Commissioner Roosevelt: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt and the New York City Police, 1895-1897 by H. Paul Paul Jeffers, Jeffers

From the Publisher

"A lively, entertaining and well-researched portrait of a zealous reformer during the historic crusade that successfully launched his career in government."—Booklist

COMMISSIONER ROOSEVELT: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt and the New York City Police, 1895 - 1897

When Theodore Roosevelt took office as New York's police commissioner in 1895, the Metropolitan Police force was barely more than a confederation of thugs and petty criminals whose chief activity was to extort protection money from local merchants. The thirty-seven-year-old Roosevelt rode roughshod over the corrupt bosses and power brokers and transformed the police into one of the first modern law enforcement agencies in the world.

Combining the best elements of biography and social history, Commissioner Roosevelt reveals a fascinating episode from the life of one of America's most colorful cities, and one of her most charismatic leaders.

Publishers Weekly

In 1884 Roosevelt shepherded seven bills through the New York Assembly designed to reform the NYC police department; his subsequent performance on the U.S. Civil Service Commission added to his reputation for probity. Thus, when the Republicans won City Hall in 1895, TR was named to the board of police commissioners, where he was elected president. With the help of reformers and rising young journalists Jacob Riis and Lincoln Steffens, he converted a graft-ridden force into a constabulary run on the principles of promotion through merit and enforcement of all laws, no matter how unpopular. His innovations included hiring the first woman on the force and creating the first police fingerprint department. TR served for just two years, but even his enemies conceded that his performance had been spectacular. Jeffers (Bloody Business) captures the public-spirited TR in all his pugnaciousness. For a fictionalized account, see Caleb Carr's bestselling The Alienist. Photos not seen by PW. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Before LBJ, JFK, and FDR, there was TR, our first modern president. In these two volumes we get a glimpse of TR before and after his presidency. Both books present a sympathetic portrait of an energetic man, first as reformer and then as naturalist/explorer. Roosevelt devoted only a chapter in his autobiography to his two years as police commissioner, but New Yorker Jeffers (Bloody Business, Funk & Wagnalls, 1992) expands it into a monograph that captures TR's hallmark blend of pragmaticism and idealism during his brief tenure as president of the New York Police Commission and ex officio member of the Board of Health. Roosevelt consistently alternated between a political life and an outdoor life. After two years in the New York legislature, he left for the Dakotas; after the presidency, it was Africa; after his unsuccessful bid for president on the Progressive ticket, he decided on an expedition to South America-his "last chance to be a boy." His version of the trip was told at the time in a series of articles for The Outlook and Scribner's Magazine and then as a book, Through the Brazilian Wilderness. Ornig's extensive research results in as complete an account as we are likely to get of Roosevelt's harrowing trip, a trip that broke his health and hastened his death at age 60. For entertainment, Jeffers's work is better, but both volumes contribute to understanding the personality, character, and contributions of TR before and after his presidency.-Nicholas C. Burckel, Washington Univ. Libs., St. Louis

BookList

When Theodore Roosevelt took office as police commissioner of New York City in 1895, he was determined to reorganize one of the most corrupt law enforcement departments in the nation. Within two short years Roosevelt had revamped the police force and instituted an astounding array of reforms. In addition to expanding the woefully inadequate roster by 1,700 men, he also hired 32 police matrons to accommodate female suspects and expanded the ranks of officers to include many Catholics and Jews. Some of his most controversial and newsworthy experiments included the prohibition of the sale of alcohol on Sunday, the establishment of bicycle patrols, and the introduction of unannounced nocturnal inspections of police stations. Roosevelt also considerably diminished the power of the reigning bosses by insisting that promotions be granted on the basis of character and performance rather than political connections. A lively, entertaining, and well-researched portrait of a zealous reformer during the historic crusade that successfully launched his career in government.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents