Customer Reviews

When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Woodrow Wilson once said, " A man who makes no mistakes usually makes nothing at all." Wilson in no way intended this statement to be used in praise of his fierce rival Theodore Roosevelt but I can think of no better description of the life of this Bull Moose of American politics. Roosevelt was a man of action and sometimes a loose cannon and Patricia O 'Toole has written a wonderful book which shows very clearly why this quotation so aptly fits TR.

O 'Toole's book covers the last ten years of Roosevelt's life, a time of retirement for a man who was not yet ready to retire. She follows Roosevelt on his African safari, his triumphant tour of Europe, the split with President Taft, the 1912 campaign, the Brazilian expedition, World War I and his preparations to run for President again in 1920. It is a fascinating and enjoyable journey that one undertakes in reading this book and I am glad that this author has given me the chance to follow Roosevelt's journey in print for I doubt that I could have kept up with him in real life.

The main thesis of this book is that Roosevelt had an overwhelming need for power and enjoyed conflict to the point that both of these weaknesses often clouded his judgment. The author makes her point very clearly and backs up her argument with hard evidence, giving the reader very little reason to doubt her argument. She is a little harsh on TR occasionally, especially when it comes to Roosevelt's split with Taft, but for the most part she is very fair and even handed. In the case of Roosevelt's support for the efforts of the government to suppress free speech during World War I and his backing of silly initiatives to ban all things German she is probably too soft on the old lion.

Theodore Roosevelt is one of the icons of American history and it would be difficult for any author to make any part of this man's story dull. It is quite another thing however for an author to get inside the soul of Mr. Roosevelt and I believe that O 'Toole has done just that. From TR's habit of dismissing those who disagreed with him as unmanly or cowardly to the deep grief and guilt he felt when his son Quentin was killed in the war, this book will lead the reader to the depths of Roosevelt's soul. Although it only covers Roosevelt's post White House years this is the best biography of the old Rough Rider that I have yet to come across. Far superior in it's readability and energy to the Edmund Morris books.

The formerly powerful face a difficult readjustment when they leave their offices. Their individual characters dictate exactly how complicated this transition will be, and we learn a lot about such people by studying how they cope. In WHEN TRUMPETS CALL, Patricia O'Toole examines the last years of the life of Theodore Roosevelt.

Writer, explorer, naturalist, devoted family man, human dynamo, and twenty-sixth president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt was only fifty years old when he completed his two terms of office and had ten years of his life left to fill. He went out on a high note, sure that his personally chosen successor, William Howard Taft, would continue the progressive agenda Roosevelt's two Republican administrations had put in place.

Hoping to avoid the appearance of dictating policy to the new president, Roosevelt distanced himself as far from Washington as he possibly could. He spent his first year out of office on safari in Africa with his son, Kermit. One of the real pleasures of WHEN TRUMPETS CALL is that, because so much of it is drawn from the correspondence of Roosevelt's family and friends, we get vivid portraits of all his intimates, including his sons, who had real challenges in keeping up with their father.

Returning to the United States, it was apparent that Taft would not uphold Roosevelt's progressive work. Remembered as one of our most mediocre presidents, the Taft administration served the interests of big business whenever it could, foiling Roosevelt's legacy. Roosevelt claimed to act out of a sense of duty. He felt responsible that he had chosen an unworthy successor and saw no other way to rectify the situation than to regain the presidency himself. Although his sense of duty was one of the best and strongest elements of Roosevelt's character, he also found the redemption of his lost power to be irresistible.

He formed the Bull Moose Party and split the Republican vote, allowing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the presidency. In Roosevelt's criticism of Taft and Wilson, we see the small side of a big man. In print and public speeches, he carped about every decision they made, from Taft's lazy corporate coddling to Wilson's procrastination about entering World War I. Roosevelt's petulance lost him his audience, and by the time the United States had entered World War I, Wilson saw no reason to include Roosevelt in the war effort.

For a man who took such well-deserved pride in his usefulness, sidelining was a painful insult. Unfortunately, World War I had other blows in store for him. First, he watched his sons go off to war and participate as he could not. Then, his youngest son, Quentin, was shot out of the sky and killed. The Roosevelt philosophy of strenuous service turned back on itself, and Roosevelt never seemed to recover from his loss.

Patricia O'Toole has written a sensitive, sophisticated study of a great man at a vulnerable time. Although there are many books on Theodore Roosevelt, WHEN TRUMPETS CALL is an essential volume for those who really want to know the man.

