The strong, vigorous, exalted character of a doting father who loved playing with his children and their pets, even while serving as the President of the United States, stands revealed in this selection of letters he wrote his children throughout their school years. They shed light on the cheerful man who remained throughout his life as pure and gentle as the soul of a child, plus many little reveals that there were squirrels nesting in the presidential bedroom, rats in the basement, and children's pranks that damaged the White House artwork! Many of these letters are considered valuable guides for youth in all ranks of life, notably those on the relative merits of civil and military careers, and the proper proportions of sport and study. Only a short time before he died, Teddy Roosevelt said "I would rather have this book published than anything that has ever been written about me." ~ Summary by Michele Fry
NOTE: Roosevelt gave titles to all his letters, and all letters in this audio collection are recorded in sequential order with their titles. Most are too short to be published as separate audio files, thus several have been combined in most cases.
NOTE: Roosevelt gave titles to all his letters, and all letters in this audio collection are recorded in sequential order with their titles. Most are too short to be published as separate audio files, thus several have been combined in most cases.
LibriVox recordings are public domain in the United States; copyright status may differ elsewhere.
Chapters
- Chapter 1
00. Introduction
09:10 - Chapter 2
01. In The Spanish War 1898 - Blessed Bunnies, Darling Ethel
04:28 - Chapter 3
02. from Oyster Bay Dec 1900 - Youthful Bible Commentators, Fine Names For Guinea Pigs
03:08 - Chapter 4
03. from Keystone Ranch Jan 1900 - A Cougar and Lynx Hunt, Dogs That Climb Trees, The Pig Named Maude
07:29 - Chapter 5
04. from Oyster Bay May 1901 - Advice and News, Archie and Quentin
06:19 - Chapter 6
05. Incidents of Homecoming, Oyster Bay, May 1901
03:12 - Chapter 7
06. Dear Little Miss Sarah
01:26 - Chapter 8
07. Uncle Remus and White House Pets
02:09 - Chapter 9
08. from White House Oct 1902 - The Dog Gem, and Presidential Nurse For Guinea Pigs
02:04 - Chapter 10
09. Thanksgiving In The White House 1902
01:58 - Chapter 11
10. A White House Christmas 1902
03:48 - Chapter 12
11. Tom Quartz and Jack
03:49 - Chapter 13
12. A Far Western Trip 1903
07:22 - Chapter 14
13. Loves and Sports of The Children
03:58 - Chapter 15
14. A President At Play
03:23 - Chapter 16
15. from Oyster Bay 1903 - To Ted On A Hunting Trip, End Of Summer At Oyster Bay
03:17 - Chapter 17
16. White House Oct 1903 - 'Valuablest' Kind Of Rabbits, A Preaching Letter
02:39 - Chapter 18
17. Proper Place For Sports, Concerning Getting 'Smashed'
08:05 - Chapter 19
18. The Art of Uncle Remus, A Ride And A Pillow Fight
03:31 - Chapter 20
19. Study and Play, Quentin's First Fall, Homesich For Sagamore Hill, Joy Over A Football Victory, Vice-Mother Of The Children
08:03 - Chapter 21
20. Quentin's Sixth Birthday
01:36 - Chapter 22
21. A President's Poor Protection
03:13 - Chapter 23
22. from White House 1904 - Ted's Sprained Ankle, The Supreme Christmas Joy, A Day With Juggler
04:34 - Chapter 24
23. Merits of Military and Civil Life
06:58 - Chapter 25
24. from White House Feb 1904 - Root and Taft, Senator Hanna's Death, Irritating Remark by Quentin
04:51 - Chapter 26
25. Japanese Wrestling
01:50 - Chapter 27
26. Love For The White House 1904
06:34 - Chapter 28
27. Charms Of Valley Forge, Washington's Companions At Valley Forge
02:42 - Chapter 29
28. On The Eve Of Nomination for President 1904, Picture Letter, Bill The Lizard
03:16 - Chapter 30
29. On The Eve Of Election
03:47 - Chapter 31
30. Dec, Jan 1904 - Big Jim White, Winter Life In The White House, Playmate Of The Children, A Japanese Boy's Letter
06:41 - Chapter 32
31. On Counting Days And Wrestling; Spring In Washington
05:21 - Chapter 33
32. April, May 1905 - A Hunting Trip . . . Abernathy The Wolf Hunter . . . Prairie Girls . . . Bears, Bobcats and Skip
08:31 - Chapter 34
33. Home Again With Skip, Skip In The White House, Officers of Togo's Fleet
03:55 - Chapter 35
34. A President As Cook
05:06 - Chapter 36
35. Quentin's Quaint Sayings
02:02 - Chapter 37
36. Advice Regarding Newspaper Annoyances
06:07 - Chapter 38
37. Incidents of a Southern Trip, Poets and Princes
05:20 - Chapter 39
38. Novels and Games, Christmas Present To His Old Nurse
04:47 - Chapter 40
39. Dickens and Thackeray, A Tribute To Archie
04:38 - Chapter 41
40. Pillow Fights With The Boys, Sorrows Of Skip, 'An Interesting Circus Experience', A Big And Lonely White House, A New Puppy And A New Horse, A Quentin Antecdote
09:16 - Chapter 42
41. A Visit To Washington's Birthplace, More About Dickens
05:30 - Chapter 43
42. No Place Like Sagamore Hill, Attic Delights, Presidential Rescue of a Kitten
04:52 - Chapter 44
43. Sports of Quentin and Archie, Skip and Archie, A Turkey Hunt at Pine Knot
04:07 - Chapter 45
44. On Board U. S. S. Louisiana on the Way to Panama November 1906 - Pets On Shipboard, Names of the Guns, Reflections On The Way, Events Since Columbus's Discovery, Pride In America
09:00 - Chapter 46
45. What The President Saw at Panama
08:54 - Chapter 47
46. On The Way To Porto Rico, What He Saw In Porto Rico
09:27 - Chapter 48
47. Sickness of Archie, At the Jamestown Exposition, General Kuroki
06:35 - Chapter 49
48. Temporary Absence Of Skip, Death of Skip, Quentin's Snake Adventure
05:05 - Chapter 50
49. On Board U. S. S. Mississippi, October 1907 - Trials of a Traveling President, Changes of Three Centuries, Pecularities of Mississippi Steamboats
09:54 - Chapter 51
50. The Lone Cat Of The Camp, Shooting The Bear
06:27 - Chapter 52
51. Quentin's 'Exquisite Jest', Tom Pinch, 'Martin Chuzzlewit', Good Reading For Pacifists
07:07 - Chapter 53
52. Quentin As A Ball-Player, Four Sheepish Small Boys
03:47 - Chapter 54
53. John Burroughs and the Flying Squirrel, Beauty of White House Grounds, Quentin and a Beehive
03:48 - Chapter 55
54. Quentin And Turner, Quentin and the Pig, A Presidential Fall, More About Quentin
06:37 - Chapter 56
55. Tribute To Kermit, Longing For Home, The Last Hunt, Quentin Grown Up
06:10