Edward Renehan & Edmund Morris: Recommend the disbanding of the Theodore Roosevelt Association
Two of the country's leading biographers of TR, Edward Renehan and Edmund Morris, have advised The Theodore Roosevelt Association to disband.
The Association has been largely leaderless since the death of its longtime head, John Gable. (Renehan stepped in as a temporary replacement for 16 months.)
Both now argue in letters to the Association that the organization should declare victory and close up shop. There is no longer any danger, they contend, that TR will ever be forgotten. Wrote Renehan: "The war is over. TR has won. His face is on the mountain. And the decades-long work of the TRA in preserving sites, establishing collections, and fostering scholarship has been no small part of the mix. However, the organization has outlived its mission. Today, books and films and conferences regarding Roosevelt emerge with frequency -- hardly ever with the facilitation of TRA. And this is a good thing."
The Association has been largely leaderless since the death of its longtime head, John Gable. (Renehan stepped in as a temporary replacement for 16 months.)
Both now argue in letters to the Association that the organization should declare victory and close up shop. There is no longer any danger, they contend, that TR will ever be forgotten. Wrote Renehan: "The war is over. TR has won. His face is on the mountain. And the decades-long work of the TRA in preserving sites, establishing collections, and fostering scholarship has been no small part of the mix. However, the organization has outlived its mission. Today, books and films and conferences regarding Roosevelt emerge with frequency -- hardly ever with the facilitation of TRA. And this is a good thing."