The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Edmund Morris)

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, the first in a biographical trilogy by Edmund Morris, covers from Teddy's birth (1858) through Teddy's ascendancy to the Presidency (1901).  We learn about his personal life and political.

Personally, we learn:
- how he transformed himself through hard physical exertion from a sickly, asthmatic child to 'rugged' man, capable of impressive physical feats
- his love of nature/the wilderness
- his childhood in New York City (and travels to Europe)
- the college years at Harvard
- his first marriage (his wife, Alice, would later die after giving birth to his first child)
- his hunting trips and cattle ventures in the Dakota territory, and how he fell in love with the Badlands, west, and 'cowboy' image
- his second marriage (to Edith, which would produce five more children)
- his literary career (Roosevelt wrote dozens of books, about war, biographies, and accounts of the west)

Politically, we get overviews of his terms as:
- New York state assemblyman (1882-84)
- Civil Service Commissioner (1888-95)
- New York City Police Commissioner (1895-97)
- Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1897-98)
- Colonel in the Army, leading the 'Rough Riders' in the Spanish-American War (1898)
- Governor of New York (1898-1900)
- Vice President (1901)

Theodore Roosevelt was an impressive character.  This account, largely positive (though, admittedly, I've never seen a negative account of TR), shows just how impressive he was.  He read voraciously (several books a day), could absorb an amazing amount of information, trained himself to overcome his physical shortcomings, and took on corruption and the political machine of the day.  He was also a Renaissance man, learning about many things to include natural science, history, politics, cattle farming, hunting, military matters, and more.  He was larger-than-life in several respects.

This is a great read.  It won the Pulitzer; it's easy to see why.  Morris did an impressive amount of research, and writes very well.  I look forward to the other two books.

Rating: A