| Title | : | Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0671447548 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780671447540 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 445 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1981 |
| Awards | : | Pulitzer Prize Biography or Autobiography (1982), National Book Award Autobiography/Biography (Hardcover) (1982), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Biography (1981) |
Mornings on Horseback is about the world of the young Theodore Roosevelt. It is the story of a remarkable little boy, seriously handicapped by recurrent and nearly fatal attacks of asthma, and his struggle to manhood: an amazing metamorphosis seen in the context of the very uncommon household (and rarefied social world) in which he was raised.
His father is the first Theodore Roosevelt, "Greatheart," a figure of unbounded energy, enormously attractive and selfless, a god in the eyes of his small, frail namesake. His mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, is a Southerner and celebrated beauty, but also considerably more, which the book makes clear as never before. There are sisters Anna and Corinne, brother Elliott (who becomes the father of Eleanor Roosevelt), and the lovely, tragic Alice Lee, Teddy Roosevelt's first love. And while such disparate figures as Abraham Lincoln, Mrs. John Jacob Astor, and Senator Roscoe Conkling play a part, it is this diverse and intensely human assemblage of Roosevelts, all brought to vivid life, which gives the book its remarkable power.
The book spans seventeen years � from 1869 when little "Teedie" is ten, to 1886 when, as a hardened "real life cowboy," he returns from the West to pick up the pieces of a shattered life and begin anew, a grown man, whole in body and spirit. The story does for Teddy Roosevelt what Sunrise at Campobello did for FDR � reveals the inner man through his battle against dreadful odds.
Like David McCullough's The Great Bridge, also set in New York, this is at once an enthralling story, with all the elements of a great novel, and a penetrating character study. It is brilliant social history and a work of important scholarship, which does away with several old myths and breaks entirely new ground. For the first time, for example, Roosevelt's asthma is examined closely, drawing on information gleaned from private Roosevelt family papers and in light of present-day knowledge of the disease and its psychosomatic aspects.
At heart it is a book about life intensely lived...about family love and family loyalty...about courtship and childbirth and death, fathers and sons...about winter on the Nile in the grand manner and Harvard College...about gutter politics in washrooms and the tumultuous Republican Convention of 1884...about grizzly bears, grief and courage, and "blessed" mornings on horseback at Oyster Bay or beneath the limitless skies of the Badlands. "Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough," Roosevelt once wrote. It is the key to his life and to much that is so memorable in this magnificent book.
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt Reviews
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Audiobook: FABULOUS AUDIOBOOK!!!
There was so much I didn't know about Teddy Roosevelt until this book. I had no idea the obstacles he had go through to be the 'Roosevelt' people would remember--given the accomplished man his 'father' was.
By the time I came to the end --my love for TR was tenfold. His childhood was challenging with asthma.... with horrible medications at the time. His early adulthood was marked by tragedy. As a political figure he's a man that change the world.
I loved Teddy Roosevelts *Teddy-ness* with children. He had as much fun playing with groups of kids as much as the kids did with him.
David McCullough can tell a story…with the focus being on Roosevelt's early life and his family.
Engaging - fascinating- heartfelt - inspiring!!! -
A satisfying and well written portrait of Roosevelt’s youth. It’s up to the reader to make the linkages between his origins and him as President. That’s the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars. For what McCullough intends, it was very satisfying to me:
My intention was not to write a biography of him. What intrigued me was how he came to be. … There were pieces of the puzzle that fascinated me—his childhood battle with asthma, for example, his beautiful southern mother, the adoration he had for his father. What, who, were involved in the forming of all that energy and persistence? How much of him was playacting or a composite of borrowing from others who were important to him? … The book would end when I thought he was formed as a person, at whatever age that happened, when I felt I could say, when the reader could say, there he is.San Juan Hill, the White House, the Canal, the trust-busting and Big Stick wielding, the Bull Moose with his “hat in the ring,” would all be after the fact, another story, so far as my interests.
A lot of attention is paid to his parents and the domestic scene of his childhood in one of the richest families in New York City in the late 19th century, the “Age of Innocence” as termed by Edith Wharton’s novel (who was a friend of the family). They didn’t make their money as robber barons, but through commerce in glass, real estate, and investment banking. The father, Theodore Senior, came off as very likable and public spirited. His philanthropy and “good works” included reform of mental hospitals and orphanages, the founding of a hospital, and development and construction of the Museum of Natural History. Teddie’s mother was a plantation belle from Georgia and, along with many family members who fought with the Confederacy, the source of many adventurous stories that fired the imagination of young “Tee Dee” (his childhood name). The Roosevelt family, which included two sisters and a brother, made use of their wealth to provide an idyllic childhood for Teddie, with summers at their estate at Oyster Bay, Long Island, and long trips in Europe and the Middle East.
His father imbued in Teddie the philosophy of a physically active life as a key to health and pathway away from the indolence of idleness. Teddie’s lifelong interest in nature, hiking, and horseback riding are well accounted for. A thoughtful chapter on Teddie’s debilitating asthma provides insight into its physiological and psychosomatic components, leaving it open whether it was physical activity or psychological aspects that allowed Teddie to largely surmount it as a handicap in his life. The war with the disease as an antecedent to his drive for success and self-confidence is nicely summed up in this paragraph:
For a child as acutely sensitive and intelligent as he, the impact of asthma could not have been anything but profound, affecting personality, outlook, self-regard, the whole course of his young life, in marked fashion. The asthmatic child knows he is an oddity; that somehow, for some reason no one can explain, he is a defective, different. But he also knows also that his particular abnormality lends a kind of power. He knows, in ways a normal child can scarcely imagine, what it is to be the absolute center of attention.
