The purpose of the writer has been to show why Rudyard Kipling thought
Theodore Roosevelt the incarnation of Bunyan’s character “Great-Heart,”
and to reflect the romance and inspiration contained in Roosevelt’s
life.
The work has been approached from the viewpoint of one who was not a
partisan; of one disposed to be critical; of one who, however, viewing
Roosevelt’s career as a whole, was so moved by its grandeur that he
became impelled to play what part he could in perpetuating the memory
of this inspiring American among his people.
Moreover, there was a natural attraction to write of him whose
career from birth to death was a panorama of adventure and climax
and achievement; of him whose life had in it those elements which
create literature--that human stuff that makes immortal such books as
Plutarch’s Lives and Robinson Crusoe.
Full justice to his subject the author could not hope to render.
Powerful indeed will be the pen that adequately describes Roosevelt’s
life of struggle and triumph, with its warfare against bodily handicaps
and political prejudice; warfare against wild beasts in dense jungles;
warfare against hunger and exhaustion on inconceivably hard journeys of
exploration; warfare against predatory wealth; warfare against men in
high places who would grind the faces of the poor; warfare to prepare
America to stamp out forever militarism and bloodshed; warfare to lead
the race to the loftiest goals.
The writer does not therefore promise that every motive and deed of
Roosevelt’s life will be chronicled in this book. He has tried to
be faithful to the main facts, and to so group these facts that the
narrative will be vivid and moving--typical of the man about whom it
is written--so that not only the few, but also the many, will find
enjoyment and uplift in the story. The author will be content if the
average man or woman or boy or girl, feels beating through these pages
the warm pulses of him who was indeed--“Great-Heart.”