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The Roosevelts: An American Saga

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This book is by far one of the best sources on the Roosevelt family. The authour makes much of the family divisions, but weaves together a masterful portriat of the two sided Roosevelt clan. The "Oyster Bay" clan (T.R.) and the "Hyde Park" clan (FDR) You'll read about T.R's early life struggles, his warm relationship with his children, and his bravery. You'll read about Franklin and Eleanor's difficult childhoods and marriage, Franklin's infidelties, Eleanor's possible lesbianism and anti-semitisim and Alice Roosevelt Longworth's famously sharp tounge. This book is hard to put down, a great read!!

Generally thought of as a privileged and political family, one that produced two presidents, the Roosevelts were actually a house divided. The divisions marking this political dynasty are thoughtfully and engrossingly chronicled by the co-authors of "The Rockefellers, The Kennedys, and The Fords."

The Oyster Bay Branch of the family was headed by Theodore, a loving, outgoing husband and father, who described his fourth child, Archibald, as "a cunning little polyp." As adults these children became involved in government and the workings of their communities.

Theodore's younger cousin, Franklin, was viewed by members of the Oyster Bay branch as somewhat of a playboy, whose future was uncertain. He married Theodore's favorite niece, Eleanor, with whom he shared a strained relationship and became a rigid and distant father. Franklin's children's adult lives were marked by numerous marriages and scarred by personal tragedies.

The story of the Roosevelts is a dramatic one, filled with intrigue, machinations, and intense rivalries. The characters are larger than life, but then so is their saga.

- Gail Cooke

Peter Collier's The Roosevelt's: An American Saga, is a fascinating look at this famous family. Most people have a general knowledge of presidents Theodore Roosevelt (TR) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), but they may not be aware of the extended family history.

The saga of the Roosevelt's in America begins with the arrival of Claes Martenszen van Rosenvelt in the 1600's. But this story really belongs to TR and FDR. The two presidents were 5th cousins, and came from different branches of this prolific family. TR was part of the Oyster Bay clan, while FDR came from the Hyde Park branch. Their families weren't particularly close, although they did move in the same New York social circles. They even pronounced their names differently ("Roos-e-velt" vs. "Rose-e-velt").

TR blazed a political path as he became governor of New York, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, vice president, and then president. TR wanted his son to continue his political trailblazing, but the young Teddy Jr. was unable to do so. Along came FDR and while he belonged to a different political party, he followed TR's example almost to the letter (governor of New York, Assistant Naval Secretary and then president). But instead of bringing the families closer together, it actually drove a wedge between them. FDR was always considered a lightweight by the Oyster Bay side. Now he was looked upon as a traitor and a usurper. Some of the Oyster Bay Roosevelt's even campaigned against FDR. Eleanor Roosevelt (an Oyster Bay Roosevelt who married her Hyde Park cousin) was a bridge between the two groups, but even that wasn't always enough. While everyone tried to remain civil, it wasn't always possible. For a time, Alice Longworth (TR's oldest daughter) was banned from the White House because of her vitriolic tongue, and constant snide remarks and mimicking of Eleanor.

While the Roosevelt's had great personal successes, they also suffered their share of tragedies. Alcoholism ran in the Oyster Bay side, and Elliott Roosevelt (TR's brother and Eleanor's father) died at the age of 34 from the disease. Eleanor's brother, Hall, also met an early death from alcoholism. TR's youngest son, Quentin, was killed in World War II. Another son, Kermit, committed suicide in 1943, and his son Dirck, also killed himself ten years later. A son-in-law and daughter-in-law of FDR also took their own lives. It is often very difficult being the children of strong, dynamic and famous men, and Collier relates how hard it was for the Roosevelt children and grandchildren to live in the shadows of these great men. TR's children always strived to measure up to their Rough Rider father, but without great success. FDR's children were an undisciplined, spoiled and dysfunctional group, and had 19 marriages between the five of them. None of the children or grandchildren in the two groups was able to carry on the political legacy left by their fathers.

I truly enjoyed The Roosevelt's as it provides much little known information about this important family. Collier also shows that the story doesn't end with TR and FDR after all, although the Roosevelt's on the world stage stopped with the death of Eleanor.

What Collier and Horowitz do in this book is weave a tale not of two seperate Roosevelt clans vying for political power, but of the succession of one branch into prominence following the decay of the other. The intriguing side-plots involving the two families reads like a royal family of America. FDR and Teddy are not the only Roosevelt's analyzed here, their children and their remarkable (and sometimes scandalous) lives are exposed as well. A well researched book that illuminates a historical American political dynasty

As a U.S. History teacher I often get this question when my classes reach the early twentieth century: "How are Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt related - were they brothers, or father-and-son"? When I point out that they were distant cousins, the students are amazed, and I suspect that many Americans with only a minimum knowledge of history would be, too. As this excellent book by Peter Collier and David Horowitz points out, there were two distinct branches of the Roosevelt family. One branch became Republicans and settled into the wealthy neighborhoods of Manhattan and Oyster Bay, on Long Island; while the other branch became Democrats and lived on a huge, English-style estate along the Hudson River in upstate New York. Although the two branches of this Dutch-descended family got along fairly well in the nineteenth century, in the early twentieth century a venomous feud erupted between the children of Theodore Roosevelt and their distant yet ambitious cousin, Franklin, and his revenge-minded wife, Eleanor. The first part of this book focuses on the rise of Theodore Roosevelt to fame and power in politics. In many ways "TR" represented the best of the American past - he was young (at 42 the youngest ever to become President), dynamic, and progressive. His large brood of children were no less energetic and flamboyant (in particular his eldest child Alice, who shocked polite society by smoking in public and making "unladylike" comments - Theodore himself said that he could "be President or control Alice, I cannot possibly do both"). As their beloved father grew older and his political star began to wane after 1909, his children assumed that the mantle of family and national leadership would be passed on to his oldest sons, especially Theodore, Jr. But they soon discovered a "nemesis" - Franklin D. Roosevelt of the Democratic Hudson River Roosevelts, became an assistant to President Woodrow Wilson and began manuevering to oust Theodore's children from the throne. He was assisted by his wife Eleanor, who was the daughter of Theodore's tragic brother Elliot. Unable to keep up with his wildly successful older brother, Elliot simply gave up and fell into a life of drinking, gambling, and womanizing and died at an early age. Young Eleanor always blamed the Oyster Bay Republican Roosevelts for "destroying" her adored father, and she vowed revenge. In the 1920's she derailed Theodore, Jr's attempts to become Governor of New York by smearing him with a political scandal, thus ending his political career and earning Eleanor the embittered ridicule of Alice, who thereafter often enjoyed making fun of Eleanor's buck teeth and nasal accent for her dinner guests. (She also took numerous verbal swipes at her cousin - after hearing that Franklin was having an extramarital affair, Alice snorted "He deserves to - he's married to Eleanor"). The second half of the book describes the rise to power and Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the career of his wife Eleanor, and the many problems and failures of their children - largely brought on, Collier and Horowitz argue, by the neglect of their famous parents. This family feud doesn't really end until decades after Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in 1945, and both branches of the family have left politics for the quieter pursuits of business. My only disappointment with this book is that it skims over many of the great accomplishments of both Roosevelt Presidents - this book is NOT a comprehensive history of their Presidencies! However, it is an extremely well-written and engrossing account of the rise and fall of two branches of one of America's greatest families.

Peter Collier's The Roosevelts: An American Saga (Simon & Schuster, 1995) is primarily about the personal lives of Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt and their families, as well as the great animosity that developed between the two branches of the family. Much of what I had read previously about the two Roosevelts focused on their time as president. This book is all about their families - their home lives, the children and their relationships with their parents and each other.

The contrast between the two families is a major theme of the book. It gave me an even greater respect for the first President Roosevelt, the way he and Edith raised their children and the lasting impact of their love and guidance. But it made me feel sorry for Franklin and Eleanor, and moreso for their children. Even though the families are almost contemporaries (just one generation apart, Theodore's children and Franklin and Eleanor are the same generation), Franklin's family seemed so much more "modern," illustrating all the problems we think about in families today - divorce, absentee parenting, conflict between parents and between siblings. I know these problems are not new (and not completely absent from Theodore's descendants either), but the difference between the two families seems to reflect the great change in society following the First World War on which so many writers of the time comment.

Although most readers (and most historians) are primarily interested in the two presidents and Eleanor, the lives of their children also tell important stories of America and the world during the two World Wars and after. Several of the children and grandchildren achieved significant accomplishments in their own right and deserve recognition and remembrance, although none reached the height of their famous fathers. Their lives illustrate the struggles of the children of famous lineage. How can they carry on the family name yet carve out some identity of their own? Who will be the standard bearer for the next generation? Are they trying to live up to their famous name or are they trying to trade off of it? It is in part around these questions that the feud between the Oyster Bay Roosevelts (Theodore's descendents) and the Hyde Park Roosevelts (Franklin and Eleanor) erupts into open conflict, waged in both political and personal arenas.

