The History Book Club discussion
PRESIDENTIAL SERIES
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1. MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK ~ AUTHOR'S NOTE AND CHAPTER 1 (9 - 38) (05/30/10 - 06/06/10) ~ No spoilers, please
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Everyone ready for the world of TR? Bully! Here we go…Well, it is that enthusiasm that in part made David McCullough write this book. In the author’s note, he talks about how he was introduced to TR through the role in the play, Arsenic and Old Lace and writing about the Panama Canal. As McCullough says, “things just don’t happen,” so how did TR become the man he was? McCullough had a chance to look at many unpublished Roosevelt family letters and decided to make this a story of a New York City family, high on the social registry. It is a story of a clan. The author also talked with living descendants. In an interesting note, he talked with asthma sufferers to get an idea of how TR and his parents lived with the condition.
In the first part of Chapter 1, imagine swooping in from the sky to mid-Victorian New York City and fly into a brownstone on E20th Street. We have a family of 6 with servants; the house tastefully decorated and an open air play-room, so the children may experience the outdoors on a daily basis. McCullough then describes a little bit of the Roosevelt family. First up is Robert, TR’s uncle, who was considered a bohemian and actually lived a double life with a separate family! However, the true focus is Theodore, TR’s father. He was an up-standing individual, who loved kids and had a passion for philanthropy.
Theodore did not have much of a passion for business. McCullough talks a little about Theodore’s father, Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt. CVS built a large fortune in import glass and real estate. Wow. He gave the business to his son James, while Theodore dabbled in business but focused on philanthropy and his family.
Part 2 talks about TR’s sister, Anna (Bamie). She suffered from Pott’s disease that affects the spine. The family took special care of her, including finding Dr. Charles Taylor who was a pioneer in treatment. Bamie was considered the smartest of the kids and the one everyone turned to. In return, "She wished only to be 'useful' to look after her own needs, to look after the younger three.." (35). The two youngest children are Elloitt and Connie.
We learn that Teedie (TR) was a frail child with severe asthma. His father would scoop him up and walk with him or take a carriage ride in the cold to ease his episodes. The children had private tutors and had a select circle of friends like Edith Carow. Although they lived in an aristocratic world, the children were instilled with duty, being something more.
Since this book focuses on the early part of TR's life and how he became the person we know, it is tempting to project ahead. Remember to talk about only what is in the chapter under discussion. However, I think it is fair to say we need to talk about his later life. So, let's say it is safe to talk about events in TR's life after 1886 when the book ends. This is in the time he marries Edith and then by 1889, becomes a U.S. Civil Service Commissioner onward.
One of the first things that came to mind for me is how McCullough sees the family as a clan. I'm reminded of the Kennedy family and how they were a clan, as well. Bamie reminds me of Rose, different conditions, but how the family protected her. I'm sure we will be watching this clan issue throughout the book.
Mod
The mother does seem to be a revered entity in both families.
Good point, Bentley, I think you are right, the mothers were a huge influence in both families.
Yes, the clan theme comes across well. The clan of the double eez: Thee, Teedee, wheezing...
Here are two amazing institutions Theodore helped establish:From the Met Museum of Art website:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded on April 13, 1870, "to be located in the City of New York, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining in said city a Museum and library of art, of encouraging and developing the study of the fine arts, and the application of arts to manufacture and practical life, of advancing the general knowledge of kindred subjects, and, to that end, of furnishing popular instruction."1
This statement of purpose has guided the Museum for more than a century.
http://www.metmuseum.org/about/
American Natural History Museum website:
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world's preeminent scientific and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to discover, interpret and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education and exhibition.
The Museum is renowned for its exhibitions and scientific collections, which serve as a field guide to the entire planet and present a panorama of the world's cultures.
http://www.amnh.org/about/
Mod
It is. I didn't know he did this sort of thing: on par with the Carnegies, Rockefellers, etc.
Mod
One aspect of this book is how Theodore influenced TR. I see one example where for Theodore appearance was everything. When I read this sentence, I remembered that TR had his military uniform for the Spanish-American war tailored for him. It makes some sense.Did anyone else catch some more references in this chapter?
Mod
The outward appearances were more important sometimes than the inner ones. I will look for these as I read further.
Bryan wrote: "One aspect of this book is how Theodore influenced TR. I see one example where for Theodore appearance was everything. When I read this sentence, I remembered that TR had his military uniform for..."I think it was fairly common for those with money to get their uniforms tailored. Brooks Brothers is a name I've seen in other stories as doing it.
Mod
I think you are quite correct, Patricrk and Bentley. It is very important to be fashionable for the elite, and for the "common folk" you dress for special occasions like church, weddings, funerals, etc.Good posts.
