AMNA NAWAZ: A new book offers a fresh way to## understand one of America's# most important presidents.

Jeffrey Brown sits down with author Edward# O'Keefe for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: Theodore Roosevelt was known as# a rugged outdoorsman, a naturalist, a soldier,## combative politician, and the 26th president of# the United States, enshrined on Mount Rushmore.

But, as a new book puts it -- quote -- "This most# masculine president in the American memory was,## in fact, the product of largely unsung# and certainly extraordinary women."

The book "The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The# Women Who Created a President" tells of T.R.,## as he was known, shaped by five women,# his mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt,## his first wife, Alice, who died at 22 after# just four years of marriage, his second wife,## Edith Kermit Roosevelt, and two sisters, Anna# and Corinne, key political strategists and aides.

Author Edward O'Keefe, a longtime broadcast and# digital journalist, is CEO of Theodore Roosevelt## Presidential Library Foundation, and joins me now.

Welcome to you.

EDWARD O'KEEFE, Author, "The#Lov.. JEFFREY BROWN: I want to start with, this#.. but you came to him in a very personal way# through your home state of North Dakota.

Why was he so important to you?

EDWARD O'KEEFE: When you grow up in North# Dakota, you suffer a.. You have got Roger Maris,# Peggy Lee, Lawrence Welk,## maybe contemporary North Dakotans, Phil Jackson.

JEFFREY BROWN: Those are all good.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: All good.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: But they don't co.. JEFFREY BROWN: He was your guy.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: He was my guy.

I mean, .. Park with my family as a kid, to the# Medora Musical, and the Badlands.

And I was a Red River Rough Rider.

So this was## providential.

It was ordained# that I would be a fan of T.R.

JEFFREY BROWN: OK, a fan.

And# then you want to write about him,## but your way in is through# the women in his life.

Why?

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Well, I mean, Theodore# Roosevelt was -- the myth about Theodore## Roosevelt is that he was a self-made# man.

That is just simply not true.

All of us, if we are fortunate in our lives,# have brothers, sisters, fathers, grandparents,## parents, colleagues, friends, people who pick# us up and push us forward when we're faltering,## when we're suffering or have some sort# of disappointment or setback in our life.

And that is true of Theodore Roosevelt# too.

That's not the story that has been## told by history.

"The Loves of# Theodore Roosevelt" really sheds## a light on some women that have been# forgotten by history for far too long.

JEFFREY BROWN: So let's# talk about a couple of them.

I want to start with one of the sisters.

Sisters# play an interesting role a.. political strategists, Anna, for example.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Bamie -- she's# known as Bamie for Bambina.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

Yes.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: And Bamie is... JEFFREY BROWN: Everybody has# interesting na.. EDWARD O'KEEFE: They all# have nicknames, absolutely.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: So Bamie is what RFK# was to JFK for Theodore Roosevelt.

She is insightful and intelligent.# She sees the political chessboard## and knows exactly where Theodore# Roosevelt should move next.

I mean,## she is an inspiration for T.R.

in many# ways.

She suffered a spinal defect as a## child.

And so she teaches her brother, her# younger brother, how to will through pain.

I mean, that is one of the key facts we know about# Theodore Roosevelt, his just almost superhuman## strength and ability to suffer these physical# feats.

He learned that from his sister Bamie.

And## she is the one that, time after time, she puts him# in the position of assistant secretary of state.

She's the one who has the little White House# down the street from the Oval Office.

And it## is said of Bamie that, had she been a man, she# would have been president of the United States,## not T.R.. And none other than Eleanor# Roosevelt agrees with that assessment.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now, his wife Edith -- this is his## second wife -- you call her# the first modern first lady.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Yes, Edith kicks open the door of## the American century and pushes# Theodore Roosevelt through it.

I mean, I don't -- there's so much# you can say about Edith.

I mean,## she physically transformed the White# House.

She created what is known as## the East Wing and the West Wing, the executive# function of the White House and the residential## function of the White House.

