Becoming Teddy Roosevelt: How a Maine Guide Inspired America's 26th President

by Andrew Vietze

A sickly Harvard student. A Maine Guide. And a friendship that changed a man - who changed a nation. Today we think of Theodore Roosevelt as a larger-than-life figure, but before he became a legendary outdoorsman, Badlands rancher, Rough Rider, trust buster, and political maverick, he was a "thin pale youngster with bad eyes and a weak heart," in the words of William Wingate Sewall, the upcountry Maine woodsman who would become Roosevelt's mentor and lifelong friend. The two met at a crucial time in Roosevelt's life, and Sewall exerted a quiet but profound influence on the man who would become America's twenty-sixth President. This is the untold story of their friendship - and the many adventures they shared.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Presidents

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Andrew Vietze is the bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the critically acclaimed This Wild Land (2021), White Pine (2017), Boon Island (Globe Pequot, 2012), and Becoming Teddy Roosevelt (Down East, 2010). Publishers Weekly called Boon Island “a maritime whodunit rife with twists and turns and high drama;” The Portsmouth Herald dubbed it “superb. . . both a well-researched history and a page-turning mystery that begs to be a motion picture.” Co-written with historian Stephen Erickson, it was an Amazon #1 bestseller (US history), won a gold medal at the Independent Publisher Book Awards, was an IndieFab Book of the Year Finalist, and was featured on the hit Travel Channel program “Monumental Mysteries” in June of 2014. Becoming Teddy Roosevelt also won an IPPY, was a Book of the Year Finalist, and was the inspiration for Coastal Maine Botanical Garden's new program for middle schoolers, the Lunder New Naturalists, which is now part of the curriculum at 20 Maine schools. The book was formally honored by decree of the Maine State Legislature in 2010, hailed as “so symbolic of the spirit and unique character of Maine.”

Vietze got his start at the Maine Times in the early 90s, and, in addition to his books, he's written for a wide array of clients, including: NASA, New York Times' LifeWire, Weather.com's “Forecast Earth”, Crawdaddy, Time Out New York, Explore, Big Sky Journal, AMC Outdoors, Popmatters, and American Songwriter. A Registered Maine Guide, he splits his time between his off-grid home in the forest of Waldo County and a cabin in the woods of Baxter State Park, where he works as a seasonal ranger. Find out more at www.andrewvietze.com.

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've admired Theodore Roosevelt ever since I was old enough to know anything about him, but I never realized he spent time right here in northern Maine! He made 3 trips to the Maine woods in 1878 and 1879, and with his guide Bill Sewall, he went hunting, canoeing, climbed Mt. Katahdin, and visited lumber camps. There's actually a state historic site near Island Falls called Bible Point, because that's where Roosevelt would go to read his Bible each day when he was staying there. Sewall was very impressed with Roosevelt and the two became close friends. They corresponded regularly, and when Roosevelt bought a cattle ranch in the Dakota Badlands, he asked Sewall and his nephew Wilmot Dow, who he'd also met in Maine, to help him run it. The ranch eventually failed and the Sewalls and Dows moved back to Maine, but their friendship remained close. When Roosevelt became President, Sewall visited the White House 4 times and was there every time the President came to speak in Maine. A really fascinating story about a very special friendship!

[Susan Bache Brewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started slow but in the end captivated me. It is a straightforward account of a 40 year relationship between Maine Guide, Bill Sewell, and Teddy Roosevelt. Their relationship was one of deep friendship and mutual admiration. Bill Sewell inspired young Teddy as a sickly weak Harvard student and their time together in the Maine woods changed him both physically and mentally. Bill Sewell would forever admire Teddy for his steadfast determination. Their lives intertwined for the remainder of their lives including a stint in the Badlands of North Dakota where they shared a ranching venture.

[Mendy-Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for those of us from the County!! I learned a lot of history about Island Falls, Dyer Brook and Bill Sewall. Makes me want to plan another vacation home so dad can take me on another adventure to Bible Point:).

