Morris, Edmund

John A. Gable reviews the second volume of Edmund Morris’s biography of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex. Gable notes the literary character of the work, and he argues that Henry F. Pringle’s biography of Roosevelt is still read not because of its judgments, but because it is well written. Gable also compares Morris’s book to those of Lewis L. Gould and William Henry Harbaugh, and he quotes from several reviews of Theodore Rex in leading newspapers and magazines. Gable singles out the critical review of Christine Stansell, and he rebuffs some of her arguments by quoting from a response he wrote to her review. Gable concludes his essay by noting that many reviewers found parallels between the events of September 11, 2001 and the assassination of President William McKinley in September 1901. 

A photograph of Roosevelt, two of Morris, and a text box advertising a CD-ROM published by the Theodore Roosevelt Association appear in the review.

David Sarasohn describes how both Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton looked to Theodore Roosevelt for inspiration and as someone to emulate. Sarasohn also asserts that Roosevelt’s reputation has risen in recent decades because Roosevelt seems perfectly suited to the modern age of politics with its emphasis on images and sound bites, both of which Roosevelt mastered in his own time. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2002

Twelve books compete for space and attention in this crowded edition of the “Book Reviews” section which includes four feature reviews, two brief children’s book reviews, and notices about six other titles. Matthew Glover counters some of the assertions made by Louis Auchincloss in his Theodore Roosevelt by citing the work of historian John Milton Cooper. John A. Gable provides profiles of Alice Roosevelt Longworth and Eleanor Roosevelt, the subjects of Linda Donn’s The Roosevelt Cousins, and he notes the outsize influence that Theodore Roosevelt had on the extended Roosevelt clan. An anonymous review of Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S. Navy, and the Spanish-American War lists the nine chapters that resulted from a conference of the same name, and it notes some of the authors’ ties to the Theodore Roosevelt Association. 

Gable identifies four themes found in the ten essays that make up European Perceptions of the Spanish-American War of 1898, including most European nations’ hostility to the United States in the conflict, and he emphasizes the role played by the Roosevelt Study Center in fostering the emergence of a cohort of European scholars of American history. Two books aimed at children are reviewed in the “Kids Corner” section, and “Other New Books” highlights six titles published in 2001-2002, including new paperback editions of the Roosevelt biographies written by Edmund Morris and his wife Sylvia Jukes Morris. 

Tweed Roosevelt asks why there has been so little consideration of Theodore Roosevelt’s record as a conservationist. He reviews some of the major biographies and histories of Roosevelt and his time and finds that their examination of Roosevelt as a conservationist is scanty at best. Tweed Roosevelt identifies Roosevelt’s father, Theodore Roosevelt, and his uncle, Robert Barnwall Roosevelt, as important figures in shaping Roosevelt’s interest in the natural world, and he surveys the actions taken by Roosevelt as Governor of New York and President of the United States to safeguard rivers, forests, birds, and natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon. 

Two photographs of Theodore Roosevelt and one of Robert Barnwall Roosevelt supplement the text. 

Biography dominates the “Reviews” section of this issue: five biographies are considered, including those of four Roosevelts and one of Gifford Pinchot. Charles W. Snyder finds H. Paul Jeffers’s examination of Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt’s life to be less than complete, and he notes that the work focuses on Roosevelt’s military career, especially his service during World War II. John A. Gable revisits the work of husband and wife biographers Edmund Morris and Sylvia Jukes Morris in his essays on their biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. Gable compares The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt with Theodore Rex, and he asserts that the endnotes in both works are worth reading. He notes that paperback editions of both of the Morris biographies have been issued to coincide with the release of Theodore Rex. 

Gable reviews Char Miller’s Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism, and he describes the split in the environmental movement between the followers of Pinchot and John Muir. Gable highlights Pinchot’s career after his service in the Roosevelt administration, and he notes that Miller’s work has won two book awards for biography. “In Medal of Honor Revisited,” Gregory A. Wynn examines the arguments of two acclaimed military historians who take opposing views on Theodore Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor award. Wynn summarizes the arguments of  Edward M. Coffman and Allan Reed Millett, and he finds more merit in Coffman’s assertions based on eyewitness accounts of Roosevelt’s actions in battle. 

Medals, awards, and grants sponsored by the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) constitute much of the “News & Notes” section. The honors include: the conferring of the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal to historian Stephen E. Ambrose; the 2002 TRA Police Award for the New Orleans, Louisiana, Police Department; the annual research grants given by the American Museum of Natural History; and the public speaking contests for New York City area schools. The section also highlights the Battle Efficiency Award won by the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt; the issuance of Theodore Roosevelt license plates by the state of New York; and a description of a fundraiser for the TRA’s Teddy Bear Fund, including a list of donors. The section concludes with the preface to Nathan Miller’s biography Theodore Roosevelt: A Life.

