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Aug 05, 2010

Arminius rated it:

The book is an excellent account of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. Based on this book I can see why he is often rated a top rate president. The book starts at the assassination of President McKinley where Theodore, as McKinley’s vice president, was unexpectedly thrust into the country’s most important job. Theodore justifiably became concerned about being an assassin’s automatic target as the nation’s leader. His father’s hero Abraham Lincoln as well as President James Garfield (w More...

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Jan 31, 2008

Atchisson rated it:

My second favorite President. Reading this, you may be struck at how he would be skewered by the Left today. Like Reagan, he seemed to have a natural understanding of his age and the important issues that needed to be addressed. He did it with strength, courage, resolve, and charisma. This book does a great job of following him from the earliest hours of assuming office and then staring down some of his most important battles.

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Dec 17, 2009

Erica rated it:

All biographers should be this passionate about their subjects. Morris paints a detailed portrait of a tumultuous presidency with compassion and verve. At times, however, the book falls into melodrama (not that TR wasn't a character worthy of it) and amounts to a biographical blow job. While I admire the depth of research that is so evident, some glossing over faults and aggrandizing go down in Theodore Rex that made me scowl. I mean, the title sort of says it all. Well-written, but over the t More...

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Jan 05, 2009

Dave rated it:

Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris from Modern Library is the second in a three volume biography of the 26th President of the United States. The first volume The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1980, setting high expectations for the rest of the series. In my opinion, this book easily meets those expectations. This is a fantastic biography, in which Mr. Morris does an excellent job of bringing Theodore Roosevelt's presidency to life.
This prolo More...

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Jan 26, 2012

Terry rated it:

This is the second of Edmund Morris' biographical trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt. This book is well written and seems to capture the living, breathing "Teddy". I wasn't as taken by this book as the first (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt), mostly because they are both about the same length (~550 p), but the 1st covered 42 years while the second covered less than 8 years, therefore there is a lot more minutia in the 2nd book. Nevertheless, I came away with an enormous appreciation of ev More...

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Mar 04, 2011

Tom rated it:

This Theodore Roosevelt biography covers the period of his Presidency and is the second in a three part series. It does an excellent job of giving the spirit of Roosevelt without glossing too lightly over his flaws. As a President he truly straddled a time when the United States began to change from an isolated country to a world player.

The novel illustrates his masterful ability to understand the electorate and his ability to get things done both as a progressive and as a conservati More...

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Nov 30, 2010

Judy rated it:

Theodore Roosevelt was placed on the Republican ticket as the vice-presidential candidate in 1900 to get him out of New York state politics. After McKinley's assassination, he became the nation's youngest president. Theodore Rex traces Roosevelt's years in power, his reelection in 1904, and his guidance of the transfer of power to his successor, William Howard Taft. Leading the executive branch during the Progressive period was a challenging task. Roosevelt, initially, had to try to maintain More...

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May 09, 2010

Spencer rated it:

This is the second book in a trilogy biography of Teddy Roosevelt. The first in the series, "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt", was more enjoyable for me than "Theodore Rex", but I still enjoyed this one. Although this is the fourth book I've read about Teddy Roosevelt, it is the first one I've read that covers his time as president. Ironically, I found this part of his life less interesting than his pre- or post-presidency period. Still, I would definitely say that Rooseve More...

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Oct 23, 2009

Joe rated it:

I simply learned that TR was a bad ass, plain and simple. I am sorry, Obama, Clinton, and Bush, this guy makes you look like the janitor of America. I think he may be the only president who could help us open the greatest canal in the world's history, help thwart a recession (very similar to ours today) by telling the rich people, "Hey you like making money? Then you save Wall Street, not the government!", create the greatest group of fighters, The rough riders, and have many life st More...

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Aug 02, 2011

Dan added it

After reading 3 books about Theodore Roosevelt I'm still unclear how he went from being the quintissential rugged individualist to a progressive who is hailed even today by members of that movement. His speech, "the Strenuous Life," (which I read elsewhere), doesn't seem to point to government as the resource to help us lead such a life. What is clear, however, especially in this book, is that Theodore was ready to use his fiery energy, titanic intellect, and masterful political skil More...

