After leaving office, he led a dangerous expedition into the uncharted Amazon to find and map one of the sources of the Amazon river. It's an amazing story, and very well told: The River of Doubt.
A little different than what OP said but I’d recommend reading The River Of Doubt. It’s really cool, if I’m remembering right, it’s in a way his suicide march
Candice Millard has a killer book about Roosevelt exploring an unmapped tributary of the Amazon after losing the 1912 election. It's fascinating stuff, highly recommended.
Theodore Roosevelt did a bit of river exploration himself. After failing to secure a third term, he co-commanded a scientific expedition which was the first to descend the Rio da Dúvida (River of Doubt, renamed Rio Roosevelt), a major tributary in the Amazon rain forest.
Candice Millard wrote an excellent book about it called River of Doubt.
I read "The River of Doubt" about his journey with President Theodore Roosevelt down the uncharted river now named Rio Roosevelt. If I remember correctly it portrayed Colonel Rondon as a tough but competent leader and a champion of Indigenous rights. On that expedition, however, several people died, including one who was murdered. Roosevelt got so ill and hungry he begged his son to leave him to die and he began reciting poetry in a trance-like state. He did survive however, and returned to the US looking much thinner and weaker.
My #1 favorite book of all time. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
If you're interested in Teddy, I highly recommend the book River of Doubt. It's about this incredibly harrowing (and pretty reckless) expedition he went down an uncharted river in the Amazon after losing his second re-election campaign. He and his whole crew including one of his sons nearly died a dozen different times.
It also goes into a lot of detail about his character. He was an incredibly complex, brilliant and interesting guy. His views on colonialism and race are pretty awful by today's standards, he looked at other cultures as lesser and in need of "shepherding". His view on South/Central America was that they should basically be subjects of the United States, because the United States knew what was best for them better than they did. I suppose it's better than just wanting to enslave/exterminate them, but not by very far. But I guess we'll take what we can get with figures from his era.
Besides the book mentioned in the article, there is another great book about Teddy Roosevelt that also gets into how he raised his sons. It is called River of Doubt and how the entire family was pretty badass.
Thanks! Not a great person but just another soul looking for a way. If you want some great reading material, check out The River of Doubt. Great story of Theodore Roosevelt overcoming lost and failure.
Remember, life isn't about perfection all the time. That will end in disappointment which is okay. But okay only if you continue to persevere and dare to be bold.
My favorite book about Teddy (see, we're on nickname terms) is The River of Doubt. It's about his misadventures amidst the wild jungles of South America. Fascinating stuff.
If you liked that so much you have to read the other one I posted.
I too am amazed by just how bad ass explorers were. As a kid I always heard of the bigger names like Lewis and Clark etc. But man those people were Awesome/nuts
The injury bothered him the rest of his life but didn't stop him from being a badass.
I'm currently readying The River of Doubt. It is about his trip to map that Amazon area that happened after that presidential campaign.
Dude explored the Amazon, almost died repeatedly, charted an uncharted tributary and got it named after him, met with some famous foreign figures while down there and fought it out with hostile natives, etc. Even if that were all he'd done, that one expedition would be more than enough to justify his reputation as a badass. (There's a good book about it, check it out.)
I have a thing for “extreme survival” books. Basically stories about people who get themselves into really challenging/dangerous situations and have to find their way out. Usually there’s an inspirational character or two, and if not, it’s still good reading (to me at least) and you learn about another time and place. The ones I like are based on true stories.
A few good ones:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/0767913736/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_eR.TFbV43MN3G
Exploring an unmapped river in South America and faced with many challenges. Nearly killed the former President Roosevelt.
Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316159352/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_hS.TFbNJV56EE
Shipwrecked on the coast of Africa. Have to walk across the desert and deal with nomadic tribes who are not always nice. I learned that being lost in the desert would not be very fun.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812974492/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wV.TFbPDK3VSF?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Alone on an island trying to survive and fighting the enemy.
Desperate Passage: The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195383311/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7V.TFb2M6VH0V?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Pilgrims stuck in the mountains during a harsh winter. They ate each other up (some of them). Are you old enough to remember the game Oregon Trail?
And some more that aren’t really the same genre but are about “outdoorsy” people or adventures:
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush https://www.amazon.com/dp/0007367759/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qoaUFb7C8NMJC
A few inexperienced guys in the 1950s decide to climb a major mountain in Afghanistan. They have to walk there first. Funny in a dry humor way (it was not a “short walk”).
The Last Season (P.S.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060583010/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_DW.TFbTX4AKZC?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Story of a wilderness ranger’s life and the search for him after he goes missing. Made me want to become a ranger, but sad too.
Truman of St. Helens: The Man and... https://www.amazon.com/dp/0914019724?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Story of a man who ran a resort on Mount Saint Helens, before the volcano erupted. He lived a really fulfilling life and left an impact on people. Written by his niece I think, who spent summers at the resort as a kid.
Anyone interested in reading a great true story about his should pick up The River of Doubt. It's a wonderful recounting about his expedition into the Amazon.
If you haven't read it, I recommend the book, River of Doubt
Have you read The River of Doubt by Candice Millard? It's a recent book which tells the story of Roosevelt's Brazilian escapades.
In a similar vein, I'd also suggest The Lost City of Z by David Grann. It tells the story of Percy Fawcett, an explorer who set out in 1925 in search of a lost civilization in the Amazonian rainforest.
Another good one is In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. It's about what happened to the crew of the titular ship after it was rammed and sunk by a whale, leaving them stranded in open ocean for over ninety days. Not quite a story of exploration as much as one of survival, but definitely in the same ballpark.
Highly recommend Candace Millard's book on it!
Oh man I'm late to the party - but I just finished the book about the River of Doubt expedition last week! It's a great, great read.
TR is my hero. Make sure to read the River of Doubt by Candice Millard. http://www.amazon.com/The-River-Doubt-Theodore-Roosevelts/dp/0767913736