosevelt loved the coincidence that Lincoln and Darwin were born on the same day: February 22, 1803. Except that they were born on February 12, 1809. And consider this eye-opening sentence: "As every American schoolchild of Roosevelt's generation knew, July 1, 1873, was when the Battle of Gettysburg began." That's funny, because of every schoolchild of my generation knows, it began on July 1, 1863.

Inspired by the book, I went to a place that has been a short drive for three decades that I had never been to--Sagamore Hill, his summer home on the north shore of Long Island. It is well worth the trip, with a guided tour through the home, which is heavily adorned with the trophies of his hunting trip. There is hardly a room that doesn't have an animal's head on the wall, or a rug made out of skin on the floor. A museum gives a quick but thorough look at his life, and his gravesite is a short drive down the road. Theodore Roosevelt was a great man, not without his faults. We could use his like again, right now.(less)

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Dec 18, 2009 Brad rated it 3 of 5 stars

Whew-I have finally reached the conclusion of this 950 page (small font, no less!!) behemoth that articulates, at times in excruciating detail, Teddy Roosevelt and his agenda towards conservation. A useful history that ignores everything else in TR’s complex, productive life, this book focuses exclusively on his love of wilderness and his eventual role in shaping environmental policy. The book really excels in its first half, which addresses TR’s pre-presidential life. Here we really appreciate...more Whew-I have finally reached the conclusion of this 950 page (small font, no less!!) behemoth that articulates, at times in excruciating detail, Teddy Roosevelt and his agenda towards conservation. A useful history that ignores everything else in TR’s complex, productive life, this book focuses exclusively on his love of wilderness and his eventual role in shaping environmental policy. The book really excels in its first half, which addresses TR’s pre-presidential life. Here we really appreciate TR as the budding naturalist; the staunch Darwinist who was destined for a career in science. In really effective prose, one can fully appreciate TR not as the progressive stalwart we remember him, but as the premiere naturalist author that initially brought him fame and national acclaim. It is during TRs presidency that the book becomes overly pedantic and highly tedious. One can only go into so much detail regarding TR’s passion for birding before frustration sets in. Also never satisfyingly answered is the paradoxical aspect of TR as a devoted conservationist and an overly blood-thirsty hunter. The author is a TR apologist in this regard; I’ve long since believed it is a relevant contradiction worth exploring. I mean, even as he was blasting irresponsible hunting practices, the dude went to great lengths to shoot everything that moved. (And I think every hunt he ever went on prior to leaving office is given space here.) Still, and importantly, the modern conservation, even preservation, movement owes great allegiance to his progressive environmental policies. There is great coverage of early important environmental crusaders – John Muir, Gilford Pinchot – as well. Still, this book would have been excellent at half its present length (still over 450 pages, mind you) and still achieved its same objective. Nevertheless, given the substantial literature that exists on Roosevelt, this is an important contribution, expanding on the fascinating complexity of this important president and allowing ample space for the beginnings and growth of an important movement.

(Oh, and there were typos in this 1st edition that pissed me off. Gettysburg occurred on July 1, 1873? Who missed that?(less)

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Dec 18, 2011 Jacqueline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Theodore ( he hated Teddy) Roosevelt is a fascinating character, and very different books have been written about him. General readers would probably prefer "Mornings on Horseback", but for anyone interested in the history of our national parks and forests this book is a must. The author is interested in Roosevelt mostly as the sculptor of our system of conservation of natural resources, and from that point of view it is a great book. Exhaustive, however, so put aside a few weeks if you are not...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Trisha rated it 4 of 5 stars

I finished this LONG (~1500 pages) book earlier this year. It is fun, well-written, and provides the reader with an extremely detailed biographical account of TR's life in the context of his great environmental accomplishments. Since he was such an avid writer and reader we are able to get a true sense of his passionate, almost bordering on obsessive, desires to save beautiful, natural things for future generations. Go out and celebrate his legacy by visiting any of one of the numerous national...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Louis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Theodore Roosevelt has become a popular subject for biographers the past few years. Two more volumes (the third volume of Edmund Morris's massive trilogy and Doris Kearns Goodwin's first door-stopper after Team of Rivals) are due within the next year. With all the words expended on TR, it should be difficult to find anything new and noteworthy to say. Douglas Brinkley pulls off this neat trick by addressing a subject near and dear to Roosevelt's heart: conservation. He uses TR's life from the li...more Theodore Roosevelt has become a popular subject for biographers the past few years. Two more volumes (the third volume of Edmund Morris's massive trilogy and Doris Kearns Goodwin's first door-stopper after Team of Rivals) are due within the next year. With all the words expended on TR, it should be difficult to find anything new and noteworthy to say. Douglas Brinkley pulls off this neat trick by addressing a subject near and dear to Roosevelt's heart: conservation. He uses TR's life from the little boy in Manhattan fascinated by a seal at a local fish market to the president who preserved thousands of acres of wilderness to show his growing environmentalism. As a boy, Roosevelt learned taxidermy as a way to study birds he would shoot; as president, his favorite form of recreation was a day of birding, competing with others to identify the most birds in the Washington area. Brinkley does not avoid his larger-than-life subject's flaws; he could be quite high-handed in his dealings with others (he was not good at negotiations with Congress, preferring to force measures through in such a way that his wishes were often ignored toward the end of his presidency) and his need to sometimes show off just how much he knew on a subject. Also addressed is TR's reputation as a bloodthirsty hunter. In Brinkley's telling, he was not that savage; as he grew older and learned more about different ecosystems, he hunted less and observed more. Above all, it is his resourcefulness in going around an often hostile Congress to create new national parks, the first national forests and bird sanctuaries that a new dimension of his heroism is revealed.

