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Rough rider in the White House : Theodore Roosevelt and the politics of desire / Sarah Watts.
Author
Watts, Sarah Lyons, 1942-
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Format
Book
Language
English
Published/Created
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, ©2003.
Description
x, 289 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Availability
Copies in the Library
Location
Call Number
Status
Location Service
Notes
Firestone Library - Stacks
E757 .W35 2003
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Details
Subject(s)
Presidents
—
United States
—
Biography
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Political culture
—
United States
—
History
—
20th century
[Browse]
Masculinity
—
Political aspects
—
United States
—
History
—
20th century
[Browse]
Desire
—
Political aspects
—
United States
—
History
—
20th century
[Browse]
Race awareness
—
Political aspects
—
United States
—
History
—
20th century
[Browse]
Rhetoric
—
Political aspects
—
United States
—
History
—
20th century
[Browse]
United States
—
Politics and government
—
1901-1909
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United States
—
Foreign relations
—
1901-1909
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Roosevelt, Theodore 1858-1919
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Roosevelt, Theodore 1858-1919
—
Psychology
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Roosevelt, Theodore 1858-1919
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Language
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Library of Congress genre(s)
Biographies
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Getty AAT genre
collective biographies
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Summary note
"Who was Theodore Roosevelt? Most of us think of him as one of America's greatest presidents, a champion of progressive politics, and a master statesman. But many feared the political power that Roosevelt wielded. Woodrow Wilson once called him "the most dangerous man of the age." Mark Twain thought him "clearly insane." William James scorned the "flood of bellicose emotion" he let loose during his presidency. Even his biographer, Edmund Morris, is astonished at Roosevelt's "irrational love of battle."" "In this book, Sarah Watts probes this dark side of the Rough Rider, presenting a fascinating psychological portrait of a man whose personal obsession with masculinity profoundly influenced the fate of a nation. Drawing on his own writings and on media representations of him, Watts attributes the wide appeal of Roosevelt's style of manhood to the way it addressed the hopes and anxieties of men of his time. Like many of his contemporaries, Roosevelt struggled with what it meant to be a man in the modern era. He saw two foes within himself: a fragile weakling and a primitive beast. The weakling he punished and toughened with rigorous, manly pursuits such as hunting, horseback riding, and war. The beast he unleashed through brutal criticisms of homosexuals, immigrants, pacifists, and sissies - anyone who might tarnish the nation's veneer of strength and vigor. With his unabashed paeans to violence and aggressive politics, Roosevelt ultimately offered American men a chance to project their longings and fears onto the nation and its policies. In this way he harnessed the primitive energy of men's desires to propel the march of American civilization - over the bodies of anyone who might stand in its way."--Jacket.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (p. 243-277) and index.
Contents
"The hot life of feeling"
Inner demons
Women, apes, and "baneful things"
Cowboy soldiers
War.
Show 2 more Contents items
ISBN
0226876071 ((alk. paper))
9780226876078 ((alk. paper))
9780226876092
0226876098
LCCN
2003003576
OCLC
51811082
Statement on language in description
Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage.
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