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Bully Boy: The Truth About Theodore Roosevelt's Legacy
What Hath TR Wrought?
“I don’t think that any harm comes from the concentration of power in one man’s hands.” —Theodore Roosevelt
The notion that Theodore Roosevelt was one of America’s greatest presidents is literally carved in stone—right up there on Mount Rushmore. But as historian Jim Powell shows in the refreshingly original Bully Boy, Roosevelt’s toothy grin, outsized personality, colossal energy, and fascinating life story have obscured what he actually did as president.
And what Roosevelt did severely damaged the United States.
Until now, no historian has thoroughly rebutted the adulation so widely accorded to TR. Powell digs beneath the surface to expose the harm Roosevelt did to the country in his own era. More important, he examines the lasting consequences of Roosevelt’s actions—the legacies of big government, expanded presidential power, and foreign interventionism that plague us today.
Bully Boy reveals:
• How Roosevelt, the celebrated “trust-buster,” actually promoted monopolies
• How this self-proclaimed champion of conservation caused untold environmental destruction
• How TR expanded presidential power and brought us big government
• How he heralded in the era of government regulation, handicapping employers, destroying jobs, and harming consumers
• How he established the dangerous precedent of pushing America into other people’s wars even when our own national interests aren’t at stake
• How this crusader for “pure food” launched loony campaigns against margarine, corn syrup, and Coca-Cola
• How Roosevelt inspired the campaign to enact a federal income tax that was supposedly a tax on the rich but became a people’s tax
Bully Boy is both a groundbreaking look at a pivotal time in America’s history and a powerful explanation of how so many of our modern troubles began.
From the Hardcover edition.
“I don’t think that any harm comes from the concentration of power in one man’s hands.” —Theodore Roosevelt
The notion that Theodore Roosevelt was one of America’s greatest presidents is literally carved in stone—right up there on Mount Rushmore. But as historian Jim Powell shows in the refreshingly original Bully Boy, Roosevelt’s toothy grin, outsized personality, colossal energy, and fascinating life story have obscured what he actually did as president.
And what Roosevelt did severely damaged the United States.
Until now, no historian has thoroughly rebutted the adulation so widely accorded to TR. Powell digs beneath the surface to expose the harm Roosevelt did to the country in his own era. More important, he examines the lasting consequences of Roosevelt’s actions—the legacies of big government, expanded presidential power, and foreign interventionism that plague us today.
Bully Boy reveals:
• How Roosevelt, the celebrated “trust-buster,” actually promoted monopolies
• How this self-proclaimed champion of conservation caused untold environmental destruction
• How TR expanded presidential power and brought us big government
• How he heralded in the era of government regulation, handicapping employers, destroying jobs, and harming consumers
• How he established the dangerous precedent of pushing America into other people’s wars even when our own national interests aren’t at stake
• How this crusader for “pure food” launched loony campaigns against margarine, corn syrup, and Coca-Cola
• How Roosevelt inspired the campaign to enact a federal income tax that was supposedly a tax on the rich but became a people’s tax
Bully Boy is both a groundbreaking look at a pivotal time in America’s history and a powerful explanation of how so many of our modern troubles began.
From the Hardcover edition.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
12 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Jim Powell
11 books9 followersJim Powell is Senior Fellow at a libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., with which he has been associated since 1988. He has also done work for the Manhattan Institute, the Institute for Humane Studies, Citizens for a Sound Economy, the National Right to Work Committee and Americans for Free Choice in Medicine.
Powell is an author on the history of liberty. He wrote three books that reported findings about the unintended consequences of major presidential policies. Altogether he has written eight books and is perhaps best known for FDR's Folly, which has been praised by Nobel Laureates Milton Friedman and James M. Buchanan, Harvard historian David Landes and historian Thomas Fleming. Powell's books have been translated into Japanese.
Powell is an author on the history of liberty. He wrote three books that reported findings about the unintended consequences of major presidential policies. Altogether he has written eight books and is perhaps best known for FDR's Folly, which has been praised by Nobel Laureates Milton Friedman and James M. Buchanan, Harvard historian David Landes and historian Thomas Fleming. Powell's books have been translated into Japanese.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 5, 2020
Historian Jim Powell exposes Theodore Roosevelt’s disastrous legacy for what it really is. Here in this book, Jim Powell presents damning evidence that:
- Roosevelt’s environmental policies caused the destruction of over a million acres of land and were used to enrich political friends
- Roosevelt was a racist who was very much interested in entering wars abroad
- The Roosevelt Administration caused the Banking Panic of 1907 by scaring investors away from investing in the economy
- The railroad industry, and it’s customers, were hurt by the Roosevelt Administration’s policies towards it.
- Roosevelt helped pave the way for the income tax
I decided to pick up this book after reading his other book, FDR’s Folly. This one is just as good and should be read by fans of his first bestseller!
