The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete

• Theodore Roosevelt’s Popularity in Marketplace: From massive biographies to tiny slices of his life, Teddy Roosevelt has proven time and again to be a figure who sells books, and 2020 will mark the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

• Slice of Teddy Roosevelt’s Biography as Lens: The book uses Teddy Roosevelt’s athletic biography-up-close accounts of his intense, sometimes humorous obsession with sports and fitness from asthmatic child to the Bull Moose-as a means to tell the story of America’s first sports revolution and its impact on various parts of American culture

• Filled with Sports Firsts and Origin Stories: Among the sports firsts that took place during TR’s presidency are: the first World Series; the first Olympics hosted by the USA; the first Rose Bowl; the formation of the NCAA; and the introduction of physical education and sports in public schools

• Amazing Roosevelt Anecdotes: Stories of his tennis matches with his cabinet members at the White House; his charging the field at the Army/Navy football game; and, of course, his outdoorsmanship

• Amazing Cast of Characters: General Leonard Wood (TR’s White House workout partner); Honus Wagner and Cy Young; Walter Camp; Pierre de Coubertin (father of modern Olympics); Edith Roosevelt; Jack Johnson (first African American heavyweight boxing champ); Albert Spalding

-Award-Winning Sports Historian Author: Ryan Swanson won the 2015 SABR research award for When Baseball Went White: Reconstruction, Reconciliation, and Dreams of a National Pastime and writes for College Football News (owned by USA Today) as well as The National Pastime Museum