Theodore Roosevelt Jr.: The Life of a War Hero

Rating:
Summary: Not the Morris/McCullough-quality!
Review: I enjoyed the book regarding TR Jr.'s time as governor of Puerto
Rico and the Phillipines and World War I & II because I didn't know much about his life during these periods (except what Ed Renehan and Sylvia Morris wrote in their books). What I did not like about Jeffers' book are a few errors he put in, which could have been avoided by better research: For example, he wrote a few times (like on page 28) that TR (the president)said that he feels "as fit as a bull moose" in 1898! As far as I know this expression was coined only in 1912 when a mad man tried to kill TR in Milwaukee. He also writes twice that "The Roosevelt family of Sagamore Hill" was written by Mr. Harbaugh (pages 16 and 30). We know that Hermann Hagedorn wrote this great book!
It is amazing how many qualities of TR we can find in his oldest son! Jeffers book is a good read, but from my point of view not the great narrative as we know it from Edmund Morris or David McCullough!

Rating:
Summary: Generally quite good
Review: I enjoyed this book for the most part and found it largely accurate. There are a few little glitches, however. For example, TR Jr. is NOT, as the book suggests, buried at Sagamore Hill. He is buried at the American Cemetery, Normandy. That being said, Jeffers has generally done a very good job of summing up a fascinating man. For those interested in TR and his children, I'd also recommend Edward Renehan's THE LION'S PRIDE: THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND HIS FAMILY IN PEACE AND WAR, published by Oxford University Press and available through Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: Like father, like son...
Review: I have waited a while for a biography of TR, Jr. I have read "The Lion's Pride" (highly recommend this as well). Although the first few chapters of the book talks more of TR than his son, it is an overall very interesting read. I find it amazing how much TR, Jr. followed in the footsteps of his father.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about an amazing man who led an extrordinary life.

Rating:
Summary: Like father, like son...
Review: I have waited a while for a biography of TR, Jr. I have read "The Lion's Pride" (highly recommend this as well). Although the first few chapters of the book talks more of TR than his son, it is an overall very interesting read. I find it amazing how much TR, Jr. followed in the footsteps of his father.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about an amazing man who led an extrordinary life.

Rating:
Summary: A book you can't put down!
Review: If you've seen "The Longest Day," you've at least heard of Theodore Roosevelt Jr. If you haven't then, sadly, you may not be aware of his existence. But "Theodore Roosevelt Jr., The Life of a War Hero" by H. Paul Jeffers will change that for anyone lucky enough to come across this fasinating biography. There's no doubt that biographies can be dry, little more than a desert of data. In "Theodore Roosevelt Jr.," Mr.Jeffers virtually brings to life a man who was, in his own way, as interesting a man as his famous father. I loved the tales of the early years of the Roosevelt children, Father Roosevelt's "bunnies." Mr. Jeffers cleverly weaves the personal and public in such a way that you feel you're reading about people you'd like to have known. During World War I, "Ted" became the youngest regimental commander on the front, winning the admiration of all who came into contact with him. After the war, he was responsible for the formation of the American Legion and was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy. From this point, the reader follows a full and varied career as he served the country as Governor of Puerto Rico and then Governor of the Philippines. During W.W.II, Ted was back in uniform as a colonel and then as a brigadier general. He was the oldest American to land with the first US forces on Utah Beach, despite arthritis so severe he was forced to carry a cane. He was eventually awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and was, in the words of General George S. Patton..."the bravest soldier I ever knew." If you think you don't like biographies, think again. With this well researched and beautifully written life of Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Mr. Jeffers earns further acclaim as an outstanding historical biographer. This is truly a book you can't put down.

