"Bully!" was the way Teddy Roosevelt described anything he thought particularly splendid, and he used the word a lot as he plunged headlong into life, refusing to waste a single minute. Among other things, he studied birds, shot lions, roped steer, wrote books, explored a river in South America, and fought a war in Cuba. He loved the outdoors but he also loved politics, and he became governor of New York State, vice-president, and then president of the United States. He fought corruption and he worked for peace. How could this "cyclone," as Buffalo Bill called him, compress so much into just one life?

Award-winning biographer Jean Fritz tells the enthralling story of this colorful man, starting with the sickly boy suffering from asthma, who determined to overcome his illness, make his body, and shape his life. Conservationist, hunter, family man, politician, Theodore Roosevelt commanded the respect and admiration of many, who marveled at his energy, drive, and achievements. When he died in his sleep at the age of sixty, one of his sons wrote, "The lion is dead."

From the dust jacket