In this lively biography, Edmund Morris returns to the gifted, energetic, and thoroughly controversial man whom the novelist Henry James called "King Theodore." In his two terms as president of the United States, Roosevelt forged an American empire, and he behaved as if it was his destiny. In this sequel to his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Morris charts Roosevelt's accomplishments: the acquisition of the Panama Canal and the Philippines, the creation of national parks and monuments, and more. "Collaring Capital and Labor in either hand," Morris writes, Roosevelt made few friends, but he usually got what he wanted--and earned an enduring place in history.

Morris combines a fine command of the era's big issues with an appreciation for the daily minutiae involved in governing a nation. Less controversially inventive, but no less readable, than the Ronald Reagan biography Dutch, Theodore Rex gives readers new reason both to admire and fault an American phenomenon. --Gregory McNamee

Theodore Rex is the story—never fully told before—of Theodore Roosevelt’s two world-changing terms as President of the United States. A hundred years before the catastrophe of September 11, 2001, “TR” succeeded to power in the aftermath of an act of terrorism. Youngest of all our chief executives, he rallied a stricken nation with his superhuman energy, charm, and political skills. He proceeded to combat the problems of race and labor relations and trust control while making the Panama Canal possible and winning the Nobel Peace Prize. But his most historic achievement remains his creation of a national conservation policy, and his monument millions of acres of protected parks and forest. Theodore Rex ends with TR leaving office, still only fifty years old, his future reputation secure as one of our greatest presidents.

I heartily agree with other negative reviews of this book. I have voraciously read most of David McCullough's books, along with a host of other authors' historical works, and I so wanted to like this book. It lived on my nightstand for months, and unfortunately its only virtue was that it routinely put me to sleep after a page or two every night. I had borrowed it from a colleague, and eventually returned it only partially read. Lest one think that my "boredom threshold" may be a a bit low, realize that I have stayed up nights reading many English gardening books that I find "thrilling" by comparison to this book! Clearly I'm not planning on seeking out any additional works by Morris.

I came to an interest in the life and times of Theodore Roosevelt via a roundabout route. I am a big fan of his Confederate Uncle James Dunwoody Bulloch (1823 - 1901), the man who, almost single-handed, organised the building and the cruising of the CSS Alabama that, in turn, nearly turned the tide in 'The War for Southern Independence.'

(Captain Bulloch died in exile in Liverpool in 1901 at the age of 77. In his will he left $30,000 to his nephew, Theodore Roosevelt, soon to become the 26th US President. His gravestone is inscribed "an American by birth, an Englishman by choice").

There is little doubt that Roosevelt was proud of his Southern relatives and his Southern blood, though he was, through his paternal line, an instinctive Northerner (not necessarily a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee, though he went to Harvard and was Republican in much of his politics).

Anyway, my first subject-specific Roosevelt reading was David McCullough's 'Mornings On Horseback,' a marvellously moving account of TR's tortured childhood and younger manhood. There is little doubt that the first President Roosevelt was a complex and intriguing figure as well as being attractive in his own right, notwithstanding any of his amazing political achievements. I don't much care for Republicans but, from a very mixed bunch, it is easy to select TR and Ronald Reagan as having been hugely successful and it is very fitting that the former should have had his visage carved by Gutzon Borglum at Mount Rushmore. (There seems to me to be a strong case for the latter to be likewise immortalised).

I told my better-educated and extremely well-read brother-in-law of my growing interest in TR and he promptly lent me two more volumes, the twin subjects of this review, Edmund Morris's 'The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt' and 'Theodore Rex,' which deal in sequence (and do read them in sequence, please) with TR's life until September, 1901, when an assassin did for William McKinley in Buffalo, New York, and TR was translated from Vice-President to President, and then (in 'Theodore Rex') from his succeeding to the office of President until his departure from the White House in 1909.

The two books are big 'uns - 920 pages and 772 pages respectively - and they are thoroughly researched (with extensive notes in each case) as well as being beautifully written. Edmund Morris is evidently an extremely well-read author and his subject was obviously an amazingly well-read gentleman. The books are not just about being learned and being successful in politics and statecraft, however, for TR's life was so full of adventure, too, and, even if he had not been President, such a man would have justified and merited any number of biographies.

What did I learn? Well, I learned more about New York City and some of its more shady inhabitants; I learned more about Harvard and its habits and habitués; I learned more about the truly Wild West; I learned more about New York State politics; I learned more about the increasing influence of the United States in the latter part of the nineteenth century; and I learned about some people of whom I had never before heard - Marcus Alonzo Hanna, Elihu Root, Philander Chase Knox, Joseph Benson Foraker and Archibald Willingham de Graffenreid Butt - and, no, I have not invented any of these gloriously-named men - as well as some of whom I had heard, such as William Jennings Bryan, the Democrat who might have been a successful Presidential Candidate (and a successful President) had he not been faced with TR or TR's man, William Howard Taft.

