I have completed now the third volume of Edmund Morris's monumental three-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt. As I finished the first volume (THE RISE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT), I felt certain it was the best biography I had ever read. The second volume (THEODORE REX) gave me no reason to change my mind. Now the third and final book in the trilogy has convinced me even further that this is a book (or series of books) for the ages. Finishing this book felt the way I felt at the end of KING LEAR and GREAT EXPECTATIONS, that I had been witness and fellow traveler to a richness of story far greater than most writers are capable of conjuring. That this is a true story adds to its luster, for facts, no matter how well researched (and these are exquisitely researched and notated), can lie on the page like grains of sand or they can rise up in brilliant sculpture. The latter is the case with this book. Theodore Roosevelt's life and career are unlike that of any other public figure I've ever read about. A hundred different movies could be made from his life, each of them fascinating and dramatic. This last volume is, like LEAR, the one which swells with melancholy and tragic resolution. Edmund Morris has a novelist's way with words, and these 2,100 pages over three volumes flew by in a page-turning frenzy I usually only experience with thrillers. Roosevelt the man is one of the most fascinating figures I have ever discovered. His biographer has here created absolutely the best biography I have ever read. By far. ( )

I can't believe I found a mistake in the authoritative 30-years in the making biography. Morris said the Lusitania had a 'majority-American manifest.' It did not. There were almost 2000 people on the Lusitania, and only about 140 of them were Americans. Roughly 1,200 people died, and only about 120 of them were Americans. OK but setting aside minor issues like the contributing causes of the US entry to WWI...

The author has a colonial-African background, and it shows. It's one thing to quote a historical figure saying something derogatory and racist, ok fine, that's history and they really said it. It is ENTIRELY different for the 'narrator' voice to say something like Africa is a 'land without any culture at all' or make derogatory remarks about the 'primitive' people who live there, when it's NOT a quote. I suppose Morris would say 'Well that is probably what TR would have said.' OK, but he didn't actually say that. YOU said that, Morris, not TR. The author / narrator is supposed to present factual information in an unbaised way. Present the historical racist quotes, yes. Don't make up your OWN racist remarks and present them like they are facts. JFC.

Unrelated to the racism:
Ever since chapter five of the first volume, I have felt like the author has a huge crush on Roosevelt. Like, physically. Closing in on the last few chapters of volume three, I'm still getting that impression. There's nothing wrong with lusting after a historical figure. I'm just saying we should acknowledge that the author is suffering from that bias. In addition to the other biases he might be suffering from.

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Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris is the third, and last book in a trilogy encompassing the biography of the 26th President. This trilogy is considered to be one of the best sources on the life of the 26th President of the United States

This book is a wonderful conclusion to The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex. The biography starts after Roosevelt has left the White House, and follows him until his death.

The book opens with an exciting description of Roosevelt’s African safari, one would think he’d take a bit of time off after his administration, but maybe going on such a trip is his R&R. Still a popular persona, Roosevelt returns to the United States but cannot stay out of politics. His good friend, and now President, William Howard Taft is not governing to his liking, and, once again, he feels as if he has to throw his hat in the political ring.

This stunt costs the Republican party the victory, a vote split between Roosevelt and Taft gave Woodrow Wilson the victory. This time Roosevelt goes back to the Southwest, and a rough trip to the Amazonian jungle in Brazil.

Like the previous books, Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris is well researched and well-written. It is noticeable how Mr. Morris’ writing got better with each volume. The first volume was written with an eye on an aristocratic, yet energetic youth, the second is a restrained tale of a mature diplomat, this one, with builds up to its known, yet still tragic, end.

Like many others before him, and many after, this great man’s paramount enemies were time and himself, and I wish more was devoted to this subject. Admittingly, after being immersed in the books, I found it almost painful reading about Roosevelt’s fall from heights so painfully achieved.

One of my biggest issues with Theodore Rex was that there was very little of Roosevelt’s personality in the book. The saving grace of the third installment is the Roosevelt family who get much more attention, and helped me understand, and I’d like to think know, the former President.

The last part of the book magnificently summarizes Teddy Roosevelt’s legacy, other biographies, as well as devoting a section to his family. I found the post-presidency conclusion of the trilogy to be on point, an adequate end to a worthy series. ( )

So I am a moron. I had no idea there were two other books before this one. I felt like I got plopped into Theodore Roosevelt's life and felt confused. Once I realized that I was on the third book I felt better since I was all, why is the book acting as if I read about Theodore Roosevelt before now?

I have to say though that my attention kept straying away while reading this. I thought that Morris does a good job of bringing Roosevelt out as a man who is out to explore Africa after completing his run as President after his second term. I just found most of the book to be a bit colorless after we have Roosevelt returning from Africa and hell bent on being the savior of the Republican party. This of course caused the great "schism" and the Bull Moose party of progressives emerged.