When he arrived at Harvard, we see his struggle to gain respect and social acceptance:
At seventeen the boy was as tall as he would grow, five foot eight inches, and he weighed at most 125 pounds. His voice was thin and piping, almost comical. The blue-gray eyes squinted and blinked behind thick spectacles, which when he laughed or bobbed his head about, kept sliding down his nose. The sound of his laugh was described by his mother as an “ungreased squeak.”
While he became involved in every club imaginable, he made no close friends and surprisingly showed little sign of being destined for greatness. One acquaintance noted: “Most of his classmates simply did not like him.” McCullough is surprised that his scientific interests were not fulfilled: He never found any real intellectual excitement there, for all his good grades. He was never inspired to reach or push himself academically. At no point did he churn with intellectual curiosity or excitement.
What he did fulfill was having a good time and falling in love with future wife17-year old Alice. The imagine of him riding his horse or horsecart the six miles to her home in Chestnut Hill to woo her was fun to imagine. After college and marriage, he began to get interested in politics, with a focus on reform of corruption. We won a seat in the State Assembly at age 23 and began to make a mark for himself. Why a Brahmin would dirty his hands with such an avocation is summed up by McCullough:
It was a chance at last to do battle. , good against evil, in New York itself and in what he liked to call “the full light of the press,” light he very obviously loved. He relished the publicity and he relished the battle itself. He loved a fight, even more than his father had. It was possibly the chief reason he love politics, needed politics.
McCullough also finds that politics fulfilled his drive to do something of lasting significance:
Theodore said later it was a combination of curiosity and “plain duty” that led him into politics, and that “I intended to be one of the governing class,” which may be taken as another way of saying he wanted power. In the novel “The Bostonians” (1896), Henry James would portray a leading character as “full of purpose to live … and with high success; to become great in order not to become obscure, and powerful not to be useless.” The description would apply perfectly to Theodore. Obscurity, one imagines, would have snuffed him out like a candle.”
Another major shaping event on his life is the death of both his mother Mittie and Alice in a single day (to typhoid and chronic nephritis, respectively). Alice had just given birth to a child. Afterward, he threw himself in work and repressed his grief so much that in an autobiography much later in his life, he barely even mentions either of them. McCullough tries to capture the impact of the losses on his character:
The sole, overwhelming lesson was the awful brevity of life, the sense that the precipice awaited not just somewhere off down the road, but at any moment. An asthmatic childhood had shown that life could be stifled, cut off, unless one fought back, and all Papa’s admonitions to get action, to seize the moment, had the implicit message that there was not much time after all. Father had died at forty-six; Mittie had only been forty-eight; Alice, all of twenty-two, her life barely begun. Nothing lasts. Winter waits.
His foray on the national stage came with his role at the Republican Convention in leading coalition efforts to try to stop the nomination of Blaine as the nominee for Presidential candidate:
He was still all of twenty-five; it was his first national convention. Yet from the first day he had proved himself a force to reckon with, by friend or foe, and the attraction he had for newspaper attention was the kind every politician dreams of. He was a natural politician. He had a born genius for the limelight, for all the gestures and theatrics for politics. In his undersized, overdressed way he had presence. Unquestionably, he had nerve.
An interesting irony in light of the current scene in politics was that his wealthy background was considered a disadvantage in politics by some:
The Chicago Times … made the point that he had to get where he was in politics despite his background. “The advantage of being a self-made man was denied him. An unkind fortune hampered him with an old and wealthy family.”
At this point, his political career takes a hiatus as Teddie becomes captured by the dream of the frontier of the American West. He sinks a lot of resources in a huge cattle ranch in the Bad Lands Dakota Territory and for three years throws himself into the endeavor. Though the image he projects as a “manly man” by posing in an expensive outfit suggests a laughable dilettantism, he truly pushed himself in the physical work of ranching and gained the respect of many of the locals. In his books based on his experience, a linkage with the values of his father is pointed out by McCullough:
He wrote of their courage, their phenomenal physical endurance. He liked their humor, admired their unwritten code that ruled the cow camp. “Meanness, cowardice, and dishonesty are not tolerated,” he observed. “There is a high regard for truthfulness and keeping one’s word, intense contempt for any kind of hypocrisy, and a hearty dislike for any man who shirks his work.” It was, of course, exactly the code he had been raised on. … The cowboy was bold, cared about his work; he was self-reliant and self-confident. Perhaps most importantly of all, the cowboy seemed to know how to deal with death, death in a dozen different forms being an everyday part of his life.
The book ends with a return to New York and his failed attempt at the mayoral election. Whether or not the book achieves originality as history, it is a well written window into the character of an important figure in the transition of the U.S. to a global power and of New York City into the modern metropolis it became. Published in 1981, it is an early book in McCullough’s career. The negative views about his book production “factory”, as covered in this
Salon piece may not applicable to this book.
Becoming a 'manly man': Teddie in fancy frontiersman garb. -
I love David McCullough. He writes books about things you did not know that you needed to know. “Mornings on Horseback” is yet another example of a book about a subject matter I thought I would have no interest in, but I was very wrong.
