Book Review On The Book Theodore Roosevelt By Michael A. Schuman

My Book review is on the Book Theodore Roosevelt by Michael A. Schuman. The book talks about the life and politics of Theodore Roosevelt. It starts out with his wealthy childhood in New York, through his experience with the Rough Riders, to his years as a President. He was always known as an honest and well-respected young many who many people liked. He achieved many goals and became the first American to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for creating a peace treaty for the Russo-Japanese War. This Book explains many specific and key points in his life. I have also learned that Teddy was a very important person.

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858. Theodore Jr. was called Teedie as a young boy. His father was Theodore Sr. Teddy’s mother was Martha Bulloch, but people called her Mittie. His family was very wealthy therefore they lived in a rich neighborhood near Gramercy Park in Manhattan. Since they had a lot of money, the Roosevelt family would vacation in upstate New York or the New Jersey Shore to escape the warm weather. In the summer Teedie liked being in the country. He would play outside and run around barefoot. Although Teedie loved his childhood, he was known as a sickly boy. He suffered from asthma, colds, high fevers, and he had a nervous stomach.

In 1861, the Civil War broke out. Teddie was only two and a half when the war started. His father was from New York, which was a Union state, and Teddy’s mother was from Georgia which was a Confederate state. Mittie had two brothers serving for the confederates in the war so, out of respect for his wife, Theodore Sr. paid someone to serve for him. At the end of the war, Lincoln was assassinated. Teddie went to his grandfather’s to watch them march through New York City. When he was there he met Edith Kermit Carow, who was a friend of his sister Connie. Edie and Theodore Jr. became very good friends. After the war, he started to take an interest in animals. He collected different specimens and made a collection which he called the Roosevelt Museum of Natural history.

Teddy’s father spent most of his time and money helping others and the community. Theodore Sr. established many programs for homeless children. One of them was the Newsboys Lodging House. It provided boys without homes a place to stay. When Theodore did these kinds of things Teedie thought he was the best man ever. That summer they decided to take a trip to Europe. During the trip, Teedie got sick many times. After they got back from Europe his father told him “Theodore, you have the mind but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind can not go as far as it should. You must make your body”(20). Teddy agreed to this and started working out every day. He later decided to take boxing to get stronger. As he grew stronger is health improved. He had fewer asthma attacks and fewer colds.

When he turned fifteen, his father told him that he wanted him to go to Harvard University in Cambridge. On September 27, 1876, he boarded a train to Harvard. When he got there he realized all the students were males. His classmates found him to be a very intelligent and friendly young man. When he was in college he kept many animals with him in his apartment. He also continued boxing. After a while at college the students no longer called him Teddie, they called him ted or teddy. It was teddy’s sophomore year when his father died from stomach cancer. After the funeral, Ted became very depressed. Although he did have some happy moments when he met this girl named Alice Lee. She was very popular and pretty and Theodore would always tell his friends that he was going to marry her. Well, his statement came true, on January 25, 1880, they became secretly engaged. When they finally told the public of their engagement Alice’s father thought she might be to young, so Teddy decided to finish out college before they got married. As Ted finished out college he was accepted into Columbia University Law school. On June 30, he graduated from Harvard. A few months later Teddy and Alice’s wedding took place on October 27. After the wedding, they took a quick honeymoon to Oyster bay. After the honeymoon, they returned to New York City where Teddy attended classes at law school. As he studied, he lost interest and found a liking to politics. At age twenty-three he was elected to the state assembly. As he joined more politics Teddy made a reputation as a man hoping to clean up corruption.

In the summer of 1883, Alice became pregnant. In February of the next year, she gave birth to a little girl. At the time Teddy went on a trip to hunt buffalo but, he was thrilled to hear the news. The next morning he found out that his mother and wife were sick. His mother died on February 14, and Alice died a few hours later. Teddy remembers walking into the house and his brother Elliot told him, “There is a curse on this house. Mother is dying and Alice is dying, too”(32). His mother died of typhoid, which was an illness caused by bad food and water. Alice died of Bright’s disease, which was a disease that attacked the kidneys. He never spoke of Alice’s name again, he didn’t even write about her in his autobiography that he later wrote. He grieved of his loved ones died so he left his child with his sister and moved to the Dakota Territory. He built a log cabin on a ranch. Teddy loved living in the west but, he returned home in 1885 to go to the New York State Republican Convention. While he was back in New York he visited his daughter and his old friend Edith. They started to date and got married on December 2, 1886. On September 12, 1887, they had their first child which was a baby boy.