Morris does a good job I think of showing all sides of Roosevelt. He's not a saint, he's a flesh and blood man that at times refused to listen to those around him since he thought he knew best. The book also goes into his other expedition which led to him getting ill and then following him and his family through World War I. I just wish that the book had managed to keep my interest throughout. I don't know if this book should have been broken into two volumes, with volume I following Roosevelt before WWI and then after or what. I think there was so much going on with Roosevelt and his family at times I was left a bit overwhelmed and feeling like I had forgotten some things and having to go back to check myself.

I read this on my Kindle and was happy to see that the plethora of notes that Morris had actually worked. My big complaint though and why I stopped reading the notes after a while is that my book wouldn't take me back to the place I was in the biography. This books is ridiculous full of notes and the historian in me was happy to see them. But it sucked for me as a reader since I kept getting taken out of my place and had to scroll back to wherever I was. I also was happy to see the pictures and other illustrations that were included. ( )

The publication in 1979 of Edmund Morris's [b:The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt|40929|The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt|Edmund Morris|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337019579s/40929.jpg|40514] heralded the start of a monumental multi-volume study of our nation's 26th president. Though sidetracked for a number of years by his assignment as Ronald Reagan's official biographer, Morris finally released his second volume, [b:Theodore Rex|40923|Theodore Rex|Edmund Morris|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388177930s/40923.jpg|210239], in 2001, which chronicled Roosevelt's life during his years in the White House. This book, which recount's Roosevelt's post-presidential years, provides a long-awaited completion to Morris's project. It bears all of the strengths and weaknesses of Morris's approach to his project, now on display in a chronicle of an eventful decade in an already active life.

Morris begins with his subject (whose insistence on being referred to post-presidency as "Colonel Roosevelt" provides the inspiration for the book's title) on safari in Africa, the first leg of a year-long voyage abroad. Designed to give his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft, an opportunity to flourish outside of his long shadow, Roosevelt's trip continued with a triumphal tour of Europe, one that the author recounts in meticulous detail. Returning to universal acclaim, he also confronted a divisive political scene, with the dominant Republican Party torn by increasingly acrimonious infighting between its progressive and conservative wings. After an initial silence, Roosevelt joined the fray, campaigning for a number of progressive Republicans in the 1910 midterm elections. Morris sees the defeat of these candidates as the first blow to his public standing, weakening him at a time when he faced growing calls from Progressives to challenge Taft for the 1912 Republican presidential nomination.

Increasingly disillusioned with his former colleague, Roosevelt entered the race in February 1912. Morris's description of his primary battle against Taft is one of the high points of this book, capturing all of the drama of a former president taking on his party's leadership. Though Roosevelt was the clear choice of the voters, the limited use of presidential primaries at the time and Taft's control of party patronage ensured Roosevelt's defeat at the national convention that June. Undaunted, Roosevelt bolted from the GOP and campaigned for the White House under the banner of the newly-founded Progressive Party. Morris eschews any analysis of the campaign in favor of a narrative that describes his travels across America, which ended with a dramatic assassination attempt by "a weedy little man" who claimed to have been urged to do so by the ghost of William McKinley. Despite the surge of sympathy the attempt generated, Roosevelt fell short in his effort, losing in November.

Financially weakened, Roosevelt turned to his pen and took to the road once more. After a trip to Arizona with his sons Archie and Quentin, Roosevelt embarked on what he viewed as his last great adventure - an expedition into the jungles of the Amazon. His journey proved difficult and physically demanding, with personality conflicts, a leg injury, and a recurrence of malaria taking its toll on the former president. Roosevelt's return coincided with the outbreak of war in Europe, leaving him chafing with inactivity as Woodrow Wilson first kept America out of war, then left the former president on the sidelines as he led the nation into it. By its end, Roosevelt nursed both the pain of losing his youngest son and an increasing range of physical ailments, a cumulative effect of decades of strenuous activity that left him dead at the age of 60 in 1919.

Morris recounts Roosevelt's life in vivid, occasionally even florid prose. He is a master of presenting the rich drama of Roosevelt's adventures, an easy enough task given the material he had to work with but well done nevertheless. Yet like his earlier volumes, this descriptive account comes with little in the way of context or analysis. There is little here to explain Roosevelt's broader impact on progressivism, his contributions of his journeys to natural history, or the importance of his participation in the preparedness movement. While this diminishes the utility of Morris's work as a study of Roosevelt's contribution to American history, it does not detract from the overall enjoyability of Morris's entertaining, masterful account. Combined with his earlier volumes, it is likely to serve as the standard by which Roosevelt biographies are judged for decades to come. ( )