Rough Rider redux

Theodore Roosevelt completely dominated American politics during the 7-1/2 years that he served as the nation's 26th president. He was just 50 years old and very healthy at the end of his second term, but he honored the longstanding precedent and declined to run again. Instead, he used his great popularity to ensure that his friend William Howard Taft succeeded him.

Roosevelt's presidency, his accomplishments, and his larger-than-life personality have been thoroughly analyzed by historians and political scientists. With the exception of his 1912 campaign, however, few writers have examined the last years of his life in much detail. That historical gap has now been filled. In "When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House," Patricia O'Toole has focused entirely on his life after he left the presidency. In doing so, she adds greatly to our understanding of Theodore Roosevelt's character, values, and his legacy.

After Taft's inauguration, Roosevelt headed to Africa for a year-long safari. He hoped to disappear from public life and, at the same time, to advance science by collecting animal specimens.

When he emerged from the bush, Roosevelt soon learned that President Taft was aligning himself with the conservative wing of the Republican Party and undermining the progressive causes that were at the heart of Roosevelt's political vision. He soon adopted a policy of "neutrality" toward Taft, an approach that O'Toole labels a "veiled insult.... Withholding support from his chosen successor was tantamount to attacking him."

The rift between the two widened as the 1912 election approached. Roosevelt challenged Taft for the Republican nomination, and he was the choice of the party's rank and file. But in those days, political bosses picked the candidates behind closed doors, and their allegiance lay with Taft. When the smoke cleared at the convention, Taft had been nominated. Roosevelt and his supporters claimed - wrongly, asserts O'Toole - that the nomination had been stolen, and he bolted from the party.

A few weeks later, the newly formed National Progressive Party picked Roosevelt as its standard bearer. His acceptance speech conveys the messianic fervor that Roosevelt and the Progressive Party brought to the political world. "We stand at Armageddon," thundered Roosevelt, "and we battle for the Lord."

But Roosevelt and Taft split the Republican vote, and both men were crushed in the fall election. Wilson garnered 435 electoral votes while Roosevelt won 88. Taft carried just two states with eight votes.

Roosevelt soon decided that Wilson was not much better than Taft. He was unhappy with Wilson's neutrality toward World War I and quickly became the administration's most outspoken critic. He quietly lobbied Republican friends in hopes of getting the Republican presidential nomination in 1916, but he'd burned far too many bridges. The Republicans went with former New York Gov. Charles Evans Hughes, who lost to Wilson in an extremely close election.

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