The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by: Edmund Morris

Theodore Roosevelt was an amazing personage.  Energetic, charismatic, brave, intelligent, voracious reader and a Freemason.  I once read a book 'River of Doubt" by Candice Millard and almost immediately was addicted to "Teddy" the person.  I disagree with his politics on so many levels though.  With Roosevelt, I was able to see how you can like someone as a person while vehemently disagreeing with him politically.  I was “dee-lighted” with this book.

This book covers the amazing whirlwind rise of Theodore Roosevelt. His work for the United States Civil Service Commission, President of the New York City Police Commissioners, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York, historian, author of over 38 books, rancher, Vice President, and ultimately, President of the United States.  

Theodore Roosevelt was truly an amazing man.  I do not want to say that he was a perfect man, but I think when compared to his contemporaries, his light shines a bit brighter.  He was a monogamous man, and man of principles that was not for sale.  His time as Police Commissioner earned him a reputation of an "untouchable".  Although he came from money, he was no sensitive aristocrat by no stretch of the imagination.  While many of his contemporaries were living high on the hog, Roosevelt was knee deep in the Badlands where even seasoned mountain men revered his stamina, courage and fortitude. This however did not detract from him earning the adoration from the very famous and wealthy Astors.  The Astors were not known for allowing just anyone into their sanctum sanatorium. They saw his potential early on. 

Just one example of the person he was; One day, TD, as his family used to call him, was out with some fellow politicians and was  mocked by a man named J.J. Costello  because of his coat.  TD knocked the man down and then repeatedly struck him.  Afterword he told J.J. Costello, "Now you go over there and wash yourself. When you are in the presence of gentlemen, conduct yourself like a gentleman."

Roosevelt battled asthma and Cholera Morbus as a child and throughout his life.  He lost his mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt to typhoid and then his wife, Alice Hathaway Lee to Bright's disease hours apart on the same day; February 14th, under the same roof.  He was devastated.  He had one daughter with Alice.  For the first 3 years of Baby Lee's life, Roosevelt was essentially non-existent.  Roosevelt painstakingly removed all writings of her as to remove her existence for posterity.  He married again, ironically with his first love and childhood playmate Edith Kermit Carow. Interesting fact is that she came out supporting Hoover against her cousin-in-law/nephew-in-law Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His home was initially named "Leeholm" for obvious reasons, after his first wife passed away, he renamed it to "Sagamore Hill" taken from the head of an Indian tribe he encountered during his rancher days.

 

Teddy was known for his "spectacles and teeth", something he eventually learned to embrace.  He used his teeth as a tool of power while speaking to people.  On many occasions, people judge him as weak because of his "spectacles"

Roosevelt’s most celebrated feature—his dazzling teeth. Virtually every published description of the President, including those of provincial reporters who can catch only a quick glimpse of him through the window of a campaign train, celebrates his dental display. Cartoonists across the land have sketched them into American folk-consciousness, so much so that envelopes ornamented only with teeth and spectacles are routinely delivered to the White House.

When Roosevelt became governor, Morris talks about Teddy's "dentificial" sound effects. 

When required to make a formal statement, he spoke with deliberate precision, “punctuating” every phrase with his own dentificial sound effects; the performance was rather like that of an Edison cylinder played at slow speed and maximum volume."

Morris describes the Rough Riders and the challenges they faced in Cuba.  This is where Roosevelt officially became a Colonel.  Morris also tells of the time in Cuba when Teddy decided to inspect a ship wreck. He jumped into the water with Lt. Greenway and started to swim out.  When they yelled shark!!!! Roosevelt did not skip a beat and continued to swim in spite of the shark saying that they would not bite.  In fact they did not bite him and there were sharks as large as 10'.

We weren’t out more than a dozen strokes before Lee, who had clambered up on the parapet of Fort Morro, began to yell.
“Can you make out what he’s trying to say,” the old man asked, punctuating his words with long, overhand strokes.
“Sharks,” says I, wishing I were back on shore.
“Sharks,” says the colonel, blowing out a mouthful of water, “they” stroke “won’t” stroke “bite.” Stroke. “I’ve been” stroke “studying them” stroke “all my life” stroke “and I never” stroke “heard of one” stroke “bothering a swimmer.” Stroke. “It’s all” stroke “poppy cock.”
Just then a big fellow, probably not more than ten or twelve feet long, but looking as big as a battleship to me, showed up alongside us. Then came another, till we had quite a group. The colonel didn’t pay the least attention.…
Meantime the old general was doing a war dance up on the parapet, shouting and standing first on one foot and then on the other, and working his arms like he was doing something on a bet.
Finally we reached the wreck and I felt better. The colonel, of course, got busy looking things over. I had to pretend I was interested, but I was thinking of the sharks and getting back to shore. I didn’t hurry the colonel in his inspection either.
After a while he had seen enough, and we went over the side again. Soon the sharks were all about us again, sort of pacing us in, as they had paced us out, while the old general did the second part of his war dance. He felt a whole lot better when we landed, and so did I

While reading this book, it dawned on me that although we are giving more money to education per capita , we are much dumber than those of yesteryear.  Gone are the days when the families would sit around and read from classic books and have discussions.  Nowadays the families text each other.  I honestly think that although technology-wise we have made great advancements, we have declined on most all other aspects of our humanity. 

