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The Namesake: The Biography of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was the son of President Roosevelt. This dynastic biography reveals the man as a failed politician, brilliant military strategist, decorated hero in 2 World Wars, key figure in D-Day, and a founder of the American Legion, a veteran's group with 3 million members.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published November 25, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 8, 2014
I found this a very favorable take on one of the most decorated soldiers in the history of the US Army. His awards include the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, 4 Silver Stars and 2 Purple Hearts to name just some. Teddy Roosevelt Jr (actually III – his father never used Jr) really needs to be more known especially in military circles
While he never achieved the acclaim of his father, he was extremely successful in his own right. He served his country both in and out of uniform . In telling the story of his early in his life Mr. Walker presents the portrait of a man determined to follow in his father’s footsteps including eventually winning the White House. In fact, up to running for the Governor of New York (he lost) his political career followed his father’s almost exactly, including serving in the New York State Senate and Asst Secretary of the Navy.
Mr. Walker presents a admiring look at TRjr (as he is referred at various times in the book) from his upbringing to his death in Normandy shortly after D-Day. While the picture presented of his childhood is one of loving parents – there was also a lot expected of him. In fact most of his adult life was trying to emulate his father. While he wasn’t the successful politician his father was (that was left to his 5th cousin) his career of public service was remarkable none the less. Not only was he a highly decorated veteran of WW I, he served as Governor of both Puerto Rico and the Philippines. According to Mr. Walker he was highly successful at both. He was also instrumental in the founding of the American Legion. His career in the private sector was every bit as successful, building a substantial fortune as an investment banker.
When WW II started he was again called into uniform and actually commanded the same regiment in the same Division in which he served in WW I. In telling his wartime story the author makes a point of telling how close to his men he became and in return they adored him. On D-Day he convinced the CG of the division to let him land with the first wave. This story is told in the movie “The Longest Day”. In telling his WW II story, the author makes a point of the fact that his name was forbidden to be used in any news reporting. The author attributes this to political maneuvering by his cousin.
Now to the negative parts of the book – there are numerous factual errors that should have been caught – ie when telling the story of the US involvement in WW I, the author identifies the Lusitania as a US ship. Another obvious error is using Wehrmacht as the name of the German High Command in WW I – this term wasn’t used until pre WW II. The writing style is also a little simplistic.
Even with those quibbles I found this an enjoyable read and would rate in 3.75 stars – rounded up for Goodreads.
While he never achieved the acclaim of his father, he was extremely successful in his own right. He served his country both in and out of uniform . In telling the story of his early in his life Mr. Walker presents the portrait of a man determined to follow in his father’s footsteps including eventually winning the White House. In fact, up to running for the Governor of New York (he lost) his political career followed his father’s almost exactly, including serving in the New York State Senate and Asst Secretary of the Navy.
Mr. Walker presents a admiring look at TRjr (as he is referred at various times in the book) from his upbringing to his death in Normandy shortly after D-Day. While the picture presented of his childhood is one of loving parents – there was also a lot expected of him. In fact most of his adult life was trying to emulate his father. While he wasn’t the successful politician his father was (that was left to his 5th cousin) his career of public service was remarkable none the less. Not only was he a highly decorated veteran of WW I, he served as Governor of both Puerto Rico and the Philippines. According to Mr. Walker he was highly successful at both. He was also instrumental in the founding of the American Legion. His career in the private sector was every bit as successful, building a substantial fortune as an investment banker.
When WW II started he was again called into uniform and actually commanded the same regiment in the same Division in which he served in WW I. In telling his wartime story the author makes a point of telling how close to his men he became and in return they adored him. On D-Day he convinced the CG of the division to let him land with the first wave. This story is told in the movie “The Longest Day”. In telling his WW II story, the author makes a point of the fact that his name was forbidden to be used in any news reporting. The author attributes this to political maneuvering by his cousin.
Now to the negative parts of the book – there are numerous factual errors that should have been caught – ie when telling the story of the US involvement in WW I, the author identifies the Lusitania as a US ship. Another obvious error is using Wehrmacht as the name of the German High Command in WW I – this term wasn’t used until pre WW II. The writing style is also a little simplistic.
Even with those quibbles I found this an enjoyable read and would rate in 3.75 stars – rounded up for Goodreads.
April 9, 2014
This book was about Teddy Roosevelt’s 1st born Ted Jr. and his life growing up in the shadows of Teddy. When you read the stories of the Roosevelt children growing up in the White House you always imagine it would have been a fun and unique experience. This was true but also, there was much pressure and tremendous expectations on the first born son Ted Jr.. The author Robert W. Walker points this out in the Namesake, the Biography of Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
The book points out that Ted Jr. was one hell of a guy. He was probably too honest and too principled to be a great politician. Ted Jr. was not real “maze-bright” and he frequently chose the path that was morally correct rather than politically expedient. Too bad Teddy talked Ted Jr. out of going to the USMA. Teddy thought that his son was too bright and talented for the academy. If he would have went to West Point he may have gone down in history as one of the greatest generals in our countries history. Without a West Point education it is almost impossible to excel at the general officer level in the Army. You just do not get the opportunities. Even so, TRJ still wound up as the number two most decorated officer in the history of the US Army – second only to Douglas McArthur. Teddy instilled a sense of civic duty in all his children. All 4 sons served honorably in the first war. Quentin was KIA and Teddy and his brother Archie were seriously wounded. Archie was the only man to be classified as permanently disabled from his combat wounds in two wars. Ted was seriously wounded twice in the Great War and then died of a heart attack shortly after D-Day just a day before being named the CO of the 90th Division in France.