So why only four stars? This book is the most indifferently edited one I have read in some time. Facts that a non-history professor would know are mixed up, commas sometimes come after the month, not the day of that month and some points Brinkley wants to make are repeated more than necessary. This book is over 800 pages in length; it could have easily been 100 pages shorter without the loss of anything of value. An unfortunate drawback, yet it does not detract from the magnificence of Brinkley's achievement. TR would be proud.(less)

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May 12, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

In this groundbreaking epic biography, Douglas Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials to examine the life and achievements of our "naturalist president." By setting aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a universal endeavor. This crusade for the American wilderness was perhaps the greatest U.S. presidential initiative between the Civil War and World War I. Roosevelt's most important legacies led to...more In this groundbreaking epic biography, Douglas Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials to examine the life and achievements of our "naturalist president." By setting aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a universal endeavor. This crusade for the American wilderness was perhaps the greatest U.S. presidential initiative between the Civil War and World War I. Roosevelt's most important legacies led to the creation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and passage of the Antiquities Act in 1906. His executive orders saved such treasures as Devils Tower, the Grand Canyon, and the Petrified Forest.

Tracing the role that nature played in Roosevelt's storied career, Brinkley brilliantly analyzes the influence that the works of John James Audubon and Charles Darwin had on the young man who would become our twenty-sixth president. With descriptive flair, the author illuminates Roosevelt's bird watching in the Adirondacks, wildlife obsession in Yellowstone, hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, ranching in the Dakota Territory, hunting in the Big Horn Mountains, and outdoor romps through Idaho and Wyoming. He also profiles Roosevelt's incredible circle of naturalist friends, including the Catskills poet John Burroughs, Boone and Crockett Club cofounder George Bird Grinnell, forestry zealot Gifford Pinchot, buffalo breeder William Hornaday, Sierra Club founder John Muir, U.S. Biological Survey wizard C. Hart Merriam, Oregon Audubon Society founder William L. Finley, and pelican protector Paul Kroegel, among many others. He brings to life hilarious anecdotes of wild-pig hunting in Texas and badger saving in Kansas, wolf catching in Oklahoma and grouse flushing in Iowa. Even the story of the teddy bear gets its definitive treatment.

Destined to become a classic, this extraordinary and timeless biography offers a penetrating and colorful look at Roosevelt's naturalist achievements, a legacy now more important than ever. Raising a Paul Revere-like alarm about American wildlife in peril--including buffalo, manatees, antelope, egrets, and elk--Roosevelt saved entire species from probable extinction. As we face the problems of global warming, overpopulation, and sustainable land management, this imposing leader's stout resolution to protect our environment is an inspiration and a contemporary call to arms for us all.(less)

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Aug 20, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

So, first of all let me say, I love Teddy Roosevelt. I think I may have an unnatural obsession with him, especially considering the giant mustache he sported which is usually a turnoff for me. His conservationist side is one of the main things that I appreciate about him. That made The Wilderness Warrior a huge draw for me.
Unfortunately, this book just didn't do T.R. justice. First of all, the editing was borderline offensive. I know I shouldn't hold that against the author, but it was awful....more

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Nov 04, 2012 Seth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: american-history, biography

When I checked this audiobook out from the library, I was expecting a mix of "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" and the Ken Burns National Parks documentaries. 40 hours of laborious listening later (seriously--40 hours), I feel like I should have been paid for the work. It officially cured me of my "I've got to read everything about Teddy Roosevelt" phase. Good editing--eliminating about two-thirds of the "I don't care!" material would have bumped it up to three stars for sure. Too bad you can't b...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars

The word "epic" is an epidemic. It's replacing "really cool" in the way we describe things like ice cream and fresh produce. So, when I ascribe the word to this book, I want to emphasize that it is not an accidental attribution. Rather, it is a sincere description of the book's scope. It's epic--phenomenally epic.

