Theodore Roosevelt: Larger than Life, by Paul Clee, Published by The Shoe String Press, Inc.

A Linnet Book
Grades 7-up
2003
xvi, 184 p., illus., bibliog.
Cloth, 0-208-02510-3
$25.00

Reviewers praise this big biography of a big man:

“Livelier than most presidential biographies, this is engaging as well as informative.”— Booklist (1/15/03)

“When living at his summer White House, Roosevelt would often take his children on a four- or five-mile hike, walking straight through ‘the fields and over the fences, across ditches and pools, and even. . . up and down a haystack, if one happened to be in the way.’ Portrayals of this kind of direct, focused energy often overshadow Roosevelt the political animal, the dedicated scholar, and the principled reformer that Donnelly ably presents. Sure, he includes familiar stories of Roosevelt building up his frail body, roughhousing with his children, and charging into the Spanish-American War, but he tempers these accounts with a look at the politician who shrewdly chose a career of public service and nurtured that career through well-thought-out alliances and appointments. The book’s introduction sets the historical stage, giving a political, economic, and social overview of American life in the nineteenth century. Donnelly carefully builds on that history, connecting national and international movements to Roosevelt’s career and personal life without appearing to divert readers from the story at hand. And what a story it is, filled with great successes, great failures, and great contradictions. It’s also a complex story, and Donnelly doesn’t avoid that complexity but instead presents Roosevelt as a flawed hero. . . . “ — The Horn Book (4/03)

“A good addition for libraries that need more on the man.” —School Library Journal (3/03)

Theodore Roosevelt

Larger Than Life

by Matt Donnelly

Theodore Roosevelt was a man who seemed to have endless reserves of energy. Only forty-three years old when he entered the White House, he was, in 1901, the youngest president ever and was re-elected three years later by the largest margin in history. This is his biography.

To readers a century later, Roosevelt seems like a contradiction. A hunter whose home at Sagamore Hill was adorned with game-heads, he was also a lifelong naturalist and an ardent conservationist, responsible as president for establishing many millions of acres of public land. A reformist politician with sympathies for the downtrodden at home, as an imperialist he had no trouble supporting revolution abroad to further U.S. access to the Pacific. A loving family man who played with children as if they were puppies, he could be downright vicious to political opponents. And finally, a vigorous soldier and rancher, Roosevelt also led the bookish life of a prodigious reader and author of many published books.

As this book shows, it is precisely these paradoxes that make Roosevelt such an awesome figure in American history. Through hard work he virtually created himself from his sickly boyhood into a dynamic man of his time, whose determination to do what he thought was right for America was matched by his prodigious appetite for knowledge and for life.

About the Author

Matt Donnelly has worked in variety of editing and writing jobs in publishing. He holds an MA in theology, and a degree in political science from Northeastern University. This is his first book for young people.

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