In 1914, Roosevelt, Kermit, and Brazilian explorer Cândido Rondon undertook a perilous expedition to map the uncharted River of Doubt in the Amazon. Ignoring warnings, Roosevelt vowed to accept whatever fate the jungle brought. After two months of overland travel, the party launched seven battered dugout canoes. In violent rapids, Kermit’s canoe capsized; he and one boatman reached shore, while another disappeared. The expedition endured relentless rain, swarms of insects, the loss of five canoes, a murder within the party, and hostile encounters, including Indigenous people supposedly shooting Rondon’s dog.

A month in, Roosevelt gashed his shin while helping with a boat. The wound became infected, and he contracted malaria, lapsing into delirium. He urged the others to leave him, but they refused. He survived, returning gaunt and weakened, with lingering fevers and inflammation. On the journey home, he still greeted well-wishers and shared his water with a thirsty dog. When a friend questioned the wisdom of the trip, Roosevelt replied that he accepted the price of his choices.

World War I began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. While some later argued Roosevelt might have deterred war by entering the conflict earlier or through his assertive mediation skills, President Wilson nonetheless declared US neutrality. Roosevelt publicly disagreed with this, though his attentions were split while he defeated a libel suit brought by New York party boss William Barnes Jr.

On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat sank the RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people, including 128 Americans. Roosevelt denounced the act, and public opinion shifted. He and Leonard Wood organized a volunteer training camp. In 1916, Wilson ran on keeping the nation out of war, and Roosevelt campaigned against Wilson, criticizing his leadership. After Wilson won, Roosevelt published Fear God and Take Your Own Part and rejected “peace without victory” (329).

In early 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare, the Zimmermann Telegram was exposed, and German submarines sank US ships. Congress declared war on April 6, 1917. Roosevelt petitioned to raise a volunteer division; despite congressional authorization, Wilson declined, insisting on professional troops. Roosevelt was deeply disappointed. All four of his sons enlisted—Ted and Archie in the Army, Kermit in the British forces, and Quentin in the US Army Air Service. After surgery for infections in early 1918, Roosevelt rallied as Ted and Archie were wounded. Quentin, praised for his daring, was reported missing on July 14, 1918, after being shot down over France.

After 13 agonizing days, a letter on July 27, 1918, confirmed Quentin’s death. Roosevelt read it alone, then told Edith; they walked for hours in the woods. Shocked by the identity of whom they shot down, German soldiers buried Quentin with full military honors, and aircrafts from a nearby aerodrome dropped wreaths over Sagamore Hill in the US. Roosevelt kept a speaking engagement in Saratoga, honoring the fallen and urging families to carry on.

His sons’ later service foreshadowed continued sacrifice: Ted would serve in World War II and die of a heart attack after D-Day, buried in Normandy; Archie would be wounded again in New Guinea; Kermit would die by suicide in Alaska in 1943. On November 10, 1918, Roosevelt was hospitalized with severe inflammatory rheumatism; the armistice was signed the next day. From the hospital, he told his sister Corinne he had kept his promise to work to the hilt until age 60. He returned home for a subdued Christmas with Archie present; Ted and Kermit remained overseas, and Ethel came home while her husband stayed abroad.

Still weak, Roosevelt asked his former valet, Amos, to come to Sagamore Hill. Early on January 6, 1919, Amos noticed Roosevelt’s breathing stop. Roosevelt died at 60, officially from a pulmonary embolism; family and friends believed Quentin’s death hastened the end. Archie cabled his brothers with the news.

Roosevelt’s private funeral was held January 8 at Christ Church in Oyster Bay. Archie, in full dress uniform, oversaw arrangements. Attendees included William Howard Taft, Charles E. Hughes, Henry Cabot Lodge, Leonard Wood, and future president Warren G. Harding. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall attended in Woodrow Wilson’s absence. Edith mourned privately at home; Roosevelt’s sister Bamie was too ill to come.

Taft lingered at the grave in tears and later wrote Edith of his enduring affection. Friends and writers reflected on Roosevelt’s lasting influence and renewed public admiration in his final years. On February 9, 1919, Congress held a joint memorial where Lodge delivered a powerful eulogy, closing with a line from The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), a favorite of Roosevelt’s. Corinne later wrote a tribute poem titled “Valiant for Truth.”

The Afterword argues that Theodore Roosevelt’s enduring legacy is the “idea of Roosevelt” (353), an embodiment of the American spirit best articulated in his “Strenuous Life” speech. Baier revisits the delivery of this speech in Chicago on April 10, 1899, explaining that Roosevelt’s message was not merely a call for physical prowess but a direct challenge to his audience of privileged men. He preached against “ignoble ease” and called for a life of “toil and effort,” arguing that it is far better “to dare mighty things” than to live in the “gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat” (355).

Roosevelt’s speech is presented as a timeless demand for courageous civic engagement and a warning against national isolation. The author frames these words as a powerful rebuke to modern citizens who retreat from contentious public debate into complacency or “safe spaces.” The Afterword concludes by connecting Roosevelt’s call to action to contemporary political divisions and the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary, positioning his philosophy as a necessary guide for Americans to re-engage with their democracy and strive for national greatness.