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Sep 12, 2010

Frank rated it:

Though not quite as good as the first volume of his biography, Edmund Morris's searching look at Roosevelt's presidential years gives the reader a real sense for what it was like being the President of the United States in the early 20th century. At times it goes to an almost day-by-day schedule, and this can certainly be tedious, but it gives one a real glimpse at the daily life of an a shockingly successful President.

First impressions: the President at the turn of the century had More...

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Jan 21, 2011

Amy rated it:

I read this book primarily to get a different perspective of Theodore Roosevelt than that provided by James Bradley in his work, The Imperial Cruise: A True Story of Empire and War. In the latter, the author left a stinging picture of TR, describing him as an egomaniac, racist and staunch xenophobe. Morris's portrait is less striking - and portrays a strong, fair and popular leader who vacillated between conservative and progressive political opinions.

The dichotomy between the two More...

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May 06, 2010

Jim rated it:

Details Theodore Roosevelt's presidency. Roosevelt's legacy has long been overshadowed by the presidency of his distant cousin Franklin Roosevelt, but this excellent book shows how this perception might be a bit unfair.

Most of Franklin Roosevelt's domestic agenda were built on policy foundations established by Theodore Roosevelt; if anything, the first Roosevelt was better at balancing the interests of labor and capital. Also, in many ways, particularly in matters of race, Theodore More...

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Apr 19, 2011

Scott rated it:

Although Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris is generally well researched and its author a talented writer, I did question the accuracy of several things he wrote. On page 76 he mentioned the passing of the “Dowager Empress Frederick of Germany.” The problem here is - I can’t find any record of a Dowager Empress Frederick. Morris may have meant Emperor Frederick III who died in 1888 after a reign of only 99 days.

On page 226, Morris wrote about Roosevelt’s visit to Redlands, C More...

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Jan 09, 2010

Richard rated it:

Edmund Morris's second installment of the proposed Theodore Roosevelt trilogy is a worthy follow-up to "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt." This book covers his Presidency years, from 1901 to 1909. It is a portrait of a good-natured, scrupulous patrician with progressive instincts who became the dominant politician of his age. His personal beliefs were founded on the gilded age of the late-nineteenth century, with its excesses and growing sense of America's dominant position in the world More...

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Jul 16, 2009

Richard rated it:

Although it took me nearly a year to finish this book, it is no fault of the author: from the moment of TR's assumption of the Presidency following McKinley's assasination (the account of which really drew me in) until the end of the second term, Edmund Morris not only gives a detailed account of Roosevelt's presidency (oh, now I see why he joins Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln on Mt. Rushmore), but of his personal life and the times in which he lived. He was a fitness fanatic, constantly inj More...

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Jan 09, 2008

David marked it as to-read

By Edmund Morris, about TR's life (mostly his own and political, doesn't speak much to his family.

The man was shot before giving a speech when he was running for president on the progressive platform. He spoke for ninety minutes. Perhaps we can raise him from the dead to save the nation.

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Oct 13, 2011

Howard rated it:

Nothing can match exhileration of Morris's first volume in this series, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt," if only because the material here is politics and domestic life instead of the almost unbelievable adventure story of Roosevelt's youth and early adulthood.

Morris opts for an intense close-up of Roosevelt as president here, and he captures the texture of the time in a way few writers have achieved. But at a price: Morris rately steps back to provide any extended discussion ab More...

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Apr 04, 2008

Lisa rated it:

I got this book from my dad. It's a fascintating look at the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, which is a period in history that I knew very little about. US History courses in high school tend to jump from Reconstruction and the Gilded Age straight to World War I.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 08, 2011

Susan rated it:

I amazed myself by actually getting through this tome. And I enjoyed most of it and learned ALOT more than I can remember ever learning in school about the times and TR. If anyone could accurately be described as being larger than life, TR fits the description. The timing and circumstances of his presidency shaped the USA in world events, from the Panama Canal to Japan's accession as a world power. He believed in an coined the the phrase "fair deal"....for the rights of business, labor More...

