Friendships shape presidents. But those friends are often hidden in the shadows of history. With The Rough Rider and the Professor, Laurence Jurdem shines a bright light on a forgotten figure who shaped Theodore Roosevelt, and, therefore, modern America as well.
Essential reading. Biography, in Mr. Jurdem’s capable hands, becomes an act of restoration.
"Few political friendships have been as consequential as that of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge. The two wrote or spoke to each other almost daily for decades, exchanging ideas, reading each other's books, promoting shared policies. As a congressman and senator, Lodge worked to advance TR's career; then an assassin's bullet made TR president, and the strains began to grow. By focusing on this pair, Laurence Jurdem shrewdly illuminates not only a fascinating personal relationship, but the making of modern politics and government at the dawn of the American century."
"Laurence Jurdem captures Roosevelt's passion and Lodge's prudence in this scintillating dual biography. It holds lessons for today."
"Jurdem’s exploration of the relationship between Roosevelt and Lodge poses enduring questions about political friendships as well as America’s current course as it faces many of the same challenges the two politicos encountered during the Gilded Age. The Rough Rider and the Professor serves as a reminder that people are not simply swept up by the currents of history. Their actions — in this case, byproducts of the internal struggles, divided loyalties and deeply held beliefs championed by Roosevelt and Lodge — can alter the direction not just of their lives but of a nation."
"A remarkable 35-year friendship that was nurtured by some 2,500 letters. That correspondence forms the foundation for Laurence Jurdem’s lively narrative, The Rough Rider and the Professor, rendered in unadorned prose and with a touching sympathy for his subjects. Mr. Jurdem illuminates not only the momentous lives of these two powerful figures and the affection they held for each other but also the history of America from the 1880s to the 1920s."
"In this insightful study, Laurence Jurdem offers us the story of how two patrician politicians, one known for his embrace of the strenuous life and the other for his reflective nature, worked together to make their way through the complex world of American politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to bring the United States to a place on the world stage abroad and moderately progressive politics at home. Essential reading for those interested in how Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge balanced principle and pragmatism in the pursuit of policy through politics.
Few American leaders have had as long and consequential a friendship as the rambunctious Rough Rider and the reserved Bay State Brahmin that Laurence Jurdem explores in this impressive new volume.
05/22/2023
This detailed dual portrait from historian Jurdem (Paving the Way for Reagan) examines the extensive correspondence between Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge to describe how their friendship and influence on each other helped shape American history. The two men met in 1884, when they both served as delegates to the Republican national convention. The pair were among the more liberal “independents” opposed the nomination of James G. Blaine, who nonetheless won. Lodge, the more pragmatic of the two, threw his support behind Blaine and gained respect within the party; Roosevelt, afraid that his political career was over, took a train to the Dakota territory to heal his wounds. Lodge went on to become a U.S. senator, while Roosevelt won the presidency in 1901; both inspired and supported one another, such as when Lodge rushed to Roosevelt’s side after a failed 1886 New York City mayoral bid left Roosevelt feeling despondent. Jurdem ably navigates the huge cache of letters exchanged between the two—some 2,500 in all—to tell a story rich with personal detail. This fascinating study reveals a new perspective on both Roosevelt and Lodge, and the impact of friendships on the course of events. (July)
"The impulsive and fiery Teddy Roosevelt would seem to have little in common with the stoic and cerebral Henry Cabot Lodge, but as Laurence Jurdem points out in this insightful and highly enjoyable book, the two men shared an unshakable belief in American exceptionalism and a progressive faith in using government to tame the excesses of unrestrained capitalism. Jurdem skillfully highlights how their thirty-year friendship offers a window into understanding American society in the first decades of the twentieth century. Highly recommended!
"Theodore Roosevelt stunned members of the Progressive Party in 1916 by recommending that they nominate Henry Cabot Lodge for president—a man they considered the antithesis of their reform movement. Laurence Jurdem unravels this seeming contradiction, judiciously reexamining the friendship between the impulsive Rough Rider and the cautious professor that shaped so much of the political history of their time.
2023-04-04
A tale of two U.S. politicians and their struggles to obtain and keep power.
Jurdem, author of Paving the Way for Reagan, documents the decadeslong relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, offering glimpses of both men at their best and worst as they made decisions that impacted American domestic and foreign policy. The author reveals the significant ways in which Lodge maneuvered behind the scenes and spoke out to enable Roosevelt’s political ascension as well as how Roosevelt publicly and privately acknowledged Lodge’s role in his success. Upon Roosevelt’s 1897 appointment as assistant secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt noted, “Of course, it was Lodge who engineered it, at the end as at the beginning.” This is the throughline for most of the book, until tensions over Roosevelt’s 1912 presidential run as an independent candidate for the “Bull Moose Party” caused a disruption in—but not an end to—their friendship and political partnership. Jurdem notes that he relied on previous biographers to fill in aspects of both men’s lives even as he delved deeper into their extensive correspondence. By moving beyond previously published and highly edited versions of the correspondence, the author sheds new light on the intricacies of the Roosevelt-Lodge friendship. At times, this laser focus results in a neglect of necessary historical context. For instance, Jurdem references the press coverage of “atrocities” that U.S. troops committed in the Philippines, but he never provides details about those atrocities for readers who may not be familiar with the controversy that erupted in 1902 when “a classified report detailing the behavior was released.” While the author keeps the narrative moving at a brisk pace, he sacrifices depth for breadth, leaving readers wanting more detail about these men and their times as well as further analysis of their lasting impact on American politics.
A fast-paced but uneven account of a significant personal and political friendship.
