Jeffrey Keeten's Reviews > Hunting Teddy Roosevelt

”Had years in power made him forget the effort actually required to capture it? Twelve months ago, he could have been president of the United States for a third term. Now, if he wanted to reclaim that power, he would have to persuade the Republican bosses to dump a compliant president in favor of a notorious renegade who had been an unpredictable pain in their backsides for more than a decade. Teddy might have been the only American politician with the force of character to broker a European peace, redress the atrocities in the Congo, and cope with the myriad challenges of this new century. But if he wanted to regain the position necessary to implement those worthy goals, he needed to make up his mind and do what was necessary.”

Not running for president for a third term was probably one of the worst decisions of Teddy’s life. He regretted his magnanimous reassurance to the American people almost immediately after making it. He felt that Washington, by stepping down after two terms, provided the template for all those who followed after him. What could he possibly do with the rest of his life that would rival the challenges of the presidency? This conundrum weighed heavily on his mind. Even as he sought distraction in Africa, he was a rudderless ship, destination unknown.

Franklin D. Roosevelt learned from the mistakes of his cousin and would not lay down the reins of power until mortality dictated otherwise.

I love it when a book gives me another perspective on history that I haven’t considered before. I’ve never really thought, What if Teddy had kept the presidency instead of giving it to his handpicked and ineffectual replacement, Howard Taft? What ripples would have happened? As Taft placidly watched Germany build up its military presence, would a word of caution from Teddy to the kaiser have given the ambitious German leader pause in his quest for world domination? If WW1 had never happened, then WW2 wouldn’t have happened, and maybe the 20th century wouldn’t have been the bloodiest century in history. With Roosevelt’s thirst for military conquest, it is hard to equate the idea that he might have proven to be the world’s most important peace maker, but even he would not have wanted to see a world engulfed in flames. There is no honor in wars of this magnitude...only slaughter.

Could Teddy have appeased Germany’s need for territorial expansion by giving Germany the Congo? In some ways, the poor Congolese would have been exchanging one white oppressor for another, but the genocide being perpetrated by King Leopold of Belgium would have stopped. I would like to believe that Germany, before Hitler, would not have been so intent on brutalizing the Africans as the Belgium dictator. When we talk of Stalin and Hitler, we should always include the name...Leopold.

James A. Ross seems to feel that Teddy would have saved millions of lives, and after giving it some thought, I agree with him. When Teddy said something, everyone, including the leaders of ambitious countries would have to listen. They would not listen to Taft or believe that the fat man could be bellicose enough to actually intercede in anything going on overseas. He was too busy doing the bidding of the oligarchy. Though the faces behind the scenes pulling the strings have changed today, the intent is the same. The oligarchy in 1909 was composed of filthy-rich men, like J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie, who didn’t want to ever see Roosevelt back in power or, better yet, never on American soil again.

Roosevelt’s trust-busting efforts had attempted to level the playing field, and for greedy people like J. P. Morgan, business equality felt like inequality.

So Roosevelt decided to take a hunting trip to Africa. He wanted to spend a year avoiding the press and putting himself back together mentally. An adventure in Africa acquiring animal specimens for the Smithsonian seemed a bully way to feel relevant again. Lurking about his safari was a reporter named Maggie Dunn who was intent on getting newsworthy quotes from Teddy, but also wanted to do some real reporting on the situation in the Congo. She had a history with Teddy, and Teddy’s handlers were intent on keeping her as far away from the ex-president as possible. To add another layer of spice, she worked for the newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst who had political ambitions of his own.

If you are thinking to yourself that this book is all about male hubris, an easy assumption with any book that features Theodore Roosevelt, you would be wrong. Maggie Dunn was a fully developed character, an amazing feminist who was well aware that being as good was never good enough. She had to be much better than the men she competed with. Even in the wilds of Africa, caught between bandits and an unforgiving terrain, she proved her mettle as well as her intelligence and her survival skills. She could traverse the hallways of political intrigue even as she navigated the byways of the steaming jungle. She quickly became my favorite character and was the driving force to reveal the nefarious plots coming from America and the killers who were going to make sure any ambitions that Theodore Roosevelt had to return to American politics remained buried in Africa.

”Roosevelt must die.”

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