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The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete
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About The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt And The
Product Description Featuring an amazing cast of historical figures, this is the story of how President Theodore Roosevelt led an American sports and fitness revolution. “An engaging book you can hold with one hand while doing light bicep curls with the other.” ―Washington Post “A fascinating account...Sports fans and history buffs alike will enjoy this focused portrait.” ―Publishers Weekly Give up exercise, a doctor told Theodore Roosevelt while he attended Harvard, or you might die of a heart attack! This after suffering crippling asthma, myopic eyesight, and other ailments as a child. Roosevelt's body was his weakness, the one hill he could never conquer . . . But, oh, how he tried! In vivid detail, The Strenuous Life shows how Roosevelt carried his obsession to the nation's highest office, championing a new age of American athleticism. As President, Roosevelt boxed, practiced Ju-Jitsu, played tennis, conducted harrowing "point-to-point" walks, and invited athletes to the White House. Unsurprisingly, Roosevelt's personal quest reverberated broadly: his administration saw an unprecedented rise in sports and recreational activities. With Roosevelt in office, baseball's first ever World Series took place, interscholastic sports began, and schools placed a legitimate emphasis on physical education. The NCAA formed, and the United States hosted the Olympics for the first time. It was an American sports and fitness revolution. Yes, the "Bull Moose," as he'd come to be known, resided squarely in the midst of this upheaval. Filled with amazing anecdotes, a who's who of American political and sports figures from the early 20th century, and Rooseveltian gusto and humor, this book is the play-by-play and color commentary on Roosevelt's "Strenuous Life." “Swanson…[is] one of those enterprising academics who have perfected slicing American history into ever finer layers.” ―Wall Street Journal Review “An engaging book you can hold with one hand while doing light bicep curls with the other...Swanson succeeds in telling stories that will be entertaining for readers without any previous knowledge of Roosevelt, as well as those who don’t closely follow sports.” ―Washington Post “Ryan Swanson, a history professor at the University of New Mexico, [is] one of those enterprising academics who have perfected slicing American history into ever finer layers…Roosevelt is such a compelling figure that the book snaps awake when he’s in action.” ―Wall Street Journal “There can hardly be a better companion for a romp through American history than TR, and Ryan Swanson’s The Strenuous Life captures the great man in all his vividness. Through the sheer force of his personality, Roosevelt changed the way Americans take their leisure―and their sports―and ushered in the age of mass participation in athletics. Swanson takes this facet of Roosevelt’s legacy and makes a compelling case that this is the way in which he most powerfully shaped us as a people. This is important stuff―and fun to boot.” ―Jeremy Schaap, ESPN Journalist and New York Times bestselling author "A contemporary described Theodore Roosevelt, America’s most peripatetic president, as 'pure act.' He prefigured modern America, including its passion for competitive sports. Ryan Swanson shows how the person who turned himself from a sickly youth into a robust man saw athletics as means of making a muscular nation." ―George F. Will “Do Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney, Mike Krzyzewski, and John Calipari realize that when they cash one of those hefty paychecks they should be thanking the 26th President of the United States? For, thanks to Ryan Swanson, we know that college sports as we know it owes a huge debt of gratitude to Theodore Roosevelt, surely the most obsessively strenuously fit man ever to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and someone who believed firmly that sport and competition maketh the man. No fiction writer could concoct a more amazingly complex presidentia
