The President both candidates want to be
The fifth book I read this year was Candice Millard’s River of Doubt, the story of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1914 exploration of uncharted territory in South America. Both Obama and McCain have invoked Roosevelt’s name (and no, Obama wasn’t talking about FDR though I’m sure he has good things to say about him as well) in the current campaign for president, and bully for them. You don’t get much better than Theodore Roosevelt.
Here’s a guy who ran a campaign against his own former Vice President after seeing four years of his performance as President. The GOP hated him for it at the time, but Republicans must have liked him well enough since running as the Progressive Party candidate he gathered more votes than Taft. 1912 was the only time since Lincoln was elected that either a Republican or a Democrat has come in third in a Presidential Election. Roosevelt’s candidacy also made Taft the only incumbent President to come in third in a bid for reelection.
Millard’s book proves that a well-researched book can be engaging. Roosevelt’s trials in the jungle place him among the more intrepid of explorers in our history, yet the expedition is largely forgotten. River of Doubt, named for the river now called Rio Roosevelt (which has a tributary still named Rio Kermit after President Roosevelt’s son who accompanied him on the expedition).
The story is inspiring as an account of the bravery of men who pushed themselves right to the limits. The terrain was rugged and progress was slow through the dense jungle. Not everyone on the expedition made it back. Roosevelt himself was wounded badly enough that he considered suicide not out of desperation but because he wanted the expeditionincluding his sonto make it out of the jungle and thought that might not be possible with him slowing the party.
Even (perhaps especially) these dark moments provide a source of inspiration. President Roosevelt knew that Kermit was fighting to make certain his father returned safe, just as he was looking out for Kermit. His decision to persevere came from knowing that Kermit’s will would remain strong so long as there was a chance to get his father home.
It troubles me that we may never see another of Roosevelt’s caliber in the White House.
