Langdon, Jesse D., 1881-1975

Linda E. Milano reviews Betty Boyd Caroli’s The Roosevelt Women and John A. Gable examines eight books published to coincide with the centennial of the Spanish-American War in the “Book Reviews” section. Milano praises aspects of Caroli’s work, but she details what she considers the sometimes inaccurate and unfair depiction of Ethel Roosevelt Derby. Gable likes the two pictorial histories of the war by Stan Cohen and Ron Ziel, and he also admires the two works based on primary sources, Wallace Finley Dailey’s editing of Theodore Roosevelt’s war diary and Jeff Heatley’s compilation of newspaper accounts about the Rough Riders’ return to New York state. While Gable notes three other works, he devotes four paragraphs to a detailed critique of Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan by Peggy Samuels and Harold Samuels which he labels a “trashy book” for its reliance on unreliable sources and its agenda of belittling Roosevelt’s actions in the war. 

The section includes a text box containing the mission statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association. 

This edition of “Book Notes” lives up to its billing as it features two brief reviews and notes about five other works previously reviewed in the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal. The section praises two new works, a biography of Alice Lee Roosevelt and a study of the Rough Riders from New Mexico, and it promotes Joseph R. Ornig’s study of the River of Doubt expedition and three books on Theodore Roosevelt’s tenure as Police Commissioner of New York City.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1994-1995

Creator(s)

Unknown

This edition of “News and Notes” has five sections. Brief histories of the three ships and one submarine that have carried the name of Theodore Roosevelt are provided in “The Aircraft Carrier Theodore Roosevelt.” This section also highlights the five different Roosevelts who have served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. “TR Exhibit at the LBJ Library in Texas” revisits the Theodore exhibit at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. It lists fourteen of the archives, museums, and historic sites that lent items to the exhibit, and it promotes the sale of the exhibit catalogue and poster.

“Meadowcroft” covers a July 1903 visit by Roosevelt to the home of his cousin John Ellis Roosevelt on the south shore of Long Island. It also relates the events surrounding “Theodore Roosevelt Day at Meadowcroft” on July 28, 1984, which celebrated and recreated President Roosevelt’s visit. “Rough Riders Museum in New Mexico” examines why there is a museum dedicated to the Rough Riders in Las Vegas, New Mexico. It looks at the state’s contributions to the regiment and highlights some of the reunions held in Las Vegas.

The final and untitled section notes events involving the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) and its work: the conferring of a TRA award to a high school student, a radio interview of the TRA’s Executive Director John A. Gable, and a listing of programs at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace and Sagamore Hill National Historic Sites.

A photograph of President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan at the graves of General Theodore Roosevelt and Quentin Roosevelt is found on the first page of “News and Notes.” Four photographs of the Paul Manship statue of President Roosevelt on Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C. and an illustration of Mount Rushmore National Memorial accompany the text.