Theodore Roosevelt

Mornings on Horseback – David McCullough

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough
Date read: 2/14/23. Recommendation: 10/10.

The best biography that I’ve read on Theodore Roosevelt—though it only covers his early years from age 10 to 27. These were the years that Roosevelt grew from a fragile child and naive New York assemblyman into a hardened cowboy in the Badlands of North Dakota. McCullough was one of the best biographers and historians we’ll likely ever see. He breathes life into Roosevelt’s coming-of-age, grief, and transformation.

See my notes below or Amazon for details and reviews.

My Notes:

Childhood:
Extremely frail, sickly, undersized, nervous, and timid as a child. Faced chronic stomach trouble, headaches, colds, fevers, and asthma. 

He found joy in adventuring, watching birds and animals, anything to do with nature.

Filled his notebooks with descriptions and observations of ants, spiders, beetles, and dragonflies.

Created his own “Roosevelt Museum of Natural History” in the back hall of the fourth floor of his family home.

Spent childhood summers in houses along the Hudson, riding, swimming, and running barefoot. Went on expeditions with his father to the Adirondacks. It fueled his love for nature and the outdoors. 

Urgency:
Teddy Roosevelt lived his life with urgency, constantly moving and favoring action.

“Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough.” Theodore Roosevelt

“He was a figure of incessant activity, of constant talk, constant hurt, a bee in a bottle.” DM

At Harvard, he busied himself with boxing lessons, dance classes, horseback riding, wrestling, and long hikes. He was always ready to join anything with no questions asked. He held an amazing array of interests. Joined the Rifle Club, Art Club, Glee Club, became president of the Natural History Society, started a Finance Club, was named to the editorial board of the Advocate, the undergrad magazine. 

Purposeful: “The ever-admiring John Woodbury seems to have been alone in his forecast of distinction. Woodbury, as he said later, figured Theodore might amount to something—as a professor of history perhaps—if only because he seemed to know what he wanted. To most others he remained likable but peculiar and much too intense for comfort.” DM

Transforming himself:
Around twelve years old, his father sat him down and said, “Theodore, you have the mind, but you have not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should…You must make your body.”

Teddy started doing daily workouts and built a gym on their own back piazza.

“It was no good wishing to appear like the heroes he worshipped if he made no effort to be like them. Strength had to come first; one must be strong before everything else.” DM

“There was to be a misconception in later years that he conquered his childhood infirmities mainly through willpower and bodybuilding, that he rid himself of asthma by making himself a strong man. But that is not quite the way it happened. First of all, he never would be rid of asthma entirely, and if there was a point at which he clearly found reprieve from suffering of the kind he had known, it came well before he attained anything like rugged manhood. It came when he went to Harvard, when he left home and was on his own in ways he had never been.” DM

“Look out for Theodore. He’s not strong, but he’s all grit. He’ll kill himself before he’ll even say he’s tired.” Doctor Thompson in 1878 cautioning the guides who Roosevelt ventured into the Maine wilderness alongside. 

Skating expedition:
Indomitable will: One bitter winter’s day while he was at Harvard, Roosevelt went with Richard Welling, fellow classmate and future prominent New York attorney, on a skating expedition to Fresh Pond. It was bitterly cold, windy, and the ice was rough. Any sane man would have turned around, but Theodore kept exclaiming in delight as they beat their way across the pond, despite not knowing how to skate very well. “The harder the wind blew, the more miserable Welling felt, the greater Theodore appeared to be enjoying himself.” Welling felt his own grit had never been put to the test as much as it was that day and finally after being out on the pond for three hours and it was too dark to see, Roosevelt suggested they venture back home. 

Early political career:
At 23, he was the youngest member of the New York Assembly (127 members). But nothing seemed to intimidate him, he plunged ahead, deferred to no one. Spent time mingling with the other assemblymen who were farmers, mechanics, liquor dealers, newspapermen, and lawyers.

During his first term in 1882 (five months), he spoke to everyone he could, grilling them for details on how things were done, issues of the day. He was a voracious reader, working his way through stacks of papers every morning. He saw and formed an opinion on seemingly everything. By his second term in 1883, he knew more about state politics than 90% of the members. 

Was relentless in fighting corruption and championing reform. Went to witness and gather information firsthand, as he did with the Cigar Bill. Was willing to change his mind and do the right thing, even if it went against traditional Republican stance. 

