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sarahanne8382's review against another edition
4.0
Theodore Roosevelt is officially my favorite President and Morris's biography was a thorough and engaging look into his Presidency.
spitzig's review against another edition
5.0
Great. Both the book and the man. Show Roosevelt as President.
tomrrandall's review against another edition
4.0
Very good, but seemed more heavily focused on TR's foreign policy achievements, at the expense of the domestic. Maybe this is an accurate picture, but I suspect it has more to do with the author's interests.
lspargo's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this book. Roosevelt is such a character, and Morris is an excellent writer. I liked his first book better, just because Roosevelt had so many adventures before he became president. Looking forward to reading about some post presidency adventures.
papidoc's review against another edition
5.0
Covers the presidential years of TR's life, and is as wonderfully written and researched as the first in the biographical set. We see the man that came from the boy, the philosophies, internal contradictions, energies, and actions as they emerged from the formative years and experiences of the young TR. Most of all, we see him with all his strengths and weaknesses, and despite some momentous mistakes and blindnesses (of the heart, not the eye, though the latter came as well), we see him as the great leader he was.
bupdaddy's review against another edition
4.0
I loved reading this book. I felt good reading about Teddy Roosevelt's administration, and he was a great guy, and I was a great guy for going to the trouble of reading about him, doing my American duty to not be quite as ignorant as everyone says Americans are.
Having said that, and also recognizing this is 555 pages about 7.5 years (it covers nothing but his presidency, starting with his learning about McKinley's death, and ending with him boarding a train the day of Taft's inauguration), it feels a little lightweight. Of course, the guy who writes a book about his presidency is a guy who loves him, and he was one of the best presidents. But I still felt like the feel-good got laid on a tiny bit thick.
Nothing grotesque, mind you. No falsehoods, no falling over with apologia for the fact that Roosevelt sometimes thought he was bigger than the constitution. It was just certain word choices. You know how you can "say" or "proclaim" or "sneer" or "intone" or "bloviate" or "lecture" or "beguile" a bit of dialog, depending on whether the person writing about what you said likes you, and how much? And you can't really claim the writer was lying unless you were misquoted, and you look kind of whiny going "I didn't bloviate! I was very reasonable!" Roosevelt gets to proclaim, beguile, deliver perorations, while his senatorial adversaries sneer and bloviate. Nobody likes a bloviator.
Carefully researched (over a hundred pages of end-notes) and eminently readable, this book is great if the takeaway you're looking for is nothing more than, "Chee! Wotta good egg that Mr. Roosevelt was!"
Having said that, and also recognizing this is 555 pages about 7.5 years (it covers nothing but his presidency, starting with his learning about McKinley's death, and ending with him boarding a train the day of Taft's inauguration), it feels a little lightweight. Of course, the guy who writes a book about his presidency is a guy who loves him, and he was one of the best presidents. But I still felt like the feel-good got laid on a tiny bit thick.
Nothing grotesque, mind you. No falsehoods, no falling over with apologia for the fact that Roosevelt sometimes thought he was bigger than the constitution. It was just certain word choices. You know how you can "say" or "proclaim" or "sneer" or "intone" or "bloviate" or "lecture" or "beguile" a bit of dialog, depending on whether the person writing about what you said likes you, and how much? And you can't really claim the writer was lying unless you were misquoted, and you look kind of whiny going "I didn't bloviate! I was very reasonable!" Roosevelt gets to proclaim, beguile, deliver perorations, while his senatorial adversaries sneer and bloviate. Nobody likes a bloviator.
Carefully researched (over a hundred pages of end-notes) and eminently readable, this book is great if the takeaway you're looking for is nothing more than, "Chee! Wotta good egg that Mr. Roosevelt was!"
bkeving_74's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent biography of TR's presidential years
TR is a fascinating man to read about and this biography describes in detail his years as president. The greatest act in my opinion is his establishment of national parks and monuments. He wasn't a man who focused on what was wrong but what he could do to ensure future generations had the benefits of what this country had to offer. He focused on potential rather than deficits. That is not a very common trait today. Highly recommend that leaders today use his example.
TR is a fascinating man to read about and this biography describes in detail his years as president. The greatest act in my opinion is his establishment of national parks and monuments. He wasn't a man who focused on what was wrong but what he could do to ensure future generations had the benefits of what this country had to offer. He focused on potential rather than deficits. That is not a very common trait today. Highly recommend that leaders today use his example.
horanjack77's review against another edition
4.0
Theodore Roosevelt is a complicated historical figure, who holds many beliefs that we would not agree with today, and doing a biography on anyone requires focusing in heavily on that person. That being said Edmund Morris does a great job in his book of covering the scope, and contextualizing both the good and bad of Roosevelt.
The book is long, but does not feel like a slog. I found myself invested in it, and the figures in this book are extremely well rendered. It is worth a read.
The book is long, but does not feel like a slog. I found myself invested in it, and the figures in this book are extremely well rendered. It is worth a read.