--- Reviewed by Colleen Quinn

Patricia O'Toole has written a thoughtful and moving account of the post-White House years of Theodore Roosevelt, a period in which he had to face the realization of power lost, at least the power to effect events and be the principal player. Her account of Roosevelt is based on good primary and secondary sources, she particularly relied on many letters which helps to bring out the man. As the author mentioned and the title of the book clearly suggests, Roosevelt loved the sound of the trumpet call and in this book we see Roosevelt answering the call, both for the greater good as he saw it and sometimes for his own personal ambitions.

O'Toole details the many events that took place in this period of Roosevelt's life from big game hunting in Africa, a failed third party bid to win back the Oval Office in 1912, exploration in South America, to the oncoming of the First World War and his stinging criticisms of the Wilson Administration's handling of the war effort, and his own family's sacrifices in serving their country. Each episode is written exceedingly well which makes this a book that is hard to put down. The reader can sense Roosevelt's ambitions, his hopes, his frustrations, and especially his love for his family and the sense of duty and service to country he instilled in his children.

Roosevelt's disappointment with his chosen successor Taft was well discussed in this book, Taft especially seemed to have been deeply hurt by the rift in their friendship. Roosevelt took on more radical progressive stands as he fought his way to the 1912 nomination, perhaps part sincerely and part political calculation. He was also an early voice for preparing the nation for war, before and after America's involvement, even calling on President Wilson to let him train volunteers and lead them into battle, but the idea was refused, perhaps wisely. Roosevelt had a strong dislike for Wilson and his criticisms never abated.

The last chapters are very moving as they detail the Roosevelt children in their roles of service during World War I. He felt proud in instilling into his sons the sense of service for country and the honor of serving on the front lines and even being wounded to prove one's merit. A romantic ideal in some ways, but an ideal taken a bit far in my opinion. Tragically he would lose one son, Quentin. The feelings expressed by the father are very moving.

Roosevelt's life was never dull. He accomplished many things in his lifetime, but maybe he didn't know how to exit the stage gracefully, or perhaps more accurately, didn't want to leave the stage. O'Toole's book is useful in how it shows the trappings of power. Captain Archibald Butt made an astute remark after Roosevelt's return home from a tour in Europe that he was a changed man, with the potential to do more good or more harm. If the thesis of this book which concerns Roosevelt as a man in his last decade of life not knowing how to cope with the loss of power isn't an original idea, it is still one that should be told and offers many lessons. Her book is very well written and offers a well-rounded portrait of the often larger-than-life Theodore Roosevelt in his final decade after the White House.

This is a most wonderful balancing act for those who have been innundated with all of the very positive TR bios recently in print. Here we greet Theodore in his latter years and find him to have grown into someone not so admirable. The author presents Theodore as a political animal who cannot give up power despite his continued protestations that he really was not interested in another term as President. It is all so very sad that such a great man fell into the comfortable embrace of the need for continued power. While he rationalized his actions, it was nothing but ego that sent him on his way in diminishing his old friend Taft and so many others who had been his steadfast friends throughout his life. His frustration led to trips abroad where he acted out his frustration by decimating every animal he could kill. While his construction of the Bull Moose Party in just months before a national election is to be applauded, it's construction was in many ways an exercise in the practices he previously abhored. This was such a sad story, a tragic end for a great man. And while he accomplished so many great things in his life, this coda at the end demonstrated that even those among us who believe in service do need to step aside when our issues and our desires, no longer serve the public interest. This is surely a sad ending for a great American. Ms. O'Toole is a wonderful historian and she is to be congratulated for this account. I truly believe she wrote this not to disparrage Roosevelt, but to present an accurate and true picture of the decline of a great American. She surely succeeded.

This highly readable book focuses exclusively on Teddy's post-presidential decade, a decade that the author postulates that TR never really settled into the ex-presidency. It's great writing material - it's difficult to make a flavorless biography of any of TR's decades of life. In the flavor of recent biographies of US presidents long past, TR here is portrayed as a brilliant person with firm convictions, yet also a deeply flawed man, who craves being the ultimate man of action and his actions having impact. As his life draws to a close, his actions matter on the US and world stage less and less, but he craved the personal power more and more (he was STILL thinking about running for president in 1920 when he died!)

In regards to O'Toole's approach to the subject, I believe it to be even-handed, factual, and a fairly smooth flow. I had a little difficulty getting myself absorbed into this book, being a tad choppy in the beginning, but once I did I was hooked. Occasionally the concentration of events is a bit strange -for instance, the discussion of TR's initial Africa safari is covered more than extensively, but TR's trip to Brazil (that almost kills him!) gets a mere few pages. However, in a more positive light, the trajectory of TR's relationship with the Taft presidency is covered nicely, which really shows what makes TR tick - he ultimately could not stand and just watch his chosen successor make decisions differently than he would have.

