The Best Books To Learn About President Theodore Roosevelt
(You can view the rest of our presidential Best Book lists by going to our Best US President Books page, or for a more in-depth look at how we found and ranked the books you can visit our Best Book About Every United States President article.)
Theodore Roosevelt Quick Facts |
| President Number | 26 |
| Terms In Office | 1 & 41/48ths |
| Years | 1901-1909 |
| Political Party | Republican |
| Vice President | Vacant / Charles W. Fairbanks |
| Home State | New York |
| Presidential Pet | Guinea Pig, Pony, Hen, Lizard, Macaw, Garter Snake, Small bear, Badger, Pekingese, Pig, Rabbit, etc. |
| Articles Used in Ranking | 14 |
| Number of Unique Books | 31 |
The Best Books About Theodore Roosevelt (Tie)
(Appear on 10 Lists)
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
Lists It Appears On:
- Art of Manliness
- At Times Dull
- Best Presidential Bios
- Library of Congress
- Mandi Lindner
- Mashable
- Presidential History
- Presidents USA
- The Tailored Man
- The Washington Post
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on September 14th, 2001 marks the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt becoming president.
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris
Lists It Appears On:
- Art of Manliness
- At Times Dull
- Best Presidential Bios
- Library of Congress
- Mandi Lindner
- Mashable
- Presidential History
- Presidents USA
- The Tailored Man
- The Washington Post
Theodore Rex is the story—never fully told before—of Theodore Roosevelt’s two world-changing terms as President of the United States. A hundred years before the catastrophe of September 11, 2001, “TR” succeeded to power in the aftermath of an act of terrorism. Youngest of all our chief executives, he rallied a stricken nation with his superhuman energy, charm, and political skills. He proceeded to combat the problems of race and labor relations and trust control while making the Panama Canal possible and winning the Nobel Peace Prize. But his most historic achievement remains his creation of a national conservation policy, and his monument millions of acres of protected parks and forest. Theodore Rex ends with TR leaving office, still only fifty years old, his future reputation secure as one of our greatest presidents.
#3
(Appears on 9 Lists)
Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
Lists It Appears On:
- Art of Manliness
- At Times Dull
- Best Presidential Bios
- Library of Congress
- Mandi Lindner
- Presidential History
- Presidents USA
- The Tailored Man
- The Washington Post
This biography by Edmund Morris, the Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning author of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex, marks the completion of a trilogy sure to stand as definitive. Of all our great presidents, Theodore Roosevelt is the only one whose greatness increased out of office. What other president has written forty books, hunted lions, founded a third political party, survived an assassin’s bullet, and explored an unknown river longer than the Rhine? Packed with more adventure, variety, drama, humor, and tragedy than a big novel, yet documented down to the smallest fact, this masterwork recounts the last decade of perhaps the most amazing life in American history.
#4
(Appears on 5 Lists)
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
- Library of Congress
- Presidential History
- Presidents USA
- The Washington Post
Mornings on Horseback is the brilliant biography of the young Theodore Roosevelt. Hailed as “a masterpiece” (John A. Gable,Newsday), it is the winner of the Los Angeles Times 1981 Book Prize for Biography and the National Book Award for Biography. Written by David McCullough, the author of Truman, this is the story of a remarkable little boy, seriously handicapped by recurrent and almost fatal asthma attacks, and his struggle to manhood: an amazing metamorphosis seen in the context of the very uncommon household in which he was raised.
#5-7
(Appear on 4 Lists)
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
- Booktrib
- Library of Congress
- Presidents USA
The Bully Pulpit, like Goodwin’s brilliant chronicles of the Civil War and World War II, exquisitely demonstrates her distinctive ability to combine scholarly rigor with accessibility. It is a major work of history—an examination of leadership in a rare moment of activism and reform that brought the country closer to its founding ideals.