In 1888 Roosevelt was appointed Civil Service Commissioner by Benjamin Harrison. Ted then moved to Washington D.C. Harrison ran for reelection but lost to Grover Cleveland. Now that there was a new president, Teddy was still not fired. Since Roosevelt had the job for six years he was known as an honest and respectable man. In 1869, McKinley was elected President and made Teddy the assistant Secretary of the Navy. With this power, Roosevelt wanted to strengthen the Navy. About a year had passed by and he and Edith had six children. In January 1889, fights broke out in Cuba between rebels and Spanish officers. A warship named the U.S.S Maine exploded in 1898 and the Americans blamed Spain. After the explosion the Americans wanted Revenge. Teddy resigned from being the assistant secretary of the Navy and accepted a commission as a lieutenant colonel in a volunteer United States Army. Many men applied to serve. Roosevelt chose men of all different kinds of backgrounds. This is why they were known as the Rough Riders. They soon got a chance to fight and landed in Cuba on June 22. They did their job by pushing the Spanish back but, they faced heavy casualties. The United States was known as a World Power for the first time. In the 1900s Roosevelt was picked to be Mckinley’s running mate. Mckinley was inaugurated in 1901 and Roosevelt was his Vice President. Then things started to change when McKinley took a trip to Buffalo, New York.

Mckinley left to go to Buffalo to attend a World’s fair. He was standing in line with a man named Leon. F. Czolgosz. Czolgosz was an anarchist. Mckinley went to shake his hand and Leon then shot him. McKinley was then rushed to the hospital. Roosevelt then came and stayed in Buffalo for a few days. Since it seemed like McKinley was getting better, Roosevelt was allowed to leave. McKinley died and Roosevelt took the oath of office. Roosevelt did many things during his presidency. He was also the youngest President in American History. Teddy believed in honest capitalism which was companies who “provide services or make products are allowed to compete fairly”(54). Roosevelt became the first president since Abraham Lincoln to use his full powers in office. One of his favorite sayings during office were “Speak softly and carry a big stick – you will go far”(62). In 1904 there was another election held. Roosevelt ran for President. He was very well-liked and people admired him and his policies. In November of 1904, Roosevelt was elected to his own term as President. After he won the election, teddy immediately said he would not run for another term in 1908.

Roosevelt kept his promise and did not run for reelection but, he made sure that Taft was the Republican nomination for President. A joke was made out of the letters of Taft’s Name; “Take Advice From Theodore”(87). A few months later Taft became the twenty-seventh President and Roosevelt Retired to private life. A little over two weeks after leaving the White House, Roosevelt took a trip to Africa with his son Kermit. While they were there they killed over five hundred animals. When Teddy came back from his trip he expected Taft to continue his progressive policies but, he discovered that Taft made his own policies. With this he ran for a third term but, Taft was elected as the Republican Nomination. Roosevelt decided to make his own party and call it the Bull Moose Party. Woodrow Wilson was the Democratic Nomination. Woodrow Wilson wins the election. After the election, Teddy and Kermit go on another adventure to Brazil. Roosevelt almost dies from cutting a gash in is the leg from a canoe accident. Ted recovers slowly and when he returns to America, one of his dreams had been fulfilled. The Panama Canal was completed in 1914.

In 1918 there was horrible news that gave Roosevelt grief. Quentin Roosevelt was flying a plane when it was shot down and he was confirmed dead. On January 6, 1919, Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep of a blood clot. He was sixty years old. Teddy was buried in a public cemetery in Oyster Bay. He won a Nobel Peace Prize and was called a peacemaker during his presidency. He was carved into Mount Rushmore with four other Presidents and was known as “one of the country’s greatest leaders”(111).

Overall my book Theodore Roosevelt by Michael A. Schuman was a very informational book. It explained many key details and important events in Theodore Roosevelt’s life. I would recommend this book to anybody looking for good information on Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy accomplished many great things in his life and was known as one of the greatest presidents.