The last few pages of the book describing the censorship of press releases from the WWII European theatre of TRJ and his son Quentin were quite intriguing. The author believes that the dirty lily-livered socialist conniving weasel, FDR did a political hack job on his second cousin. This really deserves more research from historians. At least Franklin had the decency to push for the Medal of Honor for Ted Jr. I suppose this makes up for a life time of guilt after falsely accusing Ted Jr. of being involved in the Teapot-Dome scandal and for the censoring Ted’s name from all news reports from the European Theatre of War. FDR may have been the more successful politician but Ted Jr. was the better man. All-in-all, the Roosevelt’s will go down in history as one of two father and son teams that were awarded the medal-of-honor. Teddy was awarded the MOH by President Clinton in the 80’s. This time, though, Ted Jr. was awarded the medal before his father.
This was a very nice little book.
The book points out that Ted Jr. was one hell of a guy. He was probably too honest and too principled to be a great politician. Ted Jr. was not real “maze-bright” and he frequently chose the path that was morally correct rather than politically expedient. Too bad Teddy talked Ted Jr. out of going to the USMA. Teddy thought that his son was too bright and talented for the academy. If he would have went to West Point he may have gone down in history as one of the greatest generals in our countries history. Without a West Point education it is almost impossible to excel at the general officer level in the Army. You just do not get the opportunities. Even so, TRJ still wound up as the number two most decorated officer in the history of the US Army – second only to Douglas McArthur. Teddy instilled a sense of civic duty in all his children. All 4 sons served honorably in the first war. Quentin was KIA and Teddy and his brother Archie were seriously wounded. Archie was the only man to be classified as permanently disabled from his combat wounds in two wars. Ted was seriously wounded twice in the Great War and then died of a heart attack shortly after D-Day just a day before being named the CO of the 90th Division in France.
The last few pages of the book describing the censorship of press releases from the WWII European theatre of TRJ and his son Quentin were quite intriguing. The author believes that the dirty lily-livered socialist conniving weasel, FDR did a political hack job on his second cousin. This really deserves more research from historians. At least Franklin had the decency to push for the Medal of Honor for Ted Jr. I suppose this makes up for a life time of guilt after falsely accusing Ted Jr. of being involved in the Teapot-Dome scandal and for the censoring Ted’s name from all news reports from the European Theatre of War. FDR may have been the more successful politician but Ted Jr. was the better man. All-in-all, the Roosevelt’s will go down in history as one of two father and son teams that were awarded the medal-of-honor. Teddy was awarded the MOH by President Clinton in the 80’s. This time, though, Ted Jr. was awarded the medal before his father.
This was a very nice little book.
November 16, 2017
I’m glad to have read this book about one of the true heroes of WWII. Roosevelt (often referred to in the book as TRJr) is often remembered as the son of his father the president, and not always appreciated for his own accomplishments. Although TRJr, also known as Ted, had his own political ambitions, and like his father and cousin FDR served as assistant secretary of the Navy, he did so under President Harding and was caught up in the Teapot Dome scandal (although not convicted of any corruption). Ted may have wanted to be president, and he served well in other political capacities, especially as Governor General of Puerto Rico and Governor General of the Philippines, but he never rose again in federal government. He was a very personable man, interested in all sorts of people, which served him well as Governor General and also with his men in combat. He served with distinction in both WWI and WWII, and is the most decorated citizen soldier in American history. Roosevelt’s personal bravery, and his genuine desire to keep morale high for the troops in his charge, is very admirable. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions on D-Day. He was politically more of a conservative than his father, and at loggerheads most of his life with the Democratic cousins, especially FDR. There is some suspicion that FDR put a gag order on battle reports about his cousin, to make sure that Ted wouldn’t be able to use it for political purposes after the war. Ted was also quite a big hunter like his father, and the number of animals that he killed on safari is shocking. For the Field Museum Expedition he and his party killed 80 large animals and 1500 small mammals, reptiles, and birds, and in a later expedition, also for the Field Museum, his group killed 2000 small animals, 5500 birds and reptiles, and over 40 large mammals, including a giant panda.
He and his wife Eleanor had a wonderful marriage. She even left their children with their grandparents so that she could follow Ted to Europe during WWI. She also went with him on his various safaris.
This book is well researched, but needs a good copy editor. There are numerous typos and some infelicitous wording of sentences. Nonetheless Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was a fascinating man who deserves to be better known.
He and his wife Eleanor had a wonderful marriage. She even left their children with their grandparents so that she could follow Ted to Europe during WWI. She also went with him on his various safaris.
This book is well researched, but needs a good copy editor. There are numerous typos and some infelicitous wording of sentences. Nonetheless Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was a fascinating man who deserves to be better known.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews