If I acquired a very specific time machine, I would go back to the early 1900s and work in the Teddy Roosevelt White House.

You probably have a vague idea about his outsized personality and maybe a few of his policy initiatives.  But after a reading a book about a trip he took after the 1912 election, I’m convinced he is the most epic person our country will ever have as president.

Quick history refresher — Roosevelt took over as president following William McKinley’s assassination in 1901.  He was 42 years old.  Teddy served out that term, got re-elected for a second before leaving the White House in 1909.  After sitting out four years, he returned as a third-party candidate for the 1912 election, which he lost.

Candice Millard’s book “The River of Doubt” recounts Roosevelt’s journey to Brazil to map an uncharted Amazon tributary.  It features not only amazing details about the expedition itself, but an excellent setup on Roosevelt himself that really gives you a sense of who he was and why he would go on such a journey.

In 1909, just three weeks after leaving office, he went on an expedition to Africa collecting specimens that went to the Smithsonian.  A rhino he brought back is still on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington.  It’s possible to imagine a few of our most recent presidents doing something like this.

It’s hard to see many of them doing the rest of what Millard describes.

First, while in office, Millard quotes Roosevelt talking about swimming in D.C.’s Rock Creek and in the Potomac River, including one outing that included the French ambassador.  I think if President Obama did this today, the Internet would break.

But what really sets Roosevelt apart from his colleagues is his Amazon trip.  Millard describes him as a man who deals with disappointment by subjecting himself to intense physical effort, which leads him to such an extreme journey.  Initially Roosevelt set off to descend a known river, the Tapajos, but after a suggestion by Brazil’s minister of foreign affairs, he opted to explore what was known as the River of Doubt.

I get the feeling you could challenge Roosevelt to do just about anything.

Millard, with the help of journals written by Roosevelt, his son Kermit, a Brazilian military officer who helped lead the expedition and other members, paints in vivid detail what the men faced.  They had no idea how long the river was, exactly where it went, how long it would take to navigate or what/whom they would encounter along the way.  Add in the logistical challenges of making the trip through rapids too severe for the boats they brought and provisions ill-suited for that type of expedition, and you begin to get a sense of the challenges they endured.

Oh yeah, did I mention one of the men was the FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?  He was gone for months with little known about what he was doing or if he was still alive.  Can you begin to imagine that happening today?  I had to stop every few chapters and think about this, letting the insanity (as seen through modern eyes) of Roosevelt sink in.

Eventually, they make it out, but not until after death and disease ravaged the men.  When he made it back to the U.S., some prominent figures doubted Roosevelt’s claims of traversing the River of Doubt.  But when he gave his first speech about the expedition in Washington, Millard writes that 5,000 people showed up, including “everyone from ambassadors to Supreme Court justices to members of President Wilson’s own cabinet.”

If you like American history at all, you have to read this book.  It’s absolutely fascinating.

One final note.  Millard talks about Roosevelt speaking at a rally a week before the 1912 election.  She writes that he “had a voice that sounded as if he had just taken a sip of helium” — a description I found surprising given his physical stature.  She goes on to say “…he talked fast, pounded his fists, waved his arms and sent a current of electricity through the crowd.”  All I could think of after reading that was Dwight Schrute’s dictatorial speech from The Office:

(Sidenote: finding usable NBC video is infuriating.)