I always imagined the word "dude" being a surfer word that someone used.  Come to find out the word "dude" is actually a word and a word used frequently apparently in the circles TD ran.

This was an amazing book about an amazing man by an amazing author.  I HIGHLY recommend it.  Although being almost 1,000 pp, the book flows smoothly and kept me engaged at ALL times.  Not once was I tempted to skip any section or felt bored.  I am considering reading some other Morris books on Roosevelt. 

Hardcover: 960 pages
Publisher: Random House (November 23, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400069653
ISBN-13: 978-1400069651

Aesop's Fables by Aesop

This is a book I probably would have NEVER read had it not been for the obsession I have with Abraham Lincoln and that period.  In one of the books I read about Lincoln, it said he would read this to his kids.  I enjoy "reading-what-they-read".  It gives me perspective into their lives.

Aesop's Fables is an assortment of fables authored by a slave and who lived in Ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC. Mostly of the fables involve animals which attempts to inculcate some moral value in the reader.  Truth be told, some of the stories may have made more sense when they were penned in the sixth century A.D. but now, you may need to do some research to find the meaning.  Some of the tales are a little dark, but then again, back then kids grew up faster.  In my opinion, we baby our kids way too long and the after math is adults that behave like children. 

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap; Deluxe edition (August 1, 1947)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0448060035
ISBN-13: 978-0448060033

Alongside Night by: J. Neil Schulman

This book was recommended to me years ago when I left the Republican Party.  I had other books in the hopper and never got around to it.  The other day, I installed the Kindle app on my Galaxy S3 and downloaded the book and started reading.  I was amazed.  It seemed as though I was reading a newspaper article.

Granted, this IS a novel.  I have read many reviews from other readers and they slam it because of ideology by the author; this is a novel folks.  I believe they are missing the novel aspect of the book.  I mean lets face it H.G. Wells never really invented a time machine.  Did the characters have depth?  Maybe not, but I enjoyed the book.  Is this a great economic tome?  No but it does describe a theory of what is possible.

*** SPOILER ***
The book revolves around a son who's father is an Economist that has been calling out the government out for years.  Dr. Vreeland, fakes his own death in an attempt to escape the country with his family.   Elliot, the son, is released early from school and only to find that it is a hoax.  However, Elliot is sent on an errand and return to find his family gone and strangers in the house.

After narrowly escaping, with his own life, Elliot is determined to find his family of which he knows are being held by the "authorities".  In the process he meets a revolutionary group that are willing to help him.  He is lead to a hidden city (Galt's Gulch'ish) where he meets a girl that turns out to be the FBI director's daughter.

The book kept me engaged most of the time and I enjoyed the references to Rand, Hayek, Von Mises etc.

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Pulpless.Com, Inc. (June 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1584451203
ISBN-13: 978-1584451204

The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War By: Daniel Stashower

This was an interesting book for me because of the period of which it covers.  I am always fascinated by the language they used and always enjoy a good Lincoln book.  The title is a bit of a misnomer since the book covers much more than an "hour" and the book focuses so much more on Allen Pinkerton than  Abraham Lincoln.  To the author's defense, the sub-title does hold true.

The book kept me interested throughout.  It appears at face value to be duly researched.  I did not research his references thought.  The book covers ONE of the plots and attempts on President Lincoln's life.  In particular, the attempts prior to his first presidential inauguration.  It appeared to be a well thought out and planned scheme to assassinate the president-elect.

Pinkerton and his men, women too, were able to discover and eventually thwart the assassination by changing the travel plans of the president without letting the public know.  Although many saw Lincoln as a coward for not facing his would-be attackers "like a man", in actuality, he was able to dodge this attack and become ARGUABLY a "great" president.

Abraham was a good man insofar as he should not have been murdered, however he also should not be permitted to be deified in the annals of history.  Although he did "inherit" a precarious situation, Lincoln had many avenues to explore but chose force, thus changing the landscape of State Sovereignty  for evermore.  Because of his actions, and his granting of the executive branch untold powers, we have the leviathan in D.C. we have today.      

I have committed to read one Lincoln book per month.  This one was February 2013's book.  I recommend it.

Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (January 29, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312600224
ISBN-13: 978-0312600228

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Real American Heroes By: Brion McClanahan

This is an interesting read.  Although you may or may not agree with McClanahan's assertions as to who was a "real American hero", you will agree that many of the people covered in this book have been all but forgotten or forced into a shadow of, well, politically in-correctness. Some of these people were barely talked about when I was in school.  I have asked my sons and neither one of them have heretofore covered them in any detail.

