Selected and Annotated Bibliography

I. Biographies

Joseph Bucklin Bishop, Theodore Roosevelt and His Time, Shown in His Letters, 2 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1920. Bishop's work is an "official" biography, authorized by TR before his death in 1919. Roosevelt had approved the first draft covering his career to 1905. Bishop stated that the work "supplements and completes" TR's Autobiography (1913), and the "two works together constitute authentically the Life and Letters of Theodore Roosevelt as designed by himself." As such, Bishop remains of real value, but the work should be used with the caution appropriate to evaluating any autobiography.

 

David Henry Burton, Theodore Roosevelt, Twayne, Publishers, New York, 1972. A short biography in Twayne's "Rulers and Statesmen of the World" series.

I. E. Cadenhead, Jr., Theodore Roosevelt: The Paradox of Progressivism, Barron's Educational Series, Inc., Woodbury, New York, 1974. A balanced and basic biography which includes a discussion of the historiography of TR.

G. Wallace Chessman, Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Power, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1969. A volume in the "Library of American Biography" series edited by Oscar Handlin, at 214 pages this is the best short biography of TR.

 

Joseph L. Gardner, Departing Glory: Theodore Roosevelt as Ex-President, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1973. Detailed but conventional account of TR's last years, 1909-1919.

 

Lewis Einstein, Roosevelt: His Mind in Action, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1930. Of the many biographies published in the years immediately following TR's death, including those by William Roscoe Thayer, Lord Charnwood, William Draper Lewis, and Harold Howland, Einstein's interpretative work is one of the few that can be used with profit by much later generations.

 

William Henry Harbaugh, The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt, Oxford University Press, New York, 1975. Revised edition of Power and Responsibility: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt, Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy, Inc., New York, 1961. Includes excellent bibliography with supplementary notes added in 1975. Harbaugh's work is, states Dewey W. Grantham, Jr., "the most comprehensive and reliable one-volume biography" of TR, "an authoritative and fair-minded" study. All students of Roosevelt should begin with Harbaugh's biography.

 

David McCullough, Mornings on Horseback, Simon and Schuster New York, 1981. Brilliant account of TR, his parents, and siblings, as individuals and a family unit, up to the year 1886. Marked by psychological insights and attention to social history, Mornings on Horseback won the National Book Award.

 

Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, Inc., New York, 1979. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Morris's superbly written book, the first volume in a projected three-volume biography, takes TR up to 1901. Excellent notes discuss sources and reasons for Morris's interpretations. One of the most important and widely read books on TR.

 

Henry F. Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt, A Biography, Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1931. A product of the "debunking" school of biography which flourished after World War I, Pringle's biography won the Pulitzer Prize, and was for many years the most influential book about Roosevelt. Pringle's scholarship has been supplanted by Harbaugh, Morris, and others, but the book is still useful as a negative view of TR's career. The Harcourt, Brace 1956 paperback edition lacks footnotes and is condensed, and therefore the 1931 edition should be used. See Richard H. Collin, "Henry Pringle's Theodore Roosevelt: A Study in Historical Revisionism, New York History, vol. LII, no. 2, April, 1971, pp. 151-168.

 

Carleton Putnam, Theodore Roosevelt: The Formative Years, 1858-1886, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1958. Called by Edmund Morris "a neglected masterpiece," Putnam's biography is rich and detailed. Putnam orginally intended to write further volumes, but this did not happen. Should be consulted along with McCullough and Morris for TR's early life.

 

Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, My Brother Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1921. "Sentimental and inaccurate, but of prime importance nevertheless," says Edmund Morris.

 

Owen Wister, Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship, 1880-1919, Macmillan Company, New York, 1930. Wister, the author of The Virginian and other novels, was at Harvard with TR and a close friend in later years. This biography reveals the viewpoint of Roosevelt partisans.

II. Monographs and Other Studies

Thomas A. Bailey, Theodore Roosevelt and the Japanese-American Crises: An Account of the International Complications Arising from the Race Problem on the Pacific Coast, Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, California, 1934. Work by a well- known diplomatic historian.

Howard K. Beale, Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1956. The most detailed and best-known study of TR and foreign policy.

John Morton Blum, The Republican Roosevelt, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1954.

