Karl Rove has an essay about Teddy Roosevelt in the current issue of Time. In it we learn–or, at least, we read–that T.R. had “a larger-than-life personality”; that “leadership matters;” and that “Roosevelt holds a special place in the American imagination.” Edgy stuff.

T.R.‘s enduring appeal is an enduring mystery. What, after all, is so attractive about Roosevelt’s political philosophy, such as it was: a loudmouthed cult of maniliness; a warped belief that war can be a good tonic for whatever ails the national spirit; and a contemptuous attitude toward limits on presidential power?

Michael Chapman deflates T.R.‘s legacy in this Cato Policy Report article [.pdf], and, starting this August, you’ll be able to buy Cato senior fellow Jim Powell’s new book Bully Boy: The Truth about Theodore Roosevelt’s Legacy.