In Charging Up San Juan Hill: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of Imperial America, John R. Van Atta argues that by crafting a narrative around his military contributions in the Spanish-American War, Theodore Roosevelt shaped the imperial policies and attitudes of the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Fearing a loss of American values in the decades after the Civil War, Roosevelt saw military strength, embodied by the Rough Riders, as a tool to reclaim American manhood and republican civic virtues. The mythic narrative around the event that became known to Americans as the Battle of San Juan Hill elevated both Roosevelt's political career and the role of the United States in global affairs.

Roosevelt believed that Americans had become physically and morally weak in the face of modernity following the declaration of the closing of the frontier, technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, and increased immigration. He saw American intervention overseas as an avenue to further American progress. The rise of jingoism among many white citizens and politicians alike, as well the “Large Policy” ideas of naval expansion, espoused by people like Alfred Mahan and Henry Cabot Lodge, provided the groundwork for U.S. intervention, while ongoing narratives of Spanish imperial cruelty and the mysterious sinking of the U.S.S. Maine provided the final justification to declare war.

In an explicit move to demonstrate his bravery and patriotism, Roosevelt resigned from his appointment as Secretary of the Navy and volunteered for service. With Colonel Leonard Wood, he set out to form the 1st U.S. Cavalry Volunteers, driven by “the myth-making power of the Old West” (160). However, as Van Atta shows, the Rough Riders were not all cowboys. Although some came from the rowdy West, others were teachers, blacksmiths, and farmers, and a few were elite gentlemen from the East. Roosevelt believed that if these men could prove themselves on the field of battle, they would provide a model for people all across the country.

The book builds to a climax in Chapter Four, with the Rough Riders’ charge up San Juan Heights. This is also the section of the book that most effectively showcases Van Atta's skills as a writer. While he artfully weaves anecdotes and scenes throughout the text, the description of the troops “sweat[ing] through the tunnels of foliage” as they marched into the theater of war made for especially compelling reading (96). In this chapter, Van Atta also carefully explains how competing narratives about the events emerged almost immediately following the American victory. Despite the mythic status they received in the aftermath of the conflict, the 1st Volunteers were not the only soldiers who were part of the attack on San Juan Heights. In particular, the author draws attention to how the African American soldiers of the 10th Cavalry were deliberately obscured from the narrative. Black soldiers were cropped out of photographs, tokenized or relegated to the background in paintings, and all but forgotten in public speeches. Back home, the African American community sought recognition through the black press for the more than ten thousand black soldiers who served in the Spanish-American War as their service and patriotism, as an expression of manhood, were seen as important to racial uplift. Despite these efforts, Roosevelt himself resorted to racist tropes in discussing their role at San Juan Hill to advance his political career.

The final chapter is where the author makes the greatest analytical contribution in demonstrating how the Battle of San Juan Hill took root in the public imagination. While other books have emphasized what the Rough Riders did, Van Atta stresses what the events meant to American society. Roosevelt believed that “the future of American diplomacy, the compatibility of North and South, the strength of character and manhood, and the preservation of key values of the republic—all somehow hinged on the success of US armed forces in the war” (129). Victory over Spain shifted power in the Pacific and the Caribbean and changed the way Americans saw the position of their nation in the broader world. Tales of the valiant sacrifice of the unit, and particularly of Roosevelt, spread throughout the nation in newspapers and popular culture. Roosevelt perpetuated those narratives at every step of the way and used them to foster his own political career through his tenure as vice president, and, following the assassination of William McKinley, into his own presidency.

This book contributes to a variety of historiographic conversations about American empire, the Spanish-American War, and the Roosevelt era and legacy more broadly. In the first two chapters, Van Atta builds on the work of Gail Bederman and Kristin Hoganson in discussing how the cultural anxiety around masculinity and the discourse of civilization framed debates about United States’ intervention in Cuba.Footnote ¹ While Van Atta's analysis does not center on race or gender, he thoughtfully addresses both throughout the text. In its discussion of empire, the book largely reinforces standard narratives that American expansionism in the antebellum period was markedly different than the overseas empire at the turn of the century—something that Van Atta attributes to the influence of Roosevelt's candidacy and presidency. The book would pair nicely with Eric Rauchway's Murdering McKinley, which also emphasizes the idea of Roosevelt's presidency as a turning point, but focused much more on the domestic and social significance of that shift.Footnote ²

Overall, Van Atta portrays Roosevelt in a nuanced way—he is neither the war hero nor the aggressive and racist imperialist—and yet he is both at the same time. Van Atta also engages with a wide range of sources including popular literature, entertainment, and art, alongside the many familiar textual primary sources. For these reasons, Charging Up San Juan Hill: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of Imperial America is both accessible to a broad audience and rigorous in its analysis, making it an appealing addition to all interested in American empire, the Spanish-American War, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Progressive Era.