Theodore Roosevelt: The American Presidents Series: The 26th President, 1901-1909 (American Presidents (Times))
Theodore Roosevelt was a man of contradictions: a warrior who won the  Nobel Peace prize, a wealthy man who battled corporate greed, a thinker who  prized action more than words (but who wrote fine books himself).He was also, writes Louis Auchincloss in this lucid biography, an extraordinary  leader, "a political idealist who had the wisdom to know that only by astute and  well-considered compromise in our legislative process could he hope to see  enacted even a fraction of the social and military programs that he deemed ...  essential to the welfare of his nation." Compromise he did, of course, though in  the end the war hero and trustbuster could not bring the right wing of the  Republican Party to see the wisdom of his reformist ways. The result,  Auchincloss chronicles, was a terrible split, bringing about the defection of  liberals from that once-liberal institution and the birth of a political war  that still rages.With a keen eye for political nuance and a clear appreciation for Teddy  Roosevelt as a one-of-a-kind, self-made man, Auchincloss offers an engaging view  of a great American president.--Gregory McNamee