Presidents--Biography

The Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) congratulates Edmund Morris and Sylvia Jukes Morris as winners of the 2011 Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal. The announcement features an advertisement for Colonel Roosevelt, the final volume of Edmund Morris’s trilogy on the life of Theodore Roosevelt. The ad features an illustration of Roosevelt, the front cover illustrations for all three volumes, and six endorsement excerpts from newspapers and magazines. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2011

Robert Wexelblatt describes Rick Marschall’s Bully! The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt as a picture book illustrated with a biography, and he asserts that the scores of political cartoons found within it are “the real glory of the book.” Wexelblatt believes that Marschall has produced an illustrated biography that is both fun and useful, and he provides background on Marschall’s expertise as both a historian and as a political cartoonist which makes him uniquely qualified to pen such a work. Two cartoons found in Bully! accompany the review. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2011

Tweed Roosevelt provides two lists of books about Theodore Roosevelt. He lists what he considers to be the five best books to introduce Roosevelt to newcomers, and he also lists fifty books that he classifies as essential to those wanting “a well-rounded education” on Roosevelt. He lists the five books for newcomers in a a paragraph in the text, but the fifty essential books are numbered and placed in alphabetical order by the author’s or editor’s last name with publication dates ranging from 1906 to 2010. The front cover illustrations to four titles supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2011

William N. Tilchin provides a mixed review of Aida DiPace Donald’s biography of Theodore Roosevelt, Lion in the White House. Tilchin notes that there is a need for a 200 to 300-page biography of Roosevelt that is not met by the better known works of much greater length. Tilchin highlights the omissions and errors found in Donald’s biography, and he notes its lack of citations and sometimes awkward phrasing. Despite these shortcomings, Tilchin recommends the work for general readers because of its themes and its emphasis on Roosevelt’s emulation of Abraham Lincoln.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2008

Michael B. Brennan delivers a eulogy about Theodore Roosevelt to the Spectacle Club of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In doing so, Brennan provides a biography of Roosevelt, noting the highlights of his career, and he quotes extensively from Roosevelt’s second inaugural address. A photograph of Roosevelt visiting with workers at the Panama Canal supplements the text. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2007-04-20

William N. Tilchin praises Stacey A. Cordery’s Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt not just for its collection of photographs, but because he feels that it merits reading as “a fine brief biography of TR.” Tilchin includes twelve selections from the work that include captions penned by Cordery. Henry J. Hendrix finds that Iestyn M. Adams’s Brothers Across the Ocean does an admirable job of explaining how Great Britain and the United States put aside their differences to forge an informal alliance during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency, but he admonishes Adams for failing to utilize more American works in his study and for characterizing Roosevelt as “immature and bellicose.” 

The book review section also includes a text box with the vision statement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association.

Announcement that John A. Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, has written a brief fifty-two page biography of Theodore Roosevelt. The article describes the layout of the book, quotes from its text, and highlights some of its contents, such as Roosevelt’s financial losses in his ranching ventures and his work pursuing peace through the international courts at The Hague. A picture of the front cover of the book appears at the center of the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2004

This edition of “News & Notes” opens with the announcement that a conference scheduled to mark the centennial of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency had been cancelled because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The section notes that the long awaited second volume of a biography of Roosevelt by Edmund Morris was scheduled for release in November 2001 and that Sylvia Jukes Morris’s biography of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt was to be reissued in paperback. “News & Notes” highlights Roosevelt’s induction into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon, the conferring of a historic preservation award to the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), and the announcement of the winners of the TRA’s Rose Award. Obituaries for Tilly DeVries and Lion DeVries of the TRA and a summary of this issue’s book reviews complete the section.

Three photographs from ceremonies celebrating Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor award appear in the section. 

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.

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. 

Three biographies–of Holt Collier, Theodore Roosevelt, and Gifford Pinchot–come under scrutiny in the “Reviews” section along with a play and documentary about Roosevelt. Tweed Roosevelt finds the biography of Holt Collier, who led Theodore Roosevelt’s famous 1902 bear hunt, notable for its descriptions of slavery in antebellum Mississippi, but he finds its coverage of Roosevelt flawed. Gregory A. Wynn recommends Kathleen Dalton’s biography Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life for its coverage of Roosevelt’s life after the presidency, its recognition of the important influence women had on his life, and for making Roosevelt “a hero for liberals.” The section also contains an excerpt of a review of Dalton’s work from Kirkus Reviews. 

Gary A. Clinton admires Laurence Luckinbill’s play Teddy Tonight for capturing the spirit of Roosevelt in his own words, and he finds that it resonates in a nation reeling from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A review of The History Channel’s documentary TR: An American Lion lists the “talking head” historians who appear in the film along with members of the Roosevelt family. The review highlights the negative coverage given Roosevelt’s attitudes on race and imperialism, and it praises the actors who provide the film’s narration and voice of Roosevelt. The section concludes with excerpts from four positive reviews of Char Miller’s biography of Gifford Pinchot.

