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The Bully Pulpit
The next Democratic presidential candidate, Jack Morgan decides to campaign on a radical environmental platform, foresaking the media blitz of the campaign trail and sitting at home on his Ohio front porch for heart-to-hearts with the nation
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 10, 2017
Excellent read.
August 12, 2025
Much of the book was very interesting, esp the part about the muckraking journalists including Ida Tarbell who effected real, progressive. Ha be in the early 20th century. But the author went into too much detail at some points, making the book drag a bit.
November 16, 2014
I have FINALLY finished this book. What a tour de force. It was interesting, but it really needed a good editor with a big box of blue pencils. There was too much detail about the magazine writers that had no bearing on the issues being addressed by Roosevelt and Taft. In fact, it wasn't clear to me that the writers' selection of topics to be investigated resulted from any interaction with politicians or the presidents themselves. I think it would have sufficed to offer concise descriptions of the revelations in articles that had a bearing on the outcomes of the presidents' efforts.
Let me emphasize the word "concise." In other parts of the book, the author beat certain topics to death -- the rapport between Roosevelt and Taft, Taft's benign personality, and the unexplained rift between to the two men after the 1912 elections, to name a few. As for the latter, I find it difficult to believe that the author wasn't able to unearth any possible reasons for this rift, given the tremendous amount of research that must have gone into this book.
I couldn't follow the ins and outs of most of the trust issues. The author had me with the Rockefeller expose, but pretty much lost me with accounts of the other evildoers, especially the ones involving coal and waterfront rights.
Finally, I wish the author had included more of the other issues of the day and not focused almost primarily on the trusts, unless that was the only thing the two men, mostly Roosevelt, actually dealt with.
As I said at the beginning, the book was interesting, and I learned something about a little patch of history that I had known nothing about before. I just wish it hadn't been such a slog to get through.
Let me emphasize the word "concise." In other parts of the book, the author beat certain topics to death -- the rapport between Roosevelt and Taft, Taft's benign personality, and the unexplained rift between to the two men after the 1912 elections, to name a few. As for the latter, I find it difficult to believe that the author wasn't able to unearth any possible reasons for this rift, given the tremendous amount of research that must have gone into this book.
I couldn't follow the ins and outs of most of the trust issues. The author had me with the Rockefeller expose, but pretty much lost me with accounts of the other evildoers, especially the ones involving coal and waterfront rights.
Finally, I wish the author had included more of the other issues of the day and not focused almost primarily on the trusts, unless that was the only thing the two men, mostly Roosevelt, actually dealt with.
As I said at the beginning, the book was interesting, and I learned something about a little patch of history that I had known nothing about before. I just wish it hadn't been such a slog to get through.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews