Evoking the political intrigue of the Gilded Age, Laurence Jurdem's book The Rough Rider and the Professor chronicles the extraordinary 35-year friendship between President Theodore Roosevelt and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts.
Theodore Roosevelt was a uniquely gifted figure. A man of great intellect and physicality, the New York patrician captured the imagination of the American people with his engaging personality and determination to give all citizens regardless of race, color, or creed the opportunity to achieve the American dream. While Roosevelt employed his abilities to rise from unknown New York legislator to become the youngest man ever to assume the presidency in 1901, that rapid success would not have occurred without the assistance of the powerful New Englander, Henry Cabot Lodge. Eight years older than Roosevelt, from a prominent Massachusetts family, Lodge was one of the most calculating, combative politicians of his age. From 1884 to 1919 Lodge and Roosevelt encouraged one another to mine the greatness that lay within each of them. Despite their political disagreements, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge remained devoted friends until the Rough Rider took his final breath on January 6, 1919.
Laurence Jurdem, PhD, is currently an Adjunct Professor of History at Fairfield University and Fordham College’s Lincoln Center campus. Jurdem is also the author of Paving the Way for Reagan: The Influence of Conservative Media on U.S. Foreign Policy. A frequent writer on American politics, his articles have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle.
Image: (L) Pach Brothers, photographer. Theodore Roosevelt, three quarter length portrait, facing front., ca. 1904. May 11. Photograph. www.loc.gov/item/2009631526.
(R) Henry Cabot Lodge, three quarter length portrait, standing., ca. 1901. Photograph. www.loc.gov/item/2016651099.
November 21, 2023
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