Theodore Roosevelt

The American Presidents #26

by Louis Auchincloss, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (Editor)

An intimate portrait of the first president of the 20th century The American century opened with the election of that quintessentially American adventurer, Theodore Roosevelt. Louis Auchincloss's warm and knowing biography introduces us to the man behind the many myths of Theodore Roosevelt. From his early involvement in the politics of New York City and then New York State, we trace his celebrated military career and finally his ascent to the national political stage. Caricatured through history as the "bull moose," Roosevelt was in fact a man of extraordinary discipline whose refined and literate tastes actually helped spawn his fascination with the rough-and-ready worlds of war and wilderness. Bringing all his novelist's skills to the task, Auchincloss briskly recounts the significant contributions of Roosevelt's career and administration. This biography is as thorough as it is readable, as clear-eyed as it is touching and personal.

Genres: Biography, History, Presidents, Nonfiction, Politics, American History, Us Presidents

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Louis Stanton Auchincloss was an American novelist, historian, and essayist.

Among Auchincloss's best-known books are the multi-generational sagas The House of Five Talents, Portrait in Brownstone, and East Side Story. Other well-known novels include The Rector of Justin, the tale of a renowned headmaster of a school like Groton trying to deal with changing times, and The Embezzler, a look at white-collar crime. Auchincloss is known for his closely observed portraits of old New York and New England society.

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Strenuous Life

The short biographies that form the American Presidents series do an admirable job in capturing the heart of the accomplishments and characters of our country's leaders. Some of the volumes succeed further in offering, in addition to an introduction, challenging reassessments of their subject's place in history. Bunting's book on Grant and Diggins's study of John Adams are in this latter category. With a leader as complex and energetic as Theodore Roosevelt, (1858 - 1919), the task of a brief portrayal is daunting indeed. Louis Auchincloss has generally succeeded in offering a portrait of TR and his presidency that will serve for basic information. For a more complex and detailed view, the book should encourage the reader to explore further.

The American composer Scott Joplin wrote a delightful ragtime called "The Strenuous Life" in honor of TR but with a hint of satire as well. The phrase aptly describes TR and his era. A sickly child born to great wealth, the twelve-year old TR took seriously his father's injunction to "make your body!" as well as his mind. TR became a dynamo, moving out west to become the owner of a cattle ranch in Dakota in the 1880s and leading the fabled charge of the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. In the midst of a busy life, TR found time to write about 40 books, including his autobiography, and innumerable letters.

In his politics, TR developed a unique position as a Republican party regular and as a progressive. He served in the 1880s' as a New York State assemblyman and as Governor of New York, among other accomplishments, before being called to the vice-presidency. He became the 26th president upon the death of McKinley in 1901, and then was elected to a term of his own. TR famously declined to run for a second elected term, a decision he lived to regret.

TR's presidency had many accomplishments, striking out in as many directions as the man himself. He was a trust-buster who believed in American capitalism, individualism and business. He was also a famous conservationist. In foreign policy, he was a mixture of calmness and bellicosity, acquiring the Panama Canal, expanding the Navy, and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for settling a dispute between Russia and Japan.

Following his term, TR took a lengthy safari as a big-game hunter in Africa and upon his return became disillusioned with the presidency of his chosen successor, William H. Taft. TR bolted the Republican party and, alas, took the progressives with him. The split in the GOP between its progressives and its conservatives has lasted to this day. The immediate result was the election of Woodrow Wilson to the presidency.

Auchincloss tells the story of TR simply and well. But I came away from this book curious to know more. In particular, I would have liked to learn more about TR's writings, some of which are available in a two-volume set published by the Library of America. Auchincloss evidences a certain skepticism about TR, pointing out ways in which TR's America, as well as TR's values, differ from contemporary America and from the choices of many contemporary Americans. As explained by Auchincloss, these values, which seem closely interrelated, center upon TR's elevation of the worth of toughness -- "machismo", -- his sexual restraint and even prudery, and his views on the relationship between men and women, which today would commonly be regarded as sexist. I remain fascinated with TR's strength, vigor, and sense of purpose, combined with his high powers of intellect. His forcefulness and belief in our country, tempered as it usually was with prudence, still has much to teach us.

