Throughout his life and Presidency, Theodore Roosevelt spoke about the virtues of a “strenuous life.” That strenuous life, Professor Ryan Swanson argues, was “very tied to physical activity.”

Swanson, author of The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete, tells a sports story of an asthmatic, unathletic child who turned into a physical fitness evangelist and the 26th President of the United States. Oh, and he played a role in preserving the sport of football.