Teddy Roosevelt is portrayed in new book by local author

Rogers City native Patricia O’Toole’s latest book about the last decade of Theodore Roosevelt’s life is a fascinating study of power and politics, American-style. Her original and captivating work, “When Trumpets Call” (Simon & Schuster, 2005) is a look into what happens to a powerful man when he gives up power. O’Toole explores the inner thoughts and motivations of Roosevelt as he tried to regain power and maintain the sense of destiny that was part of his entire life. When George Washington declined to run for a third term as President, he set a precedent that went unbroken for nearly 150 years. Washington could have been president-for-life if he desired.

The significance of Washington’s action was unique in history. To willingly give up the reins of power and hand over the government to a new generation of leaders was inconceivable in his day. That precedent proved to be a vital and precious gift to a young democracy. When TR first had the chance to claim a third term it was on a technicality. He was vice president when William McKinley was assassinated shortly after being elected. As vice president, Roosevelt assumed the office, was easily re-elected and served until 1908 when his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft, was elected.

ANOTHER BIOGRAPHER of presidents, (David Herbert Donald, author of “Lincoln”), wrote of O’Toole’s work, “Here is Theodore Roosevelt with all his faults and with all his strengths — the devoted family man, the passionate game hunter, the far-sighted statesman, the astute politician, the frustrated warrior. This is a deeply moving account of the last years of a very great man.” Roosevelt had an insatiable appetite for power. His indomitable will and self-confidence secured his place at the center stage of political events during his lifetime. The danger in choosing such a larger-than-life subject to write about is the risk of not matching that quality with a good story. There is no need to worry about that in the case of O’Toole’s remarkable portrait of a remarkable man.

O’Toole is an expert in chronicling the lives of strong personalities and probing their depth of character. An earlier book, “The Five of Hearts: An Intimate Portrait of Henry Adams and His Friends,” was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. O’Toole graduated from RCHS in 1964 and from Michigan in 1968. She has worked as a free-lance writer since 1976. She also teaches classes at Columbia University and currently lives in New York City. When Roosevelt left office he had just turned 50 and was at loose ends about the future. His name and astute intellect would always provide for his family but the man’s enormous ego and competitive spirit drove him to seek more than just a comfortable life after running the country. TR’s children once said he longed to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. He also was described as an “artist of power.” In order to give President Taft room to make his own way, Roosevelt decided the best course of action would be to take an extended leave from Washington.

IN FACT, he left the country and went on a one-year safari in Africa. TR obtained the sponsorship of the Smithsonian Institution and secured lucrative writing assignments in the process. He knew how to organize a proper expedition and what to say once he was ensconced in it. “Death by violence, death by cold, death by starvation–these are the normal endings of the stately and beautiful creatures of the wilderness,” he wrote. O’Toole explains that Roosevelt saw no contradiction between game preservation and hunting. He argued that a game reserve enabled animals to breed in safety, while hunting ensured that they would not multiply unchecked and (in his words) “crowd man off the planet.” TR felt that the impulse by some to outlaw hunting for sport was nothing more than “mushy sentimentality.” Although the portly ex-president was out of the public eye while on safari in 1909, he was not out of mind. Americans followed with zeal the exploits of his expedition in the articles he wrote for Scribner’s magazine.

AFTER WATCHING his prot?g? founder ineffectively in office, TR became embroiled in a battle with Taft for control of the Republican Party. When he lost that struggle, he turned to the Progressive Party and beat Taft in the 1912 election, but he could not garner enough votes to defeat Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt had a Ronald Reagan-like quality (and vice versa). His bigger-than-life personality never pulled b

ack from a cause or a challenge. Even when he was shot while campaigning, he insisted on giving his speech before going to the hospital. As president, TR had reveled in his power and used it to enlarge the scope of the office, expand government’s role in economic affairs, and increase U.S. influence abroad. Only 50 when he left the White House, he would spend the rest of his life longing to return. His youngest son, Quentin, was killed on the battlefield in 1918. Roosevelt died six months later at 60 years of age. His last written words were a reminder to himself to meet the chairman of the Republican Party.

O’Toole’s book captures the essential gist of this man of action. TR distained critics and lauded the man in the arena, risking all in a fight for his beliefs. Such a man was bound to stumble and fall short, and great effort did not always bring great triumph, he knew. But if the man of action failed, he at least failed, as TR wrote, “while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”