The Bully Pulpit Pdf Summary Reviews By Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Bully Pulpit Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism Pdf Summary

Doris Kearns Goodwin, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of Team of Rivals, captures the Progressive Era through the story of the broken friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, culminating in their running against one another for president in 1912.

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The Bully Pulpit Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism Book Review

andrew lawson

5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 9, 2013

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Let me start by telling you just why I read Ms Goodwins’s book, “The Bully Pulpit.” I am in the process of writing about newpaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, a contemporary of Teddy Roosevelt (TR) and William Howard Taft. Mr Hearst had a particularly contentious relationship with TR during Roosevelt’s tenure as President. Hearst, a strong Democrat, was the owner of the New York Journal and was very instrumental in promoting American’s entry into the Spanish-American War in 1898. Roosevelt was just as eager as Hearst in warring with the Spanish, and the motives on neither one nor the other had anything to do with the welfare of the Cuban people. Hearst wanted to profit from such a war through selling newspapers – millions of them – and Roosevelt was most interested in becoming a hero. The war was prosecuted. The US won. Hearst did sell millions of his newspapers, and “Roughrider” Teddy Roosevelt did become a genuine American “war hero.”


While the reader may be aware of TR’s fame, few of you may be informed of Hearsts’ renown. During his lifetime, TR became the most famous American in the world. During that same time, William Randolph Hearst was the second most well known American in the world. So, what might legitmatize my comments on Ms Goodwin’s book is that I am widely read concerning Mr Hearst and have read a great deal of what has been written about TR. I have read the Edmund Morris three volume biography of Roosevelt as well as several other books centered on our former President. Anything written about Hearst must include significent information about his feud with Roosevelt, so I am particularly versed on that aspect of TR;s life. I do have an undergraduate degee in US History. So, after this meager attempt to justify why I might be qualified to comment on “The Bully Pulpit,” let me begin.


As indicated by its title, the book focuses on Roosevelt,Taft and certain journalists known as the “muckrakers.” Muckrakers were those late 19th and early 20th centure journalists who wrote extensive and well documented exposes about predatory capitalists and their relationships with corrupt politicians. This included such topics as Standard Oil and US Steel monopolistc practices, banking irregularities, the railway trusts, child labor, the overwhelming influence of “big money” on election results, union “busting,” etc. Ms Goodwin writes about a particular set of muckrakers who were employed by Samuel McClure, owner of the magazine that bore his name, “McClures.” Much of Ms Goodwin’s writing is devoted to consturcting biographical descriptions, not just of Roosevelt and Taft, but of many of the other characters as well.


The brief biographies of Roosevelt and Taft are excellent overviews of their early lives. Both were born into privileged families, and each one had an accomlished father. And these fathers were strong and positive role models to their sons. TR’s relationship with his father, Theodore Sr, was very touching. The futrue President was born with a serious asthmatic condition which cold easily have restiricted his life both physically and intellectually. Not only did his father nurse his young son lthrough many asthma attacks, he directed him to “attack” the condition. So, from early childhood on, Teddy Roosevelt was literally a physical fitness “nut.” From hiking, rowing, weight lifting, boxing, wrestling, horse back riding to beating – as well as being beaten upon – others with heavy wooden sticks in some kind of martial arts ritual, TR was physically active all of his life. While President, his in-office, noon-time boxing and “stick-beating” matches were legendary. (Obama plays basketball – what a wimp!) Throughout his lifetime, Teddy Roosevelt read over 300 books a year! And because of his photographic memory, TR could quote passages from books that he had read many years before. Taft’s childhood was much more sedate.


Raised in an affluent Cincinnati neighborhood and son of a successful attorney and judge, Taft assumed his father’s “judicial temperment, moral courage, and patience.” Rather than pursue pysical fitness, Taft’s father, Alphonso, encouraged his son “to focus solely on his classwork.” Goodwin frequently alludes to the obesity that plagued Taft throughout his life which, I believe, can be attributed to his father steering him away from physical activities. Taft went on to become a most “affable and congenial” pereson who always sought to “get along” with others. I believe Goodwin intentionally contrasts Taft’s and TR’s childhoods, for it is these contrasts that differentiated their future styles as US Presidents.
Without going into detail, Ms Goodwin aketches the lives of Presidental wives Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft. Each wife contributed enormously to the success of her husband. And while Goodwin outlines the lives of certain muckrakers as well, she focuses particularly on that of Ida Tarbell.


