Theodore Roosevelt was a colorful adventurer, statesman, and president. But he always felt that the most essential role he played was that of father to his six children. In A Bully Father, noted historical editor Joan Paterson Kerr brings together a collection of his letters—spanning the years between 1898 and 1919—which convey all the boundless affection he felt for his family.

Although Roosevelt’s responsibilities often took him far from home, he remained keenly interested in the daily lives of his four sons and two daughters. Even as he watched steam shovels dig the Panama Canal, he wrote letters filled with vivid, accessible anecdotes to his children. Countless questions about their adventures, friendships, and activities sprinkle the pages.

Always a prolific reader and writer, Roosevelt composed an astonishing 150,000 letters by the time he died in 1919. Jean Paterson Kerr’s perceptive biographical essay helps the listener see this lively, carefully selected part of the collection as an absorbing family chronicle.