“He never doubted the moral virtue of any of his own positions or the need to punish the wicked. (At one point he called for the return of the public whipping post as punishment for any man who inflicted brutal pain on a woman or child.)” DM

Acted as a gentlemen doing his part in the public interest, never signaled that he was a ‘professional’ politician as that would have been the equivalent of calling himself corrupt. “Oddly, for all his quick success in politics, the passion and energy he exuded, he was still unable, or unwilling, to accept politics as his lifework. He never spoke of it as a career or calling.” DM

Tragedy:
On February 12th, Alice (Teddy’s wife) went into labor and had a baby girl, Alice. They telegraphed Teddy who was in Albany the next morning letting him know that mother and child were doing well. A few hours later a second telegram arrived and Teddy rushed for the next train. When Corinne arrived (Teddy’s sister) Elliot (Teddy’s younger brother) famously said ‘There is a curse on this house! Mother is dying, and Alice is dying too.” Mittie (Teddy’s mother) was dying of Typhoid fever and passed away at 3am on February 14th. Alice died at 2pm that same afternoon while Teddy held her in his arms. 

“The sole, overwhelming lesson was the awful brevity of life, the sense that the precipice awaited not just somewhere off down the road, but at any moment. An asthmatic childhood had shown that life could be stifled, cut off, unless one fought back, and all Papa’s admonition to get action, to seize the moment, had the implicit message that there was not much time after all. Father had died at forty-six; Mittie had been only forty-eight; Alice all of twenty-two, her life barely begun. Nothing lasts. Winter waits.” DM

Teddy’s response: Three days later he returned to Albany and was back at work arguing for his Reform Charter Bill. He poured himself into work—writing, writing, delivering speeches, interviewing witnesses, leading inspections. He worked harder, faster, and longer than he ever had before. He was relentless. 

His newborn daughter, Alice, was entrusted to Bamie (Teddy’s older sister). 

On the day Alice and his mother died, Teddy made a large X on the page in his empty diary on February 14th and wrote, “The light has gone out of my life.”

Dakota Badlands:
After the tragedy he faced losing his mother and sister, and losing the fight against deterring the Republican Party from nominating James G. Blaine as the Republican candidate for the presidency in 1884, he left for the Dakota Badlands to go ranching for the rest of the summer and part of the fall. He was still only 25 and despite his defeat in not getting the candidate he hoped for, he left quite the impression. 

In the Badlands, he found a way to unburden himself of the things he couldn’t talk about. Out West, he was able to reinvent himself and be someone entirely different from the man he had been back home in New York. His background, family, education, all the conventions of polite society counted for nothing. Nobody knew him or his family. Everybody was a stranger and preferred it that way. 

“Some days he rode as much as a hundred miles. The dust and heat were terrific. On stifling hot evenings the mosquitoes would rise from the river bottoms in great clouds to make the nights one long torture for men and horses.” DM

“Rugged, bronzed, and in the prime of health, Theodore Roosevelt passed through St. Paul yesterday, returning from his Dakota ranch to New York and civilization.” Pioneer Press as he returned to visit home

Spent close to three years in the badlands and had his own ranch, the Elkhorn, built. During this time, the American public, political allies, political enemies, thought he had disappeared from the public eye and political arena for good. 

“When he got back into the world again, he was husky as almost any man I have ever seen who wasn’t dependent on his arms for a livelihood. He weighed one hundred and fifty pounds, and was clear bone, muscle, and grit.” Bill Sewall

Return:
As soon as he returned to public life, the Republicans asked him to run for mayor of New York. He accepted even though he had no chance of winning. Opponents were Democrat Abram Hewitt and Labor candidate Henry George. Hewitt won, Roosevelt finished third. At 28, he was the youngest man who had ever been a candidate for mayor. 

Presidency:
William McKinley’s assassination in 1901 catapulted Theodore Roosevelt into the presidency and he became the youngest President in history at 42 years old. But well prepared for the job. He had served 6 years as a reform Civil Service Commissioner (under Presidents Harrison and Cleveland), two years as Police Commissioner of New York City, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy on the eve of the Spanish American War, as a colonel in the Rough Riders—and ‘hero of San Juan Hill’—as Governor of New York, and as Vice President. 

Increased the area of national forests by 40 million acres, established five national parks, sixteen national monuments (including the Grand Canyon), 51 national bird sanctuaries, and made conservation a popular cause. 

The Bully Pulpit – Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Date read: 2/10/23. Recommendation: 8/10.

The story of a remarkable friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, the way it built up each man, and eventually tore them both down. Goodwill details their upbringing, the events that shaped their lives, and how they came to navigate their political careers. She also discusses the backdrop of the Progressive era where a new vision for the relationship between the government and the people under Roosevelt’s leadership started to set in. I read this mainly for context on Roosevelt so my notes reflect a narrow perspective. But the entire book is captivating and worthy of its Pulitzer Prize.

