The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979)

I heard he was the "last of the romantics". We'll just see about that.

The life of Theodore Roosevelt couldn’t possibly be covered in one book. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is the first part of a trilogy by Edmund Morris and covers his life before his presidency.

A sickly child, Roosevelt had to work twice as hard as anyone else to build his physical and mental strength. His weakness grew into a determination so large it would overcome any opposition. The early ridicule of his classmates, the rejection of Alice (his would be first wife), and even the resistence from the New York Political Machine seem insurmountable, but his persistence and tenacity leads him to victory. The early death of his father due to political corruption further plants a seed that would end the Guilded Age in America and begin the Progressive era. His anti-corruption campaign in the New York Assembly and the Federal Civil Service Commission, as well as his hawkish political views would provide a foreshadowing of his presidency.

The first hundred pages of this biography are awfully dry. Morris has harvested information from Roosevelt’s family, but also from a diary he started when he was nine. Morris masters the diary finding a pattern in Roosevelt's behavior. At times there is constant chatter on a topic, but there is mysteriously little of it afterward. It’s a sign that the event did not go well. He didn’t want to remember it, but also knew that his correspondence and diary may be public at some point. When Roosevelt met failure, whether his inability to make a good impression on Alice (his eventual first wife), or his entry into the New York State Assembly (where he was viewed as a country bumpkin), Morris cracks the code and fleshes it out here, providing deeper analysis into his personality.

For me, the book didn’t get interesting until his political fights against corruption. Partly his own ambition and partly revenge for his father he becomes a force to be reckoned with passing reform bill after reform bill. This section is also cast against his trips west to the Dakotas and his cattle ranch there. Morris demonstrates how much Roosevelt reflects his time. It’s amazing to read how much of the country can be reflected in one man, from political fighting in the east to cattle ranching in the west.

Morris documents his literary achievements from his examination of the Naval History of the War of 1812 to his famous Winning of the West. A true renaissance man always looking forward, Morris deftly compares him to Henry Adams. Adams, eventually made famous by his The Education of Henry Adams, reveals a fear of the future, while Roosevelt seems to be made for it.

The last quarter of the book is certainly the most exciting, covering Roosevelt’s rise to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, bullying his way to improvement of U.S. Naval forces. His aggressive expansionist stance is an extension of his love of Manifest Destiny, eventually resulting in the Spanish-American War. His fame in the war leads him to nomination for Vice-Presidency and with the assassination of President McKinley, the presidency.

Morris uses one of Roosevelt’s favorite stories, that of King Olaf, to lead each chapter, mirroring Roosevelt’s meteoric rise to that of the mythical King. It provides a lyrical quality, especially at the end. I loved the ending. He paints this picture of Roosevelt reflecting on all of his accomplishments while he sits in the mists. Will this as far as he rises, to the Vice-Presidency? Has his chance slipped away? Then he sees a man with a telegraph running toward him, out of the mists. ( )

A brilliant narrative about a truly astonishing figure in American history. It's hard to go wrong about describing Roosevelt's fascinating life, and Morris brings it up here with fine examples and colorful descriptions. It astonishes me how a select few people can do so much with their lives.

Dee-lightful! Bully! ( )

In the early afternoon of September 13, 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was eating lunch on his descent from the top of Mount Marcy where he no doubt had contemplated his future not only in politics but in life. Now just hours after possibly concluding that his political fortunes would descend as he would from the mountain top, a ranger baring a yellow telegram message came into view that would mark the end of "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" not in political obscurity but it's mountain top.

Edmund Morris ended the first volume of his biography of Theodore Roosevelt on the cusp of becoming President of the United States after detailing Roosevelt's life to that point from his birth in October 1858. Along the way, Morris shows the development of Roosevelt's views from youth to maturity, in life and in politics. While descriptive and showing fascination with his subject, Morris does not gush upon Roosevelt forgiveness when confronted with demeaning views, speeches, and writings that to the 21st century would raise our eyebrows.

The detail Morris shows in this biography on almost a daily basis bring Roosevelt to life, first as a unhealthy child who fascination for learning about the natural world was cultivated by his father who also encourage him to build up his body as well as his mind. Roosevelt's transformation from a fashionable dandy undergraduate at Harvard yearn for reform in politics into the political Rough Rider that was about to assume the Presidency is a long process that Morris shows the reader so well, the reader doesn't realize it until almost the end of the volume.

From seeing Roosevelt at the height of his power in the prologue then see his rise, both slow and meteoric, through the epilogue, Morris hooks the reader in and makes them eagerly anticipate what will be seen on the next page. I can not recommend enough "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris to every student of history and to anyone who loves political biographies. ( )

I read this because a friend recommended it. I'm not much of a fan of presidential histories, nor a Teddy fan, but I have to say this book was fascinating. Teddy Roosevelt was a fascinating man, a great personality, regardless of how you view his politics. The story of his life proves the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. This biography tells the story of his life up to his arrival to the presidency. Great moments about his life in Dakota, his career as police comissioner in New York, and his work as Secretary of the Navy. ( )