"Theodore Roosevelt: A Life" by Nathan Miller

"Theodore Roosevelt: a Life" was an interesting read. Nathan Miller is a really good writer-I could really see and imagine what was happening. He was able to engage me when I am a person who doesn't care much about real life-I'm fantasy enthusiast. It's not always easy to engage me if there aren't dragons or vampires somewhere in the book. However, Miller did a fine job. His writing was vivid and interesting.

I'm surprised Theodore Roosevelt is not mentioned more in history classes. Unless I've just had poor history classes in high school, both he and his era seem to be somewhat skipped over. He's one of those figures in history I always knew of but knew no details whatsoever about. Thus the book was incredibly informative to me.

I think the most intriguing thing about Theodore Roosevelt is that he's crazy. He's perhaps even literally crazy. Miller's biography of him describes how he abounded with energy but at the same time was prone to spouts of incredibly melancholy and depression. Miller describes one time when Roosevelt was a teen and his friend found him pacing around outside afraid to come in and talk to someone- it's an event that suggests random bouts of social anxiety. It's the mix of the extremes-energy, depression, anxiety-that makes me rather think he might have been bi-polar. I myself am bi-polar-I know the signs.

There's a New York Times article that states, "Theodore Roosevelt...showed symptoms of the manic energy that characterizes bipolar disorder."¹ There are numerous accounts through Miller's biography of Roosevelt that show him going for twenty plus mile walks and that he was known for reading a book a day. If that's not an unusual amount of brain activity I don't know what is. True, he lived in a time without T.V. and how much more would the average person walk and read if there was no T.V.? Probably not twenty miles worth but they would probably get out of the house more.

The book is seriously littered with examples of just how not normal Theodore Roosevelt was. He had the ability to concentrate in absolute. "Once, he became so absorbed in a book as he sat before the fire that only the smell of the soles of his boot burning finally got his attention."² There's another time when he goes skiing in windy, way below zero weather in order to prove himself. He always seemed trying to prove himself. He's an example that there's a time for everything-he was both a war hero and a peacemaker. "He relentlessly urged war with Spain, but he received the Nobel Peace prize for negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War a few years later"³.

It's almost inconceivable to me that he's not mentioned more often. Miller states in the preface that "If Americans were polled on which past president they would like to have in the White House today, Roosevelt would probably be the winner."⁴. Although he's awesome-I'd differ with this idea. Most of the younger generation doesn't know much more about him than the fact the teddy bear is named after him.

There were not any bad points I could find about Miller's book. As it's the only book I've ever read on Theodore Roosevelt and also the only biography on anybody I've ever read I have absolutely nothing to compare it too. It was good in the since that it kept my interesting almost as well as a fantasy book, which proves good writing and story development in my mind, even if there was a tragic lack of dragons or vampires.

¹ Carey, Benedict "West Wing Blues: It's Lonely at the Top". New York Times. Feb. 14 2006, Dec 10 2007.

² Miller, Nathan. "Theodore Roosevelt: A Life." William Morrow and Company, Inc: New York, 1992. pg 68.

³ "Salem on Literature: Theodore Roosevlet". Enotes.com Inc. Dec. 6 2007, Dec. 09 2007.

⁴ Miller, Nathan. "Theodore Roosevelt: A life." William Morrow and Company, Inc. New York, 1992. pg 9