The Bully Pulpit
Pulitzer Prize–winning author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s dynamic history of Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft and the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air.
Winner of the Carnegie Medal.
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.
Reviews
Terrific writing on two astonishing historical figures. Enjoyed every page.
By youcallmesomething
This is an incredible book! The amount of detail that Goodwin provides in this book is amazing, and provides a vivid window into her subjects. Riveting read and really informative
By Availableusername10083
Kearns Goodwin does it again. Another winning historical saga on fascinating American figures. Especially enjoyed the contrast in TR's and Taft's personalities, as well as the sweep and detail of the period. There are so many similarities with key issues of our day, yet the author wisely avoids making the analogy or talking about the present. After this great read I hope to delve more into TR.
By Jbrahms
I love Goodwin’s books. Besides being an excellent curator of historical information, she helps the reader achieve an emotional understanding with her characters. I never knew Teddy Roosevel quite the way I know him now.
By Sig000
Another long, disappointing book from Goodwin. Like Team of Rivels, this book combines subjects enough for three books - TR, Taft and the Muckraker Press - because Goodwin possesses only the ability to describe but not the power to explain. She needs length because she cannot offer depth. It is written as though she just lined up all her 3x5 research notecards and dictated her way to the end.
By Polkinghorn