Mornings on Horseback, Teddy Roosevelt's Early Years
Written: Feb 07 '05 (Updated Oct 03 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Interesting and informative.
Cons: Too much information and detail on some of Roosevelt's family and friends that wasn't relevant.
The Bottom Line: At book's end it seemed that, even though he wavered toward life's riches of travel and adventure, Roosevelt was destined to the presidency .
popsrocks's Full Review: David McCullough - Mornings on Horseback
Mornings on Horseback is a biography of Theodore Roosevelt's younger years before he became President of the United States. I have read the author David McCullough before in his biography, John Adams.
Like the Adam's book, McCullough researched his subject in great depth and much of the information is delved from volumes of speeches, newspaper and magazine articles, personal letters, diary notes and other published works of the Roosevelt family, that are blended together, telling an authoritative story including the author's own thoughts and insight. The "Notes and Bibliography" at the end of this 445 page paperback book, printed by Simon and Schuster, take up 50 pages alone. The book is a winner of the National Book Award.
I do want to note that the John Adam's biography happened to be one of the most informative and gripping biographies I have ever read. This author knows how to take information from many sources and arrange them in an interesting and informative narrative. If I ever do get around to reviewing that one, it is sure to receive a five star rating. I digress, back to the subject at hand.
Why I Read About Theodore Roosevelt?
I seem to remember a review in Epinions.com of Mount Rushmore and whether, in its text or as a comment, someone asked why his bust is included with the likes of formidable American presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
I previously had some basic background about the man because of an interest in history and being a New Yorker where he was from and also held office. Teddy Roosevelt also had one of his homes on the North Shore of Long Island, a place I have visited a number of times. The home, Sagamore Hill, was also known as the "Summer White House" when he was president.
Like many other people I knew of his hunting prowess, his world travels, his heroics in San Juan with the Rough Riders and his quick ascent to the presidency where he pushed for and signed legislative acts protecting much of our nations lands. I also knew of his efforts to opening the Panama Canal.
What I didn't know in detail were facts of his formative years; what kind of child he was and the environment in which he lived. This book conveys this information and delivers a detailed lineage along with an account of relationships with persons who influenced his early years.
The Early Years
The book was divided into particular time periods of T.R.'s life. The biography opens by presenting information of how he was influenced by both his father and mother. It also goes into great detail about his days and relationship with his brother Elliott, his sisters and other close family members.
We learn of family travels and the family's place in their world. They were wealthy and influential but not boastful. Theodore's father was businessman who was greatly respected as a gentleman/philanthropist and his mother had southern roots of which her hospitality was a great asset to Theodore's future political dealings. His father was tall and handsome and his mother, who he addressed as "Dear motherling" in personal correspondence, was known to be the most beautiful woman in all New York.
Though I knew a bit about Roosevelt's early childhood illnesses, this biography brings to light his fight with asthma and insight as to whether this was a physical illness or whether particular life events would trigger them. The author makes use of personal notes, diaries, and family letters to make a gentle argument that Teddy may not have liked Sundays and all it brought, like days of long lectures and little social interaction. The authors sources from the documents showed evidence of Saturday night "attacks". When this happened he was either rested or taken to a different atmosphere, where he could breath easier. Many times a seashore.
Another chapter goes through Teddy Roosevelt's "Metamorphosis" from sickly child to strong healthy young man documenting how change of environment and physical challenges through adventure strengthened him in both body and spirit.
The author informs the reader of Roosevelt's days at Harvard and later a chapter chronicles Roosevelt's meeting his, one day to be, wife. Other chapters brought me into the world of his exciting hunting expeditions, and more than a touch of his younger years are discussed in reference to his being a very green politician in the Republican Party.
He was a man who was described as seeing things in clear black and white, and as good and evil. I found this part particularly interesting in that the detail the author gives shows what the man was like and what he believed in and how his outlook on certain issues caused him to be both a great leader and, at times, would be his downfall in early politics. In all matters, even though people would not agree with him, they knew he was honest and forthright man.
This last thought leads me to an incident in one of the last chapters, when he was a rancher out west. One day he found one of his men branding a calf clearly not marked as their own. He fired the guy immediately saying "A man who will steal for me, will steal from me."
One time he was addressing a crowd during a Fourth of July celebration while living in South Dakota. This was well before he ever became mayor or governor of NY, much less Vice-President and President of the nation. In the speech, that was talking of the pioneer type people there and future of the United States of America, he included the lines, "It is not what we have that will make us a great nation: it is the way in which we use it."
From reading the book, these words were echoed in the positive way he lived his life and used power during his presidency.
This book also gives a great amount of information and personal anguish to the tragedy of Theodore Roosevelt losing his young wife, 23, and mother, both unexpectedly, to separate illnesses within the same day.
What I Liked and Didn't Like
I must say that, because I personally know of some of the places that are described in the book, perhaps my interest in the author's writing was enhanced. Having grown up in NYC and visiting it often, I enjoyed following Roosevelt's footsteps walking the streets of New York City's 5th Ave as he made his way to work downtown from his 56th St. home and taking sleigh and horseback rides through the city's Central Park. Because I now live on Long Island I could picture him boating as a youth off the North Shore in the Oyster Bay area and also be familiar with his trips up the lower Hudson Valley visiting extended family and also friends of great wealth, some of whose mansions still stand today and I have been fortunate to have visited. Following Roosevelt's adventures as a hunter, rancher and cowboy in South Dakota's Badlands made a very clear picture of life at the times of places I know fairly well though previous sight seeing.
Seeing McCullough's description of places I'm familiar with gave me great confidence in knowing the pictures he paints in text of other national and world destinations, like his life on the Harvard Campus, a river-ride down the Nile, and a ten month trek through eight countries using just about every kind of transport possible including river and lake steamers, trains, stage coach, carriage, horseback mule, donkey, rowboat and on foot, would be true to real life.
There are two sections within the book that display black and white photos of the man and those he knew. Each section shows about 15-20 photos and drawings. It was good to see the faces of many of the persons I learned of in the book.
On a negative note I found a few sentences within the book that were just a bit too difficult for me to wade through comfortably.
The author also, at times, gave me too much detail about some people in Roosevelt's life. As I read I was waiting to see their connections to him, and in time they were made, but I simply felt I learned more about some people that I really needed or cared to know. It was almost like a second quest within the book, with the author giving extremely exacting colour and description of others who lived in the same times as Roosevelt.
At the same time I was intrigued by the family history.
Though I knew that Theodore Roosevelt was related to Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, distant cousins who married, I didn't recall that he walked her down the aisle on that couples wedding day to give her away to the man who would also become president.
Some early words from letters and diaries of the family described some of Eleanor's looks, mannerisms, and personality and it was entertaining to see how prophetic and also how wrong some of the references to her were years before they became a reality.
In Closing
The last chapter, the Afterward, did give an overall picture of the rest of Roosevelt's life after he returned to NY from the west. It also delivers information of some of the other influential people in his life. It does mention briefly of his "Rough Rider Years, his climb to the presidency and subsequent years of politics, travel and retirement.
The author notes that T.R. happened to be a great conservationist. The book gives a detailed summary of all the many National Forests, Monuments, Parks, bird sanctuaries and game refuges he brought into being. It's my belief that those acts, along with the strong ideals he held like Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln did, are why he is among those great men on a mountain in South Dakota.
All in all I believe the author, David McCullough, did remarkable work in compiling meticulous notes to bring forth an illuminating biography of a man, who like his sculpture on Mount Rushmore, is bigger than life.
Mornings on Horseback is the brilliant biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt. Hailed as a masterpiece (John A. Gable, Newsday), it is the winner o...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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