Theodore Roosevelt began his dynamic political career soon after graduating from Harvard in June, 1880. Through sheer determination, he had developed from a frail boy into a vigorous outdoorsman. He earned a Phi Beta Kappa key as proof of his mental powers, and his family's financial position left him independent enough to choose the road in life which would most challenge these powers.
His political career coincided with times when big business ran riot over public interests, and when corrupt politicians were in league with the "robber barons." At no other time in the history of this country was there such a need for a strong man with a willingness to fight for honesty in government and for protection of individual rights.
Such a man was Roosevelt. Three years in the Dakota wilds taught him how to "rough it." And his Rough Riding days during the Spanish-American War demonstrated the courage he later used in combating the forces of corruption in city, state, and national governments.
When questioned once by reporters on whether he had an ambition to be President, Theodore Roosevelt yelled at them, "Don't you dare ask me that! Don't you put such ideas into my head... Never, never must either of you remind a man at work on a political job that he may be President. It almost kills him politically. He loses his nerve; he can't do his work; he gives up the very traits that are making him a possibility." Although fate did carry him to the White House, he never gave up the traits that brought him there.
Theodore Roosevelt was a man who lived at the peak of his tremendous energy. He was also a man who lived by his principles and who had no sympathy for unnecessary compromise, even when he knew that his independence could cost him his political career. Part of his success in whatever he attempted was due to his unfailing ability to earn the respect of people from all walks of life.
This book presents an inside picture of politics in the period just preceding World War I, an era of great change at home and abroad.
—from the dust jacket
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