Customer Reviews

Theodore Roosevelt, an Intimate Biography

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Several years ago, browsing through stacks of used books in an Idaho bookstore, I came across Theodore Roosevelt, An Intimate Biography, by William Roscoe Thayer, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919. Once I started to read this book, I couldn't put it down. What makes this biography unique is that the author was an intimate friend who never voted for him or for any Republican candidate! William Roscoe Thayer rarely agreed with Republican policy, and frequently debated the political issues with Roosevelt, although they became closer in political thought and opinion after 1914.

It is refreshing to study the point of view of one of Roosevelt's contemporaries, instead of solely relying on the interpretations of authors who are so far removed from historical events. I heartily agree with Thayer's statement: "A contemporary can never judge as the historian a hundred years after the fact judges, but the contemporary view also has it's place, and it may be really nearer to the living truth than is the conclusion formed when the past is cold and remote and the actors are dead long ago. So a friend's outlined portrait, though obviously not impartial, must be nearer the truth than an enemy's can be - for the enemy is not impartial either. We have fallen too much into the habit of imagining that only hostile critics tell the truth."

I highly recommend this book as a much needed "balance" in one's study of Theodore Roosevelt's life, political thought, and what made him "tick."

This was an extraordinary book. it was eloquently but simple written. The author knew Teddy Roosevelt for 40 years so he had intimate knowledge of our 26th President. The biography is history itself as it was written nearly 90 years ago. The verbiage was of a different time with words not written or spoken in this day and age. Before I read any more biographies, I will find those written in a different time than those written today. I felt like I was sitting with a great story teller speaking of his personal knowledge of a great man.

The book was OK for the price. Bought the Kindle edition. Typing was a little off in spots. I liked the fact the author actually knew Roosevelt and had first hand knowledge about who he was. In parts of the book I felt like the author was sermonizing about things mildly related to Roosevelt. By the end of the book (section about WWI and Woodrow Wilson) I was bored and skipped a lot. Not a lot of detail about Roosevelt's death. All in all, the book gave me a decemt sense of who Theodore Roosevelt was.