Rough Rider is a snapshot study of the significant career of President Theodore Roosevelt. Partly biographical sketch and partly analysis, the book provides an overview of his actions, ideals, and written works, highlighting important events from Roosevelt's early public life, his presidency, and later career. David Key sees Roosevelt as a statesman who well understood how to create his own popular image, but equally important was Roosevelt's place as one of the foremost historians of his time, a man who understood the traditional criteria for greatness and did not hesitate to shape his own legacy. Written especially for college students, Rough Rider examines pertinent primary sources and critical analyses of other historians to aid in understanding the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt.