5 comments about I Rose Like a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore Roosevelt.

1. With all the biographies of Theodore Roosevelt available, it might seem superfluous to add this one to your reading list. But this valiant endeavor by journalist and author Paul Grondahl has several aspects that recommend it in addition to, or even instead of, its competitors.
   
   First, "I Rose Like a Rocket," as its title implies, focuses on the rapid political ascendancy of the young Roosevelt, especially on his early careers in Manhattan and Albany. And his was a meteoric rise, from Assemblyman (two years) to civil service commissioner (six years--"the longest he remained in any job" before his presidency) to police commissioner (two years) to assistant secretary of the navy (one year) to New York State governor (two years) to Vice President (six months). The book closes with Roosevelt boarding the train that will take him to the presidency after McKinley's assassination. This account is greatly enriched by the author's meticulous research into Albany's public archives and private collections.
   
   In each position, Roosevelt pursued his persistent, if uneven, battles against corruption and cronyism, and his adversarial style ranged from an early petulance and arrogance to the maturity of an operator who balanced "seduction and flattery" with "intense anger and grudges." Only the office of the Vice President, a "trifling position as McKinley's understudy," seemed a "political dead end."
   
   In addition, the author blends in a masterful account of Roosevelt's personal life: his intensely devoted relationship with his sister Bamie, his short-lived first marriage, the dual tragedy that nearly ended his career, his subsequent life as a family man, and the occasional strains his ambitions brought to his second marriage. Making full use of the hundreds of letters Roosevelt sent to his sister, Grondahl shows there's more depth to the future President than the caricature of the weakling-turned-strongman that Roosevelt himself was so eager to present in his public writings. This is no hagiography: Roosevelt's aims could be as self-serving as they were honorable.
   
   And, finally, the almost-novelistic prose of "I Rose Like a Rocket" is compulsively readable. In spite of its academic vigor and scrupulous research, it's one of the quickest 400-page biographies you're ever likely to read.



2. This new biography focuses greatly on the political career of TR from his early days as a New York State Assemblyman, through his career as a Washington bureaucrat, back to New York City as a Police Commissioner, back to Albany and the New York Governor's mansion, then skillfully bobbing his way to the Vice Presidency, and his fateful ascension to the top office after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. This book has asides on his youth and his non-political life, but the book stops right upon his ascension to the Presidency, for this is all-too familiar territory. What is amazing to contemplate, though, is that TR was only 42 upon becoming President, yet he had nearly two decades of politicking behind him. How so many biographies have glossed over his pre-Presidential political life is beyond me. For it was in these earlier incarnations that the man who became a pro-business, pro-middle class Progressive was born. From his earliest pugnacious encounters with senior politicians ready to literally sandbag him (quoth TR, in response: `I'll kick you, I'll bite you, I'll kick you in the balls. I'll do anything to you- you'd better leave me alone.'), to his strained but admiring relationship with reform-minded Democratic New York Governor and later President Grover Cleveland- including such tidbits as TR's role in shepherding New York's first civil service law, which reduced the power of political patronage brokers, to Cleveland's desk- the book allows insights into TR, the politician and man, from his overt, risk-addicted personality to his covert, subtler manipulations.
   
   The book also sketches a personal side of TR not oft-explored, at least in its relation to his politics, such as his first marriage and widowerhood, and his numerous writing commitments to serial magazines of the day, on a whole assortment of topics. It also details how the man's principles often hampered his overall rise, which was less rocket-like, and more bulldozer-like, especially in his resuscitation of the office of assistant Navy Secretary. Of course, his style of politicking earned numerous enemies, who conspired to defeat his bid for the mayoralty of New York City, stymied many police reforms, and then even tried to deny him renomination after a successful governorship, instead conspiring with him to get him the Vice Presidential nod just to get him out of the state. This was because, despite being a wealthy scion of a centuries old New York Dutch clan, TR had a social conscience- displayed when he championed Jacob Riis's seminal tracts on urban poverty, or when hr took up union leader Samuel Gompers' challenge to visit the vile tenements of the city he was born in. Yes, many of these exploits were media manipulations, but what set TR apart from such latter-day phonies as Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, is that his care for the oppressed was not dependent upon the media glare. He also was pro-business while being pro-corporate responsibility- shrewdly building public support of the state's first tax on corporations. He knew wealth must first be created before it can be distributed. He also gave state employees an eight-hour workday, one of the first such laws in the country.
   
