Prologue Summary and Analysis

In the prologue, the author describes in detail the way in which President Theodore Roosevelt greeted guests on New Year's Day, 1907. While regular citizens wait in a line that stretches for one-half of a mile, the president greets various dignitaries from both American government and foreign monarchies.

As the author imagines waiting in the long line, he describes various habits of the President. Seemingly without effort, Roosevelt fills his days with matters of national interest ranging from peacekeeping talks to environmental preservation. The President also makes an impressive physical impression. His various sports interests such as wrestling, boxing and climbing, give him a strong physique which gain notice from each visitor on this New Year's Day.

Though success marks most of Roosevelt's presidency, it is not without its critics. Contemporaries such as Mark Twain remark negatively about the President's methodologies and...