Colonel Roosevelt

Starred review from October 11, 2010
Having followed his 1979 classic, Pulitzer-winning The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, with a fine account of his presidency, Theodore Rex, in 2001, historian Morris returns to top form in this enthralling story of Roosevelt's life after leaving office in 1909. As Morris says, TR's presidency was an impossible act to follow. The outgoing chief executive (1858–1919) welcomed his successor, William Howard Taft, and left the country for a year, but on his return plunged back into politics, angry at Taft's backsliding on reform. The rank-and file adored Roosevelt, but Republican leaders didn't, so he abandoned the party for the historic three-way 1912 campaign, during which two progressives, Roosevelt and Wilson, battled it out, and Taft came in third. Despite losing, only death interrupted Roosevelt's outpouring of political maneuvering, journalism, scholarship, exploration, and profuse, generally unwelcome advice to President Wilson. Like Robert Caro with Lyndon Johnson, Morris has devoted a career to one man with equally impressive results. This is a witty, insightful biography combined with a vivid political history of America from 1910 to 1919, centered on a relentlessly energetic ex-president. It is a joy to read. 64 illus.; 2 maps.

Starred review from October 15, 2010

With appropriate crescendo and coda, the concluding volume of the author's sweeping biography of Theodore Roosevelt, following The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979) and Theodore Rex (2001).

Morris opens this account of the last decade of Roosevelt's life in 1909, when, just out of office, TR was somewhat at a loss about to what to do. He had, after all, been a model for the "strenuous life" he recommended, commanding soldiers and sending imperial fleets off to impress American power on the world. He had written books and countless articles, some, uncomfortably, equating birth control with "race suicide"—one reason, suggests the author, that the New Left of the 1960s considered him "a bully, warmonger, and 'overt racist.' " He had served two terms as president but decided not to go after a third, even though, in those days, he could have served forever. With no particular place to go, TR headed out on safari to Africa, shooting nearly everything he saw. Then he traveled the world, returning to America just in time to fall into often-bitter feuding with his successor, William Howard Taft. As Morris writes, TR transformed into a reforming leftist, "with enough administrative and legislative proposals to keep the federal government busy for two decades," while Taft and Democratic challenger Woodrow Wilson occupied places to the right. When Wilson took office, TR became one of his sternest critics, likening him in one renowned speech to Pontius Pilate. Yet, writes Morris, even his admirers found reason to think the one-time master of the bully pulpit a mere bully. The Colonel—for so he insisted on being called—did not end his days well. Presciently, he foresaw his decline almost exactly when it occurred, a sad disintegration into a melancholic and inactive ill health. However, as the author notes at the end of his fluent narrative, for all the criticism of TR in his day and after, he has risen to the top tier of presidents, and is increasingly seen as a friend deemed him: "a fulfiller of good intentions."

Roosevelt never fails to fascinate, and Morris provides a highly readable, strong finish to his decades-long marathon.

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November 15, 2010

This is the final volume in Morris's biographical trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt (TR), after The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex. Though he breaks no new ground, he covers the major aspects of TR's postpresidential life, including an African safari, his ill-fated third-party presidential bid, and a near-fatal Amazon expedition. Out of power, TR half understood that his fate was sealed by previous political missteps and his own mortality, as well as by his ideology. A Social Darwinist, he was driven to prove that natural selection was on his side, although this was tempered by the noblesse oblige instilled in him by his father. At his peak TR was the right man for the time, guiding an isolationist adolescent nation to world power just as he had transformed himself. Yet this final volume captures the sadness that inevitably caught up with him. Morris clearly identifies with his hero while at the same time pointing out TR's flaws as well as the limitations of those who opposed him, especially Woodrow Wilson. VERDICT Morris skillfully holds readers' attention throughout the book, which is as filled with adventure as Volume 1, even as TR's life inevitably moved downhill. In completion of the most objective and worthwhile TR biography, this is an essential purchase.--William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2010
Morris completes his fully detailed, correlatively dynamic triptych of the restless, energetic, on-the-move first President Roosevelt, following The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979), the title self-explanatory in terms of its coverage of TRs life, and Theodore Rex (2001), about his presidency. Now the author presents Colonel Roosevelt, the title by which Roosevelt chose to be called during his postpresidential years (in reference, of course, to his military position during the Spanish-American War). This is the sad part of TRs life; this is the stage of his life story in which it is most difficult to accept his self-absorption, self-importance, and self-righteousness, but it is the talent of the author, who has shown an immaculate understanding of his subject, to make Roosevelt of continued fascination to his readers. In essence, this volume tells the story of TRs path of disenchantment with his chosen successor in the White House, William Taft, and his attempt to resecure the presidency for himself. The important theme of TRs concomitant decline in health is also a part of the narrative. We are made aware most of all that of all retired presidents, TR was the least likely to fade into the background.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)