Theodore Roosevelt: A Life by Nathan Miller
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
- Library of Congress
- Presidential History
- Presidents USA
As the twenty-sixth president of the United States, from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt embodied the overwheliming confidence of the nation as it entered the American Century. With fierce joy, he brandished a “Big Stick” abroad and promised a “Square Deal” at home. He was the nation’s first environmental president, challenged the trusts, and, as the first American leader to play an important role in world affairs, began construction of a long-dreamed canal across Panama and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for almost singlehandedly bringing about a peaceful end to the Russo-Japanese War.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
Lists It Appears On:
- Art of Manliness
- Best Presidential Bios
- Presidential History
- Presidents USA
The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron.
#8-9
(Appear on 2 Lists)
When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House by Patricia O’Toole
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
- Presidential History
From the author of the acclaimed Five of Hearts, this highly praised, spell-binding biography is the definitive account of TR’s final decade, the most poignant — and in some ways, the most heroic — years of his extraordinary life. Drawn from a wealth of new materials, this is a remarkable portrait of a remarkable man.
TR: The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
- Presidents USA
In his time, there was no more popular national figure than Theodore Roosevelt. It was not just the energy he brought to every political office he held or his unshakable moral convictions that made him so popular, or even his status as a bonafide war hero—the man who led the Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American war. Most important, Theodore Roosevelt was loved by the people because this scion of a privileged New York family loved America and Americans.And yet, according to Bill Brands, if we look at the private Roosevelt without blinders, we see a man whose great public strengths hid enormous personal deficiencies. His highly exaggerated, and often uncompromising ways drove many of his business and personal friends crazy. His historical writings, which Brands quotes from extensively, are nothing if not a portrait of a boy’s endless macho fantasies. He was often so full of himself that his speeches and writings were the frequent subject of fierce satire in their time.Even more revealing, according to Brands, was Roosevelt as son, brother, husband, and father. According to Brands, to understand both the public and private Roosevelt one must understand the impact of his father’s death while he was still a child, denying him the opportunity to come to terms with his own manhood. When his first wife Alice died of complications from childbirth, leaving behind a baby daughter Alice, his response was to run away to shoot Buffalo in the west, leaving the newborn infant to the care of his unmarried sister Bamie. When his second wife Edith was seriously, perhaps fatally ill, he left her to fight in the Spanish-American war. His only concern when his brother Elliot, who had been his only friend as a child, became an alcoholic was to hide the news from the public. Determined that his four sons would not dishonor his belief that men, to achieve their manhood, must test themselves in war, he arranged for each to serve, often in the frontlines, during WWI. His youngest son Quentin would die in that cause.Beautifully written, powerfully moved by its subject,TR is nonetheless a biography more appropriate to today’s critical times.
#10-31
(Appear on 1 List)
Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Written over a course of years and first published in 1913, this lengthy yet unceasingly interesting biography sees one of the United States finest Presidents recount his own life in his own words. Theodore Roosevelt sets out his life’s events in a way which clarify how he came to possess his beliefs. We hear of his love of the great outdoors which would in turn result in the establishment of America’s national parks, and the belief in commerce as an engine for progress which would lead to the state-sponsored construction of the Panama Canal during the years of his presidency.
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! by Jean Fritz
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Today’s preeminent biographer for young people brings to life our colorful 26th president. Conservationist, hunter, family man, and politician, Teddy Roosevelt commanded the respect and admiration of many who marveled at his energy, drive and achievements.
Carry a Big Stick: The Uncommon Heroism of Theodore Roosevelt by George E Grant
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
This volume in the Leaders in Action series presents the life of Teddy Roosevelt: adventurer, journalist, rancher, legislator, governor, vice president and president of the United States, and an inspiration to people of his own time and of ours.
