Letters to His Children

Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)

The strong, vigorous, exalted character of a doting father who loved playing with his children and their pets, even while serving as the President of the United States, stands revealed in this selection of letters he wrote his children throughout their school years. They shed light on the cheerful man who remained throughout his life as pure and gentle as the soul of a child, plus many little reveals that there were squirrels nesting in the presidential bedroom, rats in the basement, and children's pranks that damaged the White House artwork! Many of these letters are considered valuable guides for youth in all ranks of life, notably those on the relative merits of civil and military careers, and the proper proportions of sport and study. Only a short time before he died, Teddy Roosevelt said "I would rather have this book published than anything that has ever been written about me." ~ Summary by Michele Fry

NOTE: Roosevelt gave titles to all his letters, and all letters in this audio collection are recorded in sequential order with their titles. Most are too short to be published as separate audio files, thus several have been combined in most cases.

Genre(s): General, Letters

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 00. Introduction Michele Fry
00:09:10
Play 01 01. In The Spanish War 1898 - Blessed Bunnies, Darling Ethel Jeremy Logan
00:04:28
Play 02 02. from Oyster Bay Dec 1900 - Youthful Bible Commentators, Fine Names For Guinea Pigs Jill Engle
00:03:08
Play 03 03. from Keystone Ranch Jan 1900 - A Cougar and Lynx Hunt, Dogs That Climb Trees, The Pig Named Maude Mark Hissong
00:07:29
Play 04 04. from Oyster Bay May 1901 - Advice and News, Archie and Quentin Mark Hissong
00:06:19
Play 05 05. Incidents of Homecoming, Oyster Bay, May 1901 Mark Hissong
00:03:12
Play 06 06. Dear Little Miss Sarah Mark Hissong
00:01:26
Play 07 07. Uncle Remus and White House Pets Mark Hissong
00:02:09
Play 08 08. from White House Oct 1902 - The Dog Gem, and Presidential Nurse For Guinea Pigs Michele Fry
00:02:04
Play 09 09. Thanksgiving In The White House 1902 Larry Wilson
00:01:58
Play 10 10. A White House Christmas 1902 Larry Wilson
00:03:48
Play 11 11. Tom Quartz and Jack Larry Wilson
00:03:49
Play 12 12. A Far Western Trip 1903 Mark Hissong
00:07:22
Play 13 13. Loves and Sports of The Children Denise Nordell
00:03:58
Play 14 14. A President At Play Denise Nordell
00:03:23
Play 15 15. from Oyster Bay 1903 - To Ted On A Hunting Trip, End Of Summer At Oyster Bay Denise Nordell
00:03:17
Play 16 16. White House Oct 1903 - 'Valuablest' Kind Of Rabbits, A Preaching Letter Linda Dodge
00:02:39
Play 17 17. Proper Place For Sports, Concerning Getting 'Smashed' Linda Dodge
00:08:05
Play 18 18. The Art of Uncle Remus, A Ride And A Pillow Fight Linda Dodge
00:03:31
Play 19 19. Study and Play, Quentin's First Fall, Homesich For Sagamore Hill, Joy Over A Football Victory, Vice-Mother Of The Children Jeremy Logan
00:08:03
Play 20 20. Quentin's Sixth Birthday Mark Hissong
00:01:36
Play 21 21. A President's Poor Protection Linda Dodge
00:03:13
Play 22 22. from White House 1904 - Ted's Sprained Ankle, The Supreme Christmas Joy, A Day With Juggler Mark Hissong
00:04:34
Play 23 23. Merits of Military and Civil Life Mark Hissong
