Teddy and Booker T.

The New York Times bestselling author of George Washington’s Secret Six and Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates turns to two other heroes of the nation: Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington. When President Theodore Roosevelt welcomed the countryΓÇÖs most visible Black man,Booker T. Washingtoninto his circle of counselors in 1901the two confronted a shocking and violent wave of racist outrage. In the previous decadeJim Crow laws had legalized discrimination in the Southeroding social and economic gains for former slaves. Lynching was on the riseand Black Americans faced new barriers to voting. Slavery had been abolishedbut if newly freed citizens were condemned to lives as share croppershow much improvement would their lives really see? In Teddy and Booker T.Brian Kilmeade tells the story of how two wildly different Americans faced the challenge of keeping America moving toward the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation. Theodore Roosevelt was whiteborn into incredible wealth and privilege in New York City. Booker T. Washington was Blackborn on a plantation without even a last name. But both men embodied the ruggedpioneering spirit of America. Kilmeade takes us to San Juan Hillwhere Roosevelt led his Rough Riders to a thrilling victory that set the stage for a legendary presidencyand to a small town in Alabamawhere Washington founded the first university for African Americanspaving the way for the Civil Rights Movement. Both men abhorred the decadence and moral rot the nation had fallen intobelieved that improvement through careful collaboration was possibleand trusted that the American ideals of individual liberty and hard work could propel the neediest toward successif only those holding them back would step aside. As he did in George Washington’s Secret SixKilmeade has transformed this nearly forgotten slice of history into a dramatic story that will keep you turning the pages to find out how these two heroesthrough their principles and couragenot only changed each otherbut helped lay the groundwork for true equality.