“Teddy” Roosevelt (to use a diminutive he hated), was tailor‐made to be the first president of a new century. He embraced the job with gusto and seemed to take Washington and the country by storm. He had a freshness and energy that contrasted sharply with his more staid predecessors. But historians have long argued over whether this superficial sparkle was anything more than topshow. Real achievement is different: that has to be sweated for.
To start with, let us give Roosevelt his due. It is a well‐established point that he brought a touch of modernity to the White House. For one thing, he saw the presidency as a source of executive power – a way of getting things done, not simply a chance to preside; secondly, he knew that in an era of mass circulation newspapers and a growing electorate, successful candidates would have to project themselves across a bigger screen. TR became a political showman of the first order. The bluster, the foreign adventures, the oft‐quoted sound bites all gave an air of theatricality to the Roosevelt years. “That damned cowboy” was just what Washington needed to shake it up a bit. The idea of him conducting an election campaign from his front porch, as McKinley did in '96, would have been inconceivable. What Roosevelt would have done with modern media! Roosevelt's third claim to modernity lies in his policies: conservationism, the regulation of business and his assertive foreign policy. In these he was giving voice to trends that were already partially developed, but it was a louder voice. The White House made him the chief engineer of these reforms, a position that offered him unique opportunities. But the question remains: did he use them to the full?
The other arms of America's tripartite constitution were not especially liberal at this time. The Fuller Court was determined to uphold freedom of contract against the more regulation‐minded progressives. As for Congress, it is true that the President had a Republican House and Senate for the whole eight years. But this did not necessarily work to his advantage. He faced many deep‐dyed conservatives in positions of power: “Uncle Joe” Cannon in the House, controlling the bills and committees; and Old Guard figures like Platt and Aldrich who held sway in the Senate. Congress was not a hospitable place for progressive reform.
Historians love writing about Roosevelt: he is a many‐sided man. For the authors of a “companion”, rich pickings are in store. Amongst the chapters in this book are Roosevelt as an urban progressive in his native New York, Roosevelt at the Navy Department, as a rough‐rider, as a family man, as business regulator, as a big game hunter. In one trip to Africa his party killed over 11,000 animals – it was a different age. Apart from a few chapters on personal matters (Roosevelt was a great family man), the editor, Serge Ricard, has achieved a fair balance between TR the domestic reformer and TR the international meddler and broker of deals. But I feel too much space had been devoted to the international side: 13 full essays. Do we really need a separate chapter on Roosevelt's relationship with France? On the other hand, greater attention might have been given to his relations with Congress and his (admittedly limited) efforts at business regulation and progressive reform.
It is refreshing to see that space has been given to Roosevelt and America's minorities. That field was not, at the time, an especially prominent issue in national politics but it is a revealing side of Roosevelt's character. Roger Nichols contributes a short piece of Roosevelt's lop‐sided attitude to the Indians (summary: a cruel and primitive people who might, with care, be part‐raised to the white man's standard of civilisation whilst never actually realising it). Adam Burns writes about Roosevelt and black Americans. Here the president's views are less easy to categorise. He wrote: “The only wise and honorable and Christian thing to do is to treat each black man and each white man strictly on his merits”. He appointed a few black officials to government posts and, famously, invited Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House. Yet lynching was still commonplace during this period (about 100 a year) and not only in the South. The Roosevelt Department of Justice made some limited moves against lynching and debt peonage among black farmers, but these problems were not high on the President's list of priorities. Perhaps it would be anachronistic to ask for more.
In the middle of all the policy talk, some sections of the book come as a refreshing change. An example is Roosevelt and the Joys of Family Life by Jon Brudvig. The warmth and closeness of Roosevelt's family relationships was genuine and it mirrored the strong relationship he had had with his own father. As a solicitous parent this young president sometimes put family obligations before his role as a public figure. Soon, for the first time in a long time, visitors to the White House heard something new: the sound of children playing. It is always nice to see the human side of a great man.
Another of the non‐political entries is Roosevelt in Africa. The big safari that he embarked upon shortly after the Presidency sets modern teeth on edge, but it was sponsored, somewhat reluctantly, by the Smithsonian. TR and his travelling big‐game show killed huge numbers of animals, ostensibly as scientific exhibits. The Roosevelt party, the largest on record, wound its way from British East Africa up the Nile to the Sudan. Lavishly equipped with imported foods and TR's travelling library, it edged North, slaughtering beasts until it had had enough. But the trip did achieve one thing: $50,000 for the magazine articles that TR sent back to America (a million in modern money).
Twenty‐eight men and women have helped to write this book. They are a mixed bag of academics from the USA, Canada, Britain and France. The template has remained the same as in other additions to the series: comprehensive coverage, a crisp and economical style of writing with frequent references to other secondary sources, a very full list of books on the subject (about 15 per cent of the whole text) and a fair index. There are no pictures to distract the reader from the essays. Kathleen Dalton contributes a short essay at the end on Roosevelt's legacy, both as an international statesman and a forerunner of the welfare state. TR, let us remember, made health care reform an issue in the campaign of 1912.
The format of this book is identical with others in the series: a large octavo containing around 30 essays of varying length. It is solidly made and will last. It comes as a hardback and, somewhat more cheaply, as an e‐book.
