I wanted to learn more about the character of the presidents of the United States and selected The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris because Morris won the Pulitzer Prize and received rave reviews for this biography.
Mark Deakins, a most excellent narrator, held my interest for more than twenty-six hours. I loved how Deakins crisply enunciated Roosevelt’s speeches in Chapter 6 as Roosevelt the assemblyman’s “teeth would knock together as the words fought their way out.” Deakins expertly spat out each word and syllable in his narration, and I visualized fellow assemblymen stepping back and out of the line of fire of Roosevelt’s words hurled from the corner of his lips. Morris evoked my compassion toward Roosevelt in numerous chapters where I learned how much of Roosevelt’s life included overwhelming struggles against asthma, stuttering, sickliness, and, in many respects, his own quick-thinking mentality and tendency to unload his opinion on occasion, before moments of long-suffering reflection. Because Roosevelt was a man of action, his can-do spirit gave me renewed strength against struggles that hitherto appeared enormous, until I compared them to the struggles of this great politician.
Throughout the historical narration, I learned a great deal about Theodore Roosevelt that I had never discovered and, much to my delight, understood why so many fellow leaders and acquaintances admired his determination, hard work, and sheer resolve against all odds. What I thought of this book is well beyond the scope of a short book review. In Morris’s work, I had the privilege of spending quality time with a masterful researcher who not only included an extensive appendix of research notes and documentation, but also took me on horseback rides through the Badlands, up mountains, and on hunting trips for buffalo; introduced me to The Saga of King Olaf by Longfellow; and allowed me to sit next to Roosevelt as the young boy and man cataloged hundreds of insect and animal species as a naturalist and pioneer of zoological studies. Moreover, I learned about the romantic Roosevelt who doggedly courted Alice Hathaway Lee. He took her for horse-drawn dog-cart rides where she sat perched beside him, and they frequently played tennis and danced together.
If you like historical biographies, narratives, and character transformation, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris may be an excellent choice. Other insightful historical reads include The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Alan Jacobs and Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life, by C. S. Lewis. If you also enjoy historical fiction, I recommend The Women, The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah; and Alaska by James A. Michener.