@Laurie and Mom, you definitely need to read this book!!!

[Dollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finished reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, I decided I would learn more about Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. I've always been an American history geek. I searched my online local library and instead of finding any books about Franklin Roosevelt, I found a biography of Theodore Roosevelt. I’d always wanted to know more about him, as well, so I borrowed the book. I found it fascinating. Of course, I’m a Mainer, so the fact that there was a lot about settling a small town in ‘The County’ in this book made it even more interesting. And a lot of the book was about spending time in the Maine woods. My grandfather and one of my uncles were both Maine Forest Rangers, so being in the woods has always been special for me. My siblings and I grew up with Smokey the Bear as one of our heroes. So, I liked this book for many reasons. Plus it was more like two biographies, not just one. Bill Sewall, woodsman, guide, hunter, fisherman, Customs Agent, Deputy. became a lifelong friend of young Theodore Roosevelt, who was a small, weak, sickly young man. After a couple of summers in Maine with Bill, Roosevelt learned a lot, not just about how to survive in the woods, but also about how to treat others, and how to achieve things he’d never thought possible, such as one day becoming President of the United States. This book also tells about Roosevelt's ranch in the Dakota Territory and about how Bill Sewall and one of his nephews spent a couple of years there helping TR out with his herd. The Sewalls couldn't wait to get back to Maine, though, and I could relate. I love to visit elsewhere, but I always love to come home. Written by Andrew Vietze, of DownEast Magazine, I thought this book really put a human face on Theodore Roosevelt and also what it was like for Bill Sewall living in Northern Maine a century ago. Both of these men were down to earth and interesting and I enjoyed this short biography very much.

[noreast_bookreviewsnh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becoming Teddy Roosevelt: How a Maine Guide inspired America’s 26th President by Andrew Vietze
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While many books have been written about Theodore Roosevelt and pretty much every aspect of his life, this one offers a new aspect that is little known. History portrays TR as a mans man and tough as a bull moose! But this was far from the truth in his youth, being a sickly boy with severe asthma and a weak heart, of which the doctors said he would have to lead a life of extreme caution and inactivity. With the help of William Sewall, a Maine outdoorsman and hunting guide, young Theodore was taken under his wing during multiple hunting and camping trips to take in the refreshing nature of the Maine North Woods. Theodore and Bill Sewall would become fast friends with polar opposite backgrounds, with Sewall being a rugged outdoorsman from the back woods of Maine and Theodore being an east coast elite being raised in luxury and comfort. Theodore would be put to the test in Maine facing harsh conditions and hard work in the woods trekking through mountains and rivers and forests to hunt and live off the land. Bill Sewall taught Teddy many life lessons during his four seasons of hunting trips and would go on to live and work on Roosevelt’s ranch in North Dakota for a few years before TR entered the political arena. Sewall always had faith in Teddy that he would become president one day and he was correct. The hard work faced in the north woods of Maine and the ranch in North Dakota aided Teddy in overcoming his boyhood ailments and becoming a rugged outdoorsman himself. The friendship between these two lasted a lifetime and Theodore never forgot his mentor and friend from Island Falls, Maine; inviting the entire Sewall clan to the White House on numerous occasions. A truly inspiring story of what true friendship and mutual admiration looks like.
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#maine #williamsewall #theodoreroosevelt #whitehouse #newengland #president #history #friends #mentor #reading #bookstagram