An influential study of TR as a realpolitiker by one study of TR as a realpolitiker by one of the editors of The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, Blum's book marked a turning point in the historiography of TR away from Henry F. Pringle's negative view to a more positive assessment. The Antheneum paperback edition of 1962 contains a useful added preface, and a second edition by Harvard University Press in 1977 includes a new preface and prologue of interest to students of Roosevelt historiography.

David H. Burton, Theodore Roosevelt: Confident Imperialist, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1969. Edmund Morris finds this study of TR's thought "excellent and illuminating."

Archibald W. Butt, The Letters of Archie Butt, Personal Aide to President Roosevelt, edited by Lawrence F. Abbott, Doubleday, Page and Company, Garden City, New York, 1924. The record in letters of the last year of the Roosevelt administration by TR's devoted military aide, Major Butt.

Archibald W. Butt, Taft and Roosevelt: The Intimate Letters of Archie Butt, Military Aide, 2 volumes, Doubleday, Doran and Company, Garden City, New York, 1930. Major Butt's views of the Taft administration and the split between Taft and TR.

G. Wallace Chessman, Governor Theodore Roosevelt: The Albany Apprenticeship, 1898-1900, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1965. A thorough, informed, and scholarly account of TR's governorship.

Richard H. Collin, Theodore Roosevelt, Culture, Diplomacy, and Expansion: A New View of American Imperialism, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1985. A provocative and revisionist study, favorable to Roosevelt, which places foreign policy and expansion in a cultural context.

John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1983. A stimulating dual biographical study of the two antagonists. Includes a chapter on the legacies of TR and Wilson.

Paul Russell Cutright, Theodore Roosevelt: The Making of a Conservationist, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, 1985. The more recent of two important studies on TR and nature.

Paul Russell Cutright, Theodore Roosevelt the Naturalist, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1956. A study of an important side of the many-sided Roosevelt, written by a biologist and historian of the field of natural history. Should be read in conjunction with Cutright's 1985 book on Roosevelt for a complete view of TR and his work with natural history and conservation.

Tyler Dennett, Roosevelt and the Russo-Japanese War, Doubleday, Page and Company, 1925. Important early study.

Thomas G. Dyer, Theodore Roosevelt and the Idea of Race, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1980. Thoughtful and informed monograph, showing the different uses of the concept of "race" in TR's times. TR shown to be a racial moderate.

Raymond A. Esthus, Theodore Roosevelt and the International Rivalries, Ginn-Blaisdell, Waltham, Massachusetts, 1970. Brief general study.

Raymond A. Esthus, Theodore Roosevelt and Japan, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1966. Useful study with good bibliography.

John Allen Gable, The Bull Moose Years: Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party, Kennikat Press, Port Washington, New York, 1978. History and analysis of the Progressive Party, 1912-1916, on state and national levels.

Willard B. Gatewood, Jr., Theodore Roosevelt and the Art of Controversy: Episodes of the White House Years, Lousiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1970. Analysis of seven controversial incidents of the Roosevelt administration, including the Booker T. Washington dinner and the fight over the Secret Service.

Hermann Hagedorn, Roosevelt in the Bad Lands, Houghton Mifflin Company, Cambridge, 1921. Account of TR's ranching years in Dakota Territory

Hermann Hagedorn, The Roosevelt Family of Sagamore Hill, Macmillan Company, New York, 1954. Charming narrative history of TR's family from the 1880s to his death, this book was a best-seller.

Howard C. Hill, Roosevelt and the Caribbean, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1927. Early study critical of TR.

Howard L.Hurwitz, Theodore Roosevelt and Labor in New York State, 1880-1900, Columbia University Press, New York, 1943. Critical of TR's attitudes on labor.

Frederick W. Marks, III, Velvet on Iron: The Diplomacy of Theodore Roosevelt, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1979. A major and controversial revisionist study which defends TR's foreign policy in cogent detail, all students of Roosevelt's diplomacy must consider what Marks has to say about foreign policy and on the historians of the Roosevelt administration. Based on primary sources in Washington, Bonn, Potsdam, Ottawa, and elsewhere as well as on an informed anaylsis of secondary literature. Includes good bibliography on TR and foreign policy.

George E. Mowry, The Era of Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modern America, 1900-1912, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1958. Volume in the "New American Nation Series." Places TR and his administration and the Taft administration in the context of the period. Marked by informed and balanced judgements; excellent bibliography up to 1958. All students of this period should consult Mowry.

