Theodore Rex [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

Morris, Edmund

Published by Random House, New York, 2001

About this Item

As new condition black boards/black spine/gold spine lettering contained in an as new condition non price-clipped color illustrated dust jacket. Includes Prologue: 14-16 September 1901; Epilogue 4 March 1909; Acknowledgments; Archives; Select Bibliography; Notes; Illustration Credits; and Index. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs, map, and photographic portrait frontispiece. "The most eagerly awaited presidential biography in years, Theodore Rex is a sequel to Edmund Morris's classic best-seller The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. It begins by following the new President (still the youngest in American history) as he comes down from Mount Marcy, New York, to take his emergency oath of office in Buffalo, [over] one hundred years ago.Theodore Rex, full of cinematic detail, moves with the exhilarating pace of a novel, yet it rides on a granite base of scholarship. TR's own voice is constantly heard, as the President was a gifted letter writer and raconteur. Also heard are the many witticisms, sometimes mocking, yet always affectionate, of such Roosevelt intimates as Henry Adams, John Hay, and Elihu Root. ("Theodore is never sober," said Adams, "only he is drunk with himself and not with rum.") TR's speed of thought and action, and his total command of all aspects of presidential leadership, from bureaucratic subterfuge to manipulation of the press, make him all but invincible in 1904, when he wins a second term by a historic landslide. Surprisingly, this victory transforms him from a patrician conservative to a progressive, responsible between 1905 and 1908 for a raft of enlightened legislation, including the Pure Food and Employer Liability acts. Even more surprising, to critics who have caricatured TR as a swinger of the Big Stick, is his emergence as a diplomat. He wins the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing about an end to the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. Interspersed with many stories of Rooseveltian triumphs are some bitter episodes - notably a devastating lynching - that remind us of America's deep prejudices and fears. [The book] does not attempt to justify TR's notorious action following the Brownsville Incident of 1906 - his worst mistake as President - but neither does this resolutely honest biography indulge in the easy wisdom of hindsight. It is written throughout in real time, reflecting the world as TR saw it. By the final chapter, as the great "Teddy' prepares to quit the White House in 1909, it will be a hard-hearted reader who does not share the sentiment of Henry Adams: "The old house will seem dull and sad when my Theodore has gone." - excerpt from the inner front and rear jacket flaps. Seller Inventory # 002336

Bibliographic Details

Title: Theodore Rex [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

Publisher: Random House, New York

Publication Date: 2001

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: As New

Dust Jacket Condition: As New

Edition: 1st Edition