Mod
As the country's oldest clothing retailer, Brooks Brothers is proud to uphold the same traditions and values for nearly two centuries. We believe these are the reasons why our customers consider us to be far more than a store. Brooks Brothers is an American icon.
1818
THE FIRST BROOKS BROTHERS STORE
On April 7, 1818, at the age of 45, Henry Sands Brooks opened H. & D.H. Brooks & Co. on the Northeast corner of Catherine and Cherry Streets in New York City. His guiding principle: "To make and deal only in merchandise of the finest quality, to sell it at a fair profit and to deal with people who seek and appreciate such merchandise."
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1865
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S LEGENDARY COAT
At his second inauguration, President Abraham Lincoln wore a magnificent coat (pictured, above) specially crafted for him by Brooks Brothers. Hand stitched into the coat's lining was an intricate design featuring an eagle and the inscription, "One Country, One Destiny." Sadly, it was also this coat Lincoln was wearing when he was assassinated on that fateful evening at Ford's Theater.
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POLITICAL LEADERS
Ulysses S. Grant began his association with Brooks Brothers during the Civil War, when he ordered tailored uniforms
for the Union officers.
Theodore Roosevelt wore a Brooks Brothers military uniform in his famous march up San Juan Hill.
Herbert Hoover preferred Brooks Brothers henley undershirts.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was frequently seen in a great cape specially made by Brooks Brothers for the U.S. Navy.
John F. Kennedy popularized Brooks Brothers' fashionable two-button suit when he wore it at his inauguration. Two-button Brooks suits were also favored by Gerald Ford and George Bush.
No pun intended, but Richard Nixon was an admirer of the "Brooksgate" clothing collection, a special tailored line designed for the young executive.
Bill Clinton has been seen sporting Brooks Brothers casual wear, including a leather bomber jacket he wore the day following his election as President in 1992.
Excellent, Bentley, TR did wear Brooks Brothers, and if he did, most likely his grandfather, father, and uncles did, because they stick to tradition.
I think there are two factors contributing to the fact TR had a tailor made, Brooks Brothers uniform instead of a standard issue one:1. Vanity and 19th century tradition. Evan Thomas, in The War Lovers, wrote that Teedy, "At the age of four... fancied the brightly colored uniforms of the Zouaves, a Union regiment that went off to [the US Civil:] war in turbans and red pantaloons (until smokeless gunpowder cleared the air of the battlefield and made soldiers wish to dress as inconspicuously as possible)."*
The idea of a less than uniform army, even officer corps, is alien today. As Thomas suggests, ostentatious display is akin to wearing a target when technology catches up to modern war (there was something to that effect in Saving Private Ryan, in which a rookie was admonished for frequently saluting Tom Hank's character and thus calling attention to his rank). TR the Rough Rider lived in the twilight between two worlds, one that clung to 19th century traditions but was beginning to respond to 20th century reality.
2. TR's Rough Riders were a volunteer regiment that Roosevelt raised on his own initiative. They were not organized under the regular army. This undoubtedly produced a symptom of superiority that called for irregular dress, as well as rations and the finest horses. Had TR not resigned a post of Undersecretary of the Navy and been activated or drafted as regular forces, he probably would have been put in a standard issue suit.
Does anyone agree or disagree with these conclusions?
Also, regarding the comparisons between the Roosevelt and Kennedy clans, McCullough writes (emphasis mine):
"[Home life:] was, plainly, a family of paradoxes: privileged and cushioned beyond most people's imagining, yet little like the stereotype of the vapid, insular rich; uneducated in any usual, formal fashion but also uninhibited by education..." p. 37
The Kennedys, on the other hand lived in a sort of Camelot before JFKs cult popularized the term. Not only were they inhibited by education, the Kennedy children notoriously attended Boston Latin as their preparation for Harvard.
Nice comparison/contrast point though.
*
Evan Thomas, p. 20
Patrick, I don't want to get too far into 19th century clothing, but you raise good explanations and they are sound. Excellent.You also make an important distinction on education from the Roosevelt and Kennedy time periods. Back in the 19th century, you can make a living without the proper degree like one of TR's uncles (I believe) got into law without a JD.
I believe that Joe Kennedy Sr. really believed in getting a top-notch education to be successful and having his sons do the same. Another distinction, Joe, Sr. felt like the outsider and TR was already in the club.
This leads me to another theme to remember as we read the book: this family is aristocratic. I think President TR was pretty popular among the common man, but he was not one of them. McCullough mentions TR using "our class" very easily.
