Book Description

This book reads like a loping conversation with our 26th president. He has just returned from his year-long safari in east Africa at the turn of the last century and he is full of stories about hunting and native life. He is also full of dated opinions about the native peoples and what should be done about them (for their own good, of course). The graphic (and endless) hunting scenes are also not for the vegans amongst us. But all this said, this is a bully adventure book. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (5)

Terrible Historical Revision
Having read only brief publications about TR, I can only claim partial qualification for this review. That said, I found this book to be highly insulting and disrespectful to the memory of Theodore Roosevelt. The author paints a picture of a man that was emotionally disturbed at best. How can she come to such far fetched conclusions when she has never even spoken to the man? The analytical process the author uses isabstract. Nearly every page is filled with modern feminist language that I found to be very out of place in a book that is supposed to be about an important American icon.
I'm truly sorry and ashamed that I even picked up this book, let alone read it. This is revisionism at it's most rank.

Truly terrible, post-modern, feminist re-interpretation.
Having read over 20 biographies of TR over the years, I would have to say that this is the worst. The author utterly fails to assess TR in his "context", though she claims that this is her intent. She judges TR based on modern, "politically correct" sensibilities, and, naturally, finds him wanting. This book is more appropriate as required reading in the Women's Studies department at Wellesley College than for a student of history or devotee of TR.

Cowboy Soldier Sets The Stage
In ROUGH RIDER IN THE WHITE HOUSE Sarah Watts unravels the contradictory strands of Theodore Roosevelt's character, a character forged at the first flexing of America's imperial muscle, and in so doing uncovers the roots of the United States' bipolar political discourse of the twentieth century. She amply proves her thesis that "Although Roosevelt was progressive and optimistic his political vision encompassed his darker, emotional, anti-liberal worldview of men and nations struggling against the forces of evil" (page 2).

This political vision would serve, and to an unlikely extent, still serves as America's domestic and foreign policy, she suggests.Watts makes this argument implicitly throughout most of the work, however, late in the book she does allow this ghost assertion to manifest itself:"For the remainder of the twentieth century, modernism continued to deprived men of viable lives and to force them into compromises that many consider feminizing and emasculating.As the middle class searched for meaning in a world of bureaucracy and consumerism, and as purchasing power and real wages began their long decline after 1972, men still needed a muscular proving ground on which to inscribe their anti-modern revolt, and the appeal of violence on an official level never diminshed" (page 240).

Indeed, she suggests that the conservative backlash of the past 25 years has borrowed much of the bellicose rhetoric and militaristic ethos of Roosevelt, as well as the sorting of citizens into the deserving and undeserving groups by wealth, ethnic and racial background, and social position.As Watts says with respect to non-white, non Anglo-Saxon males, "Roosevelt's exclusionary language had helped to create an intolerant social milieu and a punitive psychological one" (page 240). As Watt's points out, "(Roosevelt's) vision of manhood rested on the notion of a once strong, but now fragile and ever weakening male self, a notion that arose from his own emotional preoccupations, particularly his disgust for his own and other men's physical inferiority, his pervasive sexual priggishness, his anxiety about future sexual and racial degeneracy, and his fears of an interior cowardice that might be exposed to the outside world" (page 4).And, further, she notes that "Throughout his life, Roosevelt met every appearance of this weakened self with aggressive disciplines and punishments," and that ""No matter how he toughened himself, however, he could not escape living in a Victorian world in which normalcy was at stake and monstrosity was everywhere" (page 4-5).This Victorian world, she claims, has been recently been resuscitated as a political dreamspace in our political discourse.

Watts clearly shows that "Roosevelt was the first president to articulate the shared anxieties of his generation, and he provided its first seemingly coherent response to the current dislocations of modern society" (page 2).In retrospect, the bipolar extremes that Roosevelt practiced as the embodiment of its new "manifest destiny," from gentleman Patroon and cowboy soldier, now seem so extreme that they could not have co-existed in one man.Indeed most modern biographers have difficulty explaining these extremes and tend to focus on one side or the other.And so most accounts are usually are just recitations of his activities, while this most contradictory of all presidents, who led us out of the era of the frontier and into the American Century seems lost to our comprehension.Watts makes TR make sense because her contextualization of his life in his times is completely convincing.Excellent illustrations.

