Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris

The second of the authors three books on Teddy Roosevelt is the tale of his 7 and a half years as President. He was an incredible President. It is ironic that as a Republican he turned into a progressive. Much like Truman he governed doing what he thought was right and with an extreme sense of ethics. Unlike Truman Roosevelt was self centered and thought no one but he should be President feeling it had been his destiny. If it was his destiny the country was rewarded by fulfilling it. Taking on big business and trusts and improving the lives of every American with the FDA, antitrust, an improved ICC , the Panama Canal and many other important ways.

Roosevelt is a President that more than any other we could use today. Today, reading an article in the New Yorker on the Koch brothers and there attempt to manipulate the Tea Party for their own personal gain one sees the parallels to today. Much of the regulation that T R set up has been usurped and changed in the last 20 years of deregulation fever and we are not the better for it. A man if his ethics and power would be a welcome addition to the political scene.

The last book in the series will be out this fall. I look forward to it with great excitement as this is a man one can enjoy learning more about.