George E. Mowry, Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1946. Narrative and analysis of the split in the Republican Party, with emphasis on 1909-1912 period.

Charles E. Neu, An Uncertain Friendship: Theodore Roosevelt and Japan, 1906-1909, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1967. Perceptive analysis of TR's dealings and troubles with Japan.

Aloysius A. Norton, Theodore Roosevelt, Twayne Publishers, G. K. Hall and Company, Boston,  1980. Useful volume on the writings of TR in the "Twayne's United States Authors Series."

Gordon C. O'Gara, Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of the Modern Navy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1943. Admiring account of TR's, role in building up the Navy.

Nicholas Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt: The Man As I Knew Him, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1967. Thoughtful and focused memoir by a cousin of TR's who went on to be a newspaper writer and conservationist.

Edward Wagenknecht, The Seven Worlds of Theodore Roosevelt, Longmans, Green and Company, New York, 1958. Examining Roosevelt through the "worlds" of action, thought, human relations, family, spiritual values, public affairs, and war and peace,

Wagenknecht discerningly analyzes the many-sided TR. "Succeeds more than any other work in capturing the size and complexity of TR," says Edmund Morris. Excellent bibliography.

Frederick S. Wood, editor, Roosevelt As We Knew Him: The Personal Recollections of One Hundred and Fifty of His Friends and Associates, John C. Winston Company, Philadelphia, 1927. Useful collection of anecdotes and memories of many who knew TR.

Note: Biographies and memoirs of Theodore Roosevelt's contemporaries, and many monographs on various subjects in Roosevelt's period, contain valuable material on TR. In addition, numerous articles and essays are of importance in the study of TR. For titles, consult the bibliographies of the books listed above.

III. Theodore Roosevelt's Books, Speeches, Essays, and Published Letters

Note: Books listed in addition to the Charles Scribner's Sons Memorial and National editions of Works of Theodore Roosevelt contain material not included in these collections. Volumes of letters listed include some letters not published in the Harvard University Press Letters of Theodore Roosevelt. A complete listing of all TR's publications is in Theodore Roosevelt Collection: Dictionary Catalogue and Shelflist, 5 vols., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1970.

William Griffith, editor, The Roosevelt Policy, 3 vols.,The Current Literature Publishing Company, New York, 1919. Collection of speeches, state papers, and articles which include some World War I speeches not found in other collections.

Hermann Hagedorn, editor, Memorial Edition, Works of Theodore Roosevelt, 24 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1923-1926. Most complete edition of TR's writings. Includes Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children (1919), Joseph Bucklin Bishop, Theodore Roosevelt and His Time, Shown in His Letters (1920), bibliographical notes, and introductions by Roosevelt's comtemporaries.

Hermann Hagedorn, editor, National Edition, Works of editor, National Edition, Works of Theodore Roosevelt, 20 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1926. For a listing and comparison of contents of National and Memorial editions, see "Editors' Note" in Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia. Will Irwin, editor, Letters to Kermit from Theodore Roosevelt, 1902-1908, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1946.

John J. Leary, Jr., Talks With TR from the Diaries of John J. Leary, Jr., Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1920. Private conversations recorded by a newspaper reporter covering Sagamore Hill in TR's last years.

Letters from Theodore Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles, 1870-1918, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1924. Letters from TR to his sister.

Elting E. Morison, John M. Blum, and others, editors, The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, 8 vols., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1951-1954. Includes approximately 6,500 letters written by TR as well as chronology of his day-to-day activities, 1898-1919, and appendixes with essays by John M. Blum and Alfred D. Chandler Jr. Excellent footnotes and indexes.

The Progressive Party: Its Record from January to July, 1916, Executive Committee of the Progressive National Committee, New York, 1916. Includes speeches, letters, and statements of Roosevelt as well as party documents.

Theodore Roosevelt, American Problems, The Outlook Company, New York, 1910. Articles from the Outlook magazine. Theodore Roosevelt, Essays on Practical Politics, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1888. TR's first book on politics.

Theodore Roosevelt and Edmund Heller, Life-Histories of African Game Animals, 2 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1914. Theodore Roosevelt, National Strength and International Duty, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1917. Lectures at Princeton.

