Ornig, Joseph R.

In his review of Theodore Roosevelt: A Literary Life, Joseph R. Ornig highlights the remarkable number of books written by and about Theodore Roosevelt, and he finds that the latest entry, a literary biography penned by Thomas Bailey and Katherine Joslin, fills a niche and reminds readers of Roosevelt’s impressive intellectual range. Ornig reviews the few other works that have addressed this topic, including his own, and he provides an overview of the careers of Bailey and Joslin. Ornig concludes his essay by reviewing the wide range of works produced by Roosevelt in the course of his writing career.

Four illustrations supplement the text, including a photograph of Roosevelt and the front cover of Theodore Roosevelt: A Literary Life.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Joseph R. Ornig chronicles Theodore Roosevelt’s work as a writer of histories, biographies, natural histories, essays, letters, and journalism. Ornig highlights some of these works, such as Roosevelt’s The Naval War of 1812 and The Winning of the West, by describing Roosevelt’s research, his aims, the books’ reception, and the time it took to complete them. Ornig also examines why Roosevelt wrote so much, citing the need to make money, articulating a reform agenda, and organizing his thoughts, and he notes those who acted as mentors to the literary Roosevelt like Henry Cabot Lodge and Owen Wister. Ornig also notes that Roosevelt assumed the role of mentor to many aspiring writers like the poet Edwin Arlington Robinson.

Eleven illustrations accompany the essay, including three of Roosevelt writing and two examples of his hand writing.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

The covers of this issue feature images from two books by Theodore Roosevelt: the cover of Roosevelt’s 1910 African Game Trails appears on the front while a photograph of Roosevelt superimposed on the title page of The Naval War of 1812 adorns the back.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2015

Joseph R. Ornig relays the story of how the city leaders of Temple, Texas, passed an emergency ordinance requiring presidential trains to stop in the city. The ordinance was passed when it was learned that President Theodore Roosevelt did not plan to have his train stop in the city while traveling to San Antonio, Texas, in April 1905. Roosevelt did, in the end, make a brief stop in Temple, and Ornig notes that President Harry S. Truman referred to the incident during his 1948 visit.

Two photographs, one of Roosevelt and one of the crowd in Temple, Texas, accompany the essay.