Theodore Roosevelt not only wrote to his kids, but also drew great pictures. One of his best in here is a drawing of TR playing tennis. Before widespread telphones, and certainly prior to cell phones, people seemed to dash off notes to each other more frequently. One school of TR thought says Teddy simply loved writing to his kids in profusion. The revisionist school says, of course he did, since he was so frequently away.

TR's letters to his son Quentin are especially touching, since later on Quentin took a German gunner's bullet through the head over France, driving TR into inconsolate murmerings lamenting the loss of his "Quentee-Quee." The development of these nicknames is chronicled in these letters.

For whatever reason TR wrote them, they read very movingly. TR's own namesake, Ted Jr., tried to pull off the same thing with his kids, documented in another out-of-print book written by Ted Jr (before his early heart attack during WWII) called "All in the Family." Wherein little Ted's mistake is to too slavishly imitate big TR's way of organizing walks, going camping, and dashing off notes. So there is something inimitable here, which should also caution the modern reader from hankering too quickly to start writing letters-a-plenty. But the picture drawing might be OK. What kid wouldn't like a few more scribbled pictures from their dad?

So at least look at the pictures here. Unlike Ronald Reagan's, these were done to and for TR's own kids. Not to dump on Ron, but to perhaps establish a reference point among competing versions of family dysfunction.

This booklet tells the story of Theodore Roosevelt's life from September 6 to September 14, 1901. It is the story of what Roosevelt did after hearing of President McKinley being shot until Teddy became President himself.

After hearing of the attack upon McKinley, Roosevelt quickly took a train from Vermont to Buffalo, NY, to see the President. After being assured that McKinley would survive, the Vice President joined his family in upstate New York, north of Albany. Given Teddy's rural location and primitive communications, there were delays in getting telegrams to him. When it became clear that McKinley was failing, the message was sent for the Vice President to come back to Buffalo. So three different teams of horses and men had to transport Roosevelt in the darkness of night down a sloping and dangerous path for 35 miles. It was during this ride that McKinley died. Roosevelt was delivered to the North Creek, NY, railroad station in record time. From there he took a train to Buffalo where he was sworn in as President.

I used to read Theodore Gardner's column when it was still in the newspaper. It's nice to know that his sense of humor hasn't gone with the column. I heartily recommend this book of humorous essays -- they kept me in giggles for hours. My favorite ones are when he savages actual newspaper articles. Give it a try, it'll have you giggling, too!

I have always wanted to learn more about Teddy Roosevelt's two-year stint with the New York Police Department, and was thus thrilled to find Mr. Jeffer's book on Amamzon.com. While it does do a fairly good job of describing the events as they occurred during Roosevelt's tenure at the NYPD, I found the book on the whole to deliver a very surface treatment of the subject. It is, as one of the other reviewers noted, quite superficial, relying almost exlcusively on anecdotes which seem to have been gleaned from newspapers of the period. What the book is missing is any kind of meaningful insight into TR himself. I have always understood that TR was a prolific letter-writer. I think that this book would have benefitted greatly from the author spending more time relating TR's thoughts, which he must have undoubtedly conveyed many times in correspondence to friends and associates.

COMMISSIONER ROOSEVELT exhibits Theodore Roosevelt's true modus opporandae. There were indeed many obstacles in Roosevelt's path to making a better city police force, however, the American public was, in my opinion, persuaded by eloquent speaking and the media more so then they are today. In all likelihood there is no way Roosevelt could achieve such drastic reform results over a relatively short period of time in the modern world. However, Jeffers' book is not about that issue, this book is about displaying Roosevelt's true core beliefs and the willpower that was within a person who was weak and sickly as a child. Personally I would have liked to have seen more critical material in this book, however, it is a beautiful narrative of how one man was able to make a difference (with the help of the fledgling media). This book should be mandatory reading for all people in the law enforcement field today, it shows all the principals that American's hold dear condensed into one mortal being, Roosevelt.

Commissioner Roosevelt is a great account of Theodore Roosevelt's tenure as New York City Police Commission President. As the head of the three-person board that oversaw the city's police, Roosevelt changed our notion of a modern police department. Even as he attempted to institute reforms he faced down police corruption, ethnic-group protests, government foot-dragging, and machine politics in the land of Tamany Hall. This firebrand commissioner would even prowl the gaslighted streets of Old New York looking for policemen asleep at their posts.

Join Theodore Roosevelt in this crusade to stop crime and corruption in New York. If you enjoyed Caleb Carr's fictional T.R. in The Alienist, you'll probably enjoy the real life crime-buster in Commissioner Roosevelt. (I liked Mr. Jeffers' real one better.) Anyone interested in politics, especially New York or ethnic politics, might like it too.

I've just finished a wonderful book which I'd like to recommend to anyone interested in a good read. Betty Boyd Caroli's, THE ROOSEVELT WOMEN, reads like a good novel. It's filled with interesting stories, enticing gossip, and legendary women, - all combined with good history. Although I was familiar with Eleanor Roosevelt's story, I must admit that I knew very little about most of the Roosevelt women Ms. Caroli introduced me to. These aunts and cousins were role models for Eleanor - women who traveled the world, wrote books, served in state legislatures, even addressed the Republican National Convention - all while raising families and running large households. If you want some insight into the lives of the women in this very special American family, this is the book for you.

