THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408040545
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY CHILES T.A. LARSON
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
THE ROOSEVELTS
An American Saga
PETER COLLIER WITH DAVID HOROWITZ
Simon & Schuster. 542 pp. $27.50.
THIS IS AN extraordinary tale of two branches of an exceptional American family, the Oyster Bay and the Hyde Park Roosevelts, and their quest for power and approval. The Roosevelts: An American Saga is a magnum opus spelled out in grand dimensions, in terms of time, distance, characters and the impact of their deeds. For the two patriarchs, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, distant cousins, this pursuit led to the White House. For their wives, sons, daughters, in-laws and grandchildren, it often led to an unrequited search for fulfillment and self-esteem.
Aside from the vast treasury of literature that Peter Collier and David Horowitz have sifted through in orchestrating this fine book, there are 59 well-selected photographs to introduce the reader to many of the 79 Roosevelts listed in the index. Of this number, FDR's five children added greatly to the list with 19 marriages among them!
Although there were major differences in personalities and political philosophies between Teddy Roosevelt and FDR, there were also interesting similarities. Each had to clear physical hurdles before reaching the presidency. TR had to overcome childhood bouts with asthma and dysentery that were often painful, frightening and, on occasion, humiliating. FDR's handicap, polio, struck him down during his youth while he was vacationing at Campobello, the family retreat off the coast of Maine. Both men, through sheer willpower and an irrepressible spirit, transformed these disabilities into character strengths, later reflected in votes.
TR went west and built up his stamina by learning to punch cattle in the Dakota Badlands. War with Spain found him converting his buckaroo bunkmates into the Rough Riders of San Juan Hill fame; he concluded the whole shooting match by riding pell-mell into the Oval Office. His lusty enthusiasm for every undertaking, whether intellectual or athletic, was a hallmark of his style.
After FDR's fifth child - TR's brood also numbered five - Eleanor Roosevelt elected to practice her own form of birth control - abstinence. This led FDR into a soon-discovered affair with Lucy Mercer, a Virginia beauty ``who had the ability, as one friend said, `to mesmerize men.' '' Although FDR stopped this clandestine relationship, his life with Eleanor declined further. Nonetheless, as Collier points out, ``there was a deep chemistry that went past their shared history or even their pragmatic need for each other.'' This standoff freed them to reach toward their ultimate destiny of contributing to the public good.
As fascinating as TR and FDR were, the story of succeeding Roosevelt generations is equally compelling. TR's daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980), was known as ``the other Washington monument.'' Her pithy one-liners often left teeth marks.
With the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the exploits of Theodore Jr. become noteworthy. Like his three brothers, he served in the Army during World War I, then felt obligated to enter the political arena after his father's death. The results were mixed.
First opposing FDR's efforts to draw the country into World War II, he returned to the Army as a brigadier general. Theodore Jr. saw action from the beginning of U.S. involvement and at age 57 was the oldest man in the first wave on Utah Beach. For his actions that day, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Almost constantly under fire over the succeeding days, he died one evening of heart failure after confiding to his son, who was also serving in his unit, that he felt played out. Journalist A.J. Liebline observed with his passing that TR had been ``a dilettante soldier and a first class politician; his son was a dilettante politician and a first class soldier.''
Fanning out from their compounds at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Hyde Park and Campobello Island, the Roosevelts of both stripes learned early on that they had to carry or drop the heavy family burden of public scrutiny according to their ability to deal with the pressure. Their ordeals make for buoyant reading. MEMO: Chiles T.A. Larson is a photojournalist who manages his own media/public
relations consulting firm in Ivy, Va. by CNB