- Roosevelt’s environmental policies caused the destruction of over a million acres of land and were used to enrich political friends
- Roosevelt was a racist who was very much interested in entering wars abroad
- The Roosevelt Administration caused the Banking Panic of 1907 by scaring investors away from investing in the economy
- The railroad industry, and it’s customers, were hurt by the Roosevelt Administration’s policies towards it.
- Roosevelt helped pave the way for the income tax
I decided to pick up this book after reading his other book, FDR’s Folly. This one is just as good and should be read by fans of his first bestseller!
August 11, 2010
After reading Jim Powell's book FDR's Folly, I wasn't sure I wanted to follow that one by reading Bully Boy, Powell's critique of Theodore Roosevelt's political life. So, I thought I'd give my brain a rest and just check it out of the library and do a mild overview. Unfortunately, you can't read a Powell book like that, so after reading just the introduction, I was hooked.
Powell's view point in Bully Boy is similar to that in FDR's Folly, but a little less detailed. He provides a strong chronological look at T. Roosevelt's entire political career, with his major focus on its consequences, especially during Roosevelt's presidency.
One area that evidently eluded me during my years in school was the fact that T. Roosevelt was a Republican (pretty much in name only), but his politics were radical, liberal and progressive. As a result, he believed in a huge, powerful central government, led by a president who has a lot of individual power at his disposal. Roosevelt felt America's involvement in war was the noblest of endeavors, and as an aggressive expansionist president, continuously involved the American military in senseless, imperialistic takeovers of foreign governments like the Hawaiian Islands, Panama, Cuba, the Philippines, and even eyed countries in South America, even though not a single one of these military actions involved the national security of the United States. And many, if not most of these conflicts were done without Constitutionally mandated congressional approval. As the president, Roosevelt felt he had the power and the right to commit American military forces anywhere he deemed them necessary, and without anyone's approval.
Powell shows that Roosevelt's famous "trust-buster" reputation was a sham. As president, he created governmental monopolies, while damaging America's free-trade economy and harming consumers by the use of tariffs, breaking up of worthwhile businesses, and resurrecting the dreaded income tax.
Bully Boy is a compelling, well-documented, and controversial book. Regardless of your view point, Powell has written another thought-provoking volume, worthy of serious consideration. The end notes and bibliography in this book are a gold mine of historical information.
Whether you love and admire Teddy Roosevelt, or can't wait for his face to be sand-blasted off of Mount Rushmore, Jim Powell's book Bully Boy is truly a worthwhile read. All I ask is that if you're going to write a review of Bully Boy, or add comments to another review, please respect the author, Amazon.com, and the other reviewers by at least reading the book, the entire book, and also please refrain from spilling your ideological guts out all over Powell and the rest of us instead of adding a beneficial and thoughtful review.
Powell's view point in Bully Boy is similar to that in FDR's Folly, but a little less detailed. He provides a strong chronological look at T. Roosevelt's entire political career, with his major focus on its consequences, especially during Roosevelt's presidency.
One area that evidently eluded me during my years in school was the fact that T. Roosevelt was a Republican (pretty much in name only), but his politics were radical, liberal and progressive. As a result, he believed in a huge, powerful central government, led by a president who has a lot of individual power at his disposal. Roosevelt felt America's involvement in war was the noblest of endeavors, and as an aggressive expansionist president, continuously involved the American military in senseless, imperialistic takeovers of foreign governments like the Hawaiian Islands, Panama, Cuba, the Philippines, and even eyed countries in South America, even though not a single one of these military actions involved the national security of the United States. And many, if not most of these conflicts were done without Constitutionally mandated congressional approval. As the president, Roosevelt felt he had the power and the right to commit American military forces anywhere he deemed them necessary, and without anyone's approval.
Powell shows that Roosevelt's famous "trust-buster" reputation was a sham. As president, he created governmental monopolies, while damaging America's free-trade economy and harming consumers by the use of tariffs, breaking up of worthwhile businesses, and resurrecting the dreaded income tax.
Bully Boy is a compelling, well-documented, and controversial book. Regardless of your view point, Powell has written another thought-provoking volume, worthy of serious consideration. The end notes and bibliography in this book are a gold mine of historical information.
Whether you love and admire Teddy Roosevelt, or can't wait for his face to be sand-blasted off of Mount Rushmore, Jim Powell's book Bully Boy is truly a worthwhile read. All I ask is that if you're going to write a review of Bully Boy, or add comments to another review, please respect the author, Amazon.com, and the other reviewers by at least reading the book, the entire book, and also please refrain from spilling your ideological guts out all over Powell and the rest of us instead of adding a beneficial and thoughtful review.
May 7, 2013
Decided to read this book after reading "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt which did an amazing job showing the great "man" Roosevelt was. However, "Bully Boy" gives you the other side of Roosevelt; Roosevelt the politician. Powell goes to great lengths to point out where Roosevelt the man and Roosevelt the politician differ.
Roosevelt, although a tremendous personage in his personal life, his war mongering antics are still being felt today. His need to usurp the Constitution and the controls set in place to prevent government from acting unilaterally, had dire consequences both in war and economy.
