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Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.911092
EAN: 9780679767336
ISBN: 0679767339
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 752
Publication Date: February 10, 2004
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: February 10, 2004
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Review:
He inherited a sense of entitlement (and obligation) from his family, yet eventually came to see his own class as suspect. He was famously militaristic, yet brokered peace between Russia and Japan. He started out an archconservative, yet came to champion progressive causes. These contradictions are not evidence of vacillating weakness: instead, they were the product of a restless mind bend on a continuous quest for self-improvement. In Theodore Roosevelt, historian Kathleen Dalton reveals a man with a personal and intellectual depth rarely seen in our public figures. She shows how Roosevelt’s struggle to overcome his frailties as a child helped to build his character, and offers new insights into his family life, uncovering the important role that Roosevelt’s second wife, Edith Carow, played in the development of his political career. She also shows how TR flirted with progressive reform and then finally commited himself to deep reform in the Bull Moose campaign of 1912. Incorporating the latest scholarship into a vigorous narrative, Dalton reinterprets both the man and his times to create an illuminating portrait that will change the way we see this great man and the Progressive Era.
Biographers have often treated Theodore Roosevelt as "a larger-than-life monument carved in stone, unchanging, far from being flesh and blood, and quite imperturbable." So writes Kathleen Dalton, who gives us a fully fleshed, quite down-to-earth TR in this vigorous, sometimes critical biography of the 26th president.
Roosevelt carefully crafted an image of himself as a self-made man. Fair enough, Dalton suggests, though he had a big head start in coming from one of New York's wealthiest and best-connected families. More than shaping his body to overcome weakness, his spirit to overcome fear, he had to overcome the prejudices of his time and class in order to be truly fit for leadership, and even as president he wrestled with a few contradictions (opposing, for instance, a woman's right to divorce, but endorsing public flogging of spousal abusers). He was not always successful, Dalton writes, but he emerged in the end as a great champion of civil rights and of the middle and working classes, very much ahead of his time.
There's a lot of interest in Theodore Roosevelt these days--and for good reason, given the recent international turmoil and financial tumble, which, some would argue, beg for TR's patented big-stick and trust-busting treatment. Dalton's Theodore Roosevelt offers a satisfying portrait of a constantly fascinating subject. --Gregory McNamee
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Great, Interesting Book
I have used this book for my term paper and would say that sometimes I got off track because the book was so interesting.
Dalton has a witty and funny writing style and I feel as if I am reading a thriller.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating: - A superb biography
This isn't only a superb biography of an interesting man, it is also a superbly written book. TR is endlessly fascinating because his contradictions were worn on his sleeve, so to speak. But since, throughout history, and very much today, there are so few politicians who have a conscience, TR remains highly admirable despite his shortcomings. That he continued to grow as a human being, that he cared about the people he was elected to serve, and that he was willing to fight for what he believed ... Read More
Rating: - Sparse On Details, Long On Feelings
As readers of my [...] reviews are aware, I have read several biographies of Theodore Roosevelt. "Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life" presents TR from a different perspective than most other books. Focusing less on events and more on emotions, this book examines the relationships and issues which made TR's life strenuous.
This book helped me to appreciate aspects of Roosevelt's life that I had not picked up in other biographies. From this one I got a better appreciation of the relationship ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent, concise treatment of TR's life
This is an outstanding, comprehensive account of TR's life. Dalton's characters really come to life; she gives them emotional dimension, which is difficult for some biographers to convey over a span of 100 years or more. She also makes a nice effort to present a balanced portrait of Roosevelt. Her depiction of his post-White House years and the 1912 campaign are particularly enlightening. This was my first attempt to read a complete biography of TR, and it was a pleasure!
Rating:  - Tough Task---good effort
Like so many buyers of this book, I have read a few books on the subject of TR's life. The author gives herself a tough task and comes close to making it in grand style. Her readability style could have been more user friendly. Her facts are great, but at points it is a little slow. I think she lacks the TR electricity that pulses through his life----a rare trait to capture in an historical book.
Nevertheless, the book is enjoyable and is a good, but not a great read.----a solid 4 star effort!
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