Bryan wrote: "McCullough mentions TR using "our class" very easily."This is the second time I've read Mornings on Horseback. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll suggest something open ended. The Roosevelt family was both aristocratic and (before Franklin Delano) resolutely Republican. But listening to Theodore (the father) and TR speak doesn't feel like listening to George Babbitt* speak. They were aristocrats, bully GOP-ers, and classic characters from the gilded age, but they weren't robber barons or hedonists.
The "Vanished Way of Life" McCullough alludes to is one we don't really imagine from our preconceived notions of what a 19th century, New York, patrician family was. This is what makes Mornings such an enduring book (I often forget it is thirty years old). I am going to pay attention to each example that contradicts the stereotype. As I recall, such examples abound and have the potential to make one reconsider entrenched prejudice.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and talk about it again!
*
Sinclair Lewis
Okay, finally, and then I'll retire... The John Hay referred to in chapter 1 was the same John Hay who served as personal secretary to President Lincoln. He would remain in Washington after 1865 and lived a long life there. He was what one might call an early "Washington insider." He and Henry Adams provided a long-running commentary on their observations of the GOP from its origins through the Grant, then McKinley, and into the Roosevelt eras.
Mod
Yes indeed, I did not know that Hay entered their lives. I find it fascinating to study the rich and the Roosevelts make it very interesting. Good posts so far.
Since we can talk about TR's life after 1889, I guess it's okay to point out that John Hay was TR's first secretary of state. Roosevelt inherited him as part of McKinley's cabinet following the assassination.The idea of a continuum between the Lincoln and Roosevelt administrations is enticing. As is the idea that TR would eventually become his father's friends' boss.
Edmund Morris in
describes TR's process of gradually replacing the McKinley cabinet with his own choices. Hay's replacement at State, Elihu Root,* was probably the better choice, especially considering how ambitious TR's policies were compared to the standard issue GOP platform. Hay was a great political observer and keen mind, but he was too exclusively 19th century in construction. TR was a chimera, a mixture of society "swell"/jingo on one side and progressive on the other. He was also, as Roosevelt friend Cecil Spring Rice noticed, very offputting to establishment stiffs. Rice once warned those new to TR, "You must always remember that the president is about six" Morris, p. 81.
Hay was too old school to work very well with TR's energy and outlook. As McCullough details TR's formation from a child (when he literally was about six), I'm trying to pay attention to examples of the youth questioning convention and becoming a sort of new American man.
..............................
*Hay might not have been as perfect a fit as Root, but TR did not ask for Hay's resignation or otherwise pressure him out. Hay, with links to the Lincoln administration, was undoubtedly a totemic, if dusty, figure. Hay died in office and was replaced by Root. Roosevelt was probably not happy to see Hay go, but nevertheless enjoyed appointing his own pick. Morris definitely feels State was run more effectively following the succession.
Good comment, Patrick, thanks. It is interesting how people/families meet early in life and how they connect again.
Mod
Here is a photo of Theodore Roosevelt Sr. (He does look rather stern here):
From the article in Wikipedia...it appears it may have been Theodore Roosevelt Senior (Teddy's father - Thee) who founded all of those wonderful institutions we all love so much in New York City: the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Natural History. We can certainly see later on with TR's (the son) interest in fostering wonderful places for the people that he must have inherited these characteristics from his father.
Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. (September 22, 1831 – February 9, 1878) was the father of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandfather of American first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. He was the son of Cornelius Van Schaak Roosevelt and Margaret Barnhill. He was a fourth-generation Dutch New Yorker and participant in the Roosevelt family business of plate-glass importing, Roosevelt and Son.
Roosevelt Sr. was a noted New York City philanthropist. He helped found the New York City Children's Aid Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Children's Orthopaedic Hospital. A participant in the dazzling New York society life, he was described by one historian as a man of both "good works and good times." In December 1877 he was nominated to be Collector of the Port of New York but was rejected by the US Senate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore....
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From TR's Family Tree:
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life...
Martha Bulloch Roosevelt (July 8, 1835 – February 14, 1884) was the mother of US President Theodore Roosevelt and the paternal grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt. She married Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., and had four children. She was a descendent of Archibald Bulloch. A true southern belle, she was affectionately known as Mittie, and is thought to have been one of the inspirations for Scarlett O'Hara.
Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_B...
[image error]
Mod
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/rea...
The site and business as it is today:
http://www.roosevelt-cross.com/index....
Cool, Bentley, thanks. It is interesting to see a family business still around.
Mod
After reading the first chapter, I went back and read the introduction. This passage struck me the most: "If I could have one wish for you the reader, it would be that you come away from the book with a strong sense of what a great man Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. was." - David McCullough
You found a good quote, Marje. It really seems to the heart of the book.
