ADVENTURE IN COURAGE

This is a warm biography filled with anecdotes and quotations and through it Theodore Roosevelt emerges as a human being. Historical fact is used as background to highlight the man. Two lines from Longfellow were Theodore's inspiration. ""Meekness is weakness. Strength is triumphant"". As a child, he was sickly, and long hikes, hunting, boxing and physical exercise over-compensated for this and finally defeated it. In his political life, he refused to be part of any corrupt. ""system"". An unbending morality never yielded in his work as Police Commissioner of New York City and Governor of the State. His organization of the Rough Riders and their exploits demonstrated his courage and sportsmanship. The politicians who boosted him into the Vice Presidency to remove him from a state post of more influence, never dreamed that McKinley's assassination would place their adversary in the White House. Roosevelt's personal life is strongly emphasized here as well. His two marriages, his role, as a husband and father are clearly depicted. All in all a flavorful and exuberant book.