‘Theodore Roosevelt’: Doris Kearns Goodwin on the ‘Fiery’ President’s Appeal
Preview
Acclaimed presidential biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin, who has also exec-produced series on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, is often asked which of those men she wishes could be here today.
“In some ways, I think Teddy would be the best,” she says of the 26th president (1901–09). “You need somebody fiery who is fighting for fairness, who could be entertaining. And he had all those clever statements that would be perfect on Twitter.”
The two-part special Theodore Roosevelt does justice to the man who gave the White House its name. (He had a way with words, also popularizing throwing one’s “hat in the ring” referring to running for office and “muckrakers” for journalists.) His journey from sickly, home-schooled son of a beloved New York City philanthropist to relentless leader who once delivered an 84-minute address while bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest is made vivid. Interviews with Goodwin and other historians combine with scripted scenes that star Rufus Jones (above) to paint a picture of a statesman, cowboy, adventurer, conservationist, war hero and, not least, husband and father.
In addition to the 1912 assassination attempt (his 50-page speech helped slow the bullet), memorable sequences include Roosevelt leading his famed Rough Riders calvary through the jungles of Cuba in the 1898 Spanish-American War. (We also see him lie their way onto a boat from Florida, forced to leave most of their horses behind.) Then there are his midnight “rambles” when he was police commissioner in 1895 New York. He patrolled the streets to catch corrupt cops drinking, taking a bribe or fraternizing with one of the city’s estimated 40,000 sex workers.
That hunger for firsthand experience—and his genuine curiosity about people he’d meet in Maine, the Badlands or elsewhere—shaped Roosevelt.
“It allows him, when he becomes president, to have empathy for different ways of life,” Goodwin says. “You’re rooting for him because you know that he’s rooting for the people and he’s trying to make things better. Empathy is equality.” Bully for Teddy!
Theodore Roosevelt, Documentary Premiere, Monday, May 30, and Tuesday, May 31, 8/7c, History
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