Robin Friedman

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louis Auchincloss’ Theodore Roosevelt is one of the best entries in Times Books “The American Presidents” series. The book is well organized, and novelist Auchincloss brings to his task not only a singularly useful sociological and cutural perspective but also a superb prose style.

Each entry in the Times Book series is about one hundred and fifty pages, a length that would seem to lend itself naturally to a straightforward chronology of events. Yet, because a president typically presides over a rush of years crowded with incident, a brief narrative so structured—year one with its taxes, tariffs, and perils overseas, followed by year two with a similar though distinct series of ephemeral challenges—may soon become as wearying as a Wikipedia biography, a dense fact-hoard lacking a unifying thread or discernible patterns. Many writers in the series adopt this method, and many of their books suffer because of it.

The best book in the series—Garry Will’s James Madison, Gary Hart’s James Monroe, Gail Collins’ William Henry Harrison, John Seigenthaler’s James K. Polk, George McGovern’s Abraham Lincoln--take a different approach. Although they maintain chronology when possible, they concentrate on particular themes, thus highlighting the president’s central concerns and legacy.

This is what Auchincloss does. Big business, Panama, race relations and hate crimes, ending war between Russia and Japan, preventing war between France and Germany, the panic of 1907, the conservation of the wilderness directed by Gifford Pinchot, TR’s attitude toward war, the president’s “Bull Moose” radicalization—all come in for individual treatment. Auchincloss even includes an entire chapter of representative—although unrelated--quotations. The result is a vivid portrait of an extraordinary man.

On of the reasons Auchincloss’ portrait is so sharp and insightful is that he and his subject come from the same social class: the “old money” aristocrats of New York. Auchincloss graduated Groton School in Massachusetts, the Episcopal preparatory academy which educated all the young Roosevelts (except the frail young Teddy himself), and he later attended an Ivy League university (although he, unlike TR, went to Yale).

The following passage, which describes Theodore’s early year at college is a good example both of Auchincloss’ easy familiarity with TR’s world (including the importance of social class and money) and of his crisp, engaging prose style:

By the time he entered Harvard he was sufficiently robust and full of a zest for life, with an income greater than the salary of Harvard’s president, Charles W. Eliot. However, college presidents were not then well compensated, and many of the gilded youth of Boston and new York enjoyed greater allowances than young Theodore. But he did well enough for himself; he had his own rooms off campus and a horse and buggy with which to visit the beautiful Alice Lee, a Brahmin from Chestnut Hill...and he eagerly cultivated students of his own social background; it would take him a couple of years to shed his inherited snobbishness, and we find him writing home that he stood nineteenth in his class, with only one “gentleman” ahead of him. But he was well enough liked, if considered a bit eccentric—his friend Robert Bacon would not visit his rooms because of the smell of his zoological specimens—and he was duly elected to the exclusive Porcellian Club.

Although Auchincloss grants that Roosevelt can be made to look ridiculous by an unkind culling of his most extreme statements, since “it was his nature to be heartily emphatic, to make his point by gross overstatement,” believes also that he “was capable of the most profound political shrewdness, of a deep humanitarian concern, of a hatred of hypocrisy and deceit and a greatness of heart, and that he was “a political idealist” who believed in “astute and well considered compromise,” and for this reason “deserves his rank among our great presidents.”

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a postscript than an introduction to Theodore Rex - the author assumes a lot of prior knowledge about the Bull Moose's wacky exploits, which I'm sure makes for interesting discussion among professional historians but is less useful to amateurs like me.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theodore Roosevelt is the twenty-fifth book in The American Presidents series – a biographical series chronicling the Presidents of the United States. Louis Auchincloss wrote this particular installment and edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was an American statesman, politician, conservationist, naturalist, and writer who served as the twenty-sixth President of the United States from 1901–1909. He served as the twenty-fifth Vice President from March to September 1901 and as the thirty-third Governor of New York from 1899 to 1900. As a leader of the Republican Party, he became a driving force for the Progressive Era in the United States in the early 20th century.

Auchincloss writes that Roosevelt was the embodiment of numerous contradictions for which he has been periodically pilloried by liberals and conservatives alike. Responsible for much progressive legislation, he passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, created federal forest lands and obtained antitrust legislation. He was also an aristocrat who was against monopolies because they were not gentlemanly, invaded Panama to build the canal and casually exhibited racism during the Spanish–American War.

