Reddit reviews The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

Dude explored the Amazon, almost died repeatedly, charted an uncharted tributary and got it named after him, met with some famous foreign figures while down there and fought it out with hostile natives, etc. Even if that were all he'd done, that one expedition would be more than enough to justify his reputation as a badass. (There's a good book about it, check it out.)

http://www.amazon.com/The-River-Doubt-Theodore-Roosevelts/dp/0767913736

> After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.

> Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived.

You forgot to mention his expedition deep into uncharted territory in the Amazon, some time after the Assassination attempt. There is a book written on it called The River of Doubt which I HIGHLY recommend.

I've been to his mansion at Sagamore Hill on Long Island, NY. It's filled with his game trophies and such. It's SO cool. I'd definitely recommend visiting there. There were Elephant foot trash bins and all types of crazy dead animal shit.

Read this immediately

http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713

http://www.amazon.com/The-River-Doubt-Theodore-Roosevelts/dp/0767913736/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Presidential biographies that are easy reads about manly men

EDIT: Real men don't need a "How to be a man for dummies" they read about other's experiences, pair them with their own, and better themselves.

I'm happy to explain; I'm glad you're so interested, because Teddy is one of the coolest figures in American history.

Theodore Roosevelt is basically synonymous with badassery here in America.

He was one of the founders of the Rough Riders (a vounteer U.S. Cavalry), he was a literal cowboy for part of his life, he was practiced in boxing, wrestling, and judo, and during another run at being the president, he ran as a third party where he received a larger percentage of the vote than any other third party candidate before or since.

Arguably his greatest feat of badassery came while he was campaigning for president for his final time in 1912. (Source) Teddy was about to give a speech at a Milwaukee hotel when an assassin approached him an shot him in the chest with a pistol. Rather than go to the hospital, Teddy instead chose to give his speech anyways, walking on stage and saying the following:

> “Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot. It takes more than that to kill a bull moose.”

He unbuttoned his shirt to show the crowd his bloody shirt, and proceeded to give the speech anyways, saying:

> "The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best."

This speech, which he claimed was "not very long" went on for 90 minutes with his aides begging him to stop to seek medical attention. Ironically, what slowed the bullet and likely saved his life was the rolled up manuscript for the overly-long speech which the bullet struck before it hit Teddy. Eventually, he finished the speech and was rushed to the hospital. He ultimately survived this encounter and was one of the reasons that his campaign, despite being under a third party, did as well as it did (though he ultimately still lost to Woodrow Wilson).

When Roosevelt died in his sleep seven years later (January 5, 1919), current Vice President Thomas R. Marshall (his political opponent, Vice President to the man Teddy lost the 1912 election to) was quoted saying:

> "Death had to take him in his sleep, for if he was awake there'd have been a fight."

That's the kind of respect that Theodore Roosevelt commands. And really, I just gave you the cliffnotes. Teddy was known for going on South American expeditions and such in his spare time. He was like a real-life Indiana Jones. There's a hell of a lot more to this guy if you'd like to look him up and learn more. There's a book about that South American expedition called The River of Doubt that you can check out as well.

Candice Millard has a killer book about Roosevelt exploring an unmapped tributary of the Amazon after losing the 1912 election. It's fascinating stuff, highly recommended.

Another thing that puts Roosevelt up a few notches to me is what he did after being president. After running on the third-party Bull Moose (aka Progressive) platform in 1912 and loosing, Roosevelt was looking to get away for a while.

He got away by going on an exploration trip down a previously unexplored and unmapped river in Brazil known as the River of Doubt. The river is about 400 miles long, and was known to be very dangerous. During the trip, the group had to ditch much of their rations, and Roosevelt would routinely give up his rations so that the Brazilian porters and guides would have food.

Oh yeah, he was in his mid 50s, almost blind in one eye, and suffering from recurring bouts of malaria during the trip. Check out the book River of Doubt that discusses his trip.

Personally he really wanted to go to war, so there is some truth in it. His father bought a stand in for the Civil War, something that Teddy was ashamed of for the rest of his life. There is a lot of thought that he felt that he needed to redeem his father's one failing in life. Even after he was president he begged Wilson to give him a commission in World War One.

The Morris series is a very good starting point when dealing with his life. Mornings on Horseback gives a different look at his childhood, it's decent but doesn't provide too much beyond what's in Morris. River of Doubt is an awesome look at his character in later life, after he is president, and a good adventure at the same time. The book I'm currently reading TR's Naval Diplomacy is a good look at the conflicts I mentioned.

http://www.amazon.com/The-River-Doubt-Theodore-Roosevelts/dp/0767913736

Theodore Roosevelt did a bit of river exploration himself. After failing to secure a third term, he co-commanded a scientific expedition which was the first to descend the Rio da Dúvida (River of Doubt, renamed Rio Roosevelt), a major tributary in the Amazon rain forest.

Candice Millard wrote an excellent book about it called River of Doubt.

My favorite book about Teddy (see, we're on nickname terms) is The River of Doubt. It's about his misadventures amidst the wild jungles of South America. Fascinating stuff.

If you liked that so much you have to read the other one I posted.

Amazon

I too am amazed by just how bad ass explorers were. As a kid I always heard of the bigger names like Lewis and Clark etc. But man those people were Awesome/nuts

The River of Doubt. A manly book about a manly man, Theodore Roosevelt.

A few non U.S and non WWII books that I enjoyed:

The Last Days of the Incas
River of Doubt
Sea of Glory

The River of Doubt

Besides the book mentioned in the article, there is another great book about Teddy Roosevelt that also gets into how he raised his sons. It is called River of Doubt and how the entire family was pretty badass.

http://www.amazon.com/The-River-Doubt-Theodore-Roosevelts/dp/0767913736

Highly recommend Candace Millard's book on it!

The injury bothered him the rest of his life but didn't stop him from being a badass.

I'm currently readying The River of Doubt. It is about his trip to map that Amazon area that happened after that presidential campaign.

http://www.amazon.com/River-Doubt-Theodore-Roosevelts-Darkest/dp/0767913736/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300716021&sr=8-1

Oh man I'm late to the party - but I just finished the book about the River of Doubt expedition last week! It's a great, great read.

Friend, have you ever read River of Doubt? I was coming here to post this as my recommendation. It seems like it's right up your alley! Also I suggest it to OP as well.