Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-25
PROSE AND POETRY ABOUT
THEODORE Roosevelt 7
William Roscoe Thayer, Laurence F. Abbon and B SeoalI
Tell That They Kno,o about Him and Father Wilbur
Pays Tribute in Sonnet Sequence

That with the many DOCKS on hOose-
velt already issued more should be
added may raise doubt of their neces- /
sity; only the fact that much of i'm /
portance remains to be said on vital
theme can justify them. William Kos
coe Thayers Intimate Biography
fulfills this specification amply.
Much is written and said at the mo-
ment concerning the memorializlng of
Colonel Roosevelt. This may be done
in marble or bronze, but it seems to us
that book like Mr.. Thayer's is quite
as fine and splendid a memorial as any
man could desire. A fortunate comb
nation of circumstances has made MI
Thayer peculiarly fitted to write tins
book, for he was a fellow student with
Roosevelt at Harvard forty years ago.
and was on terms of friendship with
him till the day of his death. There
fore. the use of the adjective init
mate in describing the biography is
not presumptuous, nor is the descrip
ton. which his publishers apply to him:
'ithe leading American biographer.
In his brilliant biographies of Cavour
and ,John Hay. Mr.. Thayer, who it may
be recalled was in his salad days
newspaper editorial writer here IN
Philadelphia, conclusively proved his
right to be called ga leading American
biographer, if not the leading one,
As in the case of the former books
inst mentioned, Mr.. Thayer has been
| inspired by the commanding hgure OF
Roosevelt to write n historical study,
not only of the man himself. put of the
events in which his personality was an
iufuen ing factor. There is none of the
paste pot and scissors anecdotal style
to his writing. He evidently studies
his subject from every conceivable
angle, assimlating the facts. discard
ing the trivial or inconsequentlal, mar
shaling and CO. ordinating until the pic
ture is complete from birth to death,
and then writes study or essay on
the whole. This is not meant to indi-
cate that the subject is not treated
consecutively, for it is. Nor does it
mean that there are no enlivening in
cidents of the lighter type. On the
contrary, the book is full of new ma
terial, much of it never revealed, some
of it revealed before, but here ampli
fed, and great deal that is familiar
reset with new Interpretation.
Mr.. Thayer apologies in his preface
for the eulogistic tone in many places.
but declares this is not deliberate and
points out that he and Roosevelt We're
Fof different political faith, which, how
Fever, never lessened their personal
friendship. No fair minded reader of
the book will feel that he need apollo
gize on this score, for the mistakes OF
Roosevelt are as clearly set forth as his
successes. But the study of the man
is so clearly knit and the insight into
Roosevelt's character so penetrating
that the reader is made to view both
the mistakes and the successes sympu
thetically.
Mr.. Thayer, in recentlyears, has In
dulged in some controversial writing on
political subjects and he has not al
ways avoided this style in the present
book. There are places where he deals
out tart phrases and sharp judgments
upon living personages. His dislike of
the present national administration is
plainly visible, and there are scornfui,
sarcastic filings at idols still in the pub"
lie eye. Yet this does not spoil the
flavor but spices it.
In his reasearches for '"The Life of
John Hay Mr.. Thayer obtained a
mass of information that must have
been of great assistance in preparing
this book. His familiarity with the
"nside" of many momentous situations
during the time Roosevelt was in
Washington is made apparent.
At times the writing is epigrammati-
cal. Some of these sentences are sure
to stick in the mind and be quoted. For
example, concerning Roosevelt's schol +.
arship he says "He had the all
around quality which shows more
promise than does propensity to light
on particular topic and suck it dry
but he had also power of concentration
and thoroughness. He was happy
combination. of the amateurish and the
intense Again, concerning RoOse-
velt's early attempts at reform in the
New York Assembly, Mr.. Thayer says
Not the altruistic desire to reform,
but the perfectly practical resolve to
enjoy the political rights to which he
had claim, was his leading motive.
1t is important to understand this be
cause it explains much of his action
as a statesman" Again, pointing our
that Roosevelt was more interested in
his effect upon millions for the mo
ment than upon postrrity, Mr.. Thayer
says: "He was Immensely concerned
only in today's battle, for he wasted nc
next year or next century would say
about it. Mysticism, the recurrent fad
which indicates that its victims neither
see clear nor think straight, could NOT
, spread its wells over him. The man
who visualizes is safe from that int7l-
lectual weakness and moral danger"
On the propensity for picturesqueness
which always kept Roosevelt in the pub
lie eye, Mr.. Thayer shrewdly remarks
, '"fhe people begin to accustom itself t.
the fact that whatever position Roose
welt filled was conspicuous precisely be
cause he filed it, Notoriety was insep
6 arabic from him and did not need to b,
' explained by the theory that he wa
& constantly setting traps for self -adver
4 tisement
q There are many more examples whicI
might be cited to SiSw the manner. il