Theodore Roosevelt lived a life that was both remarkable and well documented, so there is no shortage of literature on the man. A few that I’ve read are Edmond Morris’s authoritative trilogy which can’t be beat for thoroughness, Theodore Roosevelt in the Field by Michael Canfield predictably focuses on Roosevelt’s exploits as a naturalist and hunter (and also, to my delight, includes a number of high-quality reprint of pages and sketches from his journals) and T. R.: The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands takes a more balanced look at Roosevelt’s life largely through is own writings and correspondences. You can get a summary of Roosevelt’s life elsewhere, that’s not the point of this post. Instead, here are a few things that I think help explain his singular life.

1. Roosevelt literally saw himself as the central character in a heroic saga, and he lived his life as if that were true.

2. Roosevelt considered his father the best man who ever lived. The elder Roosevelt (also name Theodore) died unexpectedly while his son was still in college. Theodore never quite got to see his father as a fellow adult and peer, and spent the rest of his life trying to live up to an idealist view of his father. This also explains Roosevelts desire to fight in the Spanish American War. The only fault Roosevelt recognized in his father was the man’s failure to fight in the Civil War. Instead, Roosevelt Sr. paid to have someone else take his place in the army (which was not uncommon among the upper class). Arguably, the elder Roosevelt made a greater difference in the war effort in other ways more suited to his abilities, but Theodore Jr. took it as his responsibility to make up for his father’s only failing.

3. Roosevelt came of age during an era when to be a scientist and naturalist meant hunting and killing animals for museum collections. Roosevelt subsumed this identity as a boy and never let it go, even as scientific winds blew towards segmentation, specialization, and sterile laboratory work. Roosevelt’s dislike for the new scientific world was a major reason why he didn’t pursue the natural sciences as a career. The strong identity he established as a hunter-naturalist would stick with him though, and at least partially explains a blood lust that was excessive by just about any standard.

4. Many teenagers and young adults go through a phase where the world seems black and white, moral solutions are obvious, and anyone who disagrees is an idiot and an enemy. Roosevelt is no different except he never grew out of it.

5. Roosevelt wasn’t brilliant and he knew that. However, that never stopped him from doing anything. I think a quote attributed to George Patton makes for a decent one-line summary of Roosevelt’s life, “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” Roosevelt had a lot of good plans.