Adamantine…An Unshakeable Word

This word came my way while reading a book on Theodore Roosevelt, who used it to describe his wife, Edith, derived from the adjective, adamant, meaning…

refusing to be persuaded or to change one’s mind: declaring one unbreakable.

  Edith Carow Roosevelt (1861-1948).

In Mrs. Roosevelt’s case, a bit stubborn, locked into her views without any wiggle room…inflexible, unbending, firmly holding her ground.

Iron-willed, uncompromising, rigid and firm.

To put it in urbanese…she had a perpetual stick up her butt.

Teddy, who hated being called that, H.W. Brands, the esteemed author of T.R. The Last Romantic, felt, it may have been because his first wife, Alice, whom he lost at a tender age, called him Teddy.

His perfect, little love, is what he called her.

Edith, on the other hand, seemed made of sturdier stock, hailing from an alcoholic background she stoically survived.

I can relate, since it does toughen you whether it’s your idea or not.

T.R. or the Colonel, his preferred title, loved language. He was never without a book, and wrote 36, give or take.

His prose, a bit flowery but beautiful, with captivating imagery, reflected the times in which he lived.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).

It’s no wonder he was such a compelling speaker, electric, magnetic…possessing the command of a well-honed vernacular that’s often the case when you read, especially the way he did…three books a week.

But back to Edith, who was no push-over…a person who is easy to overcome or influence.

Considering what a force her husband was for 33 years, I feel she needs commending.

I imagine it was like domesticating a wild bore…oops…I mean boar.

I love Teddy, but can’t deny was a handful, even when you read about him, and Mrs. R’s plate must have been chronically full.

The fact that he describes her as adamantine, says to me, not only did she know her husband, but he too, knew his missus quite well.  

SB