Power and Responsibility: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt by William Harbaugh
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
This is a positive and controversial book — one that restores much of the luster to Theodore Roosevelt’s reputation as a man, as President, and as a reformer and Progressive. Interpreting TR’s career from the point of view of what was politically possible rather than theoretically desirable, the author shows how Roosevelt — as a young assemblyman in the New York Legislature, as an incorruptible commissioner of the civil service and later of the police, and finally as governor and President — repeatedly forced the leaders of the Republican Old Guard to compromise their opposition to his social and economic views.
The Boys of ’98: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders by Dale L. Walker
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Spur Awardwinning author Dale Walker tells the colourful story of Americas most memorable fighting force, the volunteer cavalry known as the Rough Riders. From its members, and their slapdash training in Texas and Florida, to its battles at Las Gusimas and San Juan Hill under the command of Theodore Roosevelt, who kept riding, some say, into the White House.
The Lion’s Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War by Edward J. Renehan
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt by Lewis L. Gould
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
The Republican Roosevelt by John Blum
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
This is a book about politics and politicians; about elections, lawmaking, governing, and how they work. It is also about power, its increasing concentration in American society, and its implications at home and abroad especially for those who exercise it. It is a book about the Republican Party during the period in which it developed the forces and frictions which still characterize it today. Finally, it is a book about a remarkably successful and vibrant man who contained within himself much of the best and the worst of his environment, who contributed generously to American life, who knew in his time disappointment, temptation, and pain, but also glory; a man remembered most by his intimates for the “fun of him.
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns
Lists It Appears On:
- Booktrib
A vivid and personal portrait of America’s greatest political family and its enormous impact on our nation, which expands on the hugely acclaimed seven-part PBS documentary series, bringing readers even deeper into these extraordinary leaders’ lives
The Rough Riders (written by Theodore Roosevelt) by Theodore Roosevelt
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Upon the 1898 Declaration of War launching the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt resigned from the Navy Department. With the aid of U.S. Army Colonel Leonard Wood, Roosevelt found volunteers from cowboys from the Western territories to Ivy League friends from New York, forming the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The newspapers called them the “Rough Riders.”
The Strenuous Life. by Teddy Roosevelt
Lists It Appears On:
- Art of Manliness
In Theodore Roosevelt, historian Kathleen Dalton reveals a man with a personal and intellectual depth rarely seen in our public figures. She shows how Roosevelt’s struggle to overcome his frailties as a child helped to build his character, and offers new insights into his family life, uncovering the important role that Roosevelt’s second wife, Edith Carow, played in the development of his political career. She also shows how TR flirted with progressive reform and then finally commited himself to deep reform in the Bull Moose campaign of 1912. Incorporating the latest scholarship into a vigorous narrative, Dalton reinterprets both the man and his times to create an illuminating portrait that will change the way we see this great man and the Progressive Era.
The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidential History
From New York Times bestselling historian Douglas Brinkley comes a sweeping historical narrative and eye-opening look at the pioneering environmental policies of President Theodore Roosevelt, avid bird-watcher, naturalist, and the founding father of America’s conservation movement—now approaching its 100th anniversary.
Theodore Roosevelt by Louis Auchincloss
Lists It Appears On:
- All The Presidents Books
The American century opened with the election of that quintessentially American adventurer, Theodore Roosevelt. Louis Auchincloss’s warm and knowing biography introduces us to the man behind the many myths of Theodore Roosevelt. From his early involvement in the politics of New York City and then New York State, we trace his celebrated military career and finally his ascent to the national political stage. Caricatured through history as the “bull moose,” Roosevelt was in fact a man of extraordinary discipline whose refined and literate tastes actually helped spawn his fascination with the rough-and-ready worlds of war and wilderness.