00:06:58
Play 24 24. from White House Feb 1904 - Root and Taft, Senator Hanna's Death, Irritating Remark by Quentin Mark Hissong
00:04:51
Play 25 25. Japanese Wrestling Mark Hissong
00:01:50
Play 26 26. Love For The White House 1904 Linda Dodge
00:06:34
Play 27 27. Charms Of Valley Forge, Washington's Companions At Valley Forge Mark Hissong
00:02:42
Play 28 28. On The Eve Of Nomination for President 1904, Picture Letter, Bill The Lizard Mark Hissong
00:03:16
Play 29 29. On The Eve Of Election Mark Hissong
00:03:47
Play 30 30. Dec, Jan 1904 - Big Jim White, Winter Life In The White House, Playmate Of The Children, A Japanese Boy's Letter Mark Hissong
00:06:41
Play 31 31. On Counting Days And Wrestling; Spring In Washington Mark Hissong
00:05:21
Play 32 32. April, May 1905 - A Hunting Trip . . . Abernathy The Wolf Hunter . . . Prairie Girls . . . Bears, Bobcats and Skip Mark Hissong
00:08:31
Play 33 33. Home Again With Skip, Skip In The White House, Officers of Togo's Fleet Mark Hissong
00:03:55
Play 34 34. A President As Cook Mark Hissong
00:05:06
Play 35 35. Quentin's Quaint Sayings Mark Hissong
00:02:02
Play 36 36. Advice Regarding Newspaper Annoyances Mark Hissong
00:06:07
Play 37 37. Incidents of a Southern Trip, Poets and Princes Mark Hissong
00:05:20
Play 38 38. Novels and Games, Christmas Present To His Old Nurse Mark Hissong
00:04:47
Play 39 39. Dickens and Thackeray, A Tribute To Archie Jeremy Logan
00:04:38
Play 40 40. Pillow Fights With The Boys, Sorrows Of Skip, 'An Interesting Circus Experience', A Big And Lonely White House, A New Puppy And A New Horse, A Quentin Antecdote Mark Hissong
00:09:16
Play 41 41. A Visit To Washington's Birthplace, More About Dickens Jeremy Logan
00:05:30
Play 42 42. No Place Like Sagamore Hill, Attic Delights, Presidential Rescue of a Kitten Greg Giordano
00:04:52
Play 43 43. Sports of Quentin and Archie, Skip and Archie, A Turkey Hunt at Pine Knot Greg Giordano
00:04:07
Play 44 44. On Board U. S. S. Louisiana on the Way to Panama November 1906 - Pets On Shipboard, Names of the Guns, Reflections On The Way, Events Since Columbus's Discovery, Pride In America Mark Hissong
00:09:00
Play 45 45. What The President Saw at Panama Bill Mosley
00:08:54
Play 46 46. On The Way To Porto Rico, What He Saw In Porto Rico Bill Mosley
00:09:27
Play 47 47. Sickness of Archie, At the Jamestown Exposition, General Kuroki Greg Giordano
00:06:35
Play 48 48. Temporary Absence Of Skip, Death of Skip, Quentin's Snake Adventure Greg Giordano
00:05:05
Play 49 49. On Board U. S. S. Mississippi, October 1907 - Trials of a Traveling President, Changes of Three Centuries, Pecularities of Mississippi Steamboats Greg Giordano
00:09:54
Play 50 50. The Lone Cat Of The Camp, Shooting The Bear Greg Giordano
00:06:27
Play 51 51. Quentin's 'Exquisite Jest', Tom Pinch, 'Martin Chuzzlewit', Good Reading For Pacifists Greg Giordano
00:07:07
Play 52 52. Quentin As A Ball-Player, Four Sheepish Small Boys Brian Prusko
00:03:47
Play 53 53. John Burroughs and the Flying Squirrel, Beauty of White House Grounds, Quentin and a Beehive Brian Prusko
00:03:48
Play 54 54. Quentin And Turner, Quentin and the Pig, A Presidential Fall, More About Quentin Mark Hissong
00:06:37
Play 55 55. Tribute To Kermit, Longing For Home, The Last Hunt, Quentin Grown Up Mark Hissong
00:06:10