President Theodore Roosevelt, The Prolific Best-Selling Author

(Left—Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, pre-1919, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons. Right—List of books by Theodore Roosevelt, c. 1919, [Public Domain] via the Theodore Roosevelt Center)

Not only was Theodore Roosevelt one of the greatest presidents in United States history, but he was also a very successful author. Before, during and after Theodore Roosevelt’s term of office from 1901 to 1909, he was constantly writing a wide variety of books. In the last 37 years of his life, around the same number of books were published with Theodore Roosevelt as a collaborator or author.

Teddy Roosevelt wrote works belonging to multiple literary genres. He wrote histories, such as The Naval War of 1812 (written 1882) and The Winning of the West (four volumes written 1889-1896). His biographies covered such people as the painter, Thomas Hart Benton, the U.S. founding father, Gouverneur Morris, and even Oliver Cromwell. Theodore Roosevelt also wrote several memoirs and autobiographies about himself, recounting his political achievements, as well as his ranching, hunting and soldiering. In the last decade of his life, Teddy Roosevelt published several collected essays and books of political philosophy. In the year of his death (1919), two collections of Theodore Roosevelt’s personal letters were also published—Letters to Anna Roosevelt Cowles and Letters to Kermit, 1902-08.

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Sources:

• http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record/PrintSingle?libID=o274790&imageID=1  
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/theodoreroosevelt