Lion in the White House, A Life of Theodore Roosevelt, by Aida D. Donald: A Book Review

By James Barasch on March 27, 2015

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Arguably the first modern American president, Theodore Roosevelt lived a whirlwind life of action, adventure and monumental achievement, properly and succinctly summarized in Lion in the White House, A Life of Theodore Roosevelt, by Aida Donald.

Roosevelt is difficult to characterize: renowned scholar and author of over 20 books but also rancher and Dakota frontiersman; war hero of the Spanish American War, yet loving family man of six children; active politician since age 23 and member of one of New York’s oldest families, yet vigorous reformer and champion of the average American.

His vast energy, frenetic, charismatic personality, and polarizing rhetoric embodied the booming confidence of turn of the century America, a country still young and ready to take its place in great world affairs.

From tackling issues of racism, immigration, and conservation, to remaking the country into a world power to be reckoned with, Theodore Roosevelt wrestled with nearly every major issue of his time, setting the country’s course toward global pre-eminence, and spearheading movements toward civil rights, voting rights, and an environmental vision that became an inspiration to the world.

Few lives so “strenuous” began so unpromisingly. Born in 1858 in New York City, Roosevelt was a sickly, asthmatic child with terrible eyesight who preferred voraciously reading his family’s vast library. Fortunately for young “Teedie,” his attentive, warm, and loving parents encouraged both scholarly and physical pursuits with all the lavish means at their disposal.

Beginning at age 12, Theodore, heeding his “great-hearted” father’s encouragement to “make your body” vigorously trained himself out of asthma and developed an impressive physique, as well as a keen scientific mind. He entered Harvard filled with the vast energy and enthusiasm that would characterize the rest of his life.

Originally intending to be a lawyer, Roosevelt soon determined to be a politician, and was elected to the New York Assembly in his early 20s. He immediately began ‘making waves,’ proposing much reform legislation and demonstrating a natural charisma and political talent that rapidly caused senior legislators to fear and respect the young foppish aristocrat with the high-pitched voice and pince-nez glasses.

Tragedy struck in 1884 when both his mother and first wife Alice Lee died on the same day. Inconsolable, Roosevelt withdrew to the Dakota territories, where the rugged badlands, with their vast beauty and equally rugged characters, renewed his depleted spirit and inspired a lifelong love of wild nature.

In 1888, he was unexpectedly appointed civil service commissioner by former-New York Governor and now-President Grover Cleveland. Newly married to his lifelong friend Edith Carow, Roosevelt dove into the toxic atmosphere of the spoils system, striving to construct a federal meritocracy blind to everything but competence, including, controversially, race.

From then, Roosevelt “rose like a rocket” in the public’s eye and estimation, becoming reforming New York City police commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a war hero of San Juan and Kettle Hills, and Governor of New York in rapid succession.

Determined to exemplify good government in every position he held, Roosevelt upset many of the cozy political arrangements that characterized the Gilded Age, prompting business leaders and party bosses in New York to retire him “upstairs” to the Vice-Presidency for the 1900 presidential election, only to face Roosevelt as President after the tragic assassination of President William McKinley.

Roosevelt’s inflammatory and passionate rhetoric demanding reform and change belied an utterly pragmatic politician committed to crafting workable and passable legislation, a stance that infuriated both radical reformers and plutocrats alike.

Nevertheless, during his seven-year administration, Roosevelt vastly expanded the powers of the executive branch, put teeth in anti-trust laws, conserved over 16 million acres of land in National Forests, created five new National Parks, completely rebuilt the Navy and projected American diplomatic power by bringing an end to the Russo-Japanese war.

Leaving the Presidency in 1909, it was a testament to the rapidly progressing times and his great successes that by 1913, when Roosevelt ran as a third party, “Progressive” candidate, many saw him as anachronistic and old-fashioned.

It is difficult to contain such an outsize character and life as Roosevelt’s to so few pages, but Aida Donald magnificently captures the great man’s essence, verve, and force of personality. It is an excellent introduction to a breathless American life that expertly uses the primary and secondary documents of the time, especially those by the prolific Roosevelt himself.

Rating: *****

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