Reviews
The interplay between personality and politics, temperament and leadership is one of the key themes animating Doris Kearns Goodwin's telling books…The same is true of her sprawling new book, The Bully Pulpit , which gives us revealing portraits of Theodore Roosevelt and his close friend, handpicked successor and eventual bitter rival, William Howard Taft…She also uses her impressive narrative skills to give us a visceral sense of the world in which Roosevelt and Taft came of age...She creates emotionally detailed portraits of the two men's families, provides an informed understanding of the political forces (conservative, moderate and insurgent) arrayed across the country at the time, and enlivens even highly familiar scenes like Teddy Roosevelt's daring charge up San Juan Hill., 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., Goodwin spent eight years working on The Bully Pulpit and the effort shows, much to the reader's benefit and delight. She keeps the story clipping along, chooses enlightening anecdotes...and has the narrative and historical acumen to weave her theme through 900 pages. At 70, let's hope she has at least a couple more biographies in mind...For now, savor The Bully Pulpit . It is a command performance of popular history., 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., Swiftly moving account of a friendship that turned sour, broke a political party in two and involved an insistent, omnipresent press corps. . . . 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., By shining a light on a little-discussed President and a much-discussed one, Goodwin manages to make history very much alive and relevant. Better yet--the party politics are explicitly modern., If you find the grubby spectacle of today's Washington cause for shame and despair--and really, how could you not?--then I suggest you turn off the TV and board Doris Kearns Goodwin's latest time machine. ... [Goodwin puts] political intrigues and moral dilemmas and daily lives into rich and elegant language. Imagine 'The West Wing' scripted by Henry James., 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., Doris Kearns Goodwin tells this tale with her usual literary skill and deep research. … Goodwin not only sheds light on the birth of the modern political world but chronicles a remarkable friendship between two remarkable men., 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., If you find the grubby spectacle of today's Washington cause for shame and despair-and really, how could you not?-then I suggest you turn off the TV and board Doris Kearns Goodwin's latest time machine. … [Goodwin puts] political intrigues and moral dilemmas and daily lives into rich and elegant language. Imagine 'The West Wing' scripted by Henry James., The interplay between personality and politics, temperament and leadership is one of the key themes animating Doris Kearns Goodwin's telling books...The same is true of her sprawling new book, The Bully Pulpit , which gives us revealing portraits of Theodore Roosevelt and his close friend, handpicked successor and eventual bitter rival, William Howard Taft...She also uses her impressive narrative skills to give us a visceral sense of the world in which Roosevelt and Taft came of age...She creates emotionally detailed portraits of the two men's families, provides an informed understanding of the political forces (conservative, moderate and insurgent) arrayed across the country at the time, and enlivens even highly familiar scenes like Teddy Roosevelt's daring charge up San Juan Hill., Doris Kearns Goodwin tells this tale with her usual literary skill and deep research. ... Goodwin not only sheds light on the birth of the modern political world but chronicles a remarkable friendship between two remarkable men., 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., If you find the grubby spectacle of today's Washington cause for shame and despair-and really, how could you not?-then I suggest you turn off the TV and board Doris Kearns Goodwin's latest time machine. ... [Goodwin puts] political intrigues and moral dilemmas and daily lives into rich and elegant language. Imagine 'The West Wing' scripted by Henry James., These fascinating times deserve a chronicler as wise and thorough as Goodwin. The Bully Pulpit is splendid reading., Goodwin spent eight years working on The Bully Pulpit and the effort shows, much to the reader's benefit and delight. She keeps the story clipping along, chooses enlightening anecdotes…and has the narrative and historical acumen to weave her theme through 900 pages. At 70, let's hope she has at least a couple more biographies in mind…For now, savor The Bully Pulpit . It is a command performance of popular history., Here is where Goodwin's account soars. She captures with masterly precision the depth of the Roosevelt-Taft relationship, the slow dissolution and the growing disillusion, the awkward attempts at rapprochement, and then the final break....It is a story worth telling, and one well told., By shining a light on a little-discussed President and a much-discussed one, Goodwin manages to make history very much alive and relevant. Better yet-the party politics are explicitly modern.