And what are my conclusions after so much enjoyable reading? Well, first, I believe that TR made a big mistake in not seeking a second successive elected term - and possibly a third, for it was perfectly legal then - as a Republican: he was a better man than the fat and lazy Taft and the world's history may have been very different had TR been around to counter the Kaiser instead of the useless Taft or the over-intellectual and over-idealistic Woodrow Wilson; second, it has become obvious to me that TR was nothing short of brilliant in his dealings with such as the Panama and Venezuela crises; and, third, it is just possible that there may have been more to TR's relationship with the charismatic Archie Butt who was to die an heroic death when the Titanic went down. How 'bully' it would have been if the vigorously masculine and ultra-heterosexual TR had discovered a different sort of closeness to the unmarried Butt!

I cannot wait much longer for Edmund Morris's projected third volume on TR: a buyer awaits its emergence here in England.

I began Theodore Rex with some suspicious as it was my first biography. But I was really surprised to reach the end so rapidly and easily.
TR is a remarkable biography of a great American president leading the country that was going to be the biggest power of 20th century. Reading it has been an exciting ride inside American history and society of that time, the more interesting for me as at my school they didn't teach that.
From Morris I learned how Roosevelt was audacious and resolute from dealing with its rivals to standing up to the extremely powerful funds, ambitious in the dealing of the Panama strait issue. He assertively gained fame on the world stage and was among the first to understand the strategic importance of the US navy - he prompted its build up. He's been innovative in setting up a modern presidential campaign and many other achievements I l found out.
The author skillfully gives also space to Roosevelt himself, a versatile man with peculiar characteristics. With him the White House welcomed an outdoor man that liked to take active rest from the intellectual endeavor and a large family whom he adored. Maybe the author could have improved such insight that represents an added value any good biography should give to the reader.
Roosevelt emerges as an impressive figure, multicultural and eclectic, histrionic and hyperactive.
I look forward to read also `The rise of T.R.' by E. Morris as to complete Roosevelt's picture with him as a young man and the early experiences that marked his life.

I have twice tried to get through this book, but I'm finally giving up for good. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (Morris) was a spectacular book, so I really wanted to like this one, too. I don't know what happened, but both Teddy and Morris got incredibly dull this time around. The book just moves at a painfully slow pace and includes way too much irrelevant detail.

Edmund Morris has devoted a rather large book to only little more than 8 years of Theodore Roosevelt's life. In his second book of the three part treatise of Theodore Roosevelt's life, Morris has to deal with a great amount of activity of a hands down most energetic President ever.
Mr. Roosevelt remains to this day, the youngest President ever to hold office. Following the death of William McKinley, he took over the helm of government. It was Teddy who ushered America into the ranks of the world's great powers. Roosevelt, who was McKinley's assistant Secretary of the Navy later expounded the virtues of a dominant and large Navy. Teddy also saw the need for a Navy that would dominate not only in the Atlantic but also the Pacific oceans.
Hence the building of the Panama Canal in which Roosevelt was instrumental in the revolution in the Colombian province of Panama. Later with the Army Corps of Engineers under the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt would construct the engineering wonder of the world with the making of the Panama Canal.
Roosevelt not only was a flag waving proponent of "Speak softly and carry a big stick", he indeed did act silently as in his warning to Germany against forcibly collecting debts owed it by Venezuela, which he backed up his warning with Naval exercises off Puerto Rico. This was his way of enforcing the Monroe Doctrine.
TR also gained a reputation as a peacemaker. He was instrumental in negotiating the terms to end the Russo-Japanese War which earned Roosevelt the Nobel Peace Prize.
Later his "big stick policy" carried through with his great White Ship Armanda traveling around the World.
In domestic affairs Roosevelt became known as a trust buster who indeed did try to contain the large bank robber barons and cartels that became prevalent in the late 1800's unto the 20th Century.
Just in outlining Roosevelt's achievements is a task. He was indeed tireless. Everything was a challenge, and he never sat back and rested. It was always full steam ahead.
Edmund Morris' prose reads like a novel. His research and due diligence is well known. He indeed is a perfectionist. His books are well researched as can be seen as to how long it takes to write these excellent scenarios.
I am looking forward to the later years of Theodore Roosevelt. If it was anything like the first two books, we are in for a treat.