I was delighted to read Betty Boyd Caroli's new book, "The Roosevelt Women." While I've read a lot about Eleanor Roosevelt, I knew next to nothing about the other Roosevelt women. According to Caroli's book, ER's aunts had a major influence on her. Perhaps the future First Lady saw in them what strong women could accomplish. The aunts and cousins Caroli describes were quite accomplished in their own right. They wrote books, traveled the world, one became a state legislator and one even gave a speech at the Republican National Convention. While they seemed to have very active lives apart from their husbands, they also played traditional female roles raising children and running large households. "The Roosevelt Women" reads like a novel. It was a pleasure to learn about the other women in this amazing family.

I enjoyed immensely this collective biography of a group of women linked by a family name made famous by two presidents. Each was a notable, and in some cases extraordinary character in her own right. It is not an easy task to untangle and explicate the intricate skeins of nine overlapping stories, but the author succeeds wonderfully by filling her book with memorable details, photographs and contexts for each of these women. I felt very well guided through the complexities of their relationships with each other and to the men of the family, and the influences they exerted, many of which have not been as clearly profiled in biographies focusing on the Roosevelt men. I was grateful for the large doses of social historical context, which helped me appreciate the scope of some of the lesser-known women's accomplishments. Caroli writes in the most affecting terms, clearly delineating each personality in her own right and in terms of the mark she left on American history. The choice to approach these women as a large group differentiates this book from other Roosevelt biographies and underlines the qualities of immense energy, curiosity, and forcefulness of character which are the common threads of these women's lives.

I found it a fascinating read and could not put the book down.

I was very disappointed with John Morton Blum's biography on Theodore Roosevelt. I found it to be poorly written and some chapters were rather ambiguous and confusing.

The first few chapters were good but the book steadily went downhill from there. Theodore Roosevelt was such a lively, exciting character and Blum's book did not bring out any of that excitement. I found the book informative but very boring and dull.

I read this book over twenty years ago and remember it as very well written and particularly illuminating on Theodore Roosevelt's patrician approach to Progressivism. The offers an exciting and concise view of the how Roosevelt established an important, if limited, role for government in American economic life.

It shows how much difference one man can make to both his political party and to his nation. The book was written at a time when the legacy of Teddy Roosevelt was very much in the shadow of FDRoosevelt's new deal. It provides an intense contrast with the current, sorry state of the Republican party and national politics, in general.

This book is great if you want to know everything there is to know about the gilded age, but it is really boring! It reads just like a texbook, so if that's what you're looking for, go for it! I certainly woudn't reccomend it for any light reading.

I guess anybody who enjoys reading about American history, and the way life was back in the day, they'd appreciate this book. All it is, is a compilation of facts, where the author tries to keep out his own opinion, thus preventing biased judgements made on the readers' part. Since I was required to read this book for my AP American history course, I was would not go strolling down a library isle and pick this book off of the shelf... I do not recommend wasting your time and/or money on this pathetic attempt at writing.

I happen to know S. Dennis Cashman personally, so forgive me if I sound biased...to the respondent who said the book represented a 'pathetic attempt at writing'...Mr. Cashman is one of the most brilliant men I have ever known, and one of the finest writers. His thoroughness and understanding of a necessarily dry subject should be applauded for its completeness and accuracy. An essential tool for any student of American history.

This guidebook will help you to find each of the National Wildlife Refuges operated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, in the Rocky Mountain states. There are a 3-4 pages for each refuge, focusing on its history, directions to get there, opportunities for driving, walking, and bicycling in the refuge, and a discussion of major wildlife species protected by each refuge, as well as some of the political issues surrounding certain refuges. I had hoped for some general information on Rocky Mountain wildlife; the book was not at all helpful for that, and had very few pictures or photgraphs of wildlife, but it did alert me to a refuge along the route of my upcoming vacation. So without the book I would have missed an opportunity for some spectacular wildlife viewing with only a 27-mile detour. The book accomplishes its purpose very well; I gave it only three stars because that purpose is very limited.

Teddy Roosevelt is my favorite president. I admire him because we share some of the same characteristics. This book gave a detailed portrait of his life. I think it is an excellent book.

After setting the stage in volume I, Roosevelt falls into a hero worship of the famous names of the frontier and a larger than life portrait of the average, rifle-slinging frontiersman and backwoodsman (words Roosevelt equates with superheroes). While it would be improper to say that Roosevelt strictly confined his second volume to the little details, every page seems to resound with the latest Indian skirmish, a gruesome tomahawking, a white foray or retaliation, and the daily peril of Indian attacks. The American Revolution finds frequent appearance as the guiding backdrop to this volume, with the result being the repeated treatments of the British encouraging the Indians (through payments and promises) to set upon the American settlers. Overall a more specific volume than the first, I left the book thinking the whole nothing but an endless series of Indian battles.