Seven books are reviewed and one title receives attention because of its reissue in this crowded edition of the “Book Reviews” section. John A. Gable, editor of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal, reviews three works, including an evaluation of Theodore Roosevelt as a politician, a biography of Roosevelt, and a historical novel. Gable likes David H. Burton’s Theodore Roosevelt, American Politician though he disagrees with some of Burton’s analysis, but he is less enthusiastic about H.W. Brands’s T.R.: The Last Romantic, partly because he faults Brands for never properly defining what he means by “romantic.” Gable praises The Angel of Darkness, Caleb Carr’s sequel to his very popular The Alienist, because both “successfully teach readers about various aspects of American life a century ago.” 

Henry J. Hendrix finds that in Theodore Roosevelt and the British Empire, William N. Tilchin provides a plethora of evidence to support his thesis that Roosevelt wanted to forge a closer relationship with Great Britain. Michael L. Manson commends the many illustrations used to populate Ron Ziel’s pictorial history of the Spanish-American War, Birth of the American Century. In a brief review, Elizabeth E. Roosevelt says that William T. Hagan’s Theodore Roosevelt and Six Friends of the Indian shows how a range of personalities tried to influence Roosevelt’s stance on Native Americans as both Civil Service Commissioner and President. Gregory A. Wynn criticizes George Grant for trying to pigeonhole Roosevelt as a Christian conservative in his Carry a Big Stick, and he says that the book’s factual errors and exaggerations make it of little value to Roosevelt scholars. 

Seven books, including two memoirs, are examined in six review essays in this edition of the “Book Notes” section. Michael L. Manson reviews two books on Theodore Roosevelt’s 1914 scientific expedition to Brazil; one penned by Roosevelt and the other by Joseph R. Ornig. Manson praises the forewords to both books written by Tweed Roosevelt, and he finds Ornig’s book provides a detailed look at the expedition and the cast of characters besides Roosevelt who made it successful. Stacy A. Cordery notes that journalist Joseph Alsop’s memoirs deal mostly with the major events and figures of the mid to late twentieth century, and she reveals Alsop’s opinions of various senators, presidents, and generals.

Richard P. Harmon faults Peter Collier’s The Roosevelts: An American Saga for focusing too much on the private lives of the two Roosevelt families, and he says that many of Collier’s assertions are not backed by evidence and that the book relies too much on a psychohistory approach. James Summerville asserts that H. Paul Jeffers’s look at Roosevelt’s tenure as Police Commissioner of New York City, Commissioner Roosevelt, disappoints and that readers should turn to Jay S. Berman’s study or to coverage of this period of Roosevelt’s career in biographies. John A. Gable provides a positive and short review of a short book, William H. Harbaugh’s fifty page history of Pine Knot, which Gable says is written with “charm and style.” Robert D. Dalziel, President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), reviews the memoirs of Hamilton Fish, a winner of the TRA’s Distinguished Service Medal. Dalziel says that Fish’s opinions are straightforward and blunt like their author.

Two photographs appear in the section: one shows three members of the Rio Roosevelt Expedition of 1992 and the other dignitaries of the Dutch government at the Roosevelt Study Center in the Netherlands.

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

Kenneth D. Crews reviews John Milton Cooper’s dual biography The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt. Crews highlights Wilson’s leadership of Princeton University, disagrees with Cooper’s emphasis on the year 1907 as pivotal for both presidents, and looks at their differing philosophies in the 1912 campaign. Crews also believes that Cooper’s characterization of Roosevelt as a warrior and Wilson as a priest is problematic, but he concludes that the book “is essential and excellent reading.”

The review features an excerpt from the book highlighted in bold, italicized text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Article about the adaptation of the one man play “Bully,” starring James Whitmore as Theodore Roosevelt, into a film for theatrical release. The article lists the writer, director, and producers of the play and film and covers their career highlights. It quotes extensively from three newspaper reviews of the play and details Whitmore’s acting career. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1978

Theodore Roosevelt Association Executive Director John A. Gable announces the forthcoming publication of Edmund Morris’s The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and argues that it “fills in the gap” in the existing literature about Theodore Roosevelt’s life and career before the presidency. He praises the book and predicts that it “is destined to be a classic.” He also announces that works by David McCullough on the Panama Canal and John Morton Blum on Roosevelt have been issued in paperback versions. 

An advertisement for the Roosevelt Savings Bank with a listing of its branch offices in the greater New York City area follows the “Book Notes” column. 

Selections and quotations from ten reviews of Edmund Morris’s The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, all of which are positive. The article closes with a look at Morris and the story behind the writing of the biography.

Advertisements for the Food Town grocery store chain and the Roosevelt Savings Bank are found on the second page of the article.

Out West magazine editor Charles Fletcher Lummis asks President Roosevelt how accurate Francis E. Leupp’s book The Man Roosevelt is, because he is considering mentioning the book in his magazine.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-02-25