Mod
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The American version of the story is said to have originated among slaves at Laura Plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana.
Br'er Rabbit stories were written down by Robert Roosevelt, uncle of President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt.
Teddy Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography, about his aunt from Georgia, that "She knew all the 'Br'er Rabbit' stories, and I was brought up on them.
One of my uncles, Robert Roosevelt, was much struck with them, and took them down from her dictation, publishing them in Harper's, where they fell flat.
This was a good many years before a genius arose who, in 'Uncle Remus', made the stories immortal."
These stories were popularized for the mainstream audience in the late 19th century by Joel Chandler Harris, who wrote up and published many of the stories which were passed down by oral tradition.
Harris also attributed the birth name, Riley, to Br'er Rabbit.
Joel Chandler Harris heard the tales in Georgia. Very similar versions of the same stories were recorded independently at the same time by folklorist Alcée Fortier in southern Louisiana, where the Rabbit character was known as Compair Lapin in Creole French. The stories were retold for children by Enid Blyton, the English children's writer.
The word "Br'er" in his name (and in those of other characters in the stories) reflects the habit of addressing another man as "brother" in many African cultures. While modern Americans generally pronounce the second 'r' in Br'er, the original pronunciation was "Bruh" or "Buh."
When Joel Chandler Harris spelled "Br'er" with an 'er' at the end of the word, he was indicating the Southern pronunciation of the final 'er' as in "brothuh" (brother), sistuh (sister), or faa'muh (farmer).
Source: Wikipedia
Mod
Obviously not.
Interesting posts, Bentley. It sounds like Theodore was a man centered around devotion.
Bentley wrote: "I thought that TR's uncle Robert Roosevelt was an interesting study and one who actually was responsible initially for scribing the folklore of the Br'er Rabbit stories. And TRs aunt sounds like q..."Lol, what's a rich family without eccentrics-any family for that matter.
Mod
The tidbit about the cow and the problems getting it out of the brownstone was so outlandish it had to be true. Very eccentric to be sure.
Mod
Very much so and he loved children.
Welcome aboard, Daisy. You brought up some interesting points. I think you are right, I think some spheres Theodore left for Mittie and that was it.The education part is interesting too. I think back then you could get a pretty good education without a going to school. Yet it is still a little surprising since I suspect many kids of his class went to prep schools.
Mod
When you get a chance by all means introduce yourself on our Introduction thread. And welcome to the History Book Club.
Bentley
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Theodore Rex (other topics)Babbitt (other topics)
The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 (other topics)
Mornings on Horseback (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Edmund Morris (other topics)Henry Adams (other topics)
Sinclair Lewis (other topics)
Evan Thomas (other topics)
David McCullough (other topics)
Hello Everyone,
May 30, 2010 is the first day in the kickoff week for Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life & the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David MCullough.
This begins the first week's reading in our new Presidential Series group discussion.
The complete table of contents is as follows:
Syllabus
Mornings On Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt
Table of Contents
Author's Note 9
Part One
ONE: Greatheart's Circle p.19
TWO: Lady from the South p.39
THREE: Grand Tour p.69
FOUR: A Disease of the Direst Suffering p.90
FIVE: Metamorphosis p.109
Part Two
SIX: Uptown p.131
SEVEN: The Moral Effect p.149
EIGHT: Father and Son p. 160
Part Three
NINE: Harvard p. 195
TEN: Especially Pretty Alice p. 218
ELEVEN: Home is the Hunter p. 237
TWELVE: Politics p. 251
THIRTEEN: Strange and Terrible Fate p. 277
FOURTEEN: Chicago p. 289
FIFTEEN: Glory Days p. 316
SIXTEEN: Return p. 351
Afterward p. 362
Notes p. 373
Bibliography p. 413
Index p. 427
The assignment for this week includes the following segments/pages:
Week One - May 30th - June 6th -> Author's Note and Chapter ONE p. 9 -38
Author's Note and ONE - Goodheart's Circle
We look forward to your participation; but remember this is a non spoiler thread.
We will open up threads for each week's reading. Please make sure to post in the particular thread dedicated to those specific chapters and page numbers to avoid spoilers.
This book is being kicked off on May 30th. This will be the first week's assignment for this book.
We look forward to your participation. Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other noted on line booksellers do have copies of the book and shipment can be expedited. The book can also be obtained easily at your local library, or on your Kindle.
A special welcome to those who will be newcomers to this discussion and thank you to those who have actively contributed on the previous Presidential Series selection. We are glad to have you all.
~Bentley
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