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57 pages 1 hour read

The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2005

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Prologue-Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Breaking Away”

Prologue Summary: “Prologue”

Frustrated with his loss in the 1912 presidential election, Roosevelt characteristically threw himself into the “cruelest trials that nature could offer him” (2). He embarked on a journey to explore the River of Doubt, “a churning, ink-black tributary of the Amazon that winds nearly a thousand miles through the dense Brazilian rain forest” (2). His son Kermit, who accompanied him, and George Cherrie thought that Roosevelt was going to die, as Roosevelt had a high fever and was delirious. The expedition by this point had already lost one man, most of its provisions, and five out of seven canoes.

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Defeat”

On Halloween 1912, the Progressive Party held its last major rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hundreds of thousands gathered outside the facility to get a glimpse of its presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt. Two weeks before, Roosevelt had been shot giving a campaign speech in Milwaukee. Saved by a manuscript and an eyeglass case, Roosevelt proceeded to give the speech despite the bullet penetrating inches into his skin. At this venue in New York, Roosevelt delivered a lively speech about character, moral strength, compassion, and responsibility (11).

Since Roosevelt split the Republican vote with his third-party candidacy, the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, won in a landslide.

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