The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt and the Golden Age of Journalism

This is a magnificent book. I'm only half way through it but I'm so thoroughly enjoying it that I feel compelled to take the rare act of writing a review recommending it and the even rarer act of awarding it five stars. This is really four stories in one. Firstly, a superb biography of Theodore Roosevelt; a most admirable and remarkable man. Secondly, a parallel biography of Roosevelt's friend, collaborator and (it seems) eventual bitter opponent whose character and career the author brilliantly counterpoises to that of his predecessor in office. Thirdly it tells the story of a pioneering group of investigative journalists working for McClure's Magazine who did more than anybody to expose the nature of the fourth strand, the deplorable state of corruption and greed that had by the end of the nineteenth century mired American big business, politics and public service in the gutter.Some biographies can be bloody awful. Leaving you knowing just about everything the subject had for breakfast every day of their lives but nothing about their times and the part they played in them. Not so for this book. It is brilliant history and brilliant writing and I have already ordered 'Team of Rivals' next.

If you want to understand where we are as a country and especially our history of government sponsored 'social goods" this is a must.

This is probably one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is an excellent introduction to the Progressive Era in American history. While it is densely packed with lots of wonderful details, it is also so well written that it just flows. I enjoyed it so much I didn't want it to end. Taft is a major character in this book, and until now, an under-appreciated President. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand this period of American history, one of the most exciting times, in the short history of that country. Through this book you can really see our modern world taking shape. The only criticism I have is to wonder why the publishers chose to advertise her famous book on Lincoln on the cover of this book, instead of letting the book speak for itself. Shame. This one is fantastic. Five stars is not enough!

Without doubt one of the most absorbing political biographies of recent years. This is perhaps due to the fact that it is a dual biography, on the one hand the driven charismatic Theodore Roosevelt and his genial well balanced successor William Taft.Taft would have preferred to have remained a judge but his wife's ambition for him to become President overruled his own inclination. Being sniped at by Roosevelt who wanted his old job back and who stood as a third party candidate, having failed to get the Republican nomination, ensured that Taft lost and was a one term President.However his good grace and the high regard he was held in by others meant that he got the job he really wanted as chief justice of the Supreme Court. Roosevelt demonstrated the supreme political skill of getting a reluctant congress to pass his anti trust laws and thereby prevented powerful corporations from throttling competition.The tangled weave of early 20th Century American politics, with all its chicanery, corruption and double dealing is thrillingly told. The personalities are larger than life and vividly portrayed. There are some fascinating side issues such as the USA taking on the role of colonial masters in the Philippines. Taft proved to be an assured and enlightened Governor. It was an episode of American history of which I knew nothing.The book also contains so many personal details, which meant an enjoyable and gossipy read in a serious and well researched book.I was amused that Roosevelt objected to Taft's enthusiasm for golf as he perceived it as a rich man's game and that politician's who played it were sending out the wrong message. Meantime Roosevelt himself went big game hunting which only seriously rich men can do.

This was a great book- like Team of Rivals. This was a period of US history which I didn't know a great deal about. Now I do. It was well written with a strong narrative. The account was clearly pro Roosevelt and Taft and it would be interesting now to read some views which give a more negative light on these politicians. Well worth buying

I love it!

I first read of the existence of this book in a weekly magazine I subscribe to. (Money Week). The review looked pretty appealing so I purchased it via Amazon. The content is pretty revolutionary and deep, but the author has done a very good job at making it readable. My lasting impression of the read is that it gives a totally contrary view of how we live to how it could be without the meddling politicians'.

A fine book not just for aspiring politicians but also writers and more specifically investigative journalists. The personal and political histories of Roosevelt and Taft are charted with warmth and a vitality that makes them just as real today as our own crop of World Statesmen. The journeys of S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, John Phillips, Lincoln Steffens, William White and Baker from childhood to authors and editors of exposes eagerly read by Millions of Americans are equally compelling. Loved almost every page. Could not recommended it highly enough!

I love the way this book is written. Full of fact but the narrative flows like a really good story. I admire the amount of research this author did putting this book together. It makes me wish that we still had politicians that had the talent and training of Roosevelt and Taft. Men of honor and purpose and respect for individualism and community. and the desire to do what was right for the masses of Americans.Whether or not you agree with what these men did or how they did it, they were definitely leaders. They knew how to unite and lead a country. They knew how to define issues and craft solutions, something that is sorely missing in current political climate. Ms. Goodwin, unknowlingly perhaps, has put together what I feel is a telling commentary on why this country is in the state it is in. Making the rash assumption that any of our curdrent politicians even know how to read or check out a book from the library, I suggest they give it a read and then try to learn from their obvious betters. If you just want to learn a little bit of political history, this is still a great book. I checked it out several times from my local library but decided I wanted a copy in my own library. It was money well spent. I plan to read more of Ms. Goodwin's work. It's no wonder she won the Pulitizer Prize for her history on Franklin and Eleanore Roosevelt (also an excellent read!). I wish I had her talent.

