A review by bupdaddy
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin

4.0

Really interesting book on the rise and fall of the progressive movement almost synonymous with Theodore Roosevelt's career. Goodwin makes the case that the progressive journalists of McClure's, Roosevelt, and Taft comprised a three-way symbiosis that accomplished quite a bit for a while. She also makes the case that Roosevelt was too much of an egotist to get out of his own way and it bit hi at the end.

Taft comes out the more likable man in the end. He had the purer of intentions and believed the work was more important than the man in the office. I also empathized with him a lot.

Fascinating tidbit - Roosevelt proposed social security in 1912 when he was campaigning for his "Bull Moose" run.