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Sep 12, 2011

Pat rated it:

I listened to this on Audible and it was fascinating....such a window on this period of American History...the Panama Canal, Sherman Antitrust Act, Teddy Bears, Booker T Washington, "Speak softly and carry a big stick", Yellowstone Park, "a square deal", Chinese Japanese War, Edward Arlington Robinson, The Jungle, William Randolph Hurst, spelling reform(!), Cuba, the Supreme Court, the "yellow peril", National Parks, child labor, William Jennings Bryant, Conservatio More...

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Jan 09, 2012

Chris rated it:

Well, I think any book about a presidency is doomed to put me to sleep. Teddy was an entertaining individual, but his personality couldn't fully shine through the clouds of the public icon he was expected to be. I will say that one chapter in Theodore Rex was mindblowing- "The Black Crystal", written about Theodore's journey through the west during a campaign trail. It is the most moving chapter about Western frontier that I've ever read. It's comforting to know that a man as renow More...

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Dec 25, 2011

Gerald rated it:

I listened to this book in the 20-CD recorded version and enjoyed it VERY MUCH. I realized when I looked at it on the shelf that I really didn't known that much about the first President Roosevelt and would like to learn more about him. He was a visionary in many respects and left a legacy of incredible value to the many generations of Americans both during the 20th Century and for centuries to come. I'm referring to the creation and expansion of many millions of acres of National Parks, Fore More...

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Oct 31, 2011

Chungsoo rated it:

A well written, well read book. A president who had the Congress and the country in his hands stood up to the business tycoons of the time such as J. P. Morgan. Another fact supported by history: Business can never be trusted to look after the well fare of the society, no matter how loudly it claims that it can be. Government must exist to reign on it time to time, which was true then as it is now. The well fare of the few rich should never be won by the ill fate of the many. What is the v More...

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Apr 23, 2009

Ben rated it:

Edmund Morris is the quinticential and authoritative guide to Teddy. He does the presidential campaign justice, and highlights the most prominent world-changing actions of the president. I was disappointed to find less emphasis on the personality of the president, or his alternative pursuits that so decorated Morris' other account of Roosevelt's early years before the presidency. It was all about policy, political action, and achievement; and less about the ways the office affected the man and h More...

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Oct 08, 2009

Sarah rated it:

Edmund Morris must be a frustrated novelist. Not one to rely too heavily on primary resource material, or at least, not one to quote such resources directly, he prefers instead to take a cinematic view of Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, and the book does not read so much like history as historical novel. Sometimes the prose is florid and distracting, but at its best moments, the book is quite compelling.
Clearly a Teddy sympathizer, Morris would make it seem that Roosevelt was nearly perfect More...

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Oct 30, 2011

JulesQ rated it:

The one thing that kept grabbing my attention throughout this book was how fundamentally Theodore Roosevelt changed the governance of the United States as well as its role in the world. Seriously.

Morris again does an excellent job with his subject -- totally readable (in my case listen-to-able, despite a slightly over-wrought reading by Marosz) and super interesting. He also overcomes some of the weaknesses of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by significantly cutting down on the number o More...

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Sep 03, 2011

Bap rated it:

Not as compelling as the first volume of the majestic trilogy, the Rise of Roosevelt. This volume covers the years of his presidency. He was a man of monumental energy and boundless enthusiasms. He brought the USA on to the world stage with the great white fleet and a muscular foreign policy. But he also embraced conservation and laid the foundations for our national parks, stood up against the trusts, and mediated a coal strike in favor of labor. He could have easily have won another term but More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Tony rated it:

The second volume of Edmund Morris's trilogy about Theodore Roosevelt focuses on his presidential occupation, beginning with the assassination of William McKinley and ending with William Taft being elected to office. Morris takes us through Roosevelt's eight very productive years leading our nation. He paints a portrait of a confident and unwavering leader whose only reason for taking on such a responsibility was because he wanted to better our country. Teddy Roosevelt was arguably the greate More...

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Mar 10, 2010

Cindi rated it:

After reading the fabulous and fascinating "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Morris last year, I was anxious to continue the journey. Roosevelt's life leading up to the presidency of the United States was in constant motion and excitement and the first volume of the biography reads the same way.

"Theodore Rex" deals only with the 7 1/2 years of Roosevelt's presidency. I became completely engrossed in the political atmosphere at the beginning of the Twentieth Cent More...

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