New look at TR.
This is a great book, but knowing the author personally, my opinion is probably biased.Just because Theodore Roosevelt is viewed as an American hero does not remove him from criticism.The author of the other review has no idea what he/she is writing about when he/she says that he pitties the students at Wake Forest.Dr. Watts is one of the most caring and thought provoking professors a student could hope for.

ROUGH RIDER IN THE WHITE HOUSE: THEODORE ROOSEVELT
This is absolutely the most scandalous, revisionist, psyco-babble, biography I have ever encountered. TR's life, utterances, and actions are consistently taken out of context, as are those of his contemporaries.

The author psycho-analyzes TR by present day values, making him sound like a hopeless warmongering deviant, anti-feminist, racist, and a cruel father who drove a 10-year old TR jr. to a nervous breakdown.

She quotes "experts" whose credentials are not established, and totally fails to grasp TR's pivotal role in establishing his crendentials as a progressive, polymath genius, who authored 38 books, thousands of magazine articles, and wrote 18 million words in his comparatively short life.

Nowhere does she give him credit for any of his lasting accomplishments such as the aggressive application of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the Pure Food and Drug Act,the creation of a world class navy, the Panama Canal, the creation of our incomparable system of national parks and monuments...the list is endless. Instead she focuses on his imperial ambitions (TR did not want American colonies!!) and his "blood thirsty" propensities!

This book is so biased, so defective, so pitifully "PC" that is does not warrant purchase by any reasonable student of history. I pity her students at Wake Forest. ... Read more

Book Description

The two most important names in teddy bear history, President Theodore Roosevelt and cartoonist Clifford Berryman, are brought to light through the wealth of Teddy Bear collectibles and mementos. Commemorate the 100th anniversary of the teddy bear with this, one of the few, books on the subject! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Teddy Bear Men: Theodore Roosevelt & Clifford Berryman
Here it is. Everything you wanted to know about the cartoon that started the teddy bear craze 100 years ago and more. Linda's research is incredible and her writing style is very warm and personal, sort of like teddy bears. The book is also packed with illustrations in both color and black and white. I especially liked reading the history of Berryman, and how the cartoon of Roosevelt saving the bear came to be, about the two cartoons depicting the famous event 100 years ago, and about how Roosevelt did not actually spare the life of the bear tied to a tree, just refused to allow it to be shot. Any arctophile worth his or her salt should have this book in their collection! Bravo on a fine volume, Linda!

A MUST HAVE for adult teddy bear collectors
As an adult collector of teddy bears, I have read many summaries regarding the 1902 Presidential bear hunting trip and the Clifford Berryman cartoon that began America's love with the newly created "teddy bear". Almost every book for adult collectors has some version of this story in its introduction. I found Linda Mullins' The Teddy Bear Men to be a superior and detailed account of the real story. Mullins wisely included the highlights from the November 1902 accounts from The Washington Post, which clearly recounted how and why a bear ended up being tied and presented to President Theodore Roosevelt for him to shoot. Washington Post cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, then portrayed this incident in a cartoon, which may be familiar to many collectors. The cartoon bear that evolved from this initial cartoon became Berryman's artist symbol ("dingbat") and linked the teddy bear (both the Berryman cartoon and the toy versions) to President Roosevelt's political career. This book is a well researched documentation of Clifford Berryman, Theodore Roosevelt, and of the significant contribution they made to the rise of the first teddy bears. It is presented in a reader friendly manner, with a well written text, short chapters, and many photos and drawings on each page. I found this book to be both intelligent and enjoyable. ... Read more

