The Bully Pulpit Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism, Doris Kearns Goodwin. (Paperback 1416547878)

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The Bully Pulpit Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism
Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit is a dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air. — The story is told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft; a close relationship that strengthens ... more »both men before it ruptures in 1912, when they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential nomination that divides their wives, their children, and their closest friends, while crippling the progressive wing of the Republican Party, causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected, and changing the country’s history.

The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. The muckrakers are portrayed through the greatest group of journalists ever assembled at one magazine; Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White; teamed under the mercurial genius of publisher S.S. McClure.

Goodwin’s narrative is founded upon a wealth of primary materials. The correspondence of more than four hundred letters between Roosevelt and Taft begins in their early thirties and ends only months before Roosevelt’s death. Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft kept diaries. The muckrakers wrote hundreds of letters to one another, kept journals, and wrote their memoirs. The letters of Captain Archie Butt, who served as a personal aide to both Roosevelt and Taft, provide an intimate view of both men.

The Bully Pulpit, like Goodwin’s brilliant chronicles of the Civil War and World War II, exquisitely demonstrates her distinctive ability to combine scholarly rigor with accessibility. It is a major work of history; an examination of leadership in a rare moment of activism and reform that brought the country closer to its founding ideals.

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit is a dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air.

The story is told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft; a close relationship that strengthens both men before it ruptures in 1912, when they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential nomination that divides their wives, their children, and their closest friends, while crippling the progressive wing of the Republican Party, causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected, and changing the country’s history.

The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. The muckrakers are portrayed through the greatest group of journalists ever assembled at one magazine; Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White; teamed under the mercurial genius of publisher S.S. McClure.

Goodwin’s narrative is founded upon a wealth of primary materials. The correspondence of more than four hundred letters between Roosevelt and Taft begins in their early thirties and ends only months before Roosevelt’s death. Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft kept diaries. The muckrakers wrote hundreds of letters to one another, kept journals, and wrote their memoirs. The letters of Captain Archie Butt, who served as a personal aide to both Roosevelt and Taft, provide an intimate view of both men.

The Bully Pulpit, like Goodwin’s brilliant chronicles of the Civil War and World War II, exquisitely demonstrates her distinctive ability to combine scholarly rigor with accessibility. It is a major work of history; an examination of leadership in a rare moment of activism and reform that brought the country closer to its founding ideals.

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ISBN-13: 9781416547877
ISBN-10: 1416547878
Publication Date: 10/14/2014
Pages: 928
Rating:

Currently 4.1/5 Stars.

4.1 stars, based on 5 ratings

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 4
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Joan L. (joanland) reviewed The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism on 2/27/2025 + 6 more book reviews

Splendidly written history that comes alive. The research that went into producing this tome had to be incredible. It presents a real portrait of the principal characters and a large supporting cast. The notes indicate that the author worked on this book for seven years. The author wove thousands of quotations together to show the chronology of lives of the two principles and those that surrounded them. The amount of research that went in to producing this book is incredible. The book gives a real life portrait of the times of these two very different men who were such good friends. A magnificient book.

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