Dear Great Book Guru,  I attended a fabulous Presidents’ Day brunch over the weekend, and one of the fun things we did was choose our favorite president.  Many of us, myself included voted for Theodore Roosevelt. I have visited Roosevelt’s homes in Oyster Bay and Manhattan, read a number of his biographies, but I would like to learn still more about this fascinating man.  Any thoughts?      A Fan  of T.R.  

Dear T.R. Fan.   I too have always been fascinated by our 26^th president. I just finished a great book by a favorite author of mine- Doris Kearns Goodwin:  THE BULLY PULPIT.  This is more than a standard biography of a president- it delves into Roosevelt’s relationship with his handpicked successor William Howard Taft and also the role journalists played in creating the narrative of Roosevelt’s life before and after his election. In fact the subtitle of the book is “Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism.  Taft and Roosevelt make for such a wonderful contrast- the sickly child who devoted his life to becoming healthy, athletic, and fit and Taft, robust as a child ,  who went on to spend his adult life unsuccessfully fighting severe obesity.  Both progressives, Roosevelt was the consummate politician and friend of journalists while Taft had little political acumen, shunning interviews and photo ops.   Despite these differences, they had an intense friendship which came to a devastating end when Roosevelt decided to run against Taft for reelection with Democrat Woodrow Wilson ultimately winning the election. It was only years later, shortly before Roosevelt’s death, that the two men were to reconcile.   A very long book (900 pages), BULLY PULPIT gives us an interesting look into a time when the presidency, politics, and the media were all reconfiguring.    A very worthwhile and enjoyable read!