Ida Tarbell was renowned for the meticulous manner in which she attacked corruption. And credit Samuel McClure, described by Ms Goodwin as almot “insanely” creative, for providing his writers with almost unlimited time – as much as 2 years – in preparing their exposes. Would we not all want to have such an employer! Lincoln Steffans, another “McClure muckraker” was equally as effective as Tarbell in his pursuit of social justice.
Intertwined with the biographies of her main characters, Goodwin proceeds to describe how muckrakers interacted with Roosevelt and Taft to combat corruption. TR in particular often invited them to the White Houuse to encourage them in their pursuits. He, then, drew upon these reports as evidence in his pursuit of necessary reforms. As a student of Us History, I never fully grasped the role of muckraking in assisting TR in “busting the trusts.” Thanks to Ms Goodwin, I have a much clearer picture of its role in American History. But the book’s primary focus is examining the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft.
Goodwin makes it very clear that Taft was TR;s protege. During TR’s administration, he made good use of Taft as Governor General to the Philippines and, later, as his Secretary of War. He also used Taft in emergency situations as the time he sent Taft to Cuba to Prevent what might have become a civil war. In fact, Taft served TR so well that Taft became TR’s hand-picked candidate for the Republican nominee for President. But Goodwin also insinuates that TR regretted that he, himself, had decided against running for a third term in 1908. After Taft’s election, Goodwin proceeds to describe how TR was critical of Taft decisions that seemed to reverse some of TR’s earlier accomplishments. Eventually, TR became so disenchanted with Taft that he decided to challenge Taft for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1912. What is interesting is that Goodwin more than implies that TR’s criticisms of Taft were unfounded, and that his reasons for attempting to unseat Taft were without merit. Goodwin leaves the reader to think that TR simply sought to regain the power and prestige of the Presidency. When Taft defeated Roosevelt for the nomination, TR then went ahead to form the “Bull Moose Party” and became its candidate for the Presidency. This decision split the Republican vote, and Woodrow Wilson becomes President. The rivialry that TR created between himself and Taft turned really ugly, and led to the dissolution of their freindship. The attacks TR leveled against Taft during the campaign were completely unjustified, and show an ugly side of Theodore Roosevelt of which I was not aware. At the same time, Taft maintained his affection and respect for Roosevelt. The really gentle nature of Taft was exhibited throughout the race.
Goodwin writes much more about the Roosevelt-Taft relationship throughout the book. Taft’s conscientious and methodical approach to decision making is contrasted with TR’s impetuousness. Taft, as Goodwin points out, was ever the “judge” who weighed everyone’s arguments before making decisions. Roosevelt reached conclusions much more quickly. In fact, the major breech in their relationship was Roosevelt’s mistrust of the Judiciary whose decisions he felt should be subject to recall, while Taft saw judicial review as inviloate and a cornerstone of American democracy.


Ms Goodwin’s book encompasses 750 pages whose content is as well researched and as well documented as were those of the “muckrakers” she writes about. It especially impresses me that Ms Goodwin recognizes the importance of women in history. Neither Taft not Roosevelt could have been all that that were without the contributions of their wives, Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft. And, to be quite honest, I would never have read a biography of William Howard Taft were it not for this book. But now I have come to know about the wise and gentle nature of this former US President. He’s proof that one needn’t be shrill or offensive to become a politicain.


And, finally, Ms Goodwin has given me a more complete picture of President Theodore Roosevelt. I was aware of namy of his great accomplishments – of his trust-busting and of his insistence that every person has the right to a “square deal.” And allthough his “rough and tumble” is a major part of his legacy, Ms Goodwin writes the he was much more complicated than that. His voracious reading made him the most informed President in history. It was the knowledge gained from reading that enabled him to broker a peace between the warring nations of Russia and Japan thereby becoming the first American to be awarde the Nobel Peace Prize. But, as Ms Goodwin points out, TR had his “warts” as well. His treatment of President Taft was unfair. And TR did not always come down on the side of “fair play.” After all, he was a Republican who believed the rich were a cut above the less fortunate. I read at the rate of about 30 pages an hour, so I estimate that it took me 25 hours to read Ms Goodwin’s book. I would like to thank her for the 7 years it took her to write a work that both entertained me as well as informed me about a very dynamic time in American History.

D. C. Stolk

5.0 out of 5 stars “Bully!”
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 9, 2013

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According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “bully pulpit” means “a public office or position of authority that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issue.” It was first used by Theodore Roosevelt, when asked for his view on the presidency, in this quotation: “I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!” The word bully itself was an adjective in the lingo of the time meaning “first- rate,” somewhat comparable to the recent use of the word “awesome.” Hence the title of this review. The term “bully pulpit” is still used today to describe the president’s power to influence the public.

