The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE AND THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD The acclaimed author of Theodore Rex presents ¡°a towering biography [and] brilliant chronicle¡± (Time) of Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth president of the United States.One of Modern Library¡¯s 100 best nonfiction books of all time One of Esquire¡¯s 50 best biographies of all time¡°Magnificent . . . one of those rare works that is both definitive for the period it covers and fascinating to read for sheer entertainment.¡±¡ªThe New York Times Book ReviewDuring the years 1858¨C1901, Theodore Roosevelt transformed himself from a frail, asthmatic boy into a full-blooded man. Fresh out of Harvard, he simultaneously published a distinguished work of naval history and became the fist-swinging leader of a Republican insurgency in the New York State Assembly. He chased thieves across the Badlands of North Dakota with a copy of Anna Karenina in one hand and a Winchester rifle in the other. Married to his childhood sweetheart in 1886, he became the country squire of Sagamore Hill on Long Island, a flamboyant civil service reformer in Washington, D.C., and a night-stalking police commissioner in New York City. As assistant secretary of the navy, he almost single-handedly brought about the Spanish-American War. After leading ¡°Roosevelt¡¯s Rough Riders¡± in the famous charge up San Juan Hill, Cuba, he returned home a military hero, and was rewarded with the governorship of New York. In what he called his ¡°spare hours¡± he fathered six children and wrote fourteen books. By 1901, the man Senator Mark Hanna called ¡°that damned cowboy¡± was vice president. Seven months later, an assassin¡¯s bullet gave Roosevelt the national leadership he had always craved.This classic biography is the story of seven men¡ªa naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician¡ªwho merged at age forty-two to become the youngest President in history.