Born into a wealthy New York family, Roosevelt overcame bad health in childhood to embody an image of manliness and bluster that defined his era. He also avidly read Dickens, Thackeray and Greek drama. Though acknowledging Roosevelt's many contradictions, Auchincloss sidesteps most serious criticism of his subject. He paints a vivid portrait and almost treats the president as a quirky character in one of his own novels of upper-class America.

All in all, Theodore Roosevelt is a good, albeit brief biography of the twenty-sixth president and it is a good continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series of presidential biographies, which I plan to read in the very near future.

[Steve Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent small book about TR. I felt like it was written by a member of the Teddy Roosevelt fan club. Presented him in a good light, and glossed over some of the challenges of his administration. While I enjoyed the book as an introduction to a man who is routinely ranked by historians as a top five president, I finished feeling like I now need to read a real book about Teddy Roosevelt.

[Mark Fallon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief synopsis of TR's life.

[Books, Brews, and Tunes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does the job.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Cindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bookopoly - biography

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Want to know more about American presidents? The American Presidents series is one approach. This volume in the series focuses on the old Rough Rider himself, Theodore Roosevelt. First, a confession. I have read 2 of the 3 volume set by Edmund Morris. Obviously, I have an interest in depth (the second volume alone features 555 pages of text). But most people would welcome a shorter--but still good--view of TR. And this volume will meet the needs of such people.

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. has a standard Introduction to each volume. With respect to TR, some of his observations are apposite. On page xv, he says: "Great presidents possess, or are possessed by, a vision of an ideal America." Surely, that describes Roosevelt. At another point, Schlesinger says that (Page xv): "To succeed, presidents must not only have a port to seek but they must convince Congress and the electorate that it is a port worth seeking." Both observations seem to fit TR, where they did not fit Warren Harding or Chester Arthur or Rutherford Hayes or Benjamin Harrison or. . . .

The book begins by describing TR's rather well off childhood. Some problems. His beloved father dies prematurely. He had physical ailments. To address the latter, he exercised and even spent time in the Wild West, building himself up physically.

His public life began in rather exotic positions, such as president of New York City's Board of Police Commissioners. He was named as Assistant Secretary of the Navy after William McKinley's victory in the presidential campaign of 1896. After the Maine's destruction and the road to war with Spain, he resigned and, as we all know, became head of a group of troops named "The Rough Riders." After estimable service in Cuba, he returned as a war hero. The governorship of New York and then nomination as vice president to William McKinley (perhaps to get him out of New York?).

He became an accidental president after McKinley's assassination. The book chronicles his views and actions as president, when he was known as a "trust buster" and as the advocate of a "Square Deal." He was known for many accomplishments (some of which might raise eyebrows), such as the construction of the Panama Canal (as some Senator said years later, "We stole it fair and square!"). He left the presidency, followed by his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft. Then, the tale of his disillusionment with Taft, his Bull Moose campaign, his disgust with Woodrow Wilson is depicted.

Auchincloss is a fine writer, and this book reads well. For those who want a "quick and dirty" introduction to TR, this will fill the bill.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone writing about Teddy Roosevelt starts with an almost unfair advantage, as TR was an outsized individual whose life included varied accomplishments, each of which might be someone else's entire life story.

He restored himself to health from severe childhood frailty and become a professional-level athlete as it was conceived in his time. He started, ran, and lost a major cattle ranch, cow-punching alongside his employees. He adventures included treks in the Black Hills of South Dakota, across Africa, and down the River of Doubt in South America. He served as Under Secretary of the Navy and prepared for the War with Spain without the approval of his superiors. He trained and lead the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba, making himself famous. President of the NY Police Commission; Governor of NY; Vice President; President due to assassination of James Garfield; elected President. And on and on...

I'm sure it was a challenge to get all of that, plus TR's outsize personality, friendships and rivalries, into the limitation of this series.

However, I have to say that Auchincloss usually writes much better than this. One chapter was simply a series of quotations from TR, with brief introductions for context. Other chapters were introduced as set pieces on some particular topic, such as TR's re-election, his run as a Bull Moose candidate, and his legacy as an environmentalist (as it was conceived at the time). This created a sense of a visible outline, and made the book seem like a long freshman comp essay and not a book by one of our prominent writers of fiction and non-fiction. Auchincloss was phoning it in.

