Theodore Roosevelt, Hero to His Valet

by James E. Amos

University of Minnesota Library hardcover 162 pages

Published: 1927

Genre: non-fiction biography

Oh. my. word. Where to start?!

I read about this somewhere else (don't remember!) and was curious. Teddy Roosevelt is one of the U.S. presidents I really like. I appreciate that he set aside National Parks for us! Especially since the railroad and timber barons were so powerful at the time.

This book was published the year my mom was born! There's a nameplate inside the front cover saying it was donated from the collection of O.M. Leland (dean emeritus) of the Institute of Technology (1921-1944) and his signature from July 1931! It's just a cool piece of history.

For the book itself, of course Amos is going to have an incredibly positive view of TR. As he tells of how he came to work for the president, he seems to be a wonderful man himself. He was only in his young twenties when he was hired to look after the Roosevelt children. Through his service to the family, he was proximal to President Roosevelt and worked for him for many years. 

Page 8-9: Mr. Roosevelt was not only my employer, but he was until his death my dear friend to whom I could go always with my most personal and private troubles. I loved him deeply and served him, I hope, faithfully. And I have always liked to believe that he rather took a fancy to me at that very first meeting. That would be his way. Mr. Roosevelt's disposition was to like people. He never approached men with suspicion in his mind. He was always disposed to believe that people were all right and he liked those he met if they gave him half a chance.

I love the way Amos tells his stories; it's almost as though he and the reader are just chatting. It was also bizarre to picture what the White House was like just over 100 years ago . . . I'm guessing that in the last few decades, there are hundreds (if not thousands?) more employees!

Page 10: At first people used to swarm into the White House. The President's working quarters were there and altogether the little privacy the home part of the building enjoyed was subject to many interruptions. Under Mr. Roosevelt this was all changed. No President was as approachable as he was. He saw more people, probably, than any Chief Executive in our history. But he drew a line around that portion of the mansion which was called home, and he managed to keep his boys and girls living in a perfectly natural atmosphere in spite of the turbulent and stormy official life that swarmed all around them.

There are some fantastic photographs in the book. The picture of the author doesn't appear to show a black man, but later he refers to "his race." I looked him up online and found that yes, Amos was African American. The picture of the Roosevelt family shows the four boys and one daughter with the President, his wife, and their dog Skip. 

Page 15: Public men are subject to all sorts of bitter criticism and if they filed suits against all the people who libeled them they would spend all their days in court. . . . 

He had an "Ananias Club" to assign people who lied about him! It's one of those Bible stories that makes me stop and think about God's message about lying. I'm not surprised that part of being in the public eye is dealing with what people say about you, but I think it's interesting that there were two times Roosevelt charged people with libel. And that he started his "Ananias Club!"

Page 25: It was orders from home - from Mrs. Roosevelt - that whenever Mr. Roosevelt was traveling he must have one hour of absolute quiet during the day. He was a man of such tremendous energy that he would keep going forever if there was not someone around to slow him down. That was part of my job on all trips. . . . He preached the 'strenuous life.' But he also knew the value of the 'quiet hour.'

Reading this makes me curious to learn more about Mrs. Roosevelt! It is wise indeed to have some quiet time each day. In another chapter, Amos talks about some of the leading figures of the day and Mr. Roosevelt's relationship with them. I was surprised in this part about Booker T. Washington. (This is what I love about reading books like this - I learn new things!)

Page 56: . . . it is sometimes the little things that mar the effects of a man's work. And the fact that he preached to his race to send their children to manual training schools to learn to be good servants and workers, and then sent his son to England and his daughter to Wellesley to be educated, brought a good deal of criticism down on him from his own people.

 

Amos reprints a "wall motto" that was hanging at President Roosevelt's desk before he left the White House. It is "Opportunity" by John James Ingalls.

Master of human destinies am I;
Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait.
Cities and fields I walk. I penetrate
Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by
Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late,
I knock unbidden once at every gate.

If sleeping, wake; if feasting, rise, before
I turn away. It is the hour of fate,
And they who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save death; but those who hesitate
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
Seek me in vain, and uselessly implore.
I answer not, and I return no more.

I don't really like this poem, but the fact that it was meaningful to Roosevelt is interesting to me. It was most sad to me that Roosevelt grieved deeply for his youngest son, Quentin, who was shot down in France in July 1918. Theodore died six months later.

Page 158-159: But there was one disaster that I have always felt was too much even for his brave heart - that was the death of his son Quentin, whom we all loved. Quentin was shot down in an aeroplane while flying over the German lines.

Amos goes on to share about the change in Mr. Roosevelt's demeanor and his deep sadness. This is a lovely little book and I'm glad I read it!