For many people like me who may feel familiar with the two Presidents but are fuzzy on how they were connected, this book will fill in the gaps. But more than that, it tells a fascinating American story through two branches of one family, leaders of their nation through war and peace but often at war with each other as well.

...I don't regret buying this book. It was informative read about Teddy and Franklin Roosevelts and their families as well as how their destinies crossed paths in the political world. It is also a glimpse of how life was in the early 1900s ~~ a fascinating glimspe of the world and politics then. Back then, it seems that everyone was interested in politics ~~ not just for their own personal gains, but because it meant something to them.

It is also an interesting read about the Roosevelt children ~~ how Teddy's kids differ from Franklin's children. They are not the main characters in the book ~~ but they are written about quite extensively as well. The readers also could feel the impact of the wives throughout the book.

Collier writes with a flair ~~ he doesn't write just of historical facts, but also of some common knowledge and with a flair. He made this biography interesting ~~ unlike some of his peers who writes with a dull pen. By the time I finished reading this book, I was impressed at how little I knew of the Roosevelts when I picked it up ~~ and how little I knew of the impacts their decisions were felt throughout society and time itself. And now that I know, I feel I had a small glimpse in politics then, and of their lives as presidents and as ordinary men. Only, those two were never meant to be ordinary ~~ fate decrees otherwise. Fortunately for us Americans.

"The Roosevelts" is the fascinating, 75 year long tale of two branches of an American dynasty during its of era prominence.

The main characters are Theodore Roosevelt, patriarch of the Oyster Bay Branch, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, patriarch of the Hyde Park branch, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who bridged the two branches.

Theodore was the founder of the dynasty who set the pattern for the others to follow. Assistant Secretary of the Navy, hero of San Juan Hill, Governor of New York, Vice President and President, TR blazed the trail which others attempted to follow.

This book follows TR through his career, focusing on the themes which made him the Lion that he was. TR's love of family, love of country, martial ardor and thirst for the limelight are all well explained. The post-presidential years of frustration with Taft and Wilson are shown as hard times for TR. TR's call for entry into World War I made him the leading opposition figure to Wilson's peace policy. U.S. entry merely brought more frustration as TR was refused an Army Commission while his four sons all saw combat. TR was proud of his sons, bled with them when they were wounded and grieved when Quentin was killed.

The story is more than just the stories of the main characters. It is, in essence, the story of a family, the relationships of parents and children, brothers and sisters, cousins and in-laws. The role that family life played in the lives of each individual is skillfully woven throughout the book.

With his passing, TR left an idol to emulate and a trail to follow. All of his sons, in war and peace, tried to carry on TR's ideals through public service.

The two family members who most clearly tried to follow the trail blazed by TR were Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., and his distant cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Like TR, both would serve in the New York legislature, serve as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and run for Governor of New York. Both attempted to run for vice-president and both as aspired to the presidency. It was the rivalry of these two which split the branches of the family into a bitter feud.

Theodore, Jr., Ted, was the first to try to journey down the trail. Nominated for Governor of New York in 1924, he was beaten by Al Smith, due, at least in part, to his unjustified guilt by association in the Teapot Dome scandal. The prevailing wisdom of the day was that there was room for only one Roosevelt in New York politics at a time. A tantalizing "what if" of history is that had Ted not been tarred with Teapot Dome, he could have been elected governor. This probably would have made him the front-runner for the 1928 presidential nomination, leaving FDR frozen out of politics. As fate had it, Ted's gubernatorial service would occur in Puerto Rico and the Philippines whereas FDR would be elected Governor of New York in 1928. Despite vice-presidential speculation in 1924 and 1928, Ted's career as a public official ended with FDR's election as president in 1932.

Although Ted's political career was ended, he continued to play a role as an opposition leader who contested FDR's claim to TR's spiritual legacy and who consistently reminded the public that FDR was not TR's son.

FDR also idolized and emulated TR. After a vice-presidential run in 1920, his political career seemed to have been ended by his contraction of polio. Initially depressed by his illness, FDR, "Feather Duster" to his Oyster Bay cousins, overcame his handicap and was able to return to the arena after a long convalescence. The recuperative days at Warm Springs are given ample attention by the authors. The reader follows FDR's long road back to public life.