See my notes below or Amazon for details and reviews.

My Notes:

Reform:
End of Roosevelt’s tenure, mood of reform swept the country, creating a new kind of presidency. Anti-trust suits had been won and legislation passed to regulate railroads, strengthen labor rights, curb political corruption, end corporate campaign contributions, impose limits on the working day, protect consumers from unsafe foods and drugs, and conserve vast swaths of natural resources for the American people.

“Roosevelt would focus the charge of a national movement to apply an ethical framework, through government action, to the untrammeled growth of modern America.” DKG

Square Deal had awakened the country to the need for government action to allay problems caused by industrialization. 

Friendship between Taft and Roosevelt:
Lifelong, mutually beneficial friendship. No man Roosevelt trusted more to carry out his legacy of active moral leadership and progressive reform. 

Initial foray into politics:
When he began inquiring about the local Republican organization, friends and family warned him that district politics were low and the world of saloon-keepers and horse-car conductors. Rough and brutal men. Started attending monthly meetings. Grew close with Joe Murray, thickset, red-haired Irish boss. Roosevelt later credited him with launching his political career. 

Murray determined that the incumbent Republican assemblyman for the Twenty-first District could not hold his seat in the fall elections in 1881, having been linked to corruption, surprised his compatriots by nominating the 23-year-old Roosevelt. TR was elected as the youngest member of the New York State Assembly. Less than two decades later he would become the youngest president in the history of the United States. 

“His three terms in the New York State Assembly had provided Roosevelt with considerable reason for pride and satisfaction in his accomplishments. He had led the fight against Judge Westbrook and had been instrumental in the passage of both the cigar bill and civil service reform…” DKG

“The assembly had proved a great school for Roosevelt. He had learned to cooperate with colleagues far removed from his patrician background…” DKG

“He fought with gusto against fraud and corruption, delivering speeches studded with bold and original turns of phrase.” DKG

Tragedy:
After Roosevelt’s mother and wife passed away on the same day, he was in a dazed, stunned state. Then he decided (as he learned from his father’s death), that frantic activity was the only way to keep sorrow at bay. But he was a changed man, there was a sadness about his face that he never had before.

Systematically suppressed his wife’s memory, failed to even recognize Alice (his first wife and widow) in his autobiography.

Returning to Albany: Upon his return, he immersed himself in long hours of work and daily sessions. The camaraderie of his fellow legislators helped mitigate his misery. In the weeks that followed he led a torrent of dramatic investigations and eventually nine reform bills were reported to the floor. 

Civil Service Commissioner:
“For sixty years, politicians in both parties had been complicit in a spoils system where officials (postal carriers, typists, stenographers, and clerks) were appointed, promoted, or fired according to their politics rather than their merit.” DKG

From the start, Roosevelt understood that public opinion was the best way to hold party leaders in the cabinet and in the Congress accountable. 

In order to change the average citizen’s attitude toward the spot system and current way of business, he had to instill his own outrage into the public…to popularize the reformist cause and initiate change from the bottom up.

Within his first few weeks, he initiated an investigation into the New York Customs House where he found that clerks were leaking examination questions to favored party candidates for a fee. Issued a scathing report demanding the dismissal and prosecution of guilty clerks. This early action served as notice that civil service law was going to be enforced without fear or favor. 

Leveraged a network of progressive journalists and editors to point out infractions of the law in their localities.

Found that Indianapolis Postmaster, William Wallace, had made a number of irregular appointments that violated civil service standards. Exposed this in the newspaper and it chastened Wallace to change. Within a couple of years his administration was deemed a model of fairness and justice. 

“Roosevelt seemed to feel that everything ought to be done before sundown.” President Harrison, dared not remove Roosevelt despite the feathers he ruffled because he had the influential newspapers supporting him and the public behind his cause of violations of the civil service law. 

“He isn’t afraid of the newspapers, he isn’t afraid of losing his place, and he is always ready for a fight. He keeps civil-service reform before the good people and as the case often is, his aggressiveness is a great factor in a good cause.” The Boston Evening News

When Grover Cleveland was elected asked Roosevelt to stay at his post for another year or two despite not being in the same political party. Theodore got along better with Cleveland than he had with Harrison. Cleveland trusted his even hand.

New York Police Commissioner:
Showmanship: As he approached his new headquarters at 300 Mulberry Street in the heart of Little Italy, he energetically greeted the reported as he sprinted up the stairs, and signaled for everyone to follow as he asked where the offices were and what they should do first. 

He was appointed president of the four-man board and drove the other board members crazy. 