So epic that--when I finish books like these--I begin walking around with a chip on my shoulder. People tell me that's how they feel after reading "Gone With the Wind." Investing ample...more The word "epic" is an epidemic. It's replacing "really cool" in the way we describe things like ice cream and fresh produce. So, when I ascribe the word to this book, I want to emphasize that it is not an accidental attribution. Rather, it is a sincere description of the book's scope. It's epic--phenomenally epic.

So epic that--when I finish books like these--I begin walking around with a chip on my shoulder. People tell me that's how they feel after reading "Gone With the Wind." Investing ample time and energy learning about any one subject (fictive or not) is deserving of praise. So forgive me if, after I finished, I half-expected people on the streets to see me, stop what they were doing and applaud my epic accomplishment.

I originally invested the time because TR is fascinating. Politically and personally, he's a bundle of anomalies. For example, he's the original and most powerful defender of nature conservation and yet spent lots of time hunting, killing and stuffing endangered species for his personal collection of trophies. Additionally, he believed in the commonplaces of mankind (championing civil rights 60 years ahead of the political curve), yet vocally denied worthiness-status to Native and African Americans. He cried out against the emasculation of society, yet was a dear and loving person--wholeheartedly embracing the emotional and aesthetic power of love and beauty (something rarely seen in the political sphere).

It did not take Brinkley a thousand pages to convey these strange and counterintuitive biographies. Rather, it took five. The rest of the time I was just overwhelmed by the sheer breadth of his research. At every turn (e.g., quoting and impacting boyhood journals--discerning and interpreting grammar/spelling mistakes), Brinkley stresses TR's connection to nature. Every incident of natural merit receives attention. I would rarely call it overdescriptive, however. To me, the painstaking diligence seems necessary. Certainly I could have done without the myriad bird lists (every 40 pages or so, Brinkley fills a page with the names of birds TR saw at such-and-such a place), but those bird lists really made me FEEL the lull of ornothology. I don't want to study it, but there's a power in hearing that a president could name every taxonomically accepted species of bird. He could hear a call and instantly know its origin--genus and specie.

Honestly, I couldn't help but compare him to--and, consequently, find myself a little disappointed in--the modern presidency. It seems people only speak in ideals anymore--Carter and Reagan had their morals, the rest had hope, change, profits and deficits. Is it weird to just want a president who can speak authoritatively about birds?

Now that would really be epic. (less)

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Feb 20, 2011 Todd Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

The Wilderness Warrior is a nicely done history that chronicles how Teddy Roosevelt’s early interest and study of nature led him to be both a powerful voice for conservation as well as an active protector of wilderness. The book exhaustively chronicles his life as a privileged young boy to Harvard student studying biology, to ranch owner, author, and politician to president of the United States. Throughout it all, a love of nature runs as a common thread through his life.

Roosevelt is a bit of an...more The Wilderness Warrior is a nicely done history that chronicles how Teddy Roosevelt’s early interest and study of nature led him to be both a powerful voice for conservation as well as an active protector of wilderness. The book exhaustively chronicles his life as a privileged young boy to Harvard student studying biology, to ranch owner, author, and politician to president of the United States. Throughout it all, a love of nature runs as a common thread through his life.

Roosevelt is a bit of an odd duck (or, you might say, duck killer) in that, coupled with his passion for the natural world, is a bloodthirsty lust to hunt and shoot animals. As an example, Brinkley recounts a story of Roosevelt being unable to resist killing a buffalo for himself, despite the fact that he was well aware that they were already almost extinct. In addition to buffalo, Roosevelt kills, elk, deer, bears, cougars, rabbits, coyotes, and big game animals, including six rare white rhinos, not to mention that he gives up his career as assistant secretary of the navy to volunteer for the Spanish American War to hunt another kind of animal. This strange contradiction to both protect the wild and murder its inhabitants clearly baffles Brinkley. One could chalk it up to the differing moors of the time if it weren’t for the fact that contemporary naturalists such as John Muir and John Burroughs also found Roosevelt’s behavior appalling.

Despite his bloodlust, Roosevelt’s contribution to preserving nature is singular in both its scope and magnitude. The area of the United States placed under public protection by him comes to a total of 230,000,000 acres or about 84,000 acres for each day of his presidency! This includes 150 National Forests, 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 4 National Game Preserves, 5 National Parks, 18 National Monuments and the Antiquities Act, which TR signed into law and that enabled the protection of historic and archeological sites. Roosevelt had the foresight to see that the US could have become like Europe, stripped of its wilderness. He also had the strength of character and pugnacity to stand up to powerful industrial and political interests, understanding that a balance must exist between conservation and short term and short sighted development and economic gain.