Although the fathers of TR and FDR had been friends, the strongest link between the branches was forged when TR, standing in for his deceased brother, Elliott, gave his niece, Eleanor, in marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Eleanor and Franklin are portrayed as a misfit match. Unable to find satisfaction in Eleanor, Franklin sought it in other women. Eleanor, for her part, found companionship in a series of confidants, both male and female. Their union became more of a business partnership than a true marriage. Eleanor gave Franklin the appearance of a stable marriage, while he provided her with an avenue into public and political life rare, or even unique, among women of her day.

The effect on their children of the Eleanor and Franklin's partnership is portrayed as disastrous. Unable to maintain a normal relationship among themselves, Eleanor and Franklin could not build a nurturting family environment. As a result, their children drifted from one relationship to another, in and out of shady business deals and had, what was for them, small success in politics.

One test of a book is whether it presents facts which leads the reader to a conclusion. "The Roosevelts" passes this test. Although many other Roosevelts play roles in this story, we are basically introduced to two families. Theodore Roosevelt headed a family bound by love and devotion to duty. Although the hand of history weighed heavily on later generations, TR's family is portrayed, for the most part, as remaining loyal to duty, honor and each other. Eleanor and Franklin, by contrast, begot a set of related individuals, for whom their heritage was not a call to service, but merely an asset to be sold. Before reading "The Roosevelts" I had a much greater respect for Theodore than for Franklin. This book has widened the gap immeasurably. Read and see if you come to the same conclusion.

There is a new book on them every year. This work includes Theodore sr., Bamie, the Eliots, Quentin, Kermit, Anna & all the rest. This is not American history. It is family history: one family two clans, Hyde Park & Oyster Bay. Their orgins from the 17th century are discussed briefly including the split. Then it proceeds with Teddy's childhood. He was sickly, almost dying several times, except for his father Theodore sr. He was a great man & loving father. He undoubtedly made Teddy the man he was to become. He was worthy of the veneration TR carried for him all his life. Theodore sr. died early. So did Eliot "the golden boy" TR's brother & Eleanor's father. The impact that Eliot had on his daughter was huge & mostly negative.
Being a son of TR was tough. He & wife Edith were good, attentive, loving parents. They had four sons, all filled with a passion to measure up to TR. It wasn't enough to enlist in World War I but to see action & if possible get wounded. Talk about pressure! TR probably didn't see things in such a harsh light but the sons felt this was the way to please their father. It killed the youngest son, Quentin. Of course they never rose to TR's heights. But a cousin did: Franklin Delano. His life started out differently with an older father he didn't know & a domineering mother. He studiously followed TR's path: state legislator, under Secretary of the Navy & govenor of New York. As good parents that TR & Edith were FDR & Eleanor were terrible & neglectful. The way their children turned out was somewaht predictable, racking up 15 divorces amongst them. The Roosevelts rank up there with the Adams, Kennedys & Bushes(?) as great American political families. This was from the the audio version & throughly enjoyable.

I'm not an expert, but I've always been interested in history. Before reading this book, I had made several visits to Oyster Bay, NY (the home of Teddy Roosevelt) and Hyde Park, NY (the home of FDR). I vaguely knew that Teddy was Eleanor Roosevelt's uncle and that Eleanor married her cousin--FDR. But I didn't know that Teddy and FDR were actually fifth cousins, or that Eleanor's father was Teddy's younger (by two years) brother, Elliott. Elliott's wife tragically died young. Elliott, an alcoholic, passed away two years after his wife, leaving two orphaned children--one of whom was Eleanor Roosevelt, the future First Lady.

I also never knew about the 100-year-old feud between the two sides of the family. Teddy Roosevelt was the quintessential all-American hero, and it was always assumed that his oldest son, Teddy Jr., would follow his father into politics. But somewhat surprisingly, cousin Franklin, although crippled by polio, went on to become our only four-term President, and the Oyster Bay clan declined in influence. Unfortunately, none of the younger family members could live up to either Teddy Sr. or FDR.

This is the story of the entire Roosevelt clan over a 100-year period--siblings, children, wives, husbands, neices, nephews, grandchildren--not just Teddy Sr. or FDR. So, there are a lot of people to keep track of. Certain first names--like Anna, Eleanor, Theodore--were given again and again to different generations of the family, and I found myself frequently consulting the family tree at the beginning of the book to keep everyone straight! Also, I did find a couple of errors with ages and dates, which should have been caught in fact-checking. And the book lags a bit in the middle, and again at the end (when the focus is off Teddy Sr. and FDR). It's also a little dry at times. But all in all, this is a fabulously researched book. If you like American history, I think you'll really enjoy it.