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Title details for The Strenuous Life by Ryan Swanson - Available

The Strenuous Life

Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete

by Ryan Swanson
ebook
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“It seemed as if Theodore Roosevelt’s biographers had closed the book on his life story. But Ryan Swanson has uncovered an untold chapter” (Johnny Smith, coauthor of Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X).
 
Crippling asthma, a frail build, and grossly myopic eyesight: these were the ailments that plagued Teddy Roosevelt as a child. In adulthood, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal heart condition and was told never to exert himself again. Roosevelt’s body was his weakness, the one hill he could never fully conquer—and as a result he developed what would become a lifelong obsession with athletics that he carried with him into his presidency.
 
As President of the United States, Roosevelt boxed, practiced Ju-Jitsu, played tennis nearly every day, and frequently invited athletes and teams to the White House. It was during his administration that America saw baseball’s first ever World Series; interscholastic sports began; and schools began to place an emphasis on physical education. In addition, the NCAA formed, and the United States hosted the Olympic Games for the first time.
 
From a prize-winning historian, this book shows how Roosevelt fought desperately (and sometimes successfully) to shape American athletics in accordance with his imperialistic view of the world. It reveals that, in one way or another, we can trace our fanaticism for fitness and sports directly back to the twenty-sixth president and his relentless pursuit of “The Strenuous Life.”
 
“Essential reading for anyone who cares about the history of sports in America.” —Michael Kazin, author of War against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914–1918

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 20, 2019

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781635766110

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781635766110
      • File size: 3909 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 24, 2019
      Historian Swanson (When Baseball Went White) presents a fascinating account of president Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and his influence on high school and collegiate sports in America. Swanson looks beyond the legend of Roosevelt—the brash masculinity, the exploits of the Rough Riders—to describe a man who grew up asthmatic, myopic, undersized, and physically unsure of himself. Swanson explains the future president’s belief that achieving physical endurance should be one’s goal, and that a “life of toil and effort and strife” was important to both individuals and the country at large. Through Roosevelt, Swanson describes “America’s sport revolution” and provides insight as to “how sports in America came to develop as they did.” Swanson shares anecdotes of Roosevelt’s public support of sports: his attending the Army-Navy football game in 1901 after having just been assigned office, playing tennis with his cabinet members outside the Oval Office, and championing athletes such as boxer Jack Johnson. Swanson details the founding of the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL), and Roosevelt’s role in shaping the early days of the NCAA. Sports fans and history buffs alike will enjoy this focused portrait of President Roosevelt.

    • Library Journal

      July 26, 2019

      Sports, according to Theodore Roosevelt, were a place where manhood's mettle could be properly challenged. Swanson (history; Univ. of New Mexico's Honors Coll.; When Baseball Went White) has examined these ideas meticulously, and here offers a window into the sporting culture that influenced Roosevelt's life and vice versa. The term Strenuous Life is also the title of an 1899 Roosevelt speech in which the president was compelled to issue a warning that the forces of industrialization and urban living were weakening men. Echoes of this speech are certainly present today, and Swanson delves into how Roosevelt came to adopt this ideology before 1899 and how this thinking emerged in his presidential actions. These actions were both small, such as taking long walks with advisers, to more significant, such as convening a White House meeting on football safety. This history further investigates the rise of baseball, along with the Olympics and other cultural events that influenced Roosevelt. VERDICT This work adds intriguing depth to Roosevelt histories. Highly recommended for cultural, presidential, and sport histories.--Jacob Sherman, John Peace Lib., Univ. of Texas at San Antonio

      Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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