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b'Teddy Roosevelt wasn\\u2019t born as the rough riding, big-game-hunting, Amazon-exploring legend that America has come to love. So how did he become the larger-than- life character portrayed in history books? He was forged by the last vestige of the Wild West\\u2014the Badlands of the Dakota Territory. Yet this side of one of America\\u2019s most popular presidents has mostly gone unexplored

In this episode I talked with William Hazelgrove, author of the book Forging a President: How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt once stated, \\u201cI have always said I would not have been president had it not been for my experience in North Dakota.\\u201d

Faced with tremendous heartbreak and extreme adversity, Roosevelt headed West for comfort and healing. Little did he know that the ways of trappers and thieves would create his bombastic personality, and later lead him to run for president of the United States.'