   In short, this book is well worth the read, and has less of the calculated polish of a historian's attempt at hagiography, with none of the self-important puffery, and more of a down and dirty muckraker's attempt to tell a reader about a man who stood up for himself. Ontogeny recapitulates biography, or something like that. Bravo!



3. In today's world, Teddy Roosevelt would be classified as a sickly geek. As a boy, he had severe bouts of asthma, wore thick glasses and even at age 23 only weighed 130 pounds. This book reveals the people and events that shaped his life. He lost a substantial portion of his inherited wealth when the cattle market collapsed in the 1890's.
   
   Teddy really had multiple concurrent careers, he wrote lots of letters on a daily basis, and he also wrote lots of books and magazine articles, which became the backbone of how he supported his family. The salaries for the various political positions that he held were meagar but he had a terrific work ethic and almost unlimited amounts of energy.
   
   This book is also a ray of sunshine and hope. The 1880's and 1890's were full of corrupt political hacks and yet Teddy found a way to succeed without sacrificing his integrity.
   
   This is a great read and it is my pleasure to recommend it to one and all.
   
   I so enjoyed this book that I wish the author would write a follow-up book on his presidency and the remainder of his life.
   
   Linda Moore
   Dallas



4. TR has always been one of my two favorite Presidents (the other being JFK), and this book is more than just your typical biography on him. It takes the unique angle of writing only about TR's life and political career before he became President, starting with his childhood and going through his political development, service in government, personal triumphs and tragedies, stint as a Rough Rider, time as Vice President, and finally having the last chapter be about his famous late-night ride to take the Oath of Office after President McKinley finally succumbed to his gunshot wound. We learn about how his experiences during this part of his life formed his political philosophy and development, making this incredible human being into the astute incredible President and politician he became over time. Mr. Grondahl really knows how to do his research and how to make it interesting and relevant instead of just some dry recounting of facts, names, and dates. It was also an added bonus how the author lives in the same area as I do.



5. This book was an interesting look at the early life of Theodore Roosevelt, but the true masterpiece here is the index. Perfectly alphabetical and full of surnames followed by given names, the index deserves a Pulitzer all its own!

1 comments about The Physical Lincoln Complete.

1. I find the book to be revealing to see how President Lincoln's health was in the large picture. The book is packed with fasinating facts and profound information to make the reader see how one great man as Lincoln was, lived and functioned. This is a wonderful research to any Lincoln scholar, or researcher like myself.

5 comments about Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation: A Biography.

1. Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation is a superb one-volume treatment of America's most important and intriguing figures. Writing a book about a statesman whose career included so many achievements and included so many offices over the course of so many years is a tough task. But author Merrill D. Peterson succeeds in a thoroughly readable account of the author of the Declaration of Independence, our first SecState and our third POTUS.
   
   Peterson's book offers a decidedly sympathetic look at Jefferson and his life. One can't help but come away from reading the book with sense of partiality toward Jefferson. For this reviewer, this perspective was a welcome one, having previously spent much more time reading and reflecting from the Hamiltonian/Marshallian point of view.
   
   As mentioned, the author covers the whole of Jefferson's life. This includes humble beginnings in Virginia, a short law practice, early election as a Burgess, the Governorship of Virginia, service in the Continental Congress, time abroad as an emissary to France, service in the Washington Administration as Secretary of State, a term as our nation's Vice-President, leader of the emerging Democratic-Republican party, two terms as President, and a life of retirement in Monticello. That's a lot. But it necessarily means that the author couldn't delve too deeply into any particular episode. For instance, the suicide of Meriwether Lewis--Jefferson's former personal secretary and the man Jefferson commissioned for the famous expedition--is only mentioned in passing with no reflection on their relationship or Jefferson's assessment of Lewis. Simply put, 1,000 pages aren't nearly enough to chronicle the many facets and events of Jefferson's accomplished life. But this volume makes for a terrific start to a more intensive study of Jefferson.
   
