Colonel Roosevelt: The Story of the First Space Age

Great ending to Edmund Morris's saga about Theodore Roosevelt. A must-read! Great lessons about this crucial period of American History

Edmund Morris' third and final installment of the life of Theodore Roosevelt. His first dealt with the life of TR from birth to his Vice-Presidency. The second, while he was president, and this one, his life after his residence in the Oval Office. So the author has his subject broken down in nice, digestible chunks in terms of his subject's milestones for these separate works. All three books were brilliant, yet I found the second to be a minor disappointment compared to the first (which won the author a Pulitzer Prize). Whereas I'm not sure if this one is as good as the first, it's definitely better than the second. As I mentioned in my review of the second (titled "Theodore Rex"), it was not necessarily the writing that was inferior, but the fact that the man's life was a bit constrained during his presidency.If you were to ask "How can a biography about a President be constrained when it talks about the years when he was president?", well, you've never met Theodore Roosevelt.The man had prodigious stamina, a wide variety of hobbies, boundless energy, and an incredible will to live his life to the fullest. Now that he's done being president when this book begins, he's somewhat free to going back to being the man he once was.That's not to say it's easy. It seems that everyone wants him back in office as president (his successor, William Howard Taft, managed to mess thing up quite a bit once he took over in The White House), and although Roosevelt doesn't really want to go back to being president, he almost feels obligated. Without going into too much detail, he's dragged back into the race of 1912, yet he has to form a third "independent" political party (The Bull Moose Party) if he has any chance of succeeding. He doesn't succeed, but what third party candidate ever does? Because of his strong impact and showing though, Taft loses the election, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson is elected. I couldn't help but be reminded of the 1992 election when Ross Perot took a lot of thunder out of George Bush's engine, and some argued opened up the door for Bill Clinton to win the race. Anyway, more on Woodrow Wilson later.This was really the only tedious part of the book. After reading so many political books of presidents of late, I tend to grow weary with all of the details surrounding the campaigns, the conventions, the mud slinging, the delegate counts, etc. Such details don't make an exciting read. Fortunately, it's a minor portion of the book, and Roosevelt almost seems a bit relieved when he's not elected.Well, Roosevelt being Roosevelt, he soon decides to embark on another worldwide adventure. This time, he's heading to South America to the Brazilian jungle. Along with son Kermit, and a team of other explorers, they set out on a borderline suicidal journey into the deep, forbidden unknown. As this team of dedicated explorers trudge through areas that were literally unexplored by any at this point, you have to ask yourself, "What exactly was the appeal?" The author goes into great detail of the piranha infested, diseased laden climate, and the reader almost gets sick himself as he hears of all of this misery that the travelers endure. At one point, you wonder if the explorers doubt their own survival, when they appear hopelessly lost with supplies running down to a bare minimum. Well, most do survive, and Roosevelt even manages to discover an unknown river that is aptly named after him. The episode is quite an exciting read, and the events almost warrant a spiel in, and of, themselves.The second half of the book is where the story really picks up steam. Tensions are building up worldwide amongst the superpowers in Europe during the second decade of the twentieth century. Roosevelt knows that a major war is around the corner, and after the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, is assassinated, it's no shock that this event eventually plunges the continent into "The War to End all Wars". The question then becomes, "What role does the United States play?"For obvious reasons, the majority of the country takes the isolationist view, and President Wilson is only too happy to stump this particular ideology. The Colonel (what Roosevelt is now known as during his post presidency) knows better, however. He knows that the U.S. will have to step in at some point, and his thinking is that the sooner the U.S. enters, the better off everyone will be. So a lot of name calling and cries of incompetency are now heard from The Colonel about the current president. Not surprisingly, it makes for a bit of an icy relationship with the current occupant of The White House.If you could criticize anything about Roosevelt, it's that he was a bit too hawkish when it came to war. Remember, this was the man who charged up San Juan Hill with his group of Rough Riders a couple of decades ago bringing a swift end to the Spanish - American war. Roosevelt, like many of his contemporaries, saw war as a necessary evil that all would probably have to endure during some juncture of their lifetime.When the U.S. is brought into the conflict in 1917, not only does Roosevelt want a commission to lead some of the fighting, but he's also insistent that all four of his sons join the war. He wants them on the front lines, not in some cushy behind-the-lines duty out of harm's way. We never really know what his boys feel about this attitude, yet there's never any grumbling, and you have to assume that they were all ready and eager to follow in their father's footsteps. Sadly, the youngest boy Quentin - a top notch fighter pilot, is, in fact, killed in action and the event scars Roosevelt and his wife Edith deeply.You have to wonder why he was so gung-ho about his insistence when it seemed to hit him and his family so hard. Whether this event had any impact on the failing health of this ex-president is pure speculation, but as we read in the final chapters, right around the time the war ends, Roosevelt is fading fast. He's lived an incredibly full life, and his body is simply worn down at this point, and it can't recover from all of the past punishments.So TR gracefully passes away at the age of 60, and the book spends a lot of time (well, one long chapter) talking about the after effects, and the man's legacy. Of course, any political figure will have those on opposite sides of the fence arguing about the legend of the individual, but from reading the three volumes from Edmund Morris, you walk away with the overall impression that Teddy Roosevelt deserves the accolades that were heaped on him, and not only was he one of the best president's in the country's lifetime, but arguably one of the best, energetic human beings that modern history has known.