However, if you only have a couple of hours and want to get a sense of the person and life of TR, this is not a bad choice. Auchincloss does quote liberally from TR and his associates and rivals, providing an excellent brief introduction. If you have more time, and want to really understand the topic, read Edmund Morris's three-volume biography.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late Writer Louis Auchincloss wrote the political biography of Theodore Roosevelt for The American President Series which was published in 2002. Auchincloss as a novelist was interested in character’s limitations and “formative” influences (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica). I think a reader can see the interest of Auchincloss in the topics listed above in how he writes this biography of Theodore Roosevelt. Similar to other books in The American Presidents series, Auchincloss’s biography of Theodore Roosevelt is short, effective, and well-researched. Auchincloss’s book has an introduction that introduces themes and the focus of Auchincloss’s biography. This book includes a Timeline. Unlike the other books in the series, I have read so far, the timeline at the end of this book mixes personal events from the life of Theodore Roosevelt with national and international events (Auchincloss “Milestones”). Auchincloss’s book only has a select bibliography. I read the book on the Kindle. Auchincloss deeply admires Theodore Roosevelt, but Auchincloss tries to follow the advice of Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who wrote late in life that she tried to remember her father as a public figure with “admiration undimmed by sentimentality” in the words of Auchincloss (Auchincloss 5). Auchincloss follows Longworth very closely when writing about Theodore Roosevelt. I agree with the Goodreads reviewer Bill Kerwin that Auchincloss is able to provide a “vivid portrait” of Theodore Roosevelt in only 137 pages.
Work Cited:
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. 2022. “Louis Auchincloss.” Chicago, Illinois: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved: August 3, 2022
(Louis Auchincloss | American author | Britannica).

[Vel Veeter]

I think I don’t really know much about Teddy Roosevelt. I am not an avid history or biography reader, so while I like a good narrative history and like to continuously update what I do and don’t know, the circumstances of Roosevelt mostly escape me except for the myth making elements of his life. And those are all here. What I do know about him probably mostly comes from Candace Millard’s book The River of Doubt, about his ill-fated trip into the Amazon jungle.

Anyway, what I get from this very small history by Louis Auchincloss is that in a lot of ways Teddy Roosevelt is a big giant personality of a president, but who oversaw the US in a relatively dead period of history. That’s not to say that nothing happened, as something is always happening, but it really feels like nothing much big happened. Perhaps that a commentary on his presidency, but I am not entirely sure exactly in what way. He still seems really interesting, but also, I don’t think I would have actually liked him much.

[Kaleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5/5) This was one of my least favorite of the American Presidents series. This author felt more biased than previous authors, going so far as to directly express his opinion in a portion. One of the things I have enjoyed so far about the series its pretty neutral tone and this one lost that. Overall still an acceptable read. Not the author's fault but I feel like I like TR less after reading this book and the following about President Taft. I may have to dig deeper into TR to confirm. Still, a good overview of TR and his life and time as president and I would still recommend this and the American Presidents series as a whole.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know it’s wrong to judge historical figures by todays standards but I just couldn’t get past TRs view of conservation: kill animals and put them in museums.

At the very beginning of the book the author opines that it’s hard to separate the man from the myth…the author does a good job in providing all aspects of TR.

I was disappointed that there wasn’t more on his adventure in traveling the Amazon. Focusing on TRs political life just got boring to me after a while and reinforces that nothing ever changes in politics.

[Blaine Welgraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

"TR, it must always be born in mind, had the lifelong habit of giving the freest reign to his tongue and pen, both publicly and privately, and it was his nature to be heartily emphatic, to make his points sometimes by gross overstatement. This by no means always reflected his true meaning, nor did it indicate that action would inevitably follow threat. He had a wealth of reserve...."

Louis Auchincloss, Theodore Roosevelt

[Gary Schantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read the William McKinley book from the APS (which was awful), I found the Theodore Roosevelt book to be a great read.

The book moves fast. It has short chapters. It gets to the point and does not waste time over-analyzing the important details while leaving room for the small details.

[Scott Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid. Well researched. swift reading. Louis Auchincloss never disappoints, in my readings from him. Though I have not read more than 4-5 of his works.

