Daniel Ruddy: Teddy Roosevelt a 'Founding Father'

Daniel Ruddy, author of a new book about Theodore Roosevelt, tells Newsmax that the 26th president was a “founding father of modern America.”

Ruddy’s book, “Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States: His Own Words, Selected and Arranged by Daniel Ruddy,” (published by HarperCollins) draws upon Roosevelt’s own words to construct a unique history of the United States based on Roosevelt’s colorful insights and provocative views.

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, Ruddy explains what inspired him to write the book.

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“I’ve always been a really big fan of Theodore Roosevelt. Just in my own general reading of American history, I kept coming across his opinions in other books. I wanted to understand more.

“So I went in search of a book to try to answer some of those questions I had, and I couldn’t find a book that dealt with this subject, specifically Roosevelt as an historian. I investigated further and I thought, this would be a great idea for a book, because Theodore Roosevelt was not only a famous president, he was also a very well-known historian.

“I wanted to bring Theodore Roosevelt to life.”

Stressing the importance of Roosevelt in U.S. history, Ruddy says: “In a way he was one of the founding fathers of modern America, because he was the president at the beginning of the 20th century when the country was undergoing all these changes. He really expanded the power of government and brought the United States into the modern era in a very bold and confident way.”

Ruddy also discusses Roosevelt’s surprising criticism of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party of his day.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris, author of “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt” and the acclaimed Reagan biography “Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan,” wrote the foreword to Ruddy’s book and called it “a splendid piece of work.”

Ruddy is a marketing consultant for Fortune 500 companies, and the brother of Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy.

Daniel Ruddy’s 90-minute talk about Roosevelt and his book can be found at C-SPAN’s BookTV website.

Editor's Note: Click here to watch Daniel Ruddy talk about his book on C-SPAN.