She built a# colonial garden, which became the Rose Garden.

She had an office next to Theodore's.

And so# she was in the room where it happened because## she designed it that way.

But far beyond the# physical changes to the White House, Edith was## Theodore Roosevelt's key political adviser.# She read four or five newspapers a day.

She## was the first person that T.R.

talked to in the# morning, the last person he talked to at night.

Franklin D. Roosevelt said of Edith# that she managed T.R.

very cleverly## without his being conscious of it, no# slight achievement, anyone will concede.

JEFFREY BROWN: You know, you flicked at this# when you were talking about the sister, but it's## worth saying, I think, these are all, in your# words, extraordinary women, but of their time.

So they had to do all of this behind# the scenes.

They weren't able to be## out front.

They certainly weren't# able to run for office themselves.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Oh, absolutely.

I mean, we said of Bamie that, ha.. JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: ... she could have been president.

They funneled -- the women in Theodore# Roosevelt's life all funneled their energy## into their brother or their spouse or their# son.

They wanted to see him succeed.

And,## in fact, they obscured their role in history.

"The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt" shows through# meticulous research and brand-new letters that## have never been a part of the historical# record before the story that they didn't## necessarily want told.

They liked the myth# of Theodore Roosevelt, the self-made man.

But I don't think it diminishes# T.R.

to know that he had help,## that he had his sisters, he had his mother,# he had his wives who were there pushing him## along the way.

We all need that in our# lives and are fortunate to have it.

JEFFREY BROWN: How much has the research# changed?

How much more do we know now?

How much,## as times change, as the culture changes,# to look behind the scenes at the sort of## great man theory, which is where# T.R.

has been shrouded, right?

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Absolutely.

When Edmund Morris and Da... their books in the late '70s, early '80s,## they did not have access to 24 love letters# between Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife,## Alice.

Those letters are all in# "The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt."

While I was doing the research, there was# a safe at Sagamore Hill that hadn't been## open since 1954.

Harvard called it the greatest# discovery of Theodore Roosevelt letters since his## death in 1919.

All 11 of those new letters# are in "The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt."

So, believe it or not, we're# learning more about history## the more time goes on and these# incredible women in T.R.

's life.

JEFFREY BROWN: You referred to his wife Edith# opening the door to the American century.

Now, that's a -- even -- that's a kind# of fraught phrase, a complicated phrase.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Sure.

JEFFREY BROWN: What do you mean by it, and how has our conception of it# and T.R.

's rol.. EDWARD O'KEEFE: Well, I think that# history doesn't repeat; it rhymes.

And, of course, if you don't learn from# history, you're condemned to repeat it.## You think about T.R.

's time, right, there# was rapid technological change.

They're## flying in airplanes and driving in cars.# He was born at a time before electricity.## He's -- there's a change from an agrarian# to an industrial society and the economy.

There's a mass wave of immigration changing# the composition of the culture.

And there's## a debate about whether America# should be isolationist or whether## they should be a global power.# Does any of this sound familiar?

EDWARD O'KEEFE: It's exactly# what we're debating now.

And I think, when you look at the history,## you really can better understand the# present and hopefully make a better future.

JEFFREY BROWN: So, lastly, I want to# ask you about your other hat, which is,## as I mentioned in the introduction,# with the library foundation.

This is being built in your home state in North... JEFFREY BROWN: ... to take us back# to the beginning, North Dakota.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Yes.

Well, Theodore R.. "I never would have been president# without my experiences i.. And that is why we are constructing the Theodore# Roosevelt Presidential Library in the Badlands## next to Theodore Roosevelt National Park,# the only park named for a person, let alone## a president.

And we are scheduled to open on# July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of America.

And it's really about tomorrow,# not yesterday.

It's about future## generations getting in the arena and making# a change that they want to see in the world.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right.

We will look for that,## and, in the meantime, "The# Loves of Theodore Roosevelt."

Edward O'Keefe, thank you very much.

EDWARD O'KEEFE: Great to be with you, Geoff.