I had "heard of" many of the "heroes" he wrote about, however they were not present in my scholastic history book. Surpsingley in the book, he also comments on those false heroes; those that are lauded incorrectly by the masses.  I did add at least 30 books to my "to read" list after reading this book.

One of the personages he writes about in the "Feminist Frauds" is Margaret Sanger who founded Planned Parenthood.  One of the things  McClanahan points out is that she was an opponent of abortion hence her fight to bring birth-control to the masses.  He explains how she, and others in the same "fraud" category had their respective movements high-jacked and turned into something they did not want during the inspection.  Many of those founders being ousted from their positions and later writing against the new evolved movement.

Recently there was a debate about contraceptives, and although I perfectly understand how some people may feel either way, I do not think it is up to the Federal Government to legislate something one way or the other.   I believe this is the problem with the two party system we have; they are both authoritative and will use force to make you comply.  These elected officials are but there to protect our rights not find new ways to control or deny them to us. 

Some reviewers accuse him of having a partisan spin on his book and although I would tend to agree with that, anyone who picks this book up, has to know that it is the "Politically Incorrect Guide"  



File Size: 990 KB
Print Length: 272 pages
Publisher: Regnery Publishing (November 12, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B009RRUX3Q

Empire of Blue Water: Captain Morgan's Great Pirate Army, the Epic Battle for the Americas, and the Catastrophe That Ended the Outlaws' Bloody Reign by: Stephan Talty

What a great book.  I was never into pirates per se,  but after reading "The Jefferson Key" which dealt with a fictional family that still had a letter marque and were essentially privateers, a phrase I had never heard at the time, it piqued my interest.  I found this book by accident and added it to me "to read" list, and there it sat.  Until I finished an economic book and decided to change genres (I do this regularly).

The time, 17th Century; the place, Port Royal Jamaica; the man Captain Henry Morgan, AKA the Welchman.  The story starts off with the tension between Britain and Spain and their empire building activities.  Spain is dominating the New World and the British have their sites sets, figuratively and literally on the New World. 

Although pirates and privateers are distinctly different they are not mutually exclusive. Henry the VIII came up with the idea of privateering.  It was akin to the Mafia families of the 20's and 30's where the boss had his soldiers commit the crimes and then pay him his share.  To Morgan, having his King's approval was enough for him.  Henry Morgan became a hero and a legend for being a great privateer.  The book covers the daring raids of Morgan's men in  Granada, Portobello, Maracaibo and Panama, the latter being the biggest hit to the Spaniards. 

His natural ability of being able to quickly identify the weakness of his foe and use those weaknesses against them was incredibly useful in his raids. The wit of the pirates and the way they executed their plans were ingenious.  In Maracaibo, they outsmarted the Spaniard my hollowing out logs to make them look like cannons on a fire-ship.

Once Spain had had enough, they finally signed a peace treaty but one of the conditions was to stop the privateering. Morgan was one of the few who was able to transition to semi-private life.  He ended up with a plantation which he ran and later becoming the deputy governor.  These events had a big part in destroying the Spanish empire.

Captain Morgan died after spending the rest of his days drinking and sick.  Some people see him as a marauder and some as a hero.  The truth is maybe somewhere in the middle save the murder of innocent people.  After his death a huge earthquake rocked Jamaica specifically Port Royal and it disrupted the trade with that area.  Ironically and a blessing to the American Colonies.


One of the interesting things to me, that my lack of knowledge deprived me from knowing is the Panama was actually a country way before the supposed Teddy Roosevelt, Panama Canal incident.  I guess I should read more :-)

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Crown; BCE edition (April 24, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307236609
ISBN-13: 978-0307236609

What Has Government Done to Our Money? and The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by: Murray N. Rothbard

A great book for the novice economist, not because of the content but because of the delivery of the subject matter.  You will come away with a solid understanding of what money is, how it came to be and remains today, as well as how the government monopolization of it has created many of the financial woes of today.  Rothbard is meticulous and relentless is pointing out how a gold standard is "THE" way.

The book is short, in actuality it is a collection of essays from his past.  I read the fifth edition and found it funny how he showed shock at gold prices being at $200.00 an ounce.  As of the writing of this review, the price of gold is more around $2,000.00 an ounce.    I find it interesting how people are so out of touch and uninformed of how are monetary system works.

I truly believe in the immortal words of Henry Ford when he said,

"If people understood the banking system they would revolt."

This is a great book if you are interested in understanding the banking and monetary system.  If you are interested in seeing how our present day politicians play us for fools, you need to read this book.  


Hardcover: 191 pages
Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute; 5th edition (September 20, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0945466447
ISBN-13: 978-0945466444