In Theodore Roosevelt and Six Friends of the Indian, William T. Hagan describes the efforts by six prominent individuals and two institutions to influence the conduct of Indian affairs during the administrations of President Theodore Roosevelt. The institutions are the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and the Indian Rights Association. The six men are Francis E. Leupp, Herbert Welsh, C. Hart Merriam, George Bird Grinnell, Charles F. Lummis, and Hamlin Garland.

Each of these men attempted to influence the implementation of Indian policy. All had had some contact with Roosevelt prior to his presidency, and some had sought his intercession on Indian affairs when he served as Civil Service commissioner, governor of New York, and U.S. vice president.

As a result of these contacts, Roosevelt entered the White House relatively well informed on tribal affairs. As president he proved remarkably responsive to the six men's views, even when it brought him into conflict with members of his own cabinet. Hagan outlines the divisions along religious lines and the political rivalries behind the contest for the support of President Roosevelt.

The vagaries of Indian administration by the federal government are evident, as is the unfortunate situation of noncitizen tribal peoples living as wards of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt and Six Friends of the Indian presents to the reader a new Roosevelt who differs from the Indian-hating chauvinist so frequently encountered in the literature. This book reveals that in fact Roosevelt sympathized with the plight of the Indians and respected their institutions and culture.