This text is about Teddy Roosevelt’s immediate family and his upbringing. It ends in the mid-1880s right after his second marriage. He is all of 28 years old, and the more “famous” aspects of his life are not even addressed. Moreover, it is utterly absorbing reading. It is also a bit of a social history on American Victorian life and is endlessly insightful on that subject.
McCullough makes it very clear that our immediate family are some of the biggest influences on who we are to become and Teddy’s parents and siblings are a fascinating and very accomplished family. You will fall in love with Teddy’s daddy (Theodore Roosevelt senior) who was an extraordinary man. His death in the text will deflate the reader for a bit. And it sneaks up on you, as do many aspects of the book. In this manner, the writer remains true to the spirit of life. Things just happen; no preparation for them is given. The insight you get into the man Teddy became is clearly apparent the more you learn about his amazing father and mother.
Among many highlights of the book are pages 349/350, which contain a speech Teddy Roosevelt gave at a 4th of July celebration in the Dakotas in 1886. Gems like that are scattered throughout the text.
“Mornings on Horseback” is a short book, by McCullough’s standards, but it is a delight through and through. -
Theodore Roosevelt--pioneering naturalist, Rough Rider, hero of San Juan Hill, populist reformer, trust buster, champion of the National Park system, the President with his "big stick", the Bull Moose--he seems like a force of nature, something unstoppable. But how did it happen? How did a sickly, asthmatic child who was not expected to live become this towering wave of pure human energy? Both nature, nurture and self-will shaped the boy and the man and McCullough does a masterful job discovering how the one became the other.
It starts, of course, with his family.
Mornings on Horseback is as much a story of the Roosevelt family and the times as it is of Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy, or Teedie, as the family called him, was born into one of New York's wealthiest and respected old Dutch families. His grandfather, Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt, was among the founders of Chemical Bank (later Chase) and was a model of probity, respectability and solid citizenship. C.V.S. Roosevelt's mansion on 13th Street and Union Square was the gathering place for a growing clan of children and grandchildren.
The family story told in David McCullough's history spans three generations and several pivotal moments in American history. One of them is captured here as President Lincoln's funeral cortege marches slowly past the Roosevelt manor towards Union Square. From the second floor window you can catch a glimpse of two children leaning out: they are thought to be Teddy, age seven, and his younger brother, Elliot, age five.
The Civil War looms large in the Roosevelt history because there was another improbable branch to the family tree. In 1853 Cornelius Roosevelt's youngest son, the businessman and philanthropist Theodore met and married beautiful Martha 'Mittie' Bulloch, daughter of a prominent Georgia plantation owner.
The Bulloch's owned some 80 slaves; two of the house slaves are pictured here.
If the Roosevelts seldom produced anyone with a sense of adventure or even a whiff of impropriety, the Bullock's were something else again. Teddy, who clearly inherited his father Theodore's sense of honor and dedication to the those less fortunate, also listened enthralled to his mother's tales of the Bullochs. Among those the children most admired were Mittie's brothers who served in the Confederate navy; few stories were more thrilling than the one about how uncle Irvine got a dangerously fast new ship built in England and smuggled it away to sail against the Union. McCullough makes a good case that Teddy's adventurous side was a trait learned from his spirited mother and her Bulloch relatives.
Even through the strains of the Civil War, Theodore and Mittie's marriage would endure, the family prospered and the two would bequeath their very different gifts but complementary gifts to their their children.
I loved the story of the Roosevelt brood growing up. In particular, the chapter on Teddy's childhood asthma was sensitively and beautifully researched and, as a (now cured) asthma sufferer, I was struck by how well McCullough captured the terror of those nighttime attacks and how brilliantly he dissects the psychological aspects of the disease. I felt like cheering as Teddy emerges from those early shadows as a budding and enthusiastic naturalist, skilled taxidermist and contributor of specimens to one of his father's projects, New York's Museum of Natural History.
It was not easy being a Roosevelt child: the standards were high and never was selfishness, cruelty, dishonesty or idleness tolerated. Mittie and "Thee" were whirlwinds of energy and activity--they had money and, boy, did they now how to use it to the fullest! Few 21st century Americans could match the non-stop pace and intense focus of the Roosevelts and their entourage whether on a grand tour of Europe, or in New York working 18 or more hours a day to better the lot of the thousands of homeless children through the Newsboys Lodging House or helping crippled children through a new orthopedic hospital.
The second half of Mornings on Horseback covers Teddy's education at Harvard, his early forays into politics, his first marriage and the tragic death of his wife and Mittie on the same day. Then comes a wonderful section on Teddy's adventures in the North Dakota Badlands. The story gets a little disconnected towards the end as McCullough tries to follow not just young Teddy's career, but also the stories of his brother, Elliot and two sisters, Anna ('Bamie') and Corrine. The book delves into pivotal moments in Teddy's early political career and closes with Teddy's second marriage and failed run for mayor of New York City.
I'm looking forward to learning more about TR with two books from
Edmund Morris:
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and
Theodore Rex -
OK. Here's my definition of fanatic. After just finishing a wonderful extended look at Teddy Roosevelt post-presidency ("Colonel Roosevelt" - reviewed here and given 5 Stars last month); I went back and re-read David McCullough's excellent biography of Teddy's family history and his early years.