The glaring omission is TR's involvement in the Philippine–American War, which involved a lot of war crimes on both sides.

[Susan Newark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written with a good timeline of TRs life,

[Eric Burroughs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly just an overview. Nothing new from other TR books

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good and brief introduction to Teddy. It captured the size of the man, and how those who followed had a lot to live up to.

Liked it.

[Andre Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of a high level overview with not a ton of detail, almost like the author thinks you know the story already.

[Alex Booth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A robust overview of a thoroughly interesting individual

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the best of the Time Books American Presidents series that I've read so far! Of course, it doesn't hurt that TR is one of the more interesting presidents...

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

We should always look to glean the greatness from history, rather than amplify the arrogance.

[Leah Borg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book as I have other presidential books. Mostly because the author gives his own take on the president and I prefer just a historical, chronological telling of their life.

[Fredric Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview, lacking detail.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this thread! I am always so worried about spoiling the book that my reviews are usually just a few sentences and basically pointless

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume, part of Schlesinger's "The American Presidents" series, ably accomplishes its task. The purpose of these books is to bring fantastic writers (of which Auchincloss certainly is one) before a general reader looking for a survey biography of a particular president. There is little to no original material and few original insights, but that is not the purpose. Auchincloss's goal is a general summary for the casual reader of history who is interested in getting a "quick and dirty" account. He accomplishes this goal admirably.

The book provides an early glimpse into Roosevelt's childhood, and therefore his later psychology. He was clearly embarrassed by his father's decision to not actively engage in battle, and Roosevelt atones for this throughout his life with his own participation as well as expectations he placed on his own family. Additionally, his patrician upbringing has been frequently misunderstood, according to Auchincloss, who succinctly corrects the perception of his progressive motives with the quote, "Like a Byronic hero he wanted not so much to raise the poor as to lower the proud." (30)

The book follows Roosevelt's rapid political rise, first as a member of New York City's Board of Police Commissioners, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy after William McKinley's victory in the presidential campaign of 1896. Exorcising his family demons he resigned and became leader of "The Rough Riders." The war hero then became governor of New York, and then moved on to the office of Vice President according to the will of the New York political boss, who wanted to remove him from meddling in the states political affairs and challenging his authority.

Following McKinley's assassination, he proposed the "Square Deal" and attacked "law-defying wealth" that challenged the authority of the government. He became known as a trust buster, and many credit his actions against established large corporations with saving the nation from revolution. He was a thoroughly progressive Republican, a political animal that was destroyed when he split the party later in his career. As president, he sought expansive powers in the office of the executive, such as railing against the Supreme Court when they did not interpret badly written laws to his satisfaction, essentially creating the Panama Canal in extra-legal fashion, and after he left the office of the President advocating positions that many contemporary allies believed undermined the fabric of liberal democracy itself. His dissatisfaction with his successor, Taft, who did not go far enough in Roosevelt's view in his progressive ideals, caused him to split the vote after not receiving the Republican nomination for a third term. This split opened the door for Woodrow Wilson's victory. The two progressives differed only in their approach to WWI, but in other policies, were quite similar. Auchincloss quotes William Allen White on this point, who said, "Between the New Nationalism and the New Freedom was that fantastic imaginary gulf that has always existed between twiddle-dum and twiddle-dee." (125)

Ultimately, Roosevelt's post-presidential career was not a happy one. Regardless of your position as two whether Roosevelt was a good or bad president, it is undeniable that he influenced American politics in a profound way, and that influence reverberates today.

[Zach Koenig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually, the "American Presidents" books that I enjoy the most are the ones that aren't so formal and are a bit more relaxed. Strange, then, that this effort from Auchincloss actually struck me as a bit TOO informal in the way that it jumps from chapter to chapter with no headings.

Overall, however, this is a very good introduction to Teddy Roosevelt and provides the basics of his character. The trouble, though, is that it fails to cover some of the main points of each President that I look forward to with each book, such as the President as a child, the elections, and (if applicable) the transition from one term to the next.

In this case, Auchincloss really strays from the formula of most previous books in the series. While (generally speaking) such format changes usually appeal to me, this time it just felt as if the author focused on a lot of strange things and didn't cover "the basics" as well as should have been done.

Like I said, though, this is a great intro to President Roosevelt and will especially enlighten readers about the character and personal life of our 26th President.