The Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize for 2004 will go to Spencer Tucker for his book Stephen Decatur: A Life Most Bold and Daring, published by the Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402.

The Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize was established in 1984 by the Theodore Roosevelt Association, the Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the FDR Presidential Library and the New York Council Navy League of the US. Both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt belonged to the Navy League of New York. The panel of judges includes: Capt. Lawrence B. Brennan, Senior Admiralty Counsel, USNR; Brig. Gen. Charles F. Brower IV, Virginia Military Institute; Edward J. Renehan, Jr., Executive Director, Theodore Roosevelt Association; Dr. Richard A. Greenwald, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; Commander C.C. Felker, Ph.D., Commander, USN, Naval Academy; CDR Henry J. Hendrix II, USN; John Hattendorf, Naval War College; Nicholas L. Ludington, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Board of Directors and Naval History Prize Panel Chairman; Capt. J. Robert Lunney USNR (Ret); Colonel Paul Miles, Princeton University; Dr. David B. Woolner, Executive Director, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute; and Prof Richard Zuczek , Ph.D., U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

Stephen Decatur: A Life Most Bold and Daring, is a masterful biography that describes the brave, energetic and intensely patriotic life and career of America’s first great naval hero after John Paul Jones. Promoted to captain at the age of twenty-five, Decatur became the youngest officer ever to attain that rank in the U.S. Navy.  His short dramatic life is a tale of triumph and tragedy, recounted here by the noted historian and author, Spencer Tucker.