Rating: 
Summary: Amazingly researched, not-as-amazingly written
Review: Having read "The Rise of TR" immediately before I continued on to "Theodore Rex," I have to say (regretfully) that the first installment in the planned trilogy of Roosevelt's life was far better than the second. Morris' research was just as impressive for "Theodore Rex" as it was for "The Rise of TR," using countless collections of letters, diaries, books by TR, and books about TR to paint the picture of his subject. Unfortunately, and perhaps this is the result of the sheer quantity of presidential accomplishments by Roosevelt, Morris' work reads like a laundry list of activities, events, dialogues, and crises. I felt like I was reading TR's daily planner, with Morris' commentary added under each day's schedule. To be fair, one would expect Morris' account of TR's presidential years to be more sequential and less anecdotal that his account of his pre-presidential years. That having been said, I've read many other presidential biographies that are not like this at all, that give the big picture of a President's term(s) in office and then get into the nitty-gritty of his major accomplishments and failures. Of course, "Theodore Rex" focused only on TR's presidential years, so Morris didn't have to spend any time or space describing how Roosevelt's mind and soul were formed (he had already done so in "The Rise of TR."). Given this challenge of having already written an account of TR's early years, Morris does an incredible job of researching his subject, and a good job of telling his story.
Rating: 
Summary: A Bully Of A Biography
Review: Theodore Roosevelt remarked at the end of his tenure in the White House that "he had a bully time being President." Edmond Morris describes his years, as our chief executive, in a bully manner. Roosevelt is a colorful character and Morris delivers his actions and words in an enthusiastic manner. The author captures the settings around Teddy with masterful descriptions about the weather, surroundings, sounds and smells of the scene. He blends the quotes with the prose in a mix that yields an intense and enjoyable story. Morris avoids the risks of heroe worship by chronicling some Roosevelt mis-steps, like his poor handling of a Brownsville racial incident and some of his ill-tempered public debates. But by focusing only on the White House years, "Theodore Rex' captures a rare focus on an extraordinary leader who's accomplishments continue to benefit us. Some readers may avoid this book, given the criticism directed at the author's biography of Ronald Reagan. Don't - this is an excellent biography in the same spirit of David McCullough's "John Adams." Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent biography
Review: This second volume of the biography of Theodore Roosevelt has been a long time coming, but it has been worth the wait! The author has not allowed the controversy over his biography of Ronald Reagan to adversely affect his ability to do excellent and extensive research, and then put it all together into one neat package. This is quite readable and very informative; it almost makes you feel that you are experiencing history as it is being made. Roosevelt's presidency was an exciting time in our country's history, when a lot of things were quite different, including our political institutions. In those times, the presidency was considered an inferior branch of government to the legislative side. Once Theodore took office, however, he showed that a strong and determined personality could dominate the political landscape to such a degree that he could remake the presidency into something entirely different, the most influential government branch. With some backsliding during subsequent administrations, it has remained that to this day. Much of our modern life and institutions can be traced directly back to programs that TR initiated. We have a lot for which we are to be thankful in this country, and one of the men to whom we owe this thanks is most definitely Theodore Roosevelt. Morris is giving us all a biography worthy of its subject.
Rating: 
Summary: a dissenting opinion
Review: Theodore Roosevelt was undoubtedly the most remarkable intellect to occupy the White House since Thomas Jefferson. Dumas Malone need not fear. Nor Ted Morgan (Mornings on Horseback.) Mr. Morris has written a pedestrian narrative which offers a catalogue of events devoid of insight into American politics and world events. He limns America's debut onto the world stage in serried retinues of historical episodes. Mr. Morris substitutes the occasional energetic prose passage when a more serious author would provide nuanced understanding. He provides us no grasp of how the struggle for power on the Continent and the shift of economic resources to the United States forced a shift of military power as well. These movements emerged from the Enlightenment and found acceleration from the guns of Napoleon, but Mr. Morris will have none of this dusty past- too complicated. As for his analysis of the struggle between capital and labor?
Well, here too he portrays events as occurring strictly in serial order and entirely without the sense of a greater economic context aside from a slight bow to the industrial revolution and a nod to Dickens. I will give him some credit for his handling of the Brownsville affair and race in general. I fear though that Mr. Morris paid more attention to this matter because he felt his readership would find it more exhilarating. Still, he does not provide us with a thread to connect these events to current times.
This is a lowbrow biography of a very highbrow man.
Well, as Mr. Morris tells us, he is an author,not a historian. Incidentally, the audio version by Mr. Chase is not well read and contains many gaffes and plain mispronunciations.
Rating:
Summary: Roosevelt's administration comes alive...
Review: Edmund Morris's elegant writing style comes to the fore-front in this surprising piece of scholarship. The Roosevelt Presidency is analyzed and I don't think you'll find a better written, but at the same time, more scholarly account anywhere.It's interesting to compare the styles of two of the more prominent history biographers (Morris and David McCullough with "Harry Truman") with each having written a major work on a Presidential administration.In McCullough's "Truman", we really get to know the subject on a personal level and literally feel all the stress and emotion of being President. The story, then, is fit into the historical context and the reader gets an intimate account as well as an historical one. With Morris, the opposite appears true...we get an inspiring and detailed discussion of the details of TR's Presidency, with bits of personal tidbits thrown in that attempts to give the same type of feeling that McCullough gives, without compromising the historical structure. And I must admit that this approach succeeds on some levels, but overall, fails to make it as readable (i.e. enjoyable) as McCullough's. In defense of Morris though, the TR Presidency (in my opinion) just wasn't that interesting (trust-busting, railroad regulation and labor mediation necessarily makes up a large portion of this book but, even in Morris's lively writing style, still comes across as rather boring).That being said, this is still an important and monumental biography that deserves to be read and savored. The points in this book that I would consider enjoyable (Roosevelt's inheritance of the Presidency from McKinley, the Panama Canal story, the Russo-Japanese War mediation as examples...) are enjoyable on a large scale and really carry this book. His personal dealings with all the important characters of the time (J.P. Morgan, John Rockefeller...)are described in fairly lucid prose that presents an interesting portrayal of the key history makers. Roosevelt's ravenous reading habits and the physical vitality of his nature get a fair coverage, but could have been better (unlike one of the previous reviewers, I would have prefered to hear more of Roosevelt's "Tennis Cabinet"...). Finally, I think that Morris gives an excellent overall account of where Roosevelt stands in Presidential history and this book, I would think, should be considered the modern standard for TR's administration. High recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Good One Volume Biography
Review: In view of the vast range of TR's accomplishments during this nearly 8 years in the White House, Morris has dealt well and fairly with his subject. It may appear he has glossed over some aspects of the President's career and dwelt at greater length than called for on other aspects, this work is quite balanced. The notes are quite detailed and the bibliography is useful in leading the reader to additional works dealing with the man and his era and his associates.
Rating:
Summary: magnificent
Review: Courageous, moral, humorous, companionable, driven, brilliant, eloquent, well-read, loving, aggressive, child-like, far-sighted, impulsive, un-stoppable and all-too-fallible -- that's how Theodore Roosevelt comes across in this biography of his Presidential years. One yearns for his like to return to the public stage, and one cannot help measuring recent occupants of the White House by the persona one encounters in this book. If you arent't excited about Theodore Rooseveldt by the end of this book (notwithstanding his ironic mistreatment of black soldiers in the Brownsville controversy), well, reread it.
Rating: 
Summary: TOO MUCH FLUFF, TOO LITTLE SUBSTANCE.
Review: Theodore Rex is boring, ponderous, plodding and uninspired. Too much fluff and too little substance.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book!
Review: I loved this book, a brilliant word-portrait of a fascinating man. It presents TR in enough depth to be thorough and intellectually-stimulating without getting so overly detailed that we amateur historians become swamped. The story moves quickly, almost like a novel. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of TR's numerous eccentricities, like taking target practice with his pistol while riding a horse at full speed through Rock Creek Park. I recommend it to everyone with an interest in American history.
Rating:
Summary: Even worse than "Dutch"
Review: I found this effort even worse than Morris'es Dutch fiasco. At least in that book, Morris really made an effort at analysis of Reagan. Listening to the books on tape version of this book, at least, it seemed more like a mere listing of accomplishments and citing of diary entries. There was no follow-on analysis of TR's actions. Morris needs to find different work.
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