Don't let anyone convince you that "nurture" isn't a powerful contributor to who we are. Not the exclusive contributor -- Teddy's own brother Elliot bears witness to that -- but powerful, nonetheless. Two tidbits I was reminded of here: the strong influence Teddy's Southern mother, Mittie Bulloch Roosevelt, had on his view of the world. And the indefatigable ball of energy Roosevelt willed himself to become. He wasn't necessarily stronger or more right then his opponents, it's just that his stamina was unmatched. Reminded me of a family story where one child was coaching another: "you just have to keep asking, because you never know when they'll say yes!" In many ways, that is the most transparent and childlike characteristic of this rough rider. -
A biography covering the early life of Theodore Roosevelt, from his childhood through his years as a Dakota rancher, this book is also a fascinating account of the entire colorful Roosevelt family and the times in which they lived. I could hardly put it down. I especially loved the way the author was able to draw such vivid pictures of this dynamic man -- Roosevelt reading Anna Karenina while guarding thieves at gunpoint...in horseback and dressed in full "dude" outfit, telling his cowboys to "hasten forward, quickly there!"... back east, in top hat and proper coat, entering his house at full speed and bounding halfway up the staircase before the front door slams shut behind him. I found myself inspired by Roosevelt's passionate curiosity and commitment to "the strenuous life."
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This might be embarrassing to admit, but whatever. This book has a twist, since it starts off talking about a young Theodore Roosevelt. It took me maybe 25% of the book to realize that the Theodore Roosevelt that was being discussed at length was President Theodore Roosevelt's father. I think listening to this in audio format definitely made this 'reveal' more effective, since "Teddy", as his parents called him was pronounced "TEE-DEE".
30 min into the book: wait. I thought he married some woman named Edith.
4 hours through the book: "oh shit, all this time we've been talking about his dad". Our future president is the sickly kid with asthma.
I really liked that this focused on Teddy Roosevelt's childhood, from his health issues to his insecurities about ever being able to live up to his father's legacy. You really get a sense of the privilege he comes from, as well as what it took for him to become the version of Theodore Roosevelt that has lived on in legend.
There was actually very little written about mornings on horseback, and I feel like an idiot because I spent the first 4 hours of this audiobook mixing him up with his dad. Still, super interesting view into the early years of one of our most popular presidents. -
Well-written partial biography of Theodore Roosevelt, focusing on his youth and family life. The first half highlights the salient events of his childhood, the manner in which he dealt with asthma, and his close relationship with his father (also named Theodore). The second half covers his education, first marriage, adventures in the west, and initial forays into politics.
The Roosevelt’s were wealthy and had the ability to travel, introducing young “Teedie” to regions of the world that ignited his passion for nature. This narrative non-fiction closely examines each of his immediate family members. He was especially close to his sisters, Conie and Bamie. He emerged as a leader in the family even at an early age and his elder brother, Elliott, often deferred to him. Young Theodore desired to follow in his father’s footsteps, and his future actions were heavily influenced by his father’s values.
McCullough provides an in-depth analysis of the family dynamics, and the responsibilities they felt to use their wealth for philanthropy. This book provides insight into the forces that shaped TR into a prominent leader. This book stops short of covering his political career on the national stage. It intentionally concludes at the time he first ran for mayor of New York. McCullough has a knack for relating history in an interesting way. Highly recommended to history fans.
4.5 -
This is another great book by one of history’s greatest story tellers. David McCullough describes the childhood of our 26th president Theodore Roosevelt in “Mornings on Horseback” with little known details of how Teddy Roosevelt became a great man. He begins with Theodore’s grandfather whom started the wealthy Roosevelt family. His name was Cornelius and he started a glass manufacturing company which was the sole glass making company in New York City in the 1800’s. He used this money to buy real estate and eventually opened up a bank named Chemical Bank. CVS, as Cornelius was referred to as, preached to always make the best out of every situation. CVS was the grandfather and his son Theodore Sr. was the future president’s father.
Theodore Sr. married a southern lady by the name of Martha Bullock who was referred to as Mittie. He was a hard worker in the glass manufacturing family and seemed like a wonderfully attentive father and husband. She was also a very lovely doting mother and wife. They schooled their four children Elliot, Theodore, Anna (referred to as Bamie) and Corrine with tutors and they were taught a variety of subjects including foreign languages. Theodore took the family on a year long vacation where they visited European countries as well as Egypt. Elliot was the older more promising son. He was smart and strong. Theodore suffered from asthma. McCullough describes this terrible condition that the young Theodore had to endure vividly. Asthma occurs when a person’s bronchial tubes constrict making exhaling very difficult. It is described as a brutally painful experience where you feel like you are suffocating. What is fascinating is that it was discovered that is brought on by psychological factors. Theodore would experience it every Sunday when his father was not around. Missing his father caused his asthma.
Theodore Sr. ran a very successful business becoming one of the wealthiest business men in New York. His dedication, honesty and wealth soon had the New York politicians swooning for his attention. He would join what was known as “The Half Breeds” of the Republican Party attempting to reform the New York customs house’s abuse of power. But there was a very powerful and entrenched political class running the custom house which became known as the Republican Party’s “Stalwarts.” The Stalwarts were led by New York’s charismatic intelligent Senator Roscoe Conkling. Conkling was described as political savvy good looking man who exercised regular producing an attractive figure. He would be Theodore Sr.’s number one enemy. Theodore Sr. was invited to the Republican nominating convention along with other “Half Breeds.” They managed to get a sympathetic-to-their-cause Rutherford Hayes nominated as the Republican’s nominee for President. However, they failed to produce any meaningful customs’ house reform at the convention. Rutherford Hayes would succeed at this as President of the United States in the near future though.