   Along the way, Peterson does take time to reflect on Jefferson's views and actions toward slavery. Nothing groundbreaking emerges, as one comes away with the sense that Jefferson had moral qualms with the institution that was part of the society he was born into, but that he either had no ideas of how to address the problem or the means to do anything. Jefferson's long-standing interest in fighting the Barbary pirates is also of significance to today's readers, as we try to draw lessons from America's past in confronting modern day jihadi terrorism.
   
   Finally, despite all he achieved in life, readers are also confronted with a man who suffered profound loss and sadness. The death of his wife and children aren't addressed at length, but are touched on just enough to convey the sense of grief that the man endured. Sadly, the book also suggests that Jefferson's life of retirement was largely unfulfilled and beset by difficulties that continued until the July 4 day he died.
   
   A good Jefferson biography can be hard to find. I couldn't bring myself to read Joseph Ellis's Jefferson bio, "American Sphinx," since I remain too distrustful of any historian who repeatedly lied about serving his country in war. Peterson's book was the perfect alternative. Unlike Ellis's book, however, you probably won't find Peterson's book at your local bookstore. (Though I did spot a copy in Monticello's gift shop.)
   
   I highly recommend Merrill D. Peterson's "Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation."



2. He does. And this may well be the finest look at him, and the greatest one volume biography in the English language. There are few truly great works of biography, and my list, like the list of most everybody, centers on people I like, and admire...Freeman's massive, multi-volume, studies of Generals Lee and Washington...Robert Douthat Meade's looks at Patrick Henry [two volumes], and Judah Benjamin...Charles Roland's Albert Sidney Johnston...Glenn Robins' Bishop Polk; of course, ANY list, subjective or objective, must have Dumas Malone's six-volume "Jefferson And His Time" at, or near, the top. One man got two of the greatest works? Not surprising; he was quite a man. Peterson and Malone were friends, and colleagues, at the University of Virginia, and had very similar views of Mr. Jefferson; of course, Jefferson has caused a LOT of ink to be used, and always will. The books are good, bad, indifferent, and stupid...with some flat-out lies thrown in. But, there are two truly great biographies available, and one is our subject here....
   
   Thomas Jefferson [1743-1826] crowded more accomplishments, and interests, into one lifetime than seems possible. Yet, for all the huge record he created, both public and private, he remains for us a riddle that we just can't solve. That's true for me, and Dr. Peterson has stated that it's true for him, too. Jefferson can be quoted to "prove" ANYTHING. He who said that "all men are created equal" had some observations on the orangutang. Union was desirable; secession a free choice. Many of the quotes embarass some in our day; with most, we have no earthly idea what he meant, even when we think we do. I may as well state my own theory right here; at least part of the genius of Thomas Jefferson is that he was a man not troubled by contradictions. He was both public and private, theoretical and practical, open and secretive...and it never bothered him a bit.
   
   This is an absolutely outstanding, and very complete, cradle to grave study of Mr. Jefferson. It's ALL here, in detail, from family background on. Details of education, his various "loves" [Betsey Walker is apologized for, and Sally is dismissed], the keys to the founding of America, his repeated "retirements", and "reluctant" returns to public service. Maria Cosway gets plenty of space, though there is no proof that the relationship was anything more than an improper friendship. His service as Minister to France, and his miseries as Secretary of State, and Vice President are looked at in great detail. The breaks with Washington and Adams, the mutual hatred with Hamilton and Marshall, get full coverage. {Marshall, at least, was loyal to America}. Aaron Burr? James Callendar? Yes, they're here, and we wish they didn't have to be.
   Two terms as President, one joyous [LOUISIANA!!], one a real pain......Thru it all, books, debts, books, debts, religion, farming, science, architecture, religion? Monticello, more debts, more books, letters, letters, letters.......[he was NOT an athiest]........
   
   Thomas Jefferson wrote the inscription for his own tombstone [the one you can see at Monticello is a replacement, the original having been taken by souvenir hunters]; he wanted to be remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and the father of the University of Virginia; these subjects are all studied at to perfection.
   