Book Description

A campaign biography for the 1908 presidential race.Taft's biography and his views on the great questions of the day.The control of railroads and corporations; the national currency; the tariff; the rights of labor and capitalism, and more.Includes the Platform of the Republican Party and a sketch of the nominee for Vice-president, plus a chapter by Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States. ... Read more

Book Description

"A lively, entertaining and well-researched portrait of a zealous reformer during the historic crusade that successfully launched his career in government."—Booklist

COMMISSIONER ROOSEVELT: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt and the New York City Police, 1895 - 1897

When Theodore Roosevelt took office as New York's police commissioner in 1895, the Metropolitan Police force was barely more than a confederation of thugs and petty criminals whose chief activity was to extort protection money from local merchants. The thirty-seven-year-old Roosevelt rode roughshod over the corrupt bosses and power brokers and transformed the police into one of the first modern law enforcement agencies in the world.

Combining the best elements of biography and social history, Commissioner Roosevelt reveals a fascinating episode from the life of one of America's most colorful cities, and one of her most charismatic leaders. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A better than average work, though a bit on the shallow side
I have always wanted to learn more about Teddy Roosevelt's two-year stint with the New York Police Department, and was thus thrilled to find Mr. Jeffer's book on Amamzon.com. While it does do a fairly good job of describing the events as they occurred during Roosevelt's tenure at the NYPD, I found the book on the whole to deliver a very surface treatment of the subject. It is, as one of the other reviewers noted, quite superficial, relying almost exlcusively on anecdotes which seem to have been gleaned from newspapers of the period. What the book is missing is any kind of meaningful insight into TR himself. I have always understood that TR was a prolific letter-writer. I think that this book would have benefitted greatly from the author spending more time relating TR's thoughts, which he must have undoubtedly conveyed many times in correspondence to friends and associates.

Glory Days
COMMISSIONER ROOSEVELT exhibits Theodore Roosevelt's true modus opporandae. There were indeed many obstacles in Roosevelt's path to making a better city police force, however, the American public was, in my opinion, persuaded by eloquent speaking and the media more so then they are today. In all likelihood there is no way Roosevelt could achieve such drastic reform results over a relatively short period of time in the modern world. However, Jeffers' book is not about that issue, this book is about displaying Roosevelt's true core beliefs and the willpower that was within a person who was weak and sickly as a child. Personally I would have liked to have seen more critical material in this book, however, it is a beautiful narrative of how one man was able to make a difference (with the help of the fledgling media). This book should be mandatory reading for all people in the law enforcement field today, it shows all the principals that American's hold dear condensed into one mortal being, Roosevelt.

Teddy Roosevelt Cleans Up Crime in Old New York
Commissioner Roosevelt is a great account of Theodore Roosevelt's tenure as New York City Police Commission President. As the head of the three-person board that oversaw the city's police, Roosevelt changed our notion of a modern police department. Even as he attempted to institute reforms he faced down police corruption, ethnic-group protests, government foot-dragging, and machine politics in the land of Tamany Hall. This firebrand commissioner would even prowl the gaslighted streets of Old New York looking for policemen asleep at their posts.

Join Theodore Roosevelt in this crusade to stop crime and corruption in New York. If you enjoyed Caleb Carr's fictional T.R. in The Alienist, you'll probably enjoy the real life crime-buster in Commissioner Roosevelt. (I liked Mr. Jeffers' real one better.) Anyone interested in politics, especially New York or ethnic politics, might like it too.

Magnificent Police Era History
The book covered the period of history just at the turn of the 20th Century. I found it to be very informative and made me feel like I was right there strolling the streets with Ted Roosevelt. Although the book is strong in its era coverage more attention should have been given to the various laws and acts that were in place at the time preventing "police" to perform their respective functions.