[Ted Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short, concise book that focuses entirely on the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and Maine woodsman William Sewall. Its objective is thus very limited, but it achieves its purpose very well, which is the reason for my high rating. The book's emphasis is on the times that the two men spent together, first in Maine when TR was a student at Harvard, and then in the years after his first wife's death when Roosevelt built and worked his ranch in North Dakota. There are sections that focus on the individual stories of the two men, and the story of Sewall gets more coverage than that of TR, probably because the latter's story has far more components to it and has been told in many, many other places. The author's contention that Sewall and Roosevelt's time in Maine, especially the hike up Mt. Katahdin, was crucial to the character development of TR is well defended, and I really got the sense that TR regarded his woodsman friend as one of his greatest role models. And that friendship was an enduring one, as the two men remained very close despite not seeing much of each other after Roosevelt left the Dakotas in the late 1880's. I appreciated how much this book was a labor of love, as the author is a ranger in Maine's Baxter State Park, the site of the great mountain that the two men climbed. In the end, the book is a must read for fans of Roosevelt.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not a detailed history of Theodore Roosevelt as American President but rather exploring how he became the man he was. As a child he was smaller than his age group and dealt with asthma and other health problems and was advised to lead a sedentary life. He decided to build himself into an outdoorsman by spending time in the back woods of Maine establishing a lifelong relationship with William Seward and his family who hunted, fished, built their own homes, and lived off the land. This made a dramatic difference in his outlook on life as he became the Rough Rider that we all know. The book does chronicle his political life in an abbreviated fashion but the real focus was his earlier years and the main influences on him. It is well written and documents character development and lifelong friendships of one of our most popular presidents.

[Christie Wessels · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I learn about Teddy Roosevelt, the more I like him. He was pushed himself to be the strongest version of himself, and was a champion against corruption in politics.
We camped in Island Falls for a few days this summer. I would love to visit his childhood home in NYC someday.

[Jim Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read many books about TR and this was but a small segment of his life that was extremely influential. The book was well written and researched-particularly the history of the Maine families involved.

[Christian Engler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theodore Roosevelt was a sickly child who suffered from severe asthma. Despite his weakness and ill health, he was brought up in a loving home with parents and kin who fostered his obvious intellectual gifts and quest for never ending learning. To compensate for his physical weakness, his parents sent him to Island Falls, Maine-a woodsman's dream paradise-hoping that the fresh mountain and woodsy air of Maine would rejuvenate his physical frailty. When introduced to his guide, Bill Sewall, a quiet yet tough expert woodsman, a whole new world would open up to T.R., and his life would never ever be the same, fortunately for our country!

Raised in the cushiony upper echelons of New York society, Teddy Roosevelt thrived under the supervision of Bill Sewall, a man who acted almost as a surrogate father to T.R. after his own dad passed away, a man whom he greatly loved. He could easily have fallen into softness and while struggling to be a Harvard student, especially after his father's death, Teddy Roosevelt was a man who was lost in limbo; he never felt that he could honor his dad the way his heart yearned to. Yet, it was through a process of general wilderness challenges and a little nudge here and there, that Bill Sewall eventually guided T.R. into the realm of politics and the law, for initially, T.R. wanted to be a naturalist and conservationist. His aptitude, however, went beyond that. While he himself may not have immediately seen that, others did, and when he made that decision to enter the political arena, he met with success after success. Before that happened, however, T.R. would experience incomprehensible grief, namely the death of his wife and mother within hours of each other. Upon that happening, his life was a bleak mess, and it was only through the gentle influence of Bill Sewall that Teddy Roosevelt would rise and thrive. To overcome the hurt and emptiness, he would use the challenges of the Maine woods as a way to navigate the inner darkness that had enveloped him, and through sheer perseverance, he genuinely thrived under tough conditions, something that would benefit him in the long run. He saw suffering as a good thing that toughened him up and allowed him to meet challenges head-on, a great thing for someone entering the pit of politics.

While this is a story of Teddy Roosevelt, his development into manhood and who he eventually became, it is also the story of Bill Sewall, T.R.'s Maine guide. Though gentle and unassuming, he was certainly not a pushover. He allowed Teddy Roosevelt to push himself to the limit (despite his questionable health) and only interceded when absolutely necessary. He and T.R. Had a lot in common, politically speaking, but they were also deep appreciators of the natural beauty and healing powers of the environment. They both needed it and were challenged by it. There was something almost religious and or spiritual in how they viewed their rough hewn landscapes. And that would be carried on when they went to the badlands of the Dakotas to act out as cowboys and ranchers. In the end Bill Sewall, was always by Teddy's side, even when they did not see each other for well over two years. Their written correspondences were ample-and in a fraternal kind of way-Bill Sewall was always there for Teddy, dispensing sage advise and pragmatic wisdom. The glorious memories that T.R. had of the Maine woods and of the assorted misadventures that the two carried on together was always sustaining for T.R., even when things were at their gloomiest. There is nothing better sometimes than good friend.

