Theodore Roosevelt

For the last couple of years I've been fascinated with Theodore Roosevelt. There are so many things about him that I find appealing -- his courage, determination, zest for life, devotion to his family. There are, of course, other things less admirable about him, but overall I am really impressed with the man.

It all started when I picked a copy of "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" at the local library. It took me quite a long while to get through this hefty biography -- only to realize that the book ends when Teddy rises to the presidency! So, of course, I had to go on to read Edmund Morris' sequel "Theodore Rex," which covers the presidential years. Then for Christmas last year I received "The River of Doubt -- Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey." Wow, what a great book! This one should be made into a movie. Now I'm reading "Bully Father: Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children." When will it end?

When you read about TR, it takes you back to a time when the country was younger and more vigorous. TR personified all the virtues of bold exploration and American vigor that helped make ours a great nation. We have become soft and dull today by comparison, and I don't think TR would be at all happy with the country's present condition. Here's a great TR quote:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."