Photographs of Ambrose, a dinosaur exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, and participants in the New York City speaking contest appear in the section.

Report on the joint history conference, “The Big Stick and the Square Deal: The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt,” and annual meeting of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) held in Buffalo, New York, in October 2002. The report has three parts: a report on the conference and meeting; a full-page of thirteen photographs showing speakers, attendees, and dignitaries; and a full-page listing of patrons, supporters, and sponsors of the weekend’s events. The report highlights the conferring of the TRA’s Bertha B. Rose Award and its Distinguished Service Medal. The Rose Award was given to three members of Congress who helped secure Theodore Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor while the Distinguished Service Medal was given to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. 

An additional photograph on the first page of the report shows eleven of the conference speakers.

This edition of the “News & Notes” section provides brief notices of three books, all of which have some content related to Theodore Roosevelt. The section also promotes the website, upcoming annual meetings, and publications of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA). It also lists the roster of historians and biographers scheduled to speak at a symposium marking the centennial of Roosevelt’s presidency scheduled for September 2001, and it includes a text box listing the officers of the TRA. Two photographs of the Medals of Honor awarded to Roosevelt and his son, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2001

“News and Notes” opens with a report on the campaign to gain the Medal of Honor for Theodore Roosevelt to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Battle of San Juan Hill in 1998. The report discusses why Roosevelt was denied the medal in the aftermath of the war, and it highlights the work of the campaign’s Congressional sponsors. The article quotes historians Edmund Morris and Nathan Miller from their endorsements of the effort. “News and Notes” reports that Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson was named Jack Roosevelt Robinson at his birth in 1919 in honor of Roosevelt. Three brief obituaries close out the section. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1997

Report on a variety of news from the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), including obituaries and personnel changes at the TRA office. The passing of former TRA President Howard T. Hogan leads off the report, and the deaths of Roosevelt biographer Carleton Putnam and Mary E. Richard, Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary, are highlighted. The addition of a TRA Police Award for Nashville, Tennessee, the history of Youngs Memorial Cemetery, and publicity for the 1998 annual meeting also feature in the report. A photograph of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt appears on the first page of the section.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1998

This edition of “News and Notes” opens with news of the History Channel’s production of another documentary film about Theodore Roosevelt. The report provides some details about its production and highlights members of the Roosevelt family who have roles in the film. “News and Notes” highlights the journey of “Bully” the moose from Alaska to Colorado to the USS Theodore Roosevelt; the trophy mount was acquired by members of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA). A posthumous award for Roosevelt from the United States Navy Memorial Foundation and a conservation roundtable sponsored by the TRA receive attention as do a number of personnel changes at Roosevelt related historic sites like Sagamore Hill.

The section promotes the TRA’s website, its Theodore Roosevelt CD-ROM, and the association’s next annual meeting. Two photographs from the production of the History Channel documentary and a photograph of Bully the moose with the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt appear in the section. 

A journalist, two historians, and a biographer of Theodore Roosevelt address President Bill Clinton’s adulation of Roosevelt. Kenneth T. Walsh joins Edmund Morris, Kathleen Dalton, and Douglas Brinkley in offering insights and criticism of Clinton’s attempt to emulate Roosevelt. The article also touches on the presidency of George Bush and on how each president rotates the portraits of his predecessors that hang in the White House. The article concludes with an excerpt from Clinton’s book Between Hope and History. Small images of Roosevelt and Clinton appear next to each other on the second page of the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1997

John A. Gable reviews Nathan Miller’s Theodore Roosevelt: A Life and claims that it “replaces all previous popular, general-audience biographies of TR.” Gable places Miller’s work in the context of the many other biographies of Theodore Roosevelt, such as those of Henry F. Pringle and William Henry Harbaugh, and he asserts that there is still a need for a multi-volume treatment of Roosevelt. The “Books” section also details the contents of Theodore Roosevelt: Many-Sided American, a collection of forty-two essays originally delivered at an April 1990 conference at Hofstra University. The “Book Notes” section highlights the work of Roosevelt scholars Douglas Brinkley, David G. McCullough, and Edmund Morris, and takes special note of two works on the Teddy Bear.

