Winner of the inaugural Theodore Roosevelt Association Book Prize A captivating account of how Theodore Roosevelt’s lifelong passion for the natural world set the stage for America’s wildlife conservation movement and determined his legacy as a founding father of today’s museum naturalism.   No U.S. president is more popularly associated with nature and wildlife than is Theodore Roosevelt—prodigious hunter, tireless adventurer, and ardent conservationist. We think of him as a larger-than-life original, yet in The Naturalist , Darrin Lunde has firmly situated Roosevelt’s indomitable curiosity about the natural world in the tradition of museum naturalism.  As a child, Roosevelt actively modeled himself on the men (including John James Audubon and Spencer F. Baird) who pioneered this key branch of biology by developing a taxonomy of the natural world—basing their work on the experiential study of nature. The impact that these scientists and their trailblazing methods had on Roosevelt shaped not only his audacious personality but his entire career, informing his work as a statesman and ultimately affecting generations of Americans’ relationship to this country’s wilderness.   Drawing on Roosevelt’s diaries and travel journals as well as Lunde’s own role as a leading figure in museum naturalism today, The Naturalist reads Roosevelt through the lens of his love for nature. From his teenage collections of birds and small mammals to his time at Harvard and political rise, Roosevelt’s fascination with wildlife and exploration culminated in his triumphant expedition to Africa, a trip which he himself considered to be the apex of his varied life. With narrative verve, Lunde brings his singular experience to bear on our twenty-sixth president’s life and constructs a perceptively researched and insightful history that tracks Roosevelt’s maturation from exuberant boyhood hunter to vital champion of serious scientific inquiry. Praise for The Naturalist “Teasing apart aspects of ethics, morality, manliness and environmentalism in Roosevelt’s approach to collecting, Lunde reveals how the president’s impulses overlapped… The Naturalist does highlight the crucial importance of maintaining such legacies. It also helps to disentangle Roosevelt’s roles as hunter, conservationist and museum man—and for anyone visiting Sagamore Hill, it enriches contemplation of objects such as the bearskin rug or rhino-foot inkwell.”  — Nature “Lunde’s book offers a compact introduction to Roosevelt’s love of the natural world, which vied with politics as his chief passion… Lunde’s own writing is clear and well-paced.”   — Newsday “The Naturalist makes it clear that, though Roosevelt never became the full-time species-hunter and wildlife writer to which he aspired as a youth, he left a lasting mark in the field… Today’s conservationists may lionize Roosevelt as a champion of the National Park System and of environmental legislation, but Roosevelt probably would have been satisfied with the respect of a museum man like Darrin Lunde.” — Natural History “[ The Naturalist ] sheds light on Teddy Roosevelt’s interests in the natural world and his contributions to the environmental movement in this mix of biography and examination of the field of natural history preservation. Lunde covers Roosevelt’s environmental activism and his accomplishments in political office, most notably his lobbying for the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, and impressively narrates how Roosevelt was able to pursue his passions during a contentious political career.”  — Publishers Weekly “More useful still is Lunde’s portrait of Roosevelt as a kind of working amateur scientist in communication with professionals and other amateurs to build scientific institutions and, indeed, field science itself... this book offers well-considered interpretations of the brainy naturalist and muscular adventurer.”   —Kirkus Reviews “Accessible to the lay reader and authenticated for the historian.”   —Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Lib. of Congress, Library Journal “Scores of books already have written about Theodore Roosevelt’s life and legacy as the 26th U.S. president, but until now none have been written focusing on his role as a respected museum naturalist... Both natural history and Roosevelt buffs will welcome this absorbing addition to Teddy Roosevelt lore.” — Booklist “Theodore Roosevelt, arguably our greatest peacetime president, left a lasting legacy of protecting America's natural beauty and awakening a nation of urban dwellers to the wonders of the outdoors. Darrin Lunde has captured Teddy's restless voice and explored the depths of his curiosity, from Yellowstone to the trails of Africa. This well-documented book reminds us of Roosevelt's great gift in making us aware of the splendors of natural history.”  —Thomas Maier, author of When Lions Roar: The Churchills and the Kennedys “Theodore Roosevelt comes alive in this vivid, textur