How the man who spoke softly and carried a big stick turned a collection of corrupt thugs into the first modern police department in the world "...captures the public-spirited TR in all his pugnaciousness." - Publishers Weekly "A lively entertaining and well researched portrait." - Booklist NOW IN PAPER! When Theodore Roosevelt became police commissioner in 1895, New York was a city of free-wheeling lawlessness. The police were actually a large part of the problem, their ranks filled with bullies, thieves, and extortionists. Roosevelt would change all this. Backed by famous journalists and reformers Jacob Riis and Lincoln Steffens, the tough talking, reform-minded commissioner cleaned house and turned a corrupt department into a modern police force. In fact, his success as New York police commissioner earned Roosevelt national recognition and made him a potential presidential candidate. This lively portrait of Teddy Roosevelt in his commissioner years captures the spirit of the 1890's and shows the development of a man who would go on to be one of the nation's great presidents.
* Provides the most complete coverage to date of a little-known chapter in Roosevelt's storied career * Penetrating insights into the first truly modern American metropolis, and the life of an American giant H. PAUL JEFFERS (New York, New York) is the author of over twenty books, including Bloody Business: An Anecdotal History of Scotland Yard.
Table of Contents
Prologue: Mr. Steffens Gets an Assignment. I Have Read Your Book. Mulberry Street Blues. "TR Is Enough". The Gospel According to Teddy. A Set of Teeth. Midnight Rambles. Honesty and Efficiency. "I Deal with the Law". Unbought, Unawed, Unknown to Fear. Other Half, Other Hat. Very Rough Work. "Pistols or Anything Else". Nothing of the Purple. Epilogue: A Larger Kingdom. Sources. Bibliography. Index.
Author Biography
H. PAUL JEFFERS is the author of over twenty books, both fiction and nonfiction, including Bloody Business: An Anecdotal History of Scotland Yard and Who Killed Precious? How FBI Agents Combine Psychology and High Technology to Identify Violent Criminals. He lives in New York City.