As Theodore Sr. muddled through New York politics, Theodore Jr. was sent to Harvard. At Harvard Theodore Jr. exhumed all knowledge thrown on him. He and a buddy would take 30 mile hikes where Theodore Jr. would catalog different animal species. But after two years at Harvard, the family would be devastated by Theodore Sr.’s unexpected illness. He had stomach cancer and died shortly after discovering it.
While at Harvard Theodore wrote his first book “The Naval War of 1812.” Theodore graduated from Harvard and became attracted to politics. He ran for a state house seat in New York’s state assembly. He became a work horse representative. He took on a lot of issues and became very respected by his colleagues. He then met the love of his life Alice Lee. They married and had a beautiful baby daughter also named Alice. Two days after baby Alice was born tragedy hit the young Roosevelt family. Theodore came home from work at the state assembly and found both his mother and wife sick. His mother w succumbed that evening to typhoid fever. But shockingly his wife Alice also died the same day, a victim of Bright’s disease.
Theodore continued his whirlwind political career in New York’s assembly. In 1884 he became a representative from NY in the Republicans nomination convention. He fought bitterly against the party’s support of James Blaine for President of the United States. Blaine won the nomination none-the-less. So Theodore retired and headed to the Dakota’s where he owned land.
He became a rancher in the Badlands of Dakota off and on for three years. In the 1880’s this part of the west was legitimately called the “wild west.” He met interesting characters and even rounded up criminals. One such character was the Marquis de Mores. The Marquis was the dominant presence in the Badlands ranching. He was a former member of the French cavalry, he was a superb horse handler and expert shot. He was rumored to have killed two men in duels while in France. He carried a walking stick filled with lead. He would raise the stick with one hand, extend and hold it straight out. This was done to build strength in his arms. Theodore was the other “big” presence in the badlands. Theodore worked long, hard hours and when he finished he would write letters and work on his book entitled “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman.”
After three years Theodore abandoned his ranch for good. He sold it off and moved back to NYC. He surprised the family a short time later by announcing his engagement to Edith Carow. They married and had 5 children later. He also was willingly conjured up into running for the Mayorship of NYC by his influential acquaintances. He lost the election but esteem for his skills still rose.
This is where David McCullough ended his book. In an Afterword chapter he expanded on what happened later to Theodore, his brother and two sisters.
Of course, Theodore rose to the Vice Presidency and became President of the United States himself. McCullough lists the achievements of his presidency – settling of the 1902 coal strike, brokering peace in the Russo –Japanese War and the construction of the Panama Canal et al. His sister Bamie married at the age of 40 after raising Theodore’s daughter and had her own baby at the age of 43. His brother Eliot fell victim to alcoholism and died at the young age of 34. His youngest sister Corrine married and lived long enough to see a cousin elected to the Presidency in 1933. -
My 4th book on Teddy Roosevelt. I just can't quit this guy! This book was okay but probably could have been called "White Privilege: The Book" instead. It does give the reader a good idea about Teddy's upbringing and his family. He definitely had some tragedies in his life: His first wife and his mother died within hours of each other. He also struggled with asthma as a child. But most of his early life was that of a filthy rich little kid getting to go on outrageous adventures. It's no wonder he turned out the way he did after traveling literally around the world as a young boy. Very little political here, but I don't think that's what McCullough was going for. Much like his work on "Truman", McCullough left me a bit cold.
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TR was a man of vigor and action, but rather than thrusting us headlong into the travail and adventure of his youth, McCullough lacks commitment.
Perhaps this is simply a byproduct of constraints. There is so much to cover, and in a book of only three hundred and some pages, the writer is forced to jump quickly from one scene to the next. Still, I sensed a true reluctance from McCullough. He seems content to remain a detached observer, and it leaves us readers unable to fully immerse in the life of the subject.
This is purely speculative, but it’s almost as if McCullough thought, ‘writing about TR will be fun,' but once he had begun his study he decided he didn’t care much for TR's personality or politics. Being too invested at that point to abandon the project, he trudged onward, and in an attempt at some measure of personal relief he shifts his focus off of TR and on to the supporting cast—TR's family members.
What we’re left with is a book subtly flavored by distaste; a plate with a main course lacking life and a spattering of sides to dress it up. -
I recently finished River of Doubt, the saga of Roosevelt and company exploring a tributary of the Amazon. He did this after his presidency and after his unsuccessful attempt to regain that presidency in 1912.
I had to read more. What was Roosevelt like as a child? What formed him? What was his family like?
I got my questions answered. This book more than fit the bill.
I did listen to most on an abridged audio read by Edward Hermann. His voice is mellifluous. I am lucky his voice did not put me to sleep as I drove and listened.
5 stars (that David McCullough sure knows how to write!!) -
This book took me months to wade through, while I put it down to read another, went back to it, put it down again to read another, etc. Often it would put me to sleep. In short, I am not sure why everyone likes David McCullough's writing, though I shouldn't say that without reading one or two of his others.
What I didn't like about the book: 1. It wasn't written in a linear timeline; he jumped around or wasn't clear on when things he covered occurred. 2. He dropped all kinds of names of New York politicians in the late 1800's and early 1900's, as well as important New York families of the time. I didn't know who any of them were, nor did I care, but it seemed to me that since he mentioned them, they were significant for some reason. He should have told us why.
3. The book ends when Teddy Roosevelt is 29 years old, I guess because the rest of his life is easily researched in other works. But it seemed to me a weird and abrupt ending.
What I liked about the book: I liked learning things about Teddy R. that I never would have otherwise known. He was a complex man, and from his beginings, a scrawny, sickly kid who I think no one would have thought would amount to much else than being the son of a rich man. He is a great example of working hard to overcome limitations.
Summary: I thought my interest in history would be well-served by reading books by McCullough, who as a popular history writer should be right up my alley, since I think I would be bored by academic history coverage. While the book had a lot of interesting information, I found that McCullough's style didn't fit my needs. -
Well written and detailed account of the Roosevelt family and their lives with emphasis on TR. Amazing to read what he overcame as a child and then to see him grow into the man/leader we all know.
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I would rate this 3.5 stars but will round up to 4 out of my respect for David McCullough. This should have been in my wheelhouse. McCullough and TR are both personal favorites. However, I struggled getting through it. I think perhaps because I have read so much about TR that there was not enough new here to keep me easily turning pages. I appreciated the focus on other family members more than that parts on TR. However, still a solid read and I am glad I finally got to it.
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This was absolutely fascinating and full of information that I immediately wanted to discuss with others (which they did not always appreciate!).
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“Mornings on Horseback” is David McCullough’s 1981 biography covering Theodore Roosevelt’s childhood and was the 1982 Pulitzer finalist in the biography category. McCullough is a well-regarded author and historian best known for his biographies of John Adams and Harry Truman. His latest book “The Wright Brothers” will be published this May.
Covering the first twenty-eight years of Roosevelt’s life, McCullough’s narrative provides a fascinating perspective on Theodore’s childhood and early adulthood. But it also reveals far more than that – it offers a unique and engaging look at the life of a privileged New York family during the late nineteenth century.
As a consequence of McCullough’s focus, the reader misses the majority of Theodore’s political career (and the accompanying theatrics) including his time as Civil Service Commissioner, NYC Police Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy…and his presidency. But the lives of his parents and siblings (and his relationships with each) are captured brilliantly and provide valuable historical insight.
“Mornings on Horseback” is also well researched and often extremely detailed. And while not quite McCullough at his very best (his two Pulitzer prizes came about a decade later) it proves a wonderfully-told and endlessly entertaining story. One of the most familiar and celebrated features of his more recent narratives is on full display – his masterful ability to describe a scene in a way that dazzles and captivates the reader.
Particularly interesting chapters include those on his father’s nomination by President Hayes to be Collector of the Port of New York and TR’s adventures in the Dakota Badlands following the unexpected death of his first wife. And while the topic did not quite fill an entire chapter, you might not get as complete or rewarding a history of the earliest days of Harvard University if you were skip the book and take the campus tour.
But McCullough’s approach possesses several shortcomings. Most importantly for the ardent Teddy Roosevelt fan, the book never fully penetrates his mind or his soul. Although his actions are well-described and his family life revealed in colorful detail, the reader never gets really gets to know the future president or understand how his childhood experiences shaped his later career.
And although McCullough consistently demonstrates his prowess at scene-setting, he often fails to inform the reader why a particular setting is important to the story. Because so many of the book’s transitions from one scene to another are anything but seamless, the reader is often left to digest two or three pages before understanding the significance of a new topic to the storyline.
Also, McCullough’s attention and focus proves surprisingly uneven. Important topics sometimes secure an entire chapter (a detailed discussion of asthma, for example) while in other instances they hardly earn more than a page or two. Roosevelt’s campaign for mayor of New York City and the circumstances surrounding his second marriage, combined, were worth just over four pages.
The two most frequent complaints about McCullough’s book, however, are that it ends too soon…and ends too abruptly. The first grievance, of course, is really a compliment. But the second complaint has far deeper roots. Other than a helpful “Afterward” which in brief form follows Roosevelt and his siblings to the end of their lives, the book ends suddenly and without warning.
Overall, David McCullough’s “Mornings on Horseback” is entertaining and offers a unique perspective on Roosevelt’s early life. But it proves far more descriptive than interpretive. Readers seeking to understand TR thoroughly will come away disappointed, and Edmund Morris’s “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” may prove more rewarding. But for those hoping to view the young Theodore Roosevelt through the lens of his family’s daily life, there can be no better choice.
Overall rating: 3¾ stars -
Author David McCullough introduces this biography of Teddy Roosevelt by saying that his first encounter with "the president" was when his brother was playing him in a school production of "Arsenic and Old Lace." Because of that, I'm not ashamed to admit that an entertainment venue sparked my interest in this book also: the American Film Company is planning a movie called "Born in the Badlands" about Teddy Roosevelt's cowboy years in the Dakotas (coinciding with Laura and Almanzo's
first four, incidentally). This book covers the Badlands period, the return to the East, and plenty that happened beforehand. In other words, it's a portrait of Teddy Roosevelt's early life from his childhood to his mid-20's.
Judging by the cover, the book seemed rather daunting - 375 pages plus notes and an index - but it turned out to be highly readable because it focuses on the personalities, and not just Theodore's, but his family's. Theodore Roosevelt Senior was an especially admirable man, and Teddy's oldest sister Bamie turns out to be the real woman behind the man, more so than his mother or wife. (She was the woman behind Eleanor, too.) The two factors that shaped Teddy's childhood most, though, were a positive and a negative: his family's wealth and his asthma. Both of these are explored extensively. I think any parent of an asthma sufferer will be fascinated by what was known of the disease in the 1860's and 1870's and what treatments Teddy was put through.