In conclusion I recommend this book for those interested in this period of US history, as it throws a different perspective on a much-respected president than that is seen from Mount Rushmore - I ended up still admiring TR, but became more knowledgeable about his deficiencies.

Roosevelt and his life are, as we have seen, a bit too enormous to be encapsulated in any single volume. He's also a problem for biographers because he himself was probably more intelligent, complex, better read, and a better writer than most who confront him and presume to analyze him. It's not so much a matter of getting "into his head" as it is that once into such a vast space (irony intended) how does one get his or her bearings. Of course, a backlash is about due anyway. Nobody in this culture can stand hearing about anyone's excellence for long. We like our historical characters down in the mud with us.

His later years were a problem. This book documents that well. However one must leaven the criticisms with the realization that this immense force, for nearly a decade one of the central figures of his age, was more or less ejected out of the White House and into the world while still traveling, in a sense, at a supersonic speed. He could scarcely apply his own brakes and it took a distasterous trip up the Amazon and the death of his son to do that for him. Nobody who was ever tremendously energetic takes retirement well.

One small favor. I've noted in the editorial review and elsewhere gratuitous snide remarks about Roosevelt's hunting, usually as some coupling of "hunter" and "conservationist" which, at the time of writing, must strike the writer as pithy and bitingly ironic. In one example the former President apparently (and I'm paraphrasing) "decimated" every animal he encountered, which I assume means he carved off 1/10th of their hide or something. Could we please cut this out, it's silly, juvenile, and unneeded, and it betrays a complete inability to understand a culture within its historical context. THIS culture I should say, since cultural relativism has made it fashionable to forgive the flaws and foibles of every other culture except our own. Every person who makes a crack like may one day find themselves the objects of scorn of future self-righteous critics like themselves: Do you drive a car that uses non-renewable oil? How's your water consumption? Raising your kids in the way they'll think best in 2090? Maybe you let them watch TV, or play computer games, or eat fresh fruit--which may constitute severe child abuse in the future. Are you sure you're doing everything to meet the approval of future critics? C'mon people, stop taking pot-shots at the past and--especially--stop demonizing people because they didn't maintain 2005 AD standards for treatment of women, minorities, or endangered species in 1653, or 1841, or 1906. Then again, maybe you are the perfect and final product of an absolute system of ethics and justice and should be allowed to pass judgement on the past. HA! As grandpa used to say whenever I got snotty, "You, back then, without knowledge of here and now, would be JUST LIKE THEM."

100 years ago, there was no contradiction in being a hunter and being a naturalist, in fact it made sense. There were seeming inexhaustible supplies of animals and limitless uninhabited areas. Also, many people thought hunting put you back in touch with nature, made you aware of life and death, placed you on understanding terms with fellow predators...and prey. It was their idea of being One With Nature, as in "We're animals too." (Current environmentalists seem to survey the situation from outer space) His environmentalism was also people positive, not hateful and (hey, I've heard it right from their eco human-hating mouths) genocidal. What Roosevelt DIDN'T do was make comments about Redwoods like "seen one, seen 'em all" or think it was OK to demolish entire forests or drive animals into extinction. Try to remember that, and try to remember that in 1905 there were plenty of decent and well-intentioned people.

Patricia O'Toole has written a lively account of the decade left to Theodore Roosevelt once he left the White House. He was a man adrift, without a goal or purpose for the first time in his life.

Once you have achieved your career goal (for him, the Presidency at age 42), what do you do for an encore? According to Ms. O'Toole, TR tried to repeat himself with a failed, but close, run for the White House in 1912 and was comtemplating another bid in 1920 when he died in his sleep from an embolism in 1919.

The research is good, though I disagree with some of her conclusions, especially her view of TR needing power and doing anything to achieve it. Her difficulty lies in writing the concluding chapter of TR's life without having written of his first fifty years.

In some 1600 pages, Edmund Morris has written an epic biography of TR's life in a trilogy : the pre-White House period ("The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" which won the Pulitzer Prize) and the White House years ("Theodore Rex"). The concluding volume covering the post-White House years has yet to be published. For now, Ms. O'Toole's book will have to do. As an aside, Sylvia Morris (married to Edmund Morris) has written her own biography of Roosevelt's wife, "Edith Kermit Roosevelt."

