I have always been a fan of President Theodore Roosevelt because of his stamina and determination not to give into fear and despair. His life was full of excitement and challenges, most brought about from his own pride and courage.
Currently, I am reading Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris, a biography of President Roosevelt. It reveals TR as a articulate, no nonsense person who wouldn’t take no for an answer. This book follows his journey after President McKinley was assassinated in 1901 through his last year as president in 1909.
“Theodore Rex tells the story of the following seven and a half years–years in which TR entertains, infuriates, amuses, strong-arms, and seduces the body politic into a state of almost subservience to his will. It is not always a pretty story: one of the revelations here is that TR was hated and feared by a substantial minority of his fellow citizens. Wall Street and the white South, Western lumber barons, even his own Republican leadership in Congress strive to harness his steadily increasing power.” (from book jacket)