This is an outstanding biography of Teddy Roosevelt, William Taft and the Muckraker journalist movement. At 900 pages, my main criticism of the book is that it is too short since it wets the appetite to learn about this period. That said, the book would have been helped by the addition of at least one chapter providing a critical appraisal of the main figures.

I have been remarkably unaware of US history and Goodwin's book is a marvellous introduction. This is a first class political history and so much more than that. The characters rise from the pages clad in their humanity. I have not had so much pleasure from reading for an age, thanks to Doris Kearns Goodwin.

The Bully Pulpit is a most ambitious work for author Doris Kearns Goodwin. In the book she not only tackles the story of the larger than life President Theodore Roosevelt, she also takes on the life the judicious and affable William Howard Taft (large in another sense - he was over 300 pounds), Roosevelt's hand-picked successor. The relationship between the two men is complicated and complex. But even that's not enough for the industrious author; she also tells us about some of the most famous and iconic journalists of the era, a time before electronic media when investigative reporters and the articles they wrote for magazines like McClure's had the power to shape and mold public policy and legislative trends.But as she proved in Team of Rivals, Goodwin always produces first rate history, and she comes through once again in this book. In 750 pages, she is able to tackle all of these complicated lives and stories, and combines meticulous research with the style of an engaging storyteller to make her characters come alive. Goodwin has said in interviews that when she is writing a book, it is as if she is living with its subjects, and she is able to transmit this same sensation to the reader. It is as if Roosevelt, Taft, their spouses, and the interesting array of journalists (like S.S. McClure, Ida Tarbell, Ray Baker, John Phillips, Lincoln Steffens and William White) are friends, acquaintances or contemporaries of the reader.Goodwin opens with Roosevelt's triumphant return from safari, one year after he has left the presidency, setting the mood for a political clash of the titans. This epic political battle is set up as we are then given the background of the book's two main characters. Roosevelt emerges from childhood illness and a privileged background to overcome his physical challenges through sheer determination. He becomes a human dynamo, a bundle of energy forever tilting at the windmills of social injustice, whether it be as a civil service commissioner, as a state politician, as New York City police commissioner, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as a "rough rider" in the Spanish-American War, as Governor of New York or as Vice-President of the United States. Meanwhile, Taft establishes his reputation as an honest, friendly, likeable and exceedingly fair lawyer and judge and later as the beloved and enlightened Governor-General of the Philippines, a man with the foresight to see past the racial and nationalistic prejudices of his time.When Roosevelt becomes President following the assassination of William McKinley, he calls on Taft to serve as his key cabinet member and advisor. The two men develop a strong friendship and trust and Roosevelt anoints Taft as his successor as President. The two develop what at first appears to be an unassailable friendship. But a year into Taft's presidency, a rift develops between the two men, as Roosevelt perceives Taft as being disloyal to the cause of progressive reform. Goodwin does not offer an opinion of who is to blame, but gives the reader sufficient information to form one's own opinion, although she does concede one obvious factor: Roosevelt's gigantic ego.In 1912, Roosevelt challenges Taft for the Republican nomination for president, vowing to run as a third party candidate if unsuccessful. For me this was the most interesting part of the book, as Goodwin gives a very entertaining blow-by-blow account of the election campaign: the key events, the strategies, and those inevitable unexpected occurrences that find their way into every election campaign. This was the most engaging part of the book for me.A select few history writers have the ability to recount historical facts and turn it into a compelling, interesting and enjoyable story, and Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of the foremost among this group. She has the ability to take names from the pages of history books and turn them into fascinating personalities and to make the reader feel like he or she is present as these historically captivating events are unfolding. She has done it again with The Bully Pulpit, a most engaging and entertaining account of two complex presidents and the exciting times in which they lived.

This unusually long book (750 pages) never lost my interest, always kept me absorbed, was never tedious in spite of detailed descriptions of public and private life during Theodore Roosevelt's and William Howard Taft's presidencies. I had already read several books on Theodore Roosevelt who is such a colorful figure, but knew little about William Howard Taft who comes alive in these pages as a benign and friendly character almost pushed into a presidential role which he did not feel was suitable for him. As for the great friendship between the two men, like all political friendships, it was doomed to end when personal ambitions took over.Wives, children, brothers and friends are delineated to round out the portraits and actions of the two presidents and of course thepress also plays a big role in the book and is instrumental in rousing public opinion and pushing through legislation to overthrow the trusts, to attack the bosses and their political power and to try to rid the US of corruption at all levels of politics.Any reader interested in the politics of the United States and particularly in that period will not be disappointed on reading this book. Also, I couldn't help thinking how much light it also throws on the problems facing the United States today, problems of inequality, of the role of money in elections, the changing roles of women, problems of racism in the Philippines...To sum up: totally engrossing!