Rating:
Summary: Jeffer's Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.: Life of a War Hero
Review: In general, this is a good biography and reference source on Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. The bibliography of suggested readings by and about Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. is the most comprehensive one I've found. My only criticism is that whole sections of this book appear to consist of re-workings of two earlier books on Roosevelt -- Edward Renehan's The Lion's Pride and Mrs. Roosevelt's memoir, The Day Before Yesterday. Those who have already read the two earlier books may feel somewhat let down by the lack of new information. Otherwise, this is book is enjoyable and uplifting. The many anecdotes of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.'s courage, common sense and humanity (not to mention his complete lack of self-absorption) are encouraging and make this book worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Jeffer's Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.: Life of a War Hero
Review: In general, this is a good biography and reference source on Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. The bibliography of suggested readings by and about Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. is the most comprehensive one I've found. My only criticism is that whole sections of this book appear to consist of re-workings of two earlier books on Roosevelt -- Edward Renehan's The Lion's Pride and Mrs. Roosevelt's memoir, The Day Before Yesterday. Those who have already read the two earlier books may feel somewhat let down by the lack of new information. Otherwise, this is book is enjoyable and uplifting. The many anecdotes of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.'s courage, common sense and humanity (not to mention his complete lack of self-absorption) are encouraging and make this book worthwhile.

Rating:
Summary: Good, solid biography of an important but overlooked America
Review: Theodore Roosevelt Jr.: The Life of a War Hero
by H. Paul Jeffers is a solid, well-researched biography of a man whose accomplishments would have been more widely publicized if not for the famous name he had to bear in life. Roosevelt, Jr was a man with a strong personality and great capability who made his own mark on the first half of this century through his public service and experiences in both world wars. Jeffers sets Roosevelt, Jr in the context of his famous family and then proceeds to make a strong case as to why he deserves to be remembered in his own right. In "Mornings on Horseback," David McCullough described how Theodore Roosevelt, Sr grew up in a close and insular family that provided strength and love to each member. Clearly, the senior Roosevelt brought this lesson to his own family which spurred them on to great accomplishments. Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Great subject- Good treatment
Review: Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. is an authentic American hero whose place in history has been overshadowed by his father's greatness. H. Paul Jeffers attempts to redress this unfortunate circumstance with the first book-length biography of the younger Roosevelt (known as Ted).

Brigadier General Ted Roosevelt was the oldest man ashore in the first wave of the Normandy invasion, hobbling on to Utah Beach with the benefit of a walking stick. This scene is memorably portrayed by Henry Fonda in the D-Day classic, "The Longest Day."
His determined, steadfast leadership at Normandy earned Ted the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The D-Day heroics were the culmination of a full life that followed a pattern eerily -- and no doubt consciously -- reminiscent of the elder Roosevelt's. Ted, a highly decorated combat veteran during World War I, attempted to translate his war-time noteriety into a political career. Lacking his Dad's vote-getting prowess, however, Ted's bid for the New York Governorship was thwarted by the charismatic Al Smith, one of the premier politicans of his era. Ted never ran for elective office again. Instead, he excelled at volunteerism -- he helped to found the American Legion -- and served with distinction as the appointed Governor of both Puerto Rico and the Philippines. His benevolent administration of the Philippines in the early 1930s paved the way for that archipelago to achieve independence.

Sharing his dad's predilection for outdoor adventure, Ted and his brother, Kermit, together conquered the Himalayan Mountains. Later, Ted's travels took him to places like the Khyber Pass and Peshawar that are often in the news today.

Like many Americans, Ted Roosevelt initially opposed American involvement in World War II. But when the clarion call of service sounded, Ted, well into his fifties, rushed headlong into the fray, participating in allied actions in North Africa and Sicily.

Roosevelt died of heart failure just weeks after the Normandy Landing, and like his father, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. The Roosevelts joined the MacArthurs as the only father-son MOH winners in American history.

I recently "discovered" the author, Paul Jeffers, and find him to be an engaging biographer. He's also quite prolific. In the past two years, he's churned out biographies of Grover Cleveland and the Gilded Age denizen, Diamond Jim Brady, in addition to this one on Ted Roosevelt. And I see where he's slated to unveil a biography of Fiorello LaGuardia later this year. All the Jeffers biographies are excellent reads that entertain while they enlighten.