New York State Assemblyman, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York, Vice President and, at forty-two, the youngest President ever--in his own words, Theodore Roosevelt "rose like a rocket." He was also a cowboy, a soldier, a historian, an intrepid explorer, and an unsurpassed environmentalist. In Lion in the White House, historian Aida Donald masterfully chronicles the life of this first modern president. TR's accomplishments in office were immense. As President, Roosevelt redesigned the office of Chief Executive and the workings of the Republican Party to meet the challenges of the new industrial economy. Believing that the emerging aristocracy of wealth represented a genuine threat to democracy, TR broke trusts to curb the rapacity of big business. He built the Panama Canal and engaged the country in world affairs, putting a temporary end to American isolationism. And he won the Nobel Peace Prize--the only sitting president ever so honored. Throughout his public career, TR fought valiantly to steer the GOP back to its noblest ideals as embodied by Abraham Lincoln. Alas, his hopes for his party were quashed by the GOP's strong rightward turn in the years after he left office. But his vision for America lives on. In lapidary prose, this concise biography recounts the courageous life of one of the greatest leaders our nation has ever known.

Lion in the White House : A Life of Theodore Roosevelt

About the Author
Aida D. Donald has spent a lifetime with American history. Editor-in-chief of Harvard University Press for many years, she also worked at publisher Hill and Wang, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the Johns Hopkins University Press. A former Fulbright Fellow at Oxford University, Donald holds a Ph.D. in American history and has taught at Columbia University. She lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts, with her husband and fellow historian David Herbert Donald.


Book Information
ISBN 9780465010240
Author Aida Donald
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Basic Books
Publisher Basic Books
Weight(grams) 254g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 140mm * 22mm