Andrew Vietze's book is one of those rare and exceptional kinds of works, because it takes a small segment from a great leader's life that is hardly mentioned and really opens it up for analysis and assessment; it's a literary work that tries to explain the hows and whys of the greatness of the man. It does so successfully, delving deeply into the components of the Maine woodlands and of Bill Sewall himself. This is a great literary book to include in the canon of Theodore Roosevelt. A Wonderful read!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teddy Roosevelt climbed Katahdin in moccasins because he lost a boot crossing a river?! Gosh! And that is such a hard hike too and that's with boots and, presumably, clearer trails now. Bill Sewall of Island Falls, ME, was Roosevelt's guide and a formative influence when Roosevelt was a young man. This is one of the most positive profiles that I have ever read of anyone! Kind of refreshing but does lead one to believe that Sewall was a saint! Now maybe I'll get around to reading that doorstop biography of Roosevelt that I own??

[Akhet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading about a man who had an impact on the 26th president's life and how he remained his loyal friend all of his life. Sad to hear how even back then, the media did not care how they portrayed people if it sold papers.

An interesting quote from Bill Sewall "Most people have the idea that he was a strong man. He was far from that; he was physically weak all his life, but never let it be known except to those with whom he was most intimate. The reason people did not know about it was he never gave in. He was full of grit, and did not know how to complain.

[Mark Fallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most fans of Theodore Roosevelt know the story of how he transformed himself from a frail, timid child into a man known for his physical strength and moral courage. Vietze focuses on the impact of Bill Sewall, a Maine guide, who first met TR in 1878 on his first trip to Maine. Sewall remained TR's mentor and friend for the next 40 years, even following the future President into the Badlands of the Dakota Territory to be cattlemen.

An enjoyable book and excellent addition to my Roosevelt collection.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many people know that Teddy Roosevelt was a sickly child that became a robust, outdoors-man, naturalist and leader. A large part of that transformation is told in his relationship with Bill Sewall. Friends matter and Sewall's roles and guide, mentor, and supporter in Roosevelt's life were significant. The story of Roosevelt's Dakota years following the deaths of his wife and mother with 24 hours of each other can't be told without examining the role of Sewall. This book is an excellent follow-up to Mornings On Horseback.

[Marie French · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really neat perspective on Teddy Roosevelt from his good friend and confidante, Bill Sewall... Maine guide from Island Falls. What a trip to be reading about a place so close to where we live now and so close to where I used to live! This is a great intro or follow-up to "Mornings on Horse Back" by David McCullough.

[Nancie Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author focuses on the relationship between TR and a Maine outdoorsman who became a lifelong friend. The book isn't intended as an in-depth examination of Roosevelt's life, but instead focuses on a relationship that usually isn't fully developed in larger biographies. Nicely written, although sometimes the author seemed to be stretching his material.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting insight into life of Teddy Roosevelt from a different perspective, that of an adventurous recreationalist. My love of all things Maine and of American history drew me to the book. It reads quickly and enjoyably.

[Sam Motes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great gift from my wife from her trip to Maine since she knows I love reading presidential history. This one gives great insight into on of TRs role models in life. This is a great read on the formative years of TR and the legendary guide Sewall from The north woods.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read about two great men.

[Gail Roy]

Very interesting and enjoyable read. Read this book and take a drive to Island Falls, Maine.

[Jwgalvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history of the country and Teddy Roosevelt

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good bit of Maine history not known to me before and interesting insight into TR.

[Nancy Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for the Maine Historical Society book group and really enjoyed it - and I learned a lot!