A readable biography, but rather superficial
I read this book after having read Jay S. Berman's Police Administration and Progressive Reform, which was written several years earlier. This is interesting, because Jeffer writes that his was the first book on this subject, despite the fact that he cites Berman in his bibliography and proceeds to cover the same ground. Jeffers book is readable but is shallow and superficial, consisting largely of anecdotes and summaries of newspaper accounts from the New York Times. Berman's book is far more scholarly and vastly better researched. Jeffers owes an apology to both his predecessor and his readers for claiming to have written a book that "needed to be written". ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Seen from Europe
I enjoyed Santiago Rag. As a European I had little knowledge of the American-Cuban-Spanish war and found this story an interesting blend of fiction and fact. Based around the experiences of a young male, we are taken on a series of adventures into the formation and action fighting of Roosevelt's Rough Riders (I had heard about them previously!). As seen mostly through the eyes of our naïve hero we experience the shock and horror of war. But we also have the insights into the broader political issues as might have been contemplated by Teddy Roosevelt. I know purists who don't accept fiction mixed with the facts, but they miss the point of this kind of thoroughly researched story-documentary. Authors like Al Gowan are able to enrich the facts and put the flesh on the bones of historical events. It may not be exactly what happened but an author's insights and imaginative narratives can increase our understanding of history. Set against his personally observed localities, the author creates a fast moving story and an atmosphere that is convincing.

It's vivid, well-paced, meaty descriptions, great story.
Just to say I'm enjoying SANTIAGO RAG. The pacing is dynamic, the vignettes vivid the descriptions meaty.I like this p. 39, "The Indian's eyes flashed, anger Gabriel had not yet seen. He tood the daguerreotype and replaced it in the pouch. An ember from the dying fire exploded

Santiago Rag is an engrossing novel of hardship and battle
History buffs and everyday readers alike will find Santiago Rag an engrossing novel profiling the men who fought in Cuba and at the battle of San Juan Hill. Al Gowan uses information passed down from his grandfatherand written accounts of participants to weave a compelling story of thehardships in those days and the battle against the enemy and disease.Included are photographs he took recently in Cuba of locations described inthe book. As we celebrate the anniversary of the Spanish-American War,Santiago Rag is a great way to experience what those times were like. JimArmstrong, Publisher and Editor, MILITARY RETIREE NEWS, Tampa, Florida

Enjoyable read dispite historical inaccuracies
This was an enjoyable read dispite some inaccuracies until i reached theEpilogue.The errors here cast doubt on the entire book.He has thebook's hero composing the "Santiago Rag" for Roosevelt's 1906inagural ball.Roosevelt was elected in 1904 and his ball held in 1905. The hero is discharged from Camp Wickoff instead of Camp Wikoff. SinceWickoff appears more than once, it does not appear to be a typo.Insuccessive sentences he has Roosevelt becoming President in 1901 and"reelected" in 1906.Roosevelt was ELECTED (not reelected)President in 1904.When did the President's term become 5 years? Wood didnot go to the Philippines until 1903 when the rebellion had already beenput down. These are errors that are obvious and detract from the book.

Santiago Rag is an expert mixture of History and Story
It was a great pleasure for me to read this book. Al Gowan seems to be areal military expert when depicting the historical background for theactions of his heros. I was very surprised to find how media consciousTheodore Roosevelt was in this first American blitzkrieg, a very Americanquality even today. I also liked the writing style of thisbook whichreminds me of a screen play - short, fast paced expositions of charactersand locations. All in all, "Santiago Rag" is an expert mixture offamous people and more-or-less ordinary people during the Spanish-AmericanWar, showing also the race issue as it was in 1898 and how it might comparetoday. ... Read more

Book Description

Roosevelt biographer Brands presents an illuminating collection of letters penned by the president and explorer, recounting his political and military careers, his family life, and his groundbreaking expeditions. ... Read more

Book Description

Magnificent collection of the speeches and writings of this beloved American president, social reformer, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.352 pages. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document, covering the life and work of Theodore Roosevelt II Gardner, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 789 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description

President Theodore Roosevelt identified "conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem.Unless we solve that problem it will avail little to solve all others."President Theodore Roosevelt's Conservation Legacy is a celebration of Roosevelt's great success in this arena. ... Read more