A photograph of Miller appears on the first page of the section.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Seven of the nine pages of this edition of the “News and Notes” section deal with the meeting, dinner, ceremonies, and reports from the annual meeting of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) held onboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on October 31, 1992. Highlights of the meeting include the presentation of the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal to the members of the Rio Roosevelt expedition team; the conferring of the TRA’s Bertha B. Rose Award to Paul Whitney Parcells; and the inauguration of the TRA Junior Officer Leadership Award for a member of the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The section includes TRA President Robert D. Dalziel’s annual report, and it highlights the donation of Pine Knot, Theodore Roosevelt’s rustic retreat in Virginia, to the TRA by Theodore Roosevelt IV. “News and Notes” also covers programs held at the Sagamore Hill and Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Sites, and it details the performance of the cast of “Phantom of the Opera” onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Five photographs from the annual dinner and two photographs of Pine Knot supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Four books are featured in this edition of the “Books” section with a lengthy book review essay, a brief review, and two notices that act as endorsements for the respective works. In “Serge Ricard on Theodore Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy,” William N. Tilchin examines Ricard’s Theodore Roosevelt: Principles and Practice of a Foreign Policy. Tilchin notes that Ricard’s work is free of much of the ideological baggage that marked his previous work on Roosevelt’s diplomacy, and he carefully lays out the organization of the book, highlighting the main points of each part. Tilchin notes the policies and actions for which Ricard praises Roosevelt, such as his preparation of the United States Navy for war while Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and he also criticizes Ricard for some of his assertions. Tilchin concludes that Ricard’s work “is among the most ambitious and important books ever written on Roosevelt’s foreign policy.”

The section features five brief excerpts from Theodore Roosevelt: Many-Sided American and six excerpts from Nathan Miller’s biography Theodore Roosevelt: A Life. “Books” closes with an anonymous review of Matinecock Light, a history of the Oyster Bay, New York, Masonic Lodge which counted Roosevelt as one of its members. An illustration and a photograph of Roosevelt appear in the section.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Buildings connected to Theodore Roosevelt make up much of this edition of the “News and Notes” section. The Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) acquired Roosevelt’s presidential retreat in Virginia, Pine Knot, and the federal government renamed the building housing the Office of Personnel Management the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building. “News and Notes” also highlights the premiere of a PBS documentary on the 1992 Rio Roosevelt Expedition; discusses the foreign policy focus of this issue TRA Journal; and notes the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

Two photographs of Pine Knot and three photographs of the ceremonies at the Theodore Roosevelt Federal Building appear in the section.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

This sprawling edition of “News and Notes” encompasses sixteen pages and contains thirty-four parts. The conferring of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) police awards for New York City, Boston, and western New York State opens the section along with a feature on the design of a new medal for the award by sculptor Marc Mellon. News of the ceremonies and outings of the 1993 annual meeting of the TRA in Charlottesville, Virginia, follows with a description of the association’s required elections, a field trip to Pine Knot, and the naming of the Junior Officer of the Year Award for the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The meeting also saw the presentation of the Bertha B. Rose Award to Barbara J. Comstock and historian William Henry Harbaugh.

“News and Notes” also provides a history of Pine Knot, Theodore and Edith Roosevelt’s presidential retreat, discusses the reopening of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site after an extensive renovation, and highlights the contributions of Conrad L. Wirth and Horace M. Albright to both the TRA and the National Park Service. The Roosevelt Study Center in the Netherlands is featured with news of its hosting a conference of European historians; the conferring of the annual Lawrence J. Saunders Awards for essays in American history; and the publication of a book on Dutch-American relations by the Center’s director, Cornelius A. van Minnen. The section closes with a detailed look at the process of compiling a comprehensive article and picture index for the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal from 1975 to 1992 by the staff and volunteers of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, New York.

Twenty photographs illustrate the section with entire pages devoted to the Boston Police Award ceremonies and the TRA annual meeting.

Advertisement for the book Theodore Roosevelt: Many-Sided American. The advertisement highlights quotations from Edmund Morris and John Milton Cooper, and it discusses the organization and features of the book, such as its illustrations. The work is offered at a discount to members of the Theodore Roosevelt Association. An illustration of Theodore Roosevelt appears at the top left of the ad.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1993

Report on a conference held at Hofstra University, April 19-21, 1990, on “Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modern America.” The report covers the various proceedings of the conference, including the showing of films on Theodore Roosevelt, highlights the major addresses, and lists all of the speakers. The report also notes that the conference included the conferring of the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal to three recipients, Tom Wolfe, Hamilton Fish, Senior, and Paul H. Nitze. It includes biographies of each recipient and also lists the many individuals, organizations, and corporations that supported the conference. The report includes eighteen photographs of conference participants as well as a listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1990

John A. Gable reviews Lewis L. Gould’s The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and Jean Fritz’s Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! in the “Book Reviews” section. Gable provides a detailed look at Gould’s work and compares and contrasts Gould’s assessments with those of other historians. Gable notes that Gould has a mostly favorable impression of President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign and domestic policies, but he faults Gould for not adequately addressing Roosevelt’s achievements in conservation, and he disagrees with Gould’s assertion that McKinley was the first “‘modern President.'” Gable praises Fritz’s biography of Roosevelt for children, stating that it is a good starting point to learn about Roosevelt. Stephen W. Zsiray provides the first ever review of a software program in the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal with a look at a program that allows players to recreate the election of 1912. “Book Reviews” closes with a listing of ten Roosevelt related titles that are currently in print or have been reissued in paperback.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1991