I am a historian who focuses on the political history of the United States during the 20th century. My particular interest focuses on the history of the Republican Party & the American presidency. I am curious about how individuals acquire political power and their use of it. I was drawn to write a book about the friendship between Roosevelt and Lodge because of my fascination with the friendship among Eastern elites and how Lodge served as a mentor to Roosevelt in helping him achieve prominence in United States politics. Despite the many books on T.R. no one has ever written a narrative about his relationship with Lodge.
I wrote...
The Rough Rider and the Professor: Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and the Friendship That Changed American History
Set during the American Gilded Age, the narrative tells the story of the 35-year relationship between President Theodore Roosevelt and Massachusetts senator, Henry Cabot Lodge. While Roosevelt took pride in telling those he “rose like a rocket” going from a political neophyte to president of the United States in under two decades, that meteoric rise never would have occurred without the powerful counsel and network of the mercurial senator from Massachusetts. Throughout professional triumphs and personal losses, Lodge and Roosevelt stood shoulder to shoulder as they sought