Theodore Roosevelt by Lewis L. Gould
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Theodore Roosevelt delivers the most insightful look yet at a pioneer of political theater–a man whose vigorous idealism as a champion of democracy serves as a counterpoint to the cynicism of today’s political landscape. The book will coincide with the 100th anniversary of Roosevelt’s third party run for the Progressive or Bull Moose Party
Theodore Roosevelt and the American Political Tradition by Jean Yarbrough
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
Rough Rider, hunter, trust-buster, president, and Bull Moose candidate. Biographers have long fastened on TR as man of action, while largely ignoring his political thought. Now, in time for the centennial of his Progressive run for the presidency, Jean Yarbrough provides a searching examination of TR’s political thought, especially in relation to the ideas of Washington, Hamilton, and Lincoln—the statesmen TR claimed most to admire.
Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin: Madness, Vengeance, And The Campaign Of 1912 by Gerard Helferich
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin is the dynamic unfolding account of the audacious attempt on Roosevelt’s life by a lone and fanatical assailant. Based on original sources including police interrogations, eyewitness testimony, and newspaper reports, the book is above all a fast-paced, suspenseful narrative. Drawing from Schrank’s own statements and writings, it also provides a chilling glimpse into the mind of a political assassin. Rich with local color and period detail, it transports the reader to the American heartland during a pivotal moment in our history, when the forces of progressivism and conservatism were battling for the nation’s soul—and the most revered man in America traveled across the country campaigning relentlessly against Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Socialist Eugene V. Debs in what historians agree was the first modern American presidential contest.
Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power by Howard K. Beale
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership by James Strock
Lists It Appears On:
- Art of Manliness
Theodore Roosevelt was a leader of uncommon strength who, through the sheer force of his extraordinary will, turned America into a modern world power. Thrown headfirst into the presidency by the assassination of his predecessor, he led with courage, character, and vision in the face of overwhelming challenges, whether busting corporate trusts or building the Panama Canal. Roosevelt has been a hero to millions of Americans for over a century and is a splendid model to help you master today’s turbulent marketplace and be a hero and a leader in your own organization.
Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography by Henry Pringle
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
Pringle’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography not only chronicles the incidents that shaped Roosevelt’s career but also offers insight into the character and mind of this colorful american president.
Theodore Roosevelt: A Strenuous Life by Kathleen Dalton
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
He inherited a sense of entitlement (and obligation) from his family, yet eventually came to see his own class as suspect. He was famously militaristic, yet brokered peace between Russia and Japan. He started out an archconservative, yet came to champion progressive causes. These contradictions are not evidence of vacillating weakness: instead, they were the product of a restless mind bend on a continuous quest for self-improvement.
Theodore Roosevelt: The Making of a Conservationist by Paul Russell Cutright
Lists It Appears On:
- Library of Congress
Through the Brazilian Wilderness (written by Theodore Roosevelt) by Theodore Roosevelt
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Roosevelt’s popular book Through the Brazilian Wildernessdescribes his expedition into the Brazilian jungle in 1913 as a member of the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition co-named after its leader, Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon. The book describes all of the scientific discovery, scenic tropical vistas and exotic flora, fauna and wild life experienced on the expedition, as well as the exciting human dramas which occurred during the expedition.
The Best Theodore Roosevelt Book Lists Consulted
| Source | Article |
| All The Presidents Books | One Through Forty-Two or Forty-Three |
| Art of Manliness | Some Book Recommendations in Honor of Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthday |
| At Times Dull | Janet’s Presidential Biography Project & Blog |
| Best Presidential Bios | The Best Presidential Biographies |
| Booktrib | Reading up on the Roosevelts: Great books about the historic trio |
| Huffington Post | Presidents’ Day History: The Must-Reads Of Presidential Biographies |
| Library of Congress | Selected Bibliography |
| Mandi Lindner | 44 Presidents and Their Definitive Biographies |
| Mashable | Why I’m spending a year reading about every U.S. president |
| Presidential History | Presidential Resources |
| Presidential History (Again) | Pulitzer Prize Winning Books About Presidents |
| Presidents USA | FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THEODORE ROOSEVELT |
| The Tailored Man | The 44 Best Presidential Biographies |
| The Washington Post | The Fix’s list of best presidential biographies |