“The Bully Pulpit” clocks in at a hefty 928 pages in the hardcover edition, the reason why I chose the e-book version, and is lavishly illustrated. Each chapter starts with a contemporary photograph or cartoon beneath the chapter-title, and there’s a separate photograph-section at the back of the e-book that has 68 photographs. Although a massive tome, it should be noted that “only” about 56% of the book consists of the main narrative. The rest of the volume is taken up by the extensive endnotes and index.

Rather than write another biography about a famous American President, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin has chosen for a different approach. In “The Bully Pulpit”, she recounts the birth of America’s Progressive Era through the close friendship between two Presidents: Theodore Roosevelt and his successor William Howard Taft. But rather than focusing exclusively on these two, she enlivens her account by twisting through the narrative the story of the “muckrakers” (another term coined by TR): the group of investigative journalists from magazine McClure’s. In this magazine, they published popular exposes of fraudulent railroads and millionaire senators, aiding Roosevelt in his quest for change and fairness.

Author Goodwin starts her narrative with ex-president TR’s return from a hunting trip to Africa in 1910. Then, switching between the two in alternating chapters, she charts the lives of Roosevelt and Taft from boyhood to maturity, and presents their wives Nellie Taft and Edith Roosevelt, before introducing McClure’s Magazine and it’s reporters.

Through this lengthy preamble, she brilliantly contrasts their very different childhoods and careers, as well as their differences in style and personality, a foreshadowing of the causes that would lead to one of the major political feuds of the age. Polar opposites, they still became firm friends, almost from the moment they first met in Washington at the beginning of their political careers.

The meat of the book concerns the period when Roosevelt became President, after President McKinley was assassinated in 1901. As President, T.R.’s goals were: “to distribute the nation’s wealth more equitably, regulate the giant corporations and railroads, strengthen the rights of labor, and protect the country’s natural resources from private exploitation.” Roosevelt coined the phrase “Square Deal” to describe his domestic agenda, and developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the national press so they worked together to bring on the progressive era.

His close friend Taft became an indispensable member of President Roosevelt’s cabinet and later his handpicked successor, after Roosevelt decided not to run for a third term. On TR’s return in 1910 he broke bitterly with President Taft on issues of progressivism and when in the 1912 election Roosevelt failed to block Taft’s re-nomination, he launched the Bull Moose Party, which ultimately led to them both losing to Democrat Woodrow Wilson, who became President.

In the epilogue, author Goodwin touchingly describes how the old friends reconciled during a chance meeting not long before Roosevelt’s death in 1919, how Taft in 1921 finally got the position he had always longed for, that of Chief Justice of the United States, and how the members of the original McClure’s magazine staff stayed in touch with each other into old age.

Goodwin’s narrative is founded upon an abundance of primary materials, like the extensive correspondence between Roosevelt and Taft; the diaries of Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft and the journals, memoirs and hundreds of letters the “muckrakers” wrote to one another, to name but a few of the sources she used in writing “The Bully Pulpit”.

While the narrative sometimes seems to get bogged down in minutiae, you won’t be sorry to read about “Will and Teedie” and the muckrakers, as this account is far more than just a biography of “that damned cowboy president” Roosevelt and of the man nicknamed “Big Bill” in his younger years, William Howard Taft. It is also a detailed portrait of an era as well as a history of the press, all of this combined into one eminently readable book.

For those wishing to read more about Theodore Roosevelt, I recommend the biographical trilogy by Edmund Morris: “The Rise Of Theodore Roosevelt,” “Theodore Rex” and “Colonel Roosevelt”. Or if made curious for the full story on the digging of the Panama Canal, I recommend: “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough.
Strangely, there is not much available on William Howard Taft, the only American ever to have been both President and Chief Justice of the United States. Maybe time for an author of the caliber of a Chernow, Isaacson or Morris to write a biography that does justice to the man.

About Doris Kearns Goodwin Author Of The Bully Pulpit pdf Book

Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin Author Of The Bully Pulpit pdf Book, Her interest in leadership began more than half a century ago as a professor at Harvard. Her experiences working for LBJ in the White House and later assisting him on his memoirs led to her bestselling “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.” She followed up with the Pulitzer Prize–winning “No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.” She earned the Lincoln Prize for the runaway bestseller “Team of Rivals,” the basis for Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning film “Lincoln,” and the Carnegie Medal for the “New York Times” bestselling chronicle of the friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts. .

The Bully Pulpit pdf, Paperback, Hardcover Book Information

the bully pulpit pdf book
the bully pulpit pdf book
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (January 1, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 928 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 141654786X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1416547860
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 2 x 9.25 inches
  • Best Sellers Rank: #235,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Political Leadership
  • #268 in Journalist Biographies
  • #579 in US Presidents
  • Customer Reviews: 4.6 out of 5 stars    2,639 ratings

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