Theodore Roosevelt, The New Nationalism, The Outlook Company, New York, 1910. Speeches and articles from 1910, including "The New Nationalism" speech, Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910.

Theodore Roosevelt, Outlook Editorials, The Outlook Company, New York, 1909. Theodore Roosevelt, Presidential Addresses and State Papers and European Addresses, 8 vols., Homeward Bound Edition, The Review of Reviews Company, New York, 1910. Includes almost every speech by TR in 1901-1910.

Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive Principles: Selections from Addresses Made During the Presidential Campaign of 1912, edited by Elmer H. Youngman, Progressive National Service, New York, 1913. Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's Diaries of Boyhood and Youth, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1928. From 1868 through 1877.

Selections from the Correspondence of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, 1884-1918, 2 vols., Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1925. Letters between TR and Senator Lodge, edited with some passages cut by Lodge.

Ralph Stout, editor, Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star War-Time Editorials by Theodore Roosevelt, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1921. World War I newspaper articles by TR.

IV. Bibliographical Guides and Catalogues

Gilbert J. Black, editor, Theodore Roosevelt, 1858- 1919: Chronology, Documents, Bibliographical Aids, Presidential Chronologies Series, Oceana Publications, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1969.

Richard H. Collin, "The Image of Theodore Roosevelt in American History and Thought, 1885-1965," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1966. Discusses virtually every book and most major articles written about Roosevelt in period 1885-1965. Extensive bibliography. Available in facsimile and microfilm from University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Nora E. Cordingley, "Extreme Rarities in the Published Works of Theodore Roosevelt," Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, vol. 39, first quarter, 1945, pp. 20-25. By the longtime Curator of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard. Wallace Finley Dailey, "The Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard," Manuscripts, vol. XXIX, no. 3, Summer, 1977, pp. 147-154. Describes some of the contents of the Harvard collection.

Wallace Finley Dailey, "Theodore Roosevelt in Periodical Literature, 1950-1981," Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal, Vol. VIII, no. 4, Fall, 1982, pp. 4-15. Bibliography by Dailey, who became Curator of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard in 1971.

Dewey W. Gratham, Jr., "Theodore Roosevelt in American Historical Writing, 1945-1960," Mid- America, Vol. XLIII, January, 1961, pp. 3-35. Important article on the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt Collection: Dictionary Catalogue and Shelflist, prepared for publication by Gregory C. Wilson, 5 vols., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1970. Reproduction of over 52,000 cards in the catalogue of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at  Harvard prepared by R. W. G. Vail, Nora E. Cordingley, and others in 1920-1959. Arranged alphabetically by author, title, and subject, extensive cross-references and annotations. Shelflist arranged by classification and subject system. This, along with the subsequent Supplement, is the most complete listing of publications by and about Theodore Roosevelt. The Theodore Roosevelt Collection, begun in the 1920s by the Theodore Roosevelt Association, was donated to the Harvard College Library in 1943, and contains over 12,000 printed items, as well as over 10,000 photographs, 3,500 cartoons, and thousands of letters, manuscripts, and other materials. Guides to the letters, manuscripts, and cartoons are available at Harvard. The collection includes much Roosevelt family correspondence.

Theodore Roosevelt Collection: Dictionary Catalogue and Shelflist Supplement, prepared for publication by Wallace Finley Dailey, Harvard College Library, Cambridge, 1986. The Supplement contains virtually all publications and dissertations on Theodore Roosevelt in the years 1951-1986.

Index to the Theodore Roosevelt Papers, 3 vols., President's Papers Index Series, Library of Congress, Washington, 1969. Receivers and senders of letters from and to TR listed alphabetically, with dates of all letters noted. The TR Papers number approximately 250,000 items; includes TR's office letter files, speeches, scrapbooks, press releases, and other materials. The Theodore Roosevelt Papers are available on microfilm.

The Theodore Roosevelt Association Film Collection: A Catalog, prepared by Wendy White-Hensen and Veronica M. Gillespie, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress, Washington, 1986. Assembled by the Theodore Roosevelt Association from the 1920s on, and donated to the Library of Congress in the 1960s, the TRA Film Collection consists of over 140,000 feet of negative, duplicate negative, and positive stock on TR, his contemporaries, and his times. The Catalog contains a list of films by title with descriptions of contents, a chronological list of films by the year they were taken or produced, and a subject index.