- Hardcover: 286 pages
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (9 Feb 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0471024074
- ISBN-13: 978-0471024071
- Product Dimensions: 2.4 x 1.6 x 0.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Commissioner Roosevelt
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Product Description
Product Description
"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.
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.
From the Inside Flap
Commissioner Roosevelt In the Gay Nineties, no place so fully embodied the outrageous lawlessness of turn–of–the–century America as New York City—until a thirty–seven–year–old political reformer named Theodore Roosevelt emerged as president of the New York City Police Commission. How did Roosevelt transform an association of slackers, bullies, thieves, and blackmailers into one of the first truly professional law enforcement agencies in the world? H. Paul Jeffers skillfully recreates the era to illuminate Roosevelt’s vision, toughness, and political savvy. By hiring the first woman in the department’s history, and opening admission to ethnic minorities, the new commissioner tore down the old guard and ushered in the new. Firearms training, undercover detectives, a physical typing system that was the precursor of fingerprinting, annual physical exams for all officers, bicycle patrols, and a host of other modern innovations all became tools to build a new urban institution. It was a crucial turning point in Roosevelt’s political career. As New York’s rough–riding crime czar, he earned the national attention that eventually led to two terms in the White House. In the sensational headlines and tributes that appeared regularly in newspapers around the nation and Europe, Jeffers discovers the first signs of the mature Teddy Roosevelt, the flamboyant, two–fisted, and wholly incorruptible man of action. As Jeffers shows, it was during this momentous period in his career, in partnership with famed journalists and social reformers Jacob Riis and Lincoln Steffens, that Roosevelt developed the "square deal" philosophy behind the historic social and economic reforms that would distinguish his presidency. While providing the only detailed account of this seminal chapter in Roosevelt’s career, Jeffers paints a vibrant portrait of New York City as Roosevelt knew it—from the posh watering holes of the Tenderloin and the townhouses of Astor Place, to the overcrowded tenements of Mulberry Bend and the dives of the Bowery and the Five Points. As a consequence, Commissioner Roosevelt offers penetrating insights into the first truly modern American metropolis and the life of an American giant.
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First Sentence
When Isaac J. Hunt laid eyes on the outfit sported by another newcomer to the New York state legislature in January 1881, he thought, The man is a joke, a dude. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
When Isaac J. Hunt laid eyes on the outfit sported by another newcomer to the New York state legislature in January 1881, he thought, The man is a joke, a dude. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
I read this book after having read Jay S. Berman's Police Administration and Progressive Reform, which was written several years earlier. This is interesting, because Jeffer writes that his was the first book on this subject, despite the fact that he cites Berman in his bibliography and proceeds to cover the same ground. Jeffers book is readable but is shallow and superficial, consisting largely of anecdotes and summaries of newspaper accounts from the New York Times. Berman's book is far more scholarly and vastly better researched. Jeffers owes an apology to both his predecessor and his readers for claiming to have written a book that "needed to be written".
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Magnificent Police Era History
6 April 2000
Format:Paperback
The book covered the period of history just at the turn of the 20th Century. I found it to be very informative and made me feel like I was right there strolling the streets with Ted Roosevelt. Although the book is strong in its era coverage more attention should have been given to the various laws and acts that were in place at the time preventing "police" to perform their respective functions.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A dee-lightful history!
15 May 1997
Format:Paperback
"Commissioner Roosevelt" is a dee-lightful narration of the two years during which Theodore Roosevelt served as President of the Board of Police Commissioners of New York. The author skillfully relates the struggles and events of Roosevelt's service with the development of the public man he was becoming. He captures the spirit of the man which would later be manifested on a grander scale. In viewing historical figures we often tend to focus on their most prominent roles, in this case the Rough Rider and President, and neglect other significant portions of their lives which reveal their character. Commissioner Roosevelt helps fill that gap
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A better than average work, though a bit on the shallow side
7 Jan 2001
Format:Paperback
I have always wanted to learn more about Teddy Roosevelt's two-year stint with the New York Police Department, and was thus thrilled to find Mr. Jeffer's book on Amamzon.com. While it does do a fairly good job of describing the events as they occurred during Roosevelt's tenure at the NYPD, I found the book on the whole to deliver a very surface treatment of the subject. It is, as one of the other reviewers noted, quite superficial, relying almost exlcusively on anecdotes which seem to have been gleaned from newspapers of the period. What the book is missing is any kind of meaningful insight into TR himself. I have always understood that TR was a prolific letter-writer. I think that this book would have benefitted greatly from the author spending more time relating TR's thoughts, which he must have undoubtedly conveyed many times in correspondence to friends and associates.
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