** 44th, 47th, 51st books of 2020: Roosevelt Trilogy: The most interesting American **
Theodore Roosevelt wasn’t supposed to be president. Coming from a wealthy family, he was nearly on track to become a naturalist. Living in a world of books, he devoured literature, “reading some twenty thousand books and writing fifteen of his own”. But since he suffered from asthma while growing up, doctors advised ‘avoiding strenuous exercise.’
“Doctor,” came the reply, “I’m going to do all the things you tell me not to do. If I’ve got to live the sort of life you have described, I don’t care how short it is.”
He proceeded to lose a fortune as a cowboy in North Dakota, and after a stint as a muckraking police commissioner from New York, inserted himself into the Spanish American war to become a war hero. This catapulted him to Governor of New York, but he made enemies fast enough that they forced him out of New York politics causing him to fail upwards to the vice presidency. It’s not that he was an unqualified success in whatever he did, and certainly there was no clear arc of his life, but in every area he embarked he made progress rapidly, and made waves on the way.
As President, Roosevelt attempted problems that could easily have become quagmires, such as mediating the strike with coal miners, mediating between the Russians and Japanese after the disastrous encounter at Tsushima, and finding just enough shortcuts and justifications to turn the Panama Canal into a reality. He engaged in and won a game of naval brinksmanship with Germany in the Venezuelan crisis, and secured the place of America as an emerging great power at the turn of the century. For an accidental president, Roosevelt’s personality aligned almost perfectly with a young and newly confident America, bumbling its way onto the world stage with bravado that turned more into justified confidence with each new ship put in the ocean.
After serving two terms and losing faith in Taft, his anointed successor, he then split the republican party by creating the progressive party, but luck could only follow his chutzpah so far. This created a landslide for Woodrow Wilson, and when he tried to explore a new river in Brazil, it nearly killed him. In the end, only death could slow him down: “Roosevelt must of been asleep when he died. Or there would have been a fight.”
Throughout the trilogy, Roosevelt’s frenetic life shows how a healthy dose of confidence and enthusiasm, when mixed with some media savvy are a timeless combination for making it into history. Unlike figures such as Napoleon, Churchill, or Julius Caesar, Roosevelt is not defined by any one expertise, and instead has a legacy that lasts through both the paths that he succeeded and failed in. In this Morris does Roosevelt’s story justice by the trilogy.
Rise of Theodore Roosevelt: ★★★☆☆ Theodore Rex: ★★★★☆ Colonel Roosevelt: ★★★☆☆