Unfortunately, Roosevelt’s legacy and priorities have fallen out of favor with politicians on both sides of the aisle. With few exceptions, Republicans and Democrats are wholly owned corporate subsidiaries who no longer see business as a force that needs to be balanced by public needs, but as partners for personal and mutual enrichment. Nature is seen as a backdrop to increase property values for developers rather than as having inherent value of its own and the pressures on the land Roosevelt fought to protect are increased as the population increases and government and business seek to maximize its profit making potential.

“Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.”
- Theodore Roosevelt(less)

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Feb 02, 2010 Monica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Much of this extremely comprehensive book, focusing almost entirely on TR's obsession with wild birds, game and Darwinism, is marvelous stuff. The problem is that this book feels like a first draft, with repetitions and far too many factual and proofreading errors. One of the citizen reviewers on Amazon guessed that the book was rushed into publication in order to coincide with Ken Burns's National Parks TV series, and I concur. I had the impression that Brinkley took his voluminous research and...more Much of this extremely comprehensive book, focusing almost entirely on TR's obsession with wild birds, game and Darwinism, is marvelous stuff. The problem is that this book feels like a first draft, with repetitions and far too many factual and proofreading errors. One of the citizen reviewers on Amazon guessed that the book was rushed into publication in order to coincide with Ken Burns's National Parks TV series, and I concur. I had the impression that Brinkley took his voluminous research and just threw it all on the page, without culling the minor points from the major. He presents everything with the same weight, and simply writes and writes and writes and writes and writes.

In short, serious editing is needed, and would have produced a far better book. I would rather have given this three and one-half stars, but the frustrations of plowing through the lengthy details prevent me from giving it four stars. Brinkley, or his editor, seems unable to decide if he's writing for the general reader or for the scholarly audience.

That said, this book, especially in the earlier chapters that deal with TR's childhood and youth, frequently fascinates. We do get a vibrant portrait of TR throughout the book, as well as unsung heroes of the early conservation movement. The book does inspire a desire to visit the wild places TR saved for us. I confess that I forced myself to finish the book merely because I'd read so much I simply became determined to finish it, but the final two chapters are quite good in portraying TR's mad rush to save as many more bird and wilderness areas as he could, including the Olympic peninsula in Washington State, literally in the hours before he left the presidency.

And with all that it . . . just . . . ends. Way too much, way too rushed, but without question a wonderful book, had it only been properly edited.

Note that I read the Kindle copy, which contains footnotes denoted by asterisks that are easily accessible on the Kindle. These are not to be confused with the source notes listed by number in the back of the book, which are not easily accessible without judicious use of bookmarks. But only historians really need to check the numbered sources, not the casual reader.(less)

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Jun 07, 2010 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, biography

A little dry, but overall, a fascinating look at a side of Roosevelt that we have rarely seen.

I learned a lot about this side of Roosevelt. For example, I knew he was a big game hunter, but I did not know that he fought for conservation and was very interested in birds (a student of Audubon) and their habitats. This contradiction in his "personality" has baffled Roosevelt scholars for years.

Also, it's been said by modern enviromentalists that Roosevelt had a conflict of loyalties in the West bet...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Nathan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, franklin-library

Brinkley has zeroed in on a segment of history so often relegated to mere factoids in history class. Almost everyone knows as a general fact that Roosevelt was involved in creating the national park system- "The Wilderness Warrior" gives us every detail of that long and involved process. In fact, the focus on conservation sometimes hinders the development of the book; I think the narrative might have been clearer if Brinkley had periodically given brief overviews of the other issues of Roosevelt...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was my follow up to reading Mornings on Horseback. It is full of facts and insight into one of our greatest presidents, and one of our first envrionmentalists. And like David McCullough, Mr. Brinkley made history interesting - and again I came away with one question: where were these people when I had to take history classes in high school and college? I am grateful to both these men for sparking a love and respect for history that was not there before.

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Mar 09, 2013 Evan Neilsen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Exceeding well-researched, this tome delves deep into the curiously contradictory relationship that President Theodore Roosevelt (TR) had with the natural world. Meticulously detailed and riddled with facts about TR's upbringing, pre-Preseidential life and his time as President, this book provides great insight into the long shadow that he continues to cast upon American life. Throughout my read I kept thinking about how President Roosevelt would react to contemporary society were he to be trans...more

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About Douglas Brinkley

Douglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. The Chicago Tribune has dubbed him “America’s new past master.” His most recent books are The Quiet World, The Wilderness Warrior, and The Great Deluge. Six of his books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.

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