He was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Since reading this book, I have also started to watch Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts. The more I read about Theodore Roosevelt, the more I admired him. Roosevelt became a hero to many people because he took a stand against it. One of the things I found to be fascinating was the level of corruption found at all levels of government at the time. In the end, he noted that his previous activities were excessive and worked more on conservation. Many of them were preserved and given to museums around the world. While I say this in jest, Roosevelt did go out on hunting expeditions and shoot hundreds of animals at a time. Although Roosevelt is responsible for our National Park Service, he is also responsible for wiping out most of the animals on the planet. To support his interests, he learned about taxidermy. He was particularly fond of history, nature, and naval operations.

In most cases, he would read two to three books a day. He would consume a book a day… on a busy day. As a child, Roosevelt was sickly but he worked tremendously hard to condition his body to keep illness at bay. He was born into wealth and had already traveled a large part of the world before he finished his teens. I will have to admit that Roosevelt was given many opportunities that normal people did not have. Often he would do it publicly using the press as a tool. He sought out corruption and worked to stamp it out. If he saw a problem, he would work tirelessly to correct it. He was so high energy that few could keep up with him. By the time Roosevelt turned 43, he had written thirteen books, served as New York Assemblyman, Assistant Deputy of the Navy, Civil Service Commissioner, New York Police Commissioner, rancher, big game hunter, conservationist (sort of), Governor of New York, military commander, and much more.Īs noted, the man was exhausting but very driven. Each chapter focused on a significant point in Roosevelt’s life and career. Morris arranged the book into 28 chapters. It was an easy book to read, just a lot to absorb. Morris packed this book full of detail and it took me a little while to get through it all. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is 920 pages long with 780 pages of reading material, the rest is notes and an index. I picked this book up at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, NY. By the time he was President, he had done enough to satisfy three lifetimes. Roosevelt was an intense active figure of his day. This book covered Roosevelt’s life up until his presidency. All I can say is wow! I finished reading The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris.

The rise of theodore roosevelt book