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Summary: What a War, What a Life!
Review: In rankings of the American Presidents, the consensus pick as the first great president of the twentiety century was also the youngest man ever to serve in the office: Theodore Roosevelt. Reformer, rancher, conservationist, hunter, historian, police commissioner, and soldier, Theodore roosevelt led a rich and varied life that he vividly recorded in autobiographical writings, letters, and speeches.
This book contains two books, both written by Roosevelt and edited by Roosevelt biographer Louis Auchincloss:
The Rough Riders (1899) is the story of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. This was the unit raised by Roosevelt, trained in Texas and then shipped to Cuba. This was a time when war could still be seen as a romantic adventure -- unlike what happened in France twenty years later. The biggest problems faced by Roosevelt were: the jungle, the heat, hunger, rain, mud and malaria. Kind of incidentally they also had a war to fight.
An Autobiography (1913) recalls his lifelong fascination with natural history, his love of hunting and the outdoors, and his adventures as a cattleman in the Dakota Badlands, as well as his career in politics as a state legislator, civil service reformer, New York City police commissioner, assistant secretary of the navy, governor of New York, and president. What a life.
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