Because he dared to criticize the Czar after the Kishinev pogrom, I already had a favorable opinion of Teddy Roosevelt going into this book, though it was marred slightly by
Sarah Vowell's comment in
Unfamiliar Fishes that he approached American expansion the way some people talk about building additions onto their homes. Now that I've read this book, I think TR was the greatest president the United States ever had, save for Lincoln, whom Teddy himself probably would have named #1.
Though this is not a complete biography as it does not delve into his presidency and only summarizes it in an afterword at the end, the book is so thorough about his early life, I feel quite satisfied for now. I'm definitely looking forward to the movie. I want Daniel Radcliffe as TR. -
Very interesting listen and I love loved all the history. I didn’t realize going in this was mainly about his years before the Presidency so I’m ready to read more on his life! Looking at his life you would never have guessed that he was such a sickly child!
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The subject carried this book. It’s not one of the author’s best - felt like a research essay more than a full manuscript. That said, Roosevelt’s background is fascinating. Such a unique figure.
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This is what I could call a 'formative biography', not so much about the real nitty-gritty of a life, but those early aspects that acted upon and around that most precious of things, the malleable human mind and spirit. When it comes to someone like Theodore Roosevelt, there are immediate, one-punch associations that come to mind and that tend to define the character of the man as we see him now and imagine him then. But behind all that, as McCullough shows us was something far more fascinating.
TR was a sickly child, reedy, thin, prone to asthma attacks, often violent, and kind of a weird, sheltered kid. Where McCullough shines is showing us the enviornment TR grew up in and how he was treated as a result of his weak constitution. The family looms large, from the larger-than-life overbearing father, to his sisters, pretty much all the pieces are set in place illustrating the evolution of this unlikely firecracker. Of particular interest is his later dismissed first marriage that ended in his wife's early death in childbirth and the time TR spent roaming the "Northwest", what we would call the "Upper Midwest", I guess, as panacea for his loss.
My only quibble with this work, is that McCullough gets a little bogged down in local NY and then primary-party politics, which gets a little bleary and eye-glazing, but still a crucial part of the formation of TR's character. -
I read this in two and a half days (hey, I was on vacation). I had no particular interest in TR going in, but once I got into this book, I kept missing bits of conversations because I was sneaking in a few more paragraphs about the Roosevelts' nineteenth-century rich-people escapades. McCullough packs in a lot of historical background here, and he got me to think twice about things like philanthropy in a time apparently without liberal guilt (with our vast wealth we'll give generously to many charities, and also let's get new livery for the servants and build a stupendously huge new house!), Republicanism among a generation that had known Lincoln, and, of course, the kind of fascination with nature that consists in shooting things all day long. Also, asthma, which McCullough researched at impressive length for this book.
The book lasts a little longer than I thought it needed to but still ends rather abruptly; and since I've never looked into the Roosevelts before I now have an extremely lopsided familiarity with TR's biography; but it's an excellent study of all those things in the subtitle. -
I LOVED this book. It is brilliant. To understand Theodore Roosevelt you have to understand his family background. His father paid a substitute to fight for him in the Civil War, but was actively involved in social work and in trying to improve society. His mother came from a family in Georgia which was actively involved in the civil war. You also need to understand Theodore's place in the family and his parents attitudes toward raising children. Lots on information on Roosevelt's first marriage and the tragic day in which he lost everything. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Examining Roosevelt's early years makes the rest of his life easily understandable.
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The author did a fantastic job of telling a story based on historical accounts, journals, and letters written by family and those closest to them. Honestly, I expected bias and that the story would be told seeing Theodore Roosevelt through rose colored glasses, and maybe that was the case in some instances, but overall this was not so. I saw goodness and fault throughout, and felt like I was truly able imagine the lives of this family, beginning with the courtship of President Roosevelt’s parents and ending with just prior to his election as President. I could go on, but my hope is that others enjoy meeting this family as much as I did.
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Teddy Roosevelt was a product of an extraordinary family and an extraordinary time. As a young man, having already experienced much and made a mark on his world, determined his future path that ultimately made him President of the United States, the youngest at 42. McCullough only takes us up to 1886, to a 27 year old Teddy, but he was molded by the events and tragedies of those 27 years, and also by his extraordinary family and late 19th Century New York City. McCullough presents all in warm lively detail with a particular gift for bringing it all to colorful rich life as a good historical fiction novel does. If McCullough skirts over some particulars, or the occasional information drops feel a bit flat, it's is quickly forgiven.
The Roosevelt family, both his immediate family and the extended family, were truly extraordinary. His father, Theodore Sr., was a great philanthropist whose legacy of charitable work is still evident in NYC today. Senior Theodore loved his children and spent an extraordinary amount of time with them considering the norm of that era. It was his father that Teddy spent his life emulating. Mittie, his mother, was a southern belle, a woman of great spirit, intelligence and energy who also had a strong influence on all her children. One of the most interesting chapters was the one in which the immediate family endured the Civil War with Mittie's brothers serving the Confederacy, her family still in the south, yet her husband and his family unionists to which she remained loyal. Senior Theodore did not take up arms out of respect and love for his wife, but the conflicting loyalties created a very strained household no doubt. It was eased by the fact that Senior Theodore and Mittie were a love match, one that seems to have stayed strong. Later, his siblings were to be very important to his success, especially his elder sister Bamie (Anna).
