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Title details for The Last Charge of the Rough Rider by William Elliott Hazelgrove - Available

The Last Charge of the Rough Rider

Theodore Roosevelt's Final Days

by William Elliott Hazelgrove
William Hazelgrove
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There have been many books on Theodore Roosevelt, but there are none that solely focus on the last years of his life. Racked by rheumatism, a ticking embolism, pathogens in his blood, a bad leg from an accident, and a bullet in his chest from an assassination attempt, in the last two years of his life from April 1917 to January 6, 1919, he went from the great disappointment of being denied his own regiment in World War I, leading a suicide mission of Rough Riders against the Germans, to the devastating news that his son Quentin had been shot down and killed over France. Suffering from grief and guilt, marginalized by world events, the great glow that had been his life was now but a dimming lantern. But TR's final years were productive ones as well: he churned out several "instant" books that promoted U.S. entry into the Great War, and he was making plans for another run at the Presidency in 1920 at the time of his death. Indeed, his political influence was so great that his opposition to the policies of Woodrow Wilson helped the Republican Party take back the Congress in 1918. However, as William Hazelgrove points out in this book, it was Roosevelt's quest for the "vigorous life" that, ironically, may have led to his early demise at the age of sixty. "The Old Lion is dead," TR's son Archie cabled his brother on January 6, 1919, and so, too, ended a historic era in American life and politics.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 1, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781493070916

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781493070916
      • File size: 2100 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      April 28, 2023

      Hazelgrove (Forging a President: How the West Created Teddy Roosevelt) captures the feelings of the aging Teddy Roosevelt in his final two years. Two months after his presidency ended in 1909, Roosevelt spent nearly a year on safari in East Africa, where he and one of his sons killed 512 animals. By 1912, Roosevelt was back in the U.S., where he competed for the presidency against William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson; Wilson won. When the United States entered World War I, Roosevelt petitioned Wilson to form a Rough Riders unit to ship to Europe. Afflicted by rheumatism, gout, septic infection, high blood pressure, obesity, pleurisy, an embolism, blood pathogens, a bad leg from an accident, and a bullet in his chest from an assassination attempt, Roosevelt was no longer the invincible warrior of 20 years before. But that was his body, not his heart, Hazelgrove tells readers. Congress authorized Wilson to grant Roosevelt his commission, but Wilson, who neither forgave nor forgot, never did. Later, as Roosevelt was dying in 1919, allies tried to enlist him for another run at the presidency. It's hard to imagine two presidents with less in common than Roosevelt and Wilson. This time, Wilson had the upper hand. VERDICT History buffs will find this book fascinating.--David Keymer

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      June 21, 2023
      In Forging a President: How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt (2017), novelist and nonfiction writer Hazelgrove focused on the early years of the American president, soldier, cattle rancher, police commissioner, and family man. Now he focuses on the last two years of Roosevelt's life, 1917-19. A combination of poor health and dire political missteps took Roosevelt out of the spotlight. He knew he was nearing the end of his life, but he was not going out quietly. He wrote a handful of books; worked up a proposal to send four divisions of Rough Riders, his famous voluntary cavalry, to take on the Germans in the Great War; suffered the tragic death of his pilot son, Quentin, who was shot down in 1918; and planned a return to the White House. Hazelgrove brings a novelist's eye to the story, portraying Roosevelt as a living, breathing man, and, by concentrating on a short period of time, giving readers a real sense of what made Roosevelt tick. A useful, informative, and very well written portrait of a fascinating figure.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • English

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