Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist in the Arena

by Char Miller (Editor), Clay S. Jenkinson (Editor)

Theodore Roosevelt’s scientific curiosity and love of the outdoors proved a defining force throughout his hectic life as a rancher and explorer, police commissioner and governor of New York, vice president and president of the United States. Conservation and natural history were parts of a whole for this driven, charismatic public servant, and Roosevelt approached the natural world with joy and a passionate engagement.

Drawing on an array of approaches—biographical, ecological and environmental, literary and political, Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist in the Arena analyzes this energetic man’s manifold encounters with the great outdoors. George Bird Grinnell, Gifford Pinchot, John Muir, and William Hornaday were among the many conservationists with whom Roosevelt corresponded, collaborated, hiked, and governed—and in turn, inspired.

Together, Roosevelt and his contemporaries developed a progressive argument for the conservation of natural resources as a way to construct a more democratic nation-state. This legacy also comes with some troubling domestic and global implications, as Roosevelt fused his call for the conservation of resources—natural and human, domestically and internationally—with a deep-seated conviction that some were more fit than others to control the world and define its future.

 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Nature

264 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2020

Reviews

[Abra Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Clay Jenkinson in his role of Thomas Jefferson on NPR's The Jefferson Hour. Both he and Char Miller are exceptional in their knowledge of history and they are both able to make their subject matter come alive. Thus, I was anxious to read their book on Theodore Roosevelt. This is a compilation of essays written by various scholars. Some were better than others but all were interesting and informative. TR is a huge personality who contributed more to the US than perhaps any other President and I was glad to learn more about him.

[Laura Schmidt-Dockter]

In the early pages of this book was a photo of one of the contributors hoisting a dead monkey. I knew then, this wasn’t going to be my kind of book. The photo had zero to with TR and everything to do with the man who wrote that particular chapter. The book is well-organized and meticulously foot-noted.

[Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masterful collection of scholarship on Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-sixth president of the United States, and his multifaceted experiences as a writer, rancher, policy-maker, reader, hiker, camper, explorer, and overall promoter of nature. Much attention is also given to analyzing his experiences in and identification with the west.

[Mo Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, this book ended on a high note for me, but I really didn’t love the first section. The essays about TR’s relationship with Grinnell, Pinchot, Muir and Hornaday were all interesting. I also enjoyed the essays by West and Jenkinson in the third section (the last essay I found quite moving tbh).

[J Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

77/100