   If you want one complete volume on Thomas Jefferson, start, and end, right here. It is total, comprehensive, and very readable. Dr. Peterson is the greatest living Jefferson scholar. Period. However, it is 1,009 pages of small print. I fear that many of the copies sold end up on shelves, collecting dust. Sad. Don't waste your money just to stick it on a shelf so folks can see how smart you are; that insults Dr. Peterson. I usually recommend the works of Joe Ellis, or Noble Cunningham {NOT Fawn Brodie}, and they're very good, but....If you want it ALL, Dumas Malone is readable, and easily available. One way or another, Jefferson deserves your best effort. He invented America, and as noted in my headline, John Adams' last words were absolutely correct...he, indeed, still survives.



3. I'll start with what I liked about this book. The coverage of the Louisiana Purchase was exciting. Jefferson's ill-fated embargo in 1807 was really well done. The descriptions all throughout the book of Jefferson's underlying politics were enlightening. I certainly understood why Jefferson did what he did.
   
   But if this was the only book you read about the American revolution and its aftermath, you'd think that the word "Federalist" was an obscenity. The book was so over-the-top pro-Jefferson, that it made me doubt the author's perspective on everything. So having trudged through all 1000 pages, I still have no idea what the great things were that TJ did, because according to Peterson, everything was great.
   
   The book should have been 300 or 400 pages shorter. Every event in Jefferson's life is covered thoroughly, but each one goes on a little too long. Actually, if the author had simply taken out the paragraph or two in each section where he blames Hamilton for whatever just happened, I think he would have gotten it down a couple hundred pages on that alone.



4. Over the last several years I've read about 40 presidential biographies, usually relying on Amazon reviewers to point me towards the best and most comprehensive works. I struggled in my choice of a Jefferson biography, but I'm glad I opted for Peterson's work. First, it is a massive 1,000 pages, and it`s not for the faint of heart. While Peterson writes well, he certainly doesn't have the breezy style of a David McCullough or a Robert Dallek. Even hardy readers will feel a bit spent with the complex content from time to time, and I'd doubt most high school readers' ability to wade through the material.
   
   Despite these cautions, I give Peterson's book a very high rating. Peterson captured Jefferson's personality, accomplishments, and flaws. With as complex a guy as TJ, this is not easy. Peterson also describes the conflicts between Jefferson and the various Federalists as well as anyone I've read thus far. Jefferson saw this conflict as more treacherous for the US than the Revolutionary War (and his concerns are highly relevant is viewing today's politics).
   
   The emphasis is on Jefferson and his public life, and to a somewhat lesser extent on Jefferson's private self. It was written many years prior to the DNA testing of Sally Hemmings' heirs, and while Peterson briefly discusses the accusations of a Jefferson - Hemmings relationship, he dismisses it in favor of another Jefferson relative. But Peterson does not overlook Jefferson's conflicts about slavery, manumission, liberty, etc. As with other aspects of Jefferson's life, Peterson presents a comprehensive view and he is willing to point out Jefferson's mistakes. Does Peterson's probable error regarding the Hemming's controversy diminish this biography? Well, maybe, but with a man like Jefferson, this is but one facet of a very thorough and well-reasoned look at a extremely complex man who played a major role in several of the US's most challenging eras.



5. 
   The other reviews here go into some depth on the book, but mine rather is more in the form of a personal testament. There is so much to Jefferson's life, as with our other founding 'fathers' that I will not do him the injustice of trying to sum it up in only a few paragraphs.
   
   When this book came out in 1970 I was in college, I'm now 61 years of age. Gives some indication how long this book has been continuously in print. With good reason for this is probably the best single volume on Jefferson's life ever printed.
   
   When I was at Monticello last year I noticed several books on or about Jefferson in the Mountaintop Shop and Monticello Museum, but prominently displayed too was this volume. Whenever I go to Borders bookstores this volume is on their shelves. It continues to be ubiquitous after almost 35 years.
   
   This book is and has been an essential in my library, along side the Dumas Malone study, as well nigh on to 20 other volumes on Jefferson or his times. Though the subject matter in books on Thomas Jefferson is varied and extensive, this one volume study is an essential one for me.
   
   I recommend it to both the novice or the seasoned Jefferson reader, neither will be disappointed.
   
   Semper Fi.

1 comments about Memoirs: 1939-1993.

1. This autobiography traces Brian Mulroney's rise from modest beginnings in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, a small town on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River. He became a lawyer and corporate executive in Montreal, and rose through the ranks of the Progressive Conservative Party to become Leader of the Opposition in 1983.
   