Only America, and more precisely, only that America which existed between 1850-1918, could have produced Teddy Roosevelt.Every once in a while a character springs to life about whom it can be said that he or she is truly an extra-ordinary person, and have that be, quite literally, true. There is often much to admire about such a person, and that is true of T. R. There is also, just as often, much which may be criticized, and that is true of T. R. also, and in spades. However the net result of such a life is that it inspires the rest of us very-ordinary folk to shoot a little higher, strive a bit more and to recognize that, after all, one individual can make a difference.Edmund Morris' trilogy is superb. I read them as they were published though with a bit of a delay. Biographies fall into that category of "night-time, before I go to sleep, read a few pages and turn off the light", reading. When each book runs upward of 700 pages of tightly constructed prose, it takes a bit of time to get through on that type of schedule. Each of these books however are amenable to that approach. One must be able to "pick up where one left off" without having to go back and review. The writing must stimulate mental images which involve the reader in the material. The subject matter must be interesting and personal and not just endless recounting of facts, figures, policy details, etc. which numb the mind and break the concentration. These books all possess those qualifications and are highly readable.But if Morris' writing is the proper instrument to convey the information, it is ultimately the subject which determines the worth and no mortal sinner ever walked this earth who was more interesting than T. R.The man was simply prodigious. How do you encompass a man who: (1) wrote a detailed study of the Naval War of 1812 before he was 25, a work which continues to this day to be a primary reference for any scholarly commentary on that subject, (2) was a recognized expert naturalist who not only wrote regular articles on various aspects of it but was also commissioned by the Smithsonian to supply samples, specimens and analysis of flora, fauna and geography across the globe, (3) was a cowboy & deputy sheriff in the still wild west, (4) raised the "Rough Riders" and lead them in battle in Cuba, (4) was an effective and energetic Police Commissioner in New York City, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York, Vice-President and then President of the United States, (5) winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and was actually deserving of it, (6) was the organizing power and principle for a serious third party alternative to the Democrat and Republican political system, (7) carried an assassin's bullet in his chest until he died, (8) fought off multiple bouts of malaria contracted in his explorations in South America and Africa, and .... well, it goes on and on. T. R.'s correspondence ranged from kings to plumbers. He was never late for a publishing deadline and had a nearly infallible memory for details of reading, conversations and acquaintances. His preserved correspondence numbers in the hundreds of thousands of pages in a day when hand writing or dictation was all that was available.No one was neutral about T. R. His infectious charm made him at home with virtually every head of state in his life-time and many sought his advice even after he had passed his political zenieth. He was a man to be reckoned with in whatever he undertook to do.The best description of him, I suppose, is that he was a boy who never quite grew up. Whether playing with his kids or his beloved grand-children, he delighted in energetic activity. Passionate in everything, he was explosive in his anger, mostly controlled to some extent in his public dealings but never so in private. His disgust, mostly well merited, with Woodrow Wilson verged on mania.One of his first public actions was to propose, as a brand new, virtually unknown delegate, that a black man be nominated to the chair of his state political convention. This was unheard of in the late 1800's but it is representative of T. R.'s mind-set. He was a compromiser par excellence in pursuit of objectives but he never abandoned those objectives and saw compromise as only a step in the process.T. R. was not religious and hence there was lacking in him that spiritual depth that would have, perhaps, reigned in some of his more egregious characteristics. He was, in his own terms, an advocate of "righteousness" (hence my title above). But T. R.'s brand of "righteousness" took Stoic, Spartan pride to new heights. He was fiercely moral but only according to his own defintion of it. There was a blood-thirsty tinge to most of his life and he thought war a means of purifying the national character and developing its virtue. This lead to him flinging his four sons off to the front in WW I and using all of his political skill to get them posted to combat elements. His sons served with distinction but one, his youngest, did not survive and the others were all deeply affected by the horror that they saw.T. R. never quite recovered from that.I do not agree with all of T. R.'s political agenda but his far sighted vision and impact cannot be denied. Perhaps his greatest legacy, humanly speaking, is the National Park system and the present ecological emphasis. He was an elitist in virtually every aspect of his personal life but he never lost sight of the common man during a time when the common man was not very high in political concerns. His brand of Progressiveism is foundational to that which goes by the name today but I doubt seriously that he would agree with where it is now registering. His nationalism would place him far afield from the present advocates of that system.All in all, this is a man who registers most vividly what America once was and will never be again, for good or for evil.I would most highly recommend Morris' work. Too many Americans today are ignorant of their history and their heritage. These books will acquaint the reader with not only a man but the nation in which he lived and one cannot help but gain from having that additional depth in his perspective.

Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris is a very good book examining the final years of the remarkable life of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a well-written, informative, detailed, and at times moving account, of the closing chapters of an extraordinary story.Having ceased to be President at the age of 50, it was unlikely that Roosevelt would settle for a gentle retirement at his home in New York. What he preceded to do was, however, astonishing. From going on an expedition to Africa, to running the most successful third-party presidential bid of the twentieth century, to exploring the furthest reaches of the Amazon, Roosevelt undertook tasks that would have stretched the endurance and limits of a much younger man. Further, even as his health declined, his was the strongest voice calling for American intervention in WW1 - a conflict that would have tragic repercussions for the Roosevelt clan.All in all a very good concluding volume.

I reviewed very favourable the first two volumes - 'The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt' and 'Theodore Rex' - of Edmund Morris's biographical trilogy on the life and times of the 26th President of the United States. I reviewed them favourable because I thought that they were great works. I have been looking forward to reading the third and final volume, 'Colonel Roosevelt,' and it's just as the others are - great.The paperback book itself contains 766 pages of which about 150 are devoted to source notes. This is proof in itself that Mr Morris has done a massive amount of research, much of it original and hitherto unpublished. Research is vital to success in biographies, no matter how well-known the subject of the biography. Hundreds of books have been written about the first President Roosevelt (a distant cousin of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the second one) and this trilogy must be the definitive study and it is, in my opinion, by far the best that I have read.'Colonel Roosevelt' takes the reader through the subject's extraordinary adventures (some of them not for the squeamish) in Africa, his 'state visits' to many European nations and his failed attempt to regain the presidency as a Progressive in 1912. The campaign included a serious assassination attempt which 'Bull Moose' Roosevelt brushed off: he just carried on speaking. He succeeded then in humiliating his own Republican protégé, the fat and lazy William Howard Taft, and letting in another political enemy, the then less progressive Democrat, Woodrow Wilson.Smarting from the 1912 election, the Colonel took off for a tour of South America which came close to killing him - again. He campaigned unsuccessfully for the Republicans in the 1916 election and against the over-intellectual and over-idealistic President Wilson subsequent to the election.Despite illnesses stemming in part from his jungle trips, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt was still considered a likely winner for the GOP in 1920. This was not to be for the Colonel died - of a broken heart (?) - at his home, Sagamore Hill, Cove Neck, New York, on the 6th of January, 1919, at the age of only 60.I'm not an enthusiast for the Republican Party but Colonel Roosevelt, the progressive, was its most remarkable leader. He was truly progressive, well ahead of the thinking of his times. He was almost European in his outlook and his sophistication and, though an enthusiast for the Allies' cause in the so-called 'Great War,' he was also a lover of peace. There has not been a Republican like him since his sad passing. Subsequent GOP and Democrat leaders (including cousin FDR himself) appear as pygmies when measured in historical terms.Edmund Morris's extraordinary and extraordinarily researched and well-written trilogy is an essential for any serious student of American politics and world affairs in the 20th century.A footnote: I was probably mistaken in my suspicions regarding the relationship of Colonel Roosevelt and Major Archibald Willingham de Graffenreid Clarendon (Archie) Butt. The latter, quite possibly a 'gay,' left his former boss and close friend to become just as close to the fat and lazy Taft. Butt went down with the Titanic in 1912 and Taft was truly bereft - as was Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt.