Rating: 
Summary: Largely Insufferable? Balderdash!
Review: At the risk of delving into a review of reviews, one should not be misled by reviews with agendas. One review noted that he did not like the imagry that the author employed and cited an example on pg. 36 of a farmer standing at attention as McKinley's funeral train with T. Roosevelt passed by. The additional slam was that this scene was not footnoted (cited) and therefore he "just (could not) grant (the author) that license." This shows how well this reviewer read the book; the note is in the Notes section and on pg. 585.
Others take issue with the author's treatment of Roosevelt, believing it to be too fawning. One even called it "holographic" in a review of the precurser, "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt".
Not only do both books give the (lucky) reader a picture and understanding of the many facets of Roosevelt, just look at the other positive reviews, but also of the period and Roosevelt's place within that era of American history. Roosevelt was a giant then and his greatness lasts through to today. Our country is great, and he bears a large part of that responsibility. Parts of Roosevelt's personality do make me uncomfortable, and they are not hidden here. There are too many today who have difficulty with the icons of our past and not only dwell upon the faults of the great, but attempt to bring down the great to their level.
This is a stunning tour de force, and I congratulate Edmund Morris.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthwhile but not perfect
Review: This book provides many of the necessary facts and details on Roosevelt's life (particularly his political life), but has a few shortcomings. The strong aspects of the book are the very comprehensive and solid research Morris performed on the political aspects of Roosevelt's Presidency (and readers should know that this book covers ONLY his Presidency, and no other period of his life). Morris does bring TR to life, and we feel like we understand the man and what he goes through. In particular, I felt I got a very vivid sense of Roosevelt's slow but certain physical demise, which is a sub-plot throughout.This book lacks the historical sweep (and any remnant of the sense of humor) of Morris' first TR biography, however. The issues TR deals with are presented more or less in serial format, and there are no attempts to draw any great themes or lasting conclusions. The reader is left to do all of that him or herself. Also, I never got any real feeling about Edith, TR's second wife. She is mentioned throughout, but we're never given a true sense of her feelings toward her husband and his Presidency. Finally, parts of this book were somewhat confusing to me -- one needs to be a very attentive reader to remember an individual who is briefly introduced 30 pages earlier, but then is not fully re-introduced. It almost feels like this book was somewhat rushed out the door. But this is an important addition to the scholarship of one of the country's most distinguished and important Presidents. TR redefined the Presidency on a level with Washington, Jackson, JFK, and FDR. His involvement in more issues (labor strikes, international diplomacy, etc.) than any President before him would be copied by many of his successors. His prescience regarding the environment, big business, and world war were remarkable. I do recommend this book, but it is not at the extremely high level of Morris' first book. That first book set a high standard, though, and this book is still relevant and worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is Teddy?
Review: I came to know Teddy Roosevelt intimately in The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. In Theodore Rex, I learned about many historical facts I cared about and many more that were so trivial that I wondered why Morris included them. His prose is flowery and his research is exhaustive, but where is Teddy? I couldn't put the first book down. This book I put down often and didn't want to pick it back up. I missed Teddy in this book. He inspired me to be a better person in the first book. In Theodore Rex, I learned more about history and less about the man and his family.
Rating:
Summary: America's Churchill
Review: Mr. Morris introduces another generation to a great american, a renaissance man who broke tradition to create the modern, activist presidency. In superb detail we see Theodore Roosevelt as politician, statesman, diplomatist, speaker, conservationist, naturalist, philospher, linguist, scholar, public servant, military commander-in-chief,and negotiator. The depth and breadth of his knowledge while president is amazing. Only Winston Churchill was his equal, in my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Irritating reading of a fine book (audio edition)
Review: An excellent treatment of Roosevelt's presidential years, but seriously -- fatally, in my opinion -- compromised by a highly irritating reading. The reader is responsible for a number of audio books, and this one shares the same shortcomings of voice, interpretation, pronunciation, and mannered mimicry. Read the book; choose another audio volume.
Rating:
Summary: Bully!
Review: Morris does it again! This second installment is every bit as entertaining as his first Pulitzer prize winning volume, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. This is a meticulously researched, beautifully written biography that reads more like a novel. I'm sure President Roosevelt would have been deelighted.
Rating:
Summary: Fair
Review: This is actually a book my husband read. He's very into presidential history, and he was a big fan of Morris's first TDR book. However, he found this book to be less interesting than the first. It was a more scholarly look at TDR than the first book, and it just did not hold his attention as well as the first book. Yet I know when the third book in this series comes out, he'll be there to get that one as well.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely Read it if You're a Buff and for the Photos
Review: After giving this book a chunk of time to digest, I find myself agreeing with those who have found it Morris' lesser work. Alas, less would be more here. The 864 pages are a bridge too far; I finished them up only with some gritty determination. Take your pick of the minutiae. Some are vivid but doubtful descriptions of unfootnoted events and encounters. Others detail happenings which clearly are accurate, but dry as stone (train schedules, crowd sizes). I can't think of a single memorable verbal image or line about TR, in stark contrast to Morris' first volume with its portrait of a TR stricken by the death of his mother and first wife on the same day, his driving ambition, the messenger wending up the hill bringing word to a young TR of McKinley's death. More the pity, TR is not quite human here but thoroughly historical. Ironically, it is the wonderfully rare photographs, neatly placed within pertinent text, that illuminate and touch: TR strides to work in his first week as President; TR and Alice engage in an intense tete-a-tete; TR and family pose at Sagamore Hill - he the essence of strength, Edith confident, Alice starry-eyed, Quentin affectionately clutching his dad. There are also some fascinating photo (and word) portraits of historical figures, such as a determined Booker T. Washington, elegant John Hay, slick Nick Longworth, world-weary Speaker 'Uncle Joe' Cannon, precise Philander Knox, idealistic John Mitchell, a cerebral William Howard Taft. The shots of TR in candid moments reveal more of him than whole chapters (TR on horseback; on tour (from behind, his right hand reaching for the sky, his top hat held behind his rippling back); on a trek rest with dog Skip on his lap). I'd buy this book for the almost 50 photos alone. The text, which does soar at times, can be a worthy bonus.
Rating: 
Summary: TR in the Oval Office
Review: Edmund Morris returns to Theodore Roosevelt in this volume detailing his time in the White House, from 1901-09. TR moved overnight from being shelved into the vice-presidency straight to the Oval Office after the assassination of William McKinley. From being shunted out of the way by Mark Hanna and the Republican "business as usual" moneymen, Roosevelt started his presidency off with bold strokes, inviting Booker T. Washington to the White House, and pushing for reform against trusts and combinations. As Morris points out however, TR played both sides; in many ways a reformer, in others a conservative.
TR still left office with achievements such as mediating the Russo-Japanese war, negotiating the Panama Canal (and definitely not discouraging a revolution in Panama), and taking on the trusts. Morris' The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt was his masterpiece, and his Reagan bio/memoir was a self-indulgent mess which Theodore Rex goes a long way in overcoming. Still, Morris' breeziness tends to grate; I never really got a true idea of the real politik of the time despite the detailed information. Roosevelt seems difficult to capture in this bio, he seems like a mythical remote figure. Certainly he made clear what a dynamic figure TR was, but he was just a man not a myth. Morris goes overboard on William Howard Taft's girth a bit much; yes he was a big man, but did Morris have to mention it every time he talked about Taft? He was a president and Chief Justice after all. Morris does capture the mentality of the time, writing in the milieu of the first decade of the 20th century, with all the racism, jingoism and social unrest of the time blended into the biography as if told by one of TR's contemporaries. A worthwhile read despite the book's shortcomings.
Rating:
Summary: Very readable, but is it all true?
Review: Subject: Review of Theodore Rex, by Edmund Morris
This well-written biography could convince even skeptics that Theodore Roosevelt was the most interesting man ever to be President of the United States. The book draws the reader into many interesting events during Roosevelt's presidency, adding colorful personalities to the mix. Nonetheless, Morris' use of a fictional character in his biography of Ronald Reagan encourages suspicion. How does the biographer know what Roosevelt was thinking in so many situations? Without exhaustive research into the author's sources, the typical reader will never be quite sure.
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