The book covers in detail the"trust busting" era and how its intentions and results were predicated on special interest and cronyism. As in most of instances where government oversteps their authorization, the results are destructive to the people. This is a great book in my opinion. I am suer that other's views differ from mine and they feel that the FDA and that shifting the monopolies from private ones to government ones somehow made things better, but nonetheless I enjoyed this book.
Roosevelt, although a tremendous personage in his personal life, his war mongering antics are still being felt today. His need to usurp the Constitution and the controls set in place to prevent government from acting unilaterally, had dire consequences both in war and economy.
The book covers in detail the"trust busting" era and how its intentions and results were predicated on special interest and cronyism. As in most of instances where government oversteps their authorization, the results are destructive to the people. This is a great book in my opinion. I am suer that other's views differ from mine and they feel that the FDA and that shifting the monopolies from private ones to government ones somehow made things better, but nonetheless I enjoyed this book.
October 3, 2011
A real eye-opener about who Teddy Roosevelt was and how he changed to course of America. His presidency was probably the first of the modern elitists and set our feet on the path of socialism. If you enjoy history, Powell is as clear-eyed as history gets.
June 6, 2015
It's worth first saying that I agree with most of what Jim Powell is trying to communicate in "Bully Boy." Most people know only three things about Theodore Roosevelt: he was charismatic, he advanced positive progressive reforms, and he inspired the Teddy Bear. At least in my experience, historians have a more nuanced understanding: America was changing, and TR - for better or for worse - represented much of that change. Sure, most of his causes proved to be disastrous - conservation/damming/irrigation policies harming the environment, imperialism setting a terrible precedent for foreign relations, regulation and anti-trust suits largely serving the interests of politically connected cronies - but Gilded Age American politics had a plenty of problems as it was. For casual readers, this book could offer another perspective on TR. For historians, it could offer some light, fun reading. However, I found the aggressive tone and general lack of neutral information to be too much. First, I realize the whole point of the book is to "expose" the problematic side of TR, but Powell's tone of outright hostility undermines the work's credibility. Second, I often found myself thinking, "Oh please, surely there's something here I'm not being told," which is odd for a book whose thesis I'm inclined to agree with. Each chapter breaks down to about 10% what TR did, 90% how it was a disaster. Motivations on TR's part were always assumed to be achieving more power, and the actual substance of how policies worked was almost non-existent. Read only if you're a libertarian who wants to have your anti-TR inclinations confirmed.
April 23, 2009
At a young age, my mother instilled in me the value of finishing what I start. This is one volume that makes me regret not adding that to the long list of her values that I rejected somewhere along the way! I jumped right into this one, and it took me forever to get around to finishing it. Yes, it is that bad.
I love revisionist history, even when I disagree with the author's thesis. The problem being Powell´s thesis seems to be as simple as ¨Hey, I dislike Teddy.¨ He attacks from the left, he attacks from the right and when he runs out of any angle with which to go after him, he simply narates well known history, such as that of the railroads, and then spends a couple pages going after the progressive movement as a whole rather than the object of his disdain. In one small volume, Teddy is both too liberal and too conservative. The book lacks any cohesion, and is simply a personal assault...think of Ann Coulter, but Powell lacks both her acidic wit and her mastery of the english language.
This one reminds me that often those books we find marked down in the bargain bin are generally there for a reason.
I love revisionist history, even when I disagree with the author's thesis. The problem being Powell´s thesis seems to be as simple as ¨Hey, I dislike Teddy.¨ He attacks from the left, he attacks from the right and when he runs out of any angle with which to go after him, he simply narates well known history, such as that of the railroads, and then spends a couple pages going after the progressive movement as a whole rather than the object of his disdain. In one small volume, Teddy is both too liberal and too conservative. The book lacks any cohesion, and is simply a personal assault...think of Ann Coulter, but Powell lacks both her acidic wit and her mastery of the english language.
This one reminds me that often those books we find marked down in the bargain bin are generally there for a reason.
September 10, 2011
I have read many books about Teddy all of which loved Teddy. This is the first book that really gives another side to Teddy and his policies.He was really the first of the "Progressives" in the line of Woodrow Wilson, FDR, LBJ, and of course our present illustrious leader.
July 21, 2012
Informative, but a little dull in some areas. How none of this ever made it into our history books is a mystery to me.
January 4, 2015
A takedown of Teddy Roosevelt, this book strains to avoid saying anything possible about him, even when the author manages to find a point of agreement. Powell does make some good points, but they are unlikely to persuade anyone who isn't already in agreement with him. For those, like me, who find a lot to admire in TR's personality and life, it's interesting to see the downside and outright wrongheadedness of some of his policies. Even government interventions in the era of a vastly smaller government were still often overreaches. However, the book as a whole comes across as shrill and deliberately one-sided.
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September 23, 2010Bully Boy: The Truth About Theodore Roosevelt's Legacy by Jim Powell (2006)
February 5, 2016
This book really downgrades my opinion of TR. He might have caused WWII.
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August 1, 2013Read our review here: http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews