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

The Bully Pulpit is a history of the first decade of the Progressive era, a tumultuous period when the nation faced significant challenges and reform movements gained momentum. The narrative centers on the intense friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—a close relationship that strengthens both men before rupturing in 1912 when they engage in a bitter fight for the presidential nomination. This conflict divides their families and closest associates, weakens the progressive wing of the Republican Party, and results in Democrat Woodrow Wilson's election, altering the country's trajectory. The book also examines the muckraking press and its role in spurring reform. Goodwin portrays the greatest group of journalists assembled at one magazine—Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White—working under publisher S.S. McClure. Their investigative reporting helped Roosevelt push the government to address the practices of robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of natural resources. Goodwin's narrative draws on extensive primary materials, including over four hundred letters between Roosevelt and Taft spanning decades, diaries kept by Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft, journalists' correspondence and memoirs, and letters from Captain Archie Butt, who served as personal aide to both presidents. The work combines scholarly rigor with accessibility to examine leadership during a moment of activism and reform.