Teddy grew up and called home NYC and, in the summer, the North Shore of Long Island. The Roosevelts were mostly Republicans - with a stray Democrat or two - and when Teddy stood for a seat on the NYS Assembly at the ancient age of 22 he stood as a republican, the party of Lincoln, but with a reform agenda. I'm not a big fan of reading about political strategems or politics in general, but McCullough's description of the Republican National Convention in Chicago 1884 to which Teddy was a delegate at 23, brings to vivid life the pageantry, not just the chaos and brutal politicking, that once accompanied a presidential nomination at the Convention.
Another enormous influence on Teddy was nature, especial birds and mammals, marking him as a true Victorian. it started very young as a result of outings with his father to help ease his asthma attacks (the chapter on asthma and how today's findings illuminate Teddy's first 20 years is so informative). He became fascinated with birds, everything about them, and even learned taxidermy to study them. His first hunting was along the Nile on a family trip where he shot birds to study. His interest in hunting for sport did evolve and it was on a trip to 'bag his Buffalo' that he first saw and fell in love with the Badlands of North Dakota.
McCullough ends with Teddy's years in the Badlands, 1883 - 1886, after which time Teddy has resolved to become a professional politician and puts behind him the defeats and tragedies that informed his earlier years (and to some extent sent him into exile to the Badlands). In fact, on July 4, 1886, he was asked to deliver a speech in the town of Dickinson, ND. Reading it you can't but hear and feel that this was his first 'presidential' speech, the speech of a mature man setting out to claim his future. And he did, returning permanently later that year to NYC, remarrying, and running for NYC mayor by end of 1886.
The rest is history. -
It is clear that Teddy Roosevelt was one of the greatest Livers of all time
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Mornings on Horseback is the biography of President Theodore Roosevelt. McCullough gives the reader the story of Roosevelt starting as a little boy, who suffers from near fatal asthma attacks through his struggle to manhood.
THEME/PLOT
This book spends time discussing Theodore’s early life, marriages, with a big emphasis on his family.
It doesn’t go into his political life, presidency, or his time with The Rough Riders.
CONCLUSION
I have read books on Roosevelt so I did like that the author spent time on details that might not be known through the reading of other biographies. But in the end, I was hoping for more. The family element had an impact on Roosevelt’s life but there are other elements to Roosevelt that lead to his larger-than-life personae. You don’t find that here. I’ve enjoyed a few books by McCullough but find in this one he theorizes too much for me, being that it’s a biography.
I enjoyed reading this, but it lacked that quality that would have made it a compelling read which for me it wasn’t.
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Foremost historian David McCullough won several awards for this biography of Theodore Roosevelt's early life. McCullough was able to piece together the various personalities and events through personal correspondence, family records and news stories of the day. His goal was to uncover the events and people that helped shaped the future president's personality, drive and ambitions.
In this he succeeded admirably. Yet still, there was something about this work that didn't quite hold the same attraction for me as other books penned by McCullough. I found myself interested in certain sections - his childhood asthma, interest in nature and the death of his wife, than other areas. I am reading another work of non-fiction at the same time - The House of Morgan, and I did find the stock market crash of 1873 and it's subsequent depression vastly interesting. In the Chernow book, from a larger standpoint of the causes and attempts to correct the situation, and in McCullough's book, how it affected the Roosevelt family.
As a native North Dakotan, you'd think Roosevelt's adventures in my state would have held my interest, but McCullough shared mostly straight historical facts. In fact, of the countless interesting stories of TR's life on the plains, he shared only one.
I think perhaps this book would have worked better as a work of narrative fiction, since McCullough wanted to examine personalities. I know I may take some flak for saying that - it is the great David McCullough after all and this was a National Book Award Winner and Pulitzer Prize Nominee. But still, it could have been better. 3 1/2 stars. -
It should be a crime to write a biography this good and end the biography halfway through the figure's life without writing any sequel to finish it out. I'm going to need to find another biographer to finish the job that McCullough left off here...
All that aside, this was truly excellent. It gave a rather full picture of Roosevelt's early life, and I found the politics of the late 19th century to be quite fascinating. A Republican party that's being corrupted by lust for power and choosing to elect a nominee who's rather corrupt but is known for being a great "fighter" against the opposition? Wonder where we've seen that... The comparisons I drew between the Republican party then and now were interesting--and I also found great interest in how Roosevelt sought to navigate those challenges himself.
All-in-all, I was left with a clear impressions of Roosevelt's courage and moral resolve, as well as the complexities of compromise in difficult political situations, all in the context of a boy who learned to make himself something and become like his father. Just wish the biography didn't end right when things were getting interesting!
Rating: 4.5 Stars (Excellent). -
Having just finished a book about the Spanish American War and the U.S. military occupation of the Philippines, I decided to proceed to a biography of one of those responsible for all that unneeded misery: Theodore Roosevelt. Having recently read his 1776 with enjoyment, I selected McCullough's Mornings of Horseback.
It wasn't quite what I expected, being a biography of the man and his family going only up to his unsuccessful race for the mayoralty of New York, but perhaps it served as an antidote for my sanctimoniousness. Although very wealthy on all sides of the family, the Roosevelts were not, as McCullough portrays them, moral monsters. Indeed, by their lights, a number of them were selfless philanthropists and public servants. They certainly could have been worse.
McCullough is an exceptionally good writer, capable of engaging the emotions of his readers. Several times he had me chuckling, several times he had me tearing up.