Two sides of his role as police commissioner: 1) daily work of managing the police department, 2) the opportunity to use his position, which encompassed membership on the health board, to make the city a better place to live and work for those whom the conditions of life and labor were hardest.

Corruption: Found new police recruits were forced to pay Tammany a fixed fee for their appointments. The fee was well beyond the means of most, but officers understood they would make the money back with plenty to spare over time. Superintendent Tom Bynes had amassed a fortune of $350k, while his chief inspector Alec Williams could not explain the unusual size of his bank account when forced to testify. 

At his first press conference, Roosevelt announced that appointments and promotions would be based on merit alone moving forward. The police force had heard something similar before, but soon felt the weight of Roosevelt’s pledge. Within three weeks he forced Superintendent Bynes and Alec Williams to resign. He would spare no one in his campaign to root out corruption. 

Roosevelt accompanied reporters on a series of unannounced inspections between midnight and sunrise to determine whether officers were doing their jobs. If he found an officer patrolling his beat and doing a satisfactory job, he would pat him on the back. If he found someone sleeping or slacking off, he would summon them to appear before him the next morning. 

Predawn missions attracted press attention across the country. Roosevelt found them to be great fun but they meant he would go up to forty hours without sleep at a time. 

Sunday Law: passed by state legislature four decades earlier to satisfy rural constituents. No one took it seriously, but it warped into a massive vehicle of police and political blackmail and extortion. Saloons could stay open on Sundays as long as they made monthly payments to police and politicians. Roosevelt enforced the law but pissed off the public who later led a giant protest of some 150,000 people in NYC. Roosevelt attended and the crowd ended up cheering his good humor and the way he poked fun at himself. As November 1895 elections approached, Roosevelt stood his ground. His unpopular stance ushered in a democratic wave of votes, Republican bosses were livid at Roosevelt, blaming him for his uncompromising policy. 

1896 presidential contest between McKinley and Brian gave Roosevelt a path out and a way to earn the good favor of the Republican bosses once more. Traveled through the state and country to stump for the Republican nominee. Lent his energetic voice to McKinley’s campaign—represented his best hope for regaining the confidence of the Republican bosses. Gave all his time, energy, and ability to the work of the campaign. McKinley’s victory helped him get appointed as assistant secretary of the Navy, providing a graceful exit from his post as police commissioner. 

Time as police commissioner had deepened and broadened his outlook on social and economic issues. 

Assistant Secretary of the Navy:
McKinley appointed him as Assistant to John Davis Long because he thought Roosevelt was too eager for war.

As tension with Spain escalated in Cuba, Roosevelt did everything he could to prepare the U.S. Navy for war. Ordered the purchase of guns, ammunition, supplies, created war plans, scheduled additional gunnery drills, stocked distant supply stations with coal. 

In January 1898, McKinley agreed to ration the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor as “an act of friendly courtesy” to the Cuban people. Resisted mounting pressure for intervention. Then on February 15th, the Maine exploded killing 262 Americans. The cause of the explosion was never determined with certainty, but the blame was affixed to the Spaniards. 

Lieutenant colonel:
The country moved towards war with Spain in 1898, Roosevelt could not pass up the opportunity to go to Cuba and test himself on the field of battle.

Acted as lieutenant colonel under his friend Leonard Wood. 

“The press found the story of the so-called Rough Riders irresistible from the start—a volunteer regiment in which cowboys, miners, and hunters served on an equal footing with Ivy League graduates, Somerset Club members, polo players, tennis champions, and prominent yachtsmen.” DKG

“Up and up they went in the face of death, men dropping from the ranks at every step. The Rough Riders acted like veterans. It was an inspiring sight and an awful one…Roosevelt sat erect on his horse, holding his sword and shouting for his men to follow him until they gained the summit at last.” 

Spanish surrendered thirteen days later, by the middle of August, four months after the war began. Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were on their way to a triumphal homecoming. 

Governor of New York:
Inaugurated as governor of New York on January 2, 1899 in Albany. 

Relentless work ethic: He was unlike any governor New York had known. Arrived in the office well before the usual hour of 9am, sorting through hundreds of letters that arrived each morning. At 10am started his official day, spending an hour with assemblymen and senators, followed by rapid-fire meetings with political delegations, members of his administration, and individual petitioners. Returned home somewhere around 5-7pm. Evening hours were set apart for his literary work, socializing, reading, and spending time with his family. 

Vice President:
Roosevelt was horrified at the thought of spending four years as VP. “His friends were in despair, his enemies triumphed. At last they had him where they wanted him.” Jacob Riis