Bully Pulpit (Goodwin) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[A] revealing portraits of Theodore Roosevelt and his close friend, handpicked successor and eventual bitter rival, William Howard Taft…Ms. Goodwin uses the Roosevelt and Taft presidencies to view timely issues through the prism of the early 20th century, prompting us to reconsider the ways political dynamics have, and have not, changed. She also uses her impressive narrative skills to give us a visceral sense of the world in which Roosevelt and Taft came of age, and the wave of populism that was beginning to sweep the land. She creates emotionally detailed portraits of the two men's families, provides an informed understanding of the political forces…arrayed across the country at the time, and enlivens even highly familiar scenes like Teddy Roosevelt's daring charge up San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and the "near riot" that broke out between Roosevelt and Taft delegates at the 1912 Republican Convention in Chicago
Michiko Kakutani - New York Times


There are but a handful of times in the history of our country," Goodwin writes in her introduction, "when there occurs a transformation so remarkable that a molt seems to take place, and an altered country begins to emerge." The years covered in this book are such a time. It makes a pretty grand story…Goodwin directs her characters with precision and affection, and the story comes together like a well-wrought novel…Roosevelt and Taft and their wives and siblings and parents and children all wrote each other copious, loving and often eloquent reports. Goodwin seems to have read them all, along with every newspaper and magazine published during those years…and used them to put political intrigues and moral dilemmas and daily lives into rich and elegant language. Imagine The West Wing scripted by Henry James
Bill Keller - New York Times


Goodwin’s evocative examination of the Progressive world is smart and engaging.... She presents a highly readable and detailed portrait of an era. The Bully Pulpit brings the early 20th century to life and firmly establishes the crucial importance of the press to Progressive politics.
Washington Post


Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin has scored again with The Bully Pulpit, a thorough and well-written study of two presidents, as well as the journalists who covered them and exposed scandals in government and industry….Her genius in this huge volume (750 pages of text) is to take the three narratives and weave them into a comprehensive, readable study of the time ….The Bully Pulpit is a remarkable study of a tumultuous period in our history.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


These fascinating times deserve a chronicler as wise and thorough as Goodwin. The Bully Pulpit is splendid reading.
Dallas Morning News


In her beautiful new account of the lives of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin spins a tale so gripping that one questions the need for fiction when real life is so plump with drama and intrigue.
Associated Press Staff



This sophisticated, character-driven book tells two big stories.... This is a fascinating work, even a timely one.... It captures the way a political party can be destroyed by factionalism, and it shows the important role investigative journalists play in political life.
Economist


(Starred review.) [A] narrative around the friendship of two very different Presidents, Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.... Goodwin links both presidents' fortunes to the rise of "muckraking" journalism...and its influence over political and social discussion.... Goodwin manages to make history very much alive and relevant. Better yet—the party politics are explicitly modern.
Publishers Weekly


President Theodore Roosevelt (TR) and his successor William Howard Taft, with a new breed of investigative reporter, took on greedy industrialists and corrupt politicians. Goodwin excels in capturing the essences of TR and Taft.... The best part of this volume is the author's presentation of the muckrakers (investigative reporters), whose research TR, in contrast to Taft, was willing to use..... Verdict: It's a long book, but it marks Goodwin's page-turner trifecta on the evolution of the modern presidency. —William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport
Library Journal


(Starred review.) Swiftly moving account of a friendship that turned sour, broke a political party in two and involved an insistent, omnipresent press corps.... A considerable contributor to the split was TR's progressivism, his trust-busting and efforts to improve the lot of America's working people, which Taft was disinclined to emulate. Moreover, Taft did not warm to TR's great talent, which was to enlist journalists to his cause.... It's no small achievement to have something new to say on Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, but Goodwin succeeds admirably. A notable, psychologically charged study in leadership.
Kirkus Reviews