A ‘bully’ biography: Morris’ second installment of Roosevelt’s life has the potential for another Pulitzer Prize

'Theodore Rex'

by Edmund Morris

Random House, $35

A bit more than one century ago, on Sept. 21, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency after the death of his predecessor, William McKinley, by an assassin's bullet. At 42, he was - and remains - the youngest president to hold the office.

Over the next eight years, he towered over the political landscape, built an American empire, and through sheer force of personality bent the political world to his will.

The second in a three-volume biography of Roosevelt's life, "Theodore Rex" begins with Roosevelt's ascent to office in 1901 and ends with his departure from the White House in 1908.

The title, bestowed by Henry James, pays tribute to Roosevelt's power during his presidency. Edmund Morris won the Pulitzer Prize for the first volume of the biography and, with this dazzling effort, could easily win another.

Carefully drawing from Roosevelt's private papers and those of his contemporaries, Morris compiles a vivid portrait of Roosevelt's ferocious zest for life, keen intelligence and unerring political judgment.

Roosevelt all but leaps from the pages, flashing smiles, snapping off crisp sentences and, above all, commanding attention.

Roosevelt's achievements can scarcely be overstated - building the Panama Canal, personally negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 (for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize), and arm-twisting both labor and railroad tycoons into an improbable settlement of the violent 1902 coal miners' strike in Pennsylvania that threatened to disrupt the economy and leave millions without heat as winter approached.

Roosevelt built up the Navy (his infamous "big stick"), extending American naval power throughout the world, and introduced conservation to the American public - single-handedly tripling the size of the national forests (including national forests in the Washington Cascades and Olympics) and creating 51 national wildlife refuges, thus preserving the nearly extinct "Roosevelt" elk and laying the groundwork for the creation in 1938 of Olympic National Park.

On race relations, Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to the White House for dinner, a groundbreaking move, but later unfairly discharged 160 African-American soldiers accused without proof of a murderous rebellion against local racism in Brownsville, Texas.

Roosevelt aggressively challenged the powerful corporate trusts, enacting landmark antitrust legislation and launching trust-busting prosecutions of some of the most infamous trusts and industrialists of the time.

J.P. Morgan, still bitter from Roosevelt's treatment of him, is said to have once raised his glass at dinner, as Roosevelt left on a post-presidential safari, to the toast: "America expects that every lion will do his duty."

Roosevelt's White House crackled with energy, noise and bustling confusion as his six beloved children swarmed throughout the grounds. Adored by his children, he was an honorary member of the White House gang of rebellious boys.

But Roosevelt himself had something of the bumptious boy in him. He adored physical challenge, constantly pushing himself to the limit in climbing, hiking, galloping on horseback through Washington's Rock Creek Park, or leading puzzled European diplomats through the muddy park.

His infamous "walks" often included waist-high wading through water still half-frozen from winter's chill, or rock-climbing up dangerous outcroppings, his guests struggling to keep up with Roosevelt as he surged ahead.

He was a committed hunter and often returned from his outings with a limp, hiding huge bruises or pulled muscles. Roosevelt once famously refused to shoot a bear, captured by his hosts during a hunting trip in Mississippi and tied to a tree for his convenience. His sportsmanship was noted in editorial cartoons, and the bear later became a symbol, his name forever attached to millions of "Teddy bears."

Roosevelt was re-elected in 1904 by a landslide, upon which he promptly announced that he would not seek re-election to another term. He was acutely aware of the dangers of overstaying his welcome and felt that, once made, his promise could not be forsaken. He remained true to his commitment and declined the 1908 nomination in favor of William Howard Taft, his chosen successor.

Morris deftly closes this volume with Roosevelt's departure from Washington to his cherished New York estate, Sagamore Hills, "the image of his receding grin and wave" fading into history.

Morris' first volume of this biography was acclaimed as a singular triumph. His more recent fictionalized "biography" of Ronald Reagan ("Dutch") was far more controversial, derided by many as bizarre and self-indulgent.

In "Theodore Rex," Morris returns to form and produces a rare blend of superb research, engaging writing and a fascinating portrait of one of America's most interesting presidents. Roosevelt would surely have declared it "bully.

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