Ms. O'Toole has written a very readable biography of TR's last ten years. I was not ready for her highly critical look at TR. It took some getting used to. Her criticisms, at times, seem to be a bit of a reach. Her pacing and spacing of what she chooses to spend time on seems suspect. She devotes 5 pages to his trip down the River of Doubt and she devotes 5 pages to the libel trial. The book is well written but I eagerly await Morris' third volume.

The life of Theodore Roosevelt has inspired many fine biographies. "When Trumpets Call" is one of the best. Not a whole life biography, it tells the story of TR's life after leaving the White House. For TR, it was a time of disappointment and frustration, but for the reader it is a fascinating story.

Although not bound by constitutional constraints, or necessarily custom, Roosevelt chose to voluntarily relinquish the presidency after the 1908 elections. Although the two term limit had been honored, he could have made the case that he had only been elected once and, therefore, would not break the two term limit by seeking reelection to a second full term. For whatever reason, he did extend the two term tradition and chose William Howard Taft as his successor. Wanting to give Taft a free hand, TR immediately left for safari in Africa.

The safari with his son, Kermit, is the first adventure story of this book. Although this work does not get into the detail possible in a work limited to the safari, it does contain enough facts to enable the reader to marvel at the extent of the undertaking. The number of personnel and animals killed is staggering. The role of the safari as not merely an adventure, but also a specimen collecting enterprise of the Smithsonian Institution puts it into a different perspective.

As TR returned to civilization, he was met with reports of Taft's deviation from the Progressive line. On his way through Europe, he was treated like royalty, represented the President at the funeral of King Edward VII and collected the Nobel Peace Prize which had been awarded to in 1906.

The return to America brought pressure to bring Taft around or to challenge him. Eventually concluding that he had let the people down when he selected Taft, Roosevelt challenged the President and got into a feud with the other leading Progressive, Robert M. LaFollette. Taking his case to the people, TR won in states with primaries, but lost the nomination in states in which party leaders chose the delegates. Author Patricia O'Toole presents excellent analysis in rejecting the claim that Taft stole the nomination.

The loss of the Republican nomination in 1912 brought Roosevelt to a cross-roads. Standing at Armageddon and battling for the Lord, he took up the Progressive campaign, knowing that it would be unsuccessful. In this quixotic campaign, the Bull Moose advanced liberal, almost radical positions.

After the disappointment of defeat in 1912, TR again sought solace in the wilderness, this time along Brazil's River of Doubt, again with Kermit, to chart an unexplored tributary of the Amazon. Almost dying during the trip, Theodore emerged sick and emaciated, never to return to his former health.

Upon returning to Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt gradually regained his strength. He turned his attention to politics. Declining an invitation to run for governor, he hit the campaign trail in support of Progressive candidates. The Progressives were unsuccessful and TR was left to contemplate a future with neither an office nor a party. The outbreak of World War I provided a new cause for which he could struggle. Having long been suspicious of German intentions, the Bull Moose became a leader for preparedness and U. S. entry into the war. In 1916 he declined the Progressive nomination for president and supported the Republican, Charles Evans Hughes, who barely lost to Woodrow Wilson.

As tensions rose with both Mexico and Europe, TR offered his services as an army officer in either theatre. The refusal of the Wilson administration to grant him a commission added to his frustration and resentment. Unable to go himself, all four of TRs sons wore the uniform, three were injured and Quentin was killed. Quentin's death sapped much of the strength left after a life of war, strife and exploration. Although weakened, TR continued to plan for a return to the White House in the election of 1920 until hours before his death in his sleep the evening of January 6, 1919.

"When Trumpets Sound" tells an excellent story in exemplary prose. This portion of TR's life is one of frustration as, after voluntarily surrendering power, struggled to get it back. Unable to stay out of the fray, his struggle to get back into the action was a failure. Although continuing to lead an active and influential life, the decision not to run in 1908 seems like a personal tragedy and one of the great "What ifs?" of history. No study of Theodore Roosevelt is complete without this book. For any TR fan or adventure lover, it is a must.

Patricia O'Toole's "When the Trumpets Call" focuses on Teddy Roosevelt's post-presidential life. With most presidents, this would lead to a dull biography and a sense of denouement (think Gerald Ford's constant speaking engagements). However, O'Toole has some great material to work with as Teddy Roosevelt's ex-presidency was more fascinating than the actual presidency of most presidents. O'Toole tells the story well in a lively manner. She has a good eye for using detail. I love the chapter on Roosevelt's safari in East Africa and her description of it (at first, Roosevelt rejected white linen tablecloths, thinking them too effeminate). It inspired me to read TR's "African Game Trails."