Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States – Book Review

Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States: His own words selected and arranged by Daniel Ruddy. Smithsonian Books, 2010. Hardback, 318 pages plus foreword, introduction, and source notes. No photographs. $27.99. It unabashedly, unstintingly reflects a man whose love for his country ran as deep as the Mississippi. People who attain great fame are often even more contradictory in their personalities than the average person is. Certainly, that can be said of Theodore Roosevelt, a fact that is abundantly clear in Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States. The man who said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" comes through as both starry-eyed optimist regarding the American people and a curmudgeon in his opinion of particular individuals. Daniel Ruddy says in the book’s introduction that he decided to compile this book after realizing that if he could talk with anyone from American history, living or dead, that person would be Roosevelt. His approach was to "create Roosevelt’s part of the conversation," based exclusively on the soldier-politician-adventurer’s own words....