Gibson, William M. (William Merriam), 1912-1987

Dr. John Allen Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, offers an address at Richland College giving an overview of the five phases he sees in the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt. Moving from the early hero-worship of Roosevelt in the years after his death, Gable sees historical opinion vary between critical perspectives of Roosevelt and more favorable representations, frequently moving in conjunction with the issues of the era the author is writing in. The most contemporary era, Gable believes, is a revival of Roosevelt’s reputation and scholarship. Further developments in the field of Roosevelt studies, Gable believes, will come from a stronger holistic understanding of the various facets of Roosevelt’s personality. Throughout his address Gable relies on a number of instances from Roosevelt’s life to illustrate his points, including the Venezuela Crisis, the Storer Controversy, and the 1912 Assassination Attempt.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1981

Creator(s)

Gable, John A.

Dr. John Allen Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, offers an address at Richland College giving an overview of the five phases he sees in the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt. Moving from the early hero-worship of Roosevelt in the years after his death, Gable sees historical opinion vary between critical perspectives of Roosevelt and more favorable representations, frequently moving in conjunction with the issues of the era the author is writing in. The most contemporary era, Gable believes, is a revival of Roosevelt’s reputation and scholarship. Further developments in the field of Roosevelt studies, Gable believes, will come from a stronger holistic understanding of the various facets of Roosevelt’s personality. Throughout his address Gable relies on a number of instances from Roosevelt’s life to illustrate his points, including the Venezuela Crisis, the Storer Controversy, and the 1912 Assassination Attempt.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1981

Creator(s)

Gable, John A.

John A. Gable provides brief reviews of three books on Theodore Roosevelt and quotes other reviews about Sylvia Jukes Morris’s biography of Edith Kermit Roosevelt. He reviews A. A. Norton’s Theodore Roosevelt, which evaluates Roosevelt as a writer; William M. Gibson’s Theodore Roosevelt Among the Humorists, which looks at Roosevelt’s relationship with William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and Finley Peter Dunne; and Thomas G. Dyer’s Theodore Roosevelt and the Idea of Race.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1981

Creator(s)

Gable, John A.

In the “Book Notes” column, Frederick W. Marks reviews William M. Gibson’s Theodore Roosevelt Among the Humorists and John A. Gable reviews Aloysius A. Norton’s Theodore Roosevelt. Marks criticizes Gibson for accepting the judgments of Theodore Roosevelt put forward by humorists such as Mark Twain, and he argues that Gibson, as a literature professor, is not qualified to make evaluations of Roosevelt’s diplomacy. Gable praises Norton’s study of Roosevelt as a writer, and his main criticism is that the book is too short to provide a thorough analysis of all of Roosevelt’s works. Marks and Gable contend that Roosevelt’s image continues to suffer from persistent stereotypes.

A picture of Roosevelt reading accompanies the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1981