This is an encore interview and was originally broadcast in October 2014.
President Theodore Roosevelt’s dedication and perseverance led to the preservation of some of our greatest national parks, forests, monuments and wildlife sanctuaries. Thanks to Roosevelt’s vision and foresight, our children’s grandchildren can enjoy species that in a not-too-distant past were threatened with extinction, and visit natural areas that today remain as pristine and untouched as they were a century or more ago.
Today’s guest, Douglas Brinkley, details Roosevelt’s contributions to preserving our wild places in his book, The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America.
"The Wilderness Warrior" spans the life of our 26th president from his early days as a sickly child in New York City through his adventures as a Rough Rider in Cuba and his many years in public service. At the heart of the book is Roosevelt’s expansive knowledge about wilderness and the natural world, and his dedication to educating the populace about the intrinsic value of wild places.
Douglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University, a CBS news historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Seven of his books have been named New York Times Notable Books of the Year. His book The Great Deluge, about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, won the Robert F. Kennedy Award.
Douglas Brinkley visited Boise State University last October to present the keynote address at the 31st annual Frank Church Conference on Public Affairs. Here's a link to the Frank Church Institute website.