   In September 1984, Mulroney became Canada's eighteenth prime minister in a smashing election win, as the Tories captured the largest number of seats (211) that any party had won in any election in Canadian history.
   
   After Mulroney became prime minister, he quickly discovered how abysmal Canada's finances were after 15 years of the ultra-free spending Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Mulroney proved not to be as conservative as his contemporaries Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan--he instituted a national sales tax, and refused to cut spending as drastically as some were calling for him to do. Even though he did not do as much as he could have done, he did manage to pull Canada back from the ledge of near-bankruptcy and put the nation on a more secure economic footing.
   
   Mulroney was a staunch ally of Reagan and Thatcher in the fight against Soviet Communism. He negotiated the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, and became a good friend of George H.W. Bush. The two leaders worked together closely following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and during the subsequent Gulf War in 1991.
   
   The prime minister also did his utmost to get the Meech Lake Accord ratified to ensure that Canada did not fragment. It seems that the accord did not pass because, given Canada's vastness and diversity, the only way to bring Quebec into the Constitution would have been a messy solution that would have made no region of the country sufficiently happy, and in the end not everyone was prepared to sign off on such a solution. The accord was not ratified, although it seems that Mulroney did everything humanly possible to bring ratification about. Fortunately, the secession plebiscite later held in Quebec in October 1995, more than two years after Mulroney left office, did not pass.
   
   Americans will remember Prime Minister Mulroney for his support during the Cold War and Gulf War, and for his calm, assured, dignified manner. He also delivered a great eulogy at President Reagan's funeral in June 2004.
   
   And as with any great biography, scattered throughout this book are numerous keen insights into the human condition, making this a long, but rewarding, read.

1 comments about Tad Lincoln's Father (Abraham Lincoln).

1. If you want to know what Lincoln and his family were really like, read this amazing book. Ms. Taft wrote this book in 1931. She played with the Lincoln boys in the White House as a 16 year-old. Her descriptions of the everyday life of the Lincoln's, the White House and the times they lived make you feel as if you ARE there. It's an amazing step back into a time that has been written about by many others, but not from such a perspective. Truly wonderful, simple and illuminating.

5 comments about Is Our Children Learning? : The Case Against George W. Bush.

1. For all of you that voted for him because you were AFRAID OF CHANGE, you get what you deserve. Please by all means read about your emperor. No self respecting rocket scientist would would be caught dead at the same party. So when all you good voters see your social security checks, your lack of health insurance and a cobwebbed covered vehicle in your driveway that you cannot afford to drive, I think you know you is responsible. Like my mom said, "Just because you have money and priviledge does not mean you have brains and couth." Bravo, Mr. Begala.



2. I HAVE read the book and it is great. Don't review(8/9/04) a book you haven't read.



3. Well, here we are in 2005
   Freedom of speech is barely alive.
   Making his mark
   While most the world shudders
   We sit here silenced for fear of what's uttered.
   
   We tried to vote and save the day,
   But that is not the Diebold way.



4. I just bought this book because I thought it would have some funny Texas Bushisms. However, this book was written by Paul Begala (cohost of CNNs Crossfire) about why Bush should not be elected as President in 2000. This insightful book gives details on how Texas's surplus was pandered, a 125 year ban on concealed weapons was overturned (people are even allowed to bring weapons into churches!!) and public school funding was cut, tax cuts to the rich were given and many other things happened where the people of Texas suffered and rich people get very happy. Begala predicted all these same catastrophic events would happen if Bush was elected President. Now it takes guts to have all these assumptions of Bush before he became President in 2000 and Begala did. But what is even more devastating is that every single thing that Begala thought would happen - did!
   
   I wish this was just a horror novel, but unfortunately, it is all non-fiction.



5. Begala's tone is often disparaging and nasty, but it doesn't seem all that bad when you consider who's occupying the White House.
   I gave it four stars because I want to see Bush make for Texas as much as Begala does.

No comments about Watergate and the Resignation of Richard Nixon: Impact of a Constitutional Crisis (Landmark Events in Us History).

No comments about The Johnson Years, Volume Three: LBJ at Home and Abroad.

No comments about American Presidents Eminent Lives Boxed Set: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant.

No comments about G. Washington: Master Mason.