Acquiring Traits of Manliness
Neil H. Cogan · 2020
Theodore Roosevelt was born into a family of enterprising New Yorkers, whose Dutch Reformed forebears first immigrated to what was known as New Amsterdam in the mid-seventeenth century. Theodore was “sickly” but plainly also an exceptionally intelligent and literate youth. He read from books his parents and relatives provided, filling shelves in his room and elsewhere. Reading about soldiers and adventurers, listening to his mother’s tales of Southern relatives in the military, and admiring everything about his father, Theodore Roosevelt sought to emulate their manly traits and characteristics. Theodore Roosevelt’s courses at Harvard were not difficult. He needed to attend only the lectures and read the assignments, which he generally did. Theodore Roosevelt had transformed himself beyond anyone’s expectations, except his own – a Harvard graduate with honors, a member of sports teams and social clubs, with a diploma at the age of 21.