T.R.: The Last Romantic

 

T.R.: The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands

One of my personal bucket list items that I accomplished was to read at least one biography of every U.S. President.  When I tell people this, the question I’m often asked is “Which one was your favorite?”  That’s a good question, but a difficult one.  I’m still not sure I can answer it, but I’ve often proclaimed that my favorite subject matter was definitely Theodore Roosevelt.  This is the conclusion I came to after reading the Edmund Morris trilogy of the 26^th president.  However, after now having read this dense volume of Roosevelt by author H.W. Brands, I’m not sure I could come to that same conclusion.

That’s not a knock on this book, nor is it really a knock on the subject matter.  It’s just that after reading this bio, Theodore Roosevelt actually came across as much less of a “romantic” and more of a “real person”, warts and all.  Author Brands doesn’t hide his warts, and I therefore wasn’t quite as enamored by Roosevelt as I was after reading the three books by Edmund Morris.  There’s still a lot to love and admire, but I didn’t quite feel as drawn to everything about the man.  There were simply characteristics about the man that are somewhat dated and not as admirable as they perhaps were in the late nineteenth century.

This is one of those books that immediately becomes intimidating when one picks up the physical copy.  It’s over 800 pages of reading, but those who know Roosevelt know that such a length is quite necessary.  This man had an incredibly rich, detailed life.  In fact, after reading the Morris trilogy (obviously much longer as it was stretched over three books), one can see where there were many times where author Brands had to cut some necessary corners for this one.

Theodore Roosevelt led such an active, rich life, that at times you felt that he was three or four different, diverse characters who each warranted their own bio.  There was the young man who was fascinated by zoology and collected a vast number of specimens in addition to making adventurous hunting trips in the badlands of the American West.  There was the author who penned many non-fiction, well respected pieces; most notably on The War of 1812.  There was the bloodthirsty adventurous Colonel who led a group of his famed Rough Riders charging up San Juan Hill.  And let’s not forget the politician who would eventually become the country’s 26^th president.   These tasks he accomplished weren’t necessarily sequential either.  For example, he served in Washington as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and THEN enlisted in the Spanish American War as leader of the Rough Riders.  Less than six months later, he was Governor of New York.

The presidency soon followed, albeit by accident.  He was William McKinley’s Vice President, yet McKinley’s term was cut short by an assassin’s bullet.  Since Roosevelt accomplished so much in his lifetime, only a fair amount of this massive tome actually focuses on the man’s presidency.  This might be the one area where some might feel a bit cheated.  I’ve read enough presidential biographies where the entire content is only devoted to the tenure of the subject matter’s time in the Oval Office.  So if you’re wanting a detailed account of the presidency between 1901 and 1908, this might not be the best book for you.

Speaking of Roosevelt’s presidency, it’s after his tenure his over, that his character flaws are obviously imminent.  When you’ve lived such a rich life, what else is there to do when you’ve served as the highest officer of the free world?  It seems Roosevelt can’t stand to idly sit by and let his predecessors govern.  In fact, his immediate successor, William Taft, actually has a very cordial relationship with TR during Roosevelt’s tenure as president, and you get the feeling that Taft was somehow “handpicked” by Roosevelt to be the successor.  Yet once Taft gets elected, Roosevelt can’t leave well enough alone, and somehow feels he still needs to pull the strings on his protégé puppet.  So discord follows, and Roosevelt enters the next presidential race as a third-party candidate in 1912.  Let’s just say things didn’t end well for him nor Taft; as what can commonly occur when a “strong” third party candidate enters the ring.

This was probably the biggest character flaw I saw of the man.  Not only does he disapprove of his successors in the White House, but he plainly makes his views known in public, and comes across as quite whiny and ugly.  There are other character flaws about him as well, yet again one must remember the times and that normal behavior of such people can come across as quite unpleasant.  Not only was Roosevelt a notorious big game animal killer for the mere thrill, but you get the feeling that he often neglected his parental duties of his large family much more often than he should.  We would read about his wife’s loneliness living with their brood in New York while Roosevelt was serving in Washington for months at a time, yet when his session was finally over, he would go on a six-month hunting excursion leaving his large family behind.

Perhaps his biggest drawback was his tendency to be a war monger.  Like many men of old, Roosevelt believed that war is not only necessary, but it should be actively sought out.  War is necessary to cut away the dead flesh of society, and too much peace only makes one soft.   When World War I breaks out during his post presidency years, he loudly expects all of his sons to charge over and immerse themselves in the thick of the battle.  (Not surprisingly, he throws a fit when current president Woodrow Wilson refuses to give him a commission.)  Youngest son Quentin ends up killed in battle, and Roosevelt seems to somewhat change his jingoistic view of fighting due to the heartbreak.  Shortly after, Roosevelt passes away a bit prematurely.  It seems he contacts a strain of some sort of jungle fever on one of his latter-day explorations into South America.

This was a very good book. To be fair, I enjoyed the Morris trilogy a bit better simply because a man such as Roosevelt really deserves much more detail in covering his comprehensive life, but if one is wanting a more somewhat abbreviated narrative (again, this is over 800 pages), than this one won’t disappoint.  As with all of H.W. Brands’ work, this one is very straightforward and easily digestible.  I recommend this book along with everything else the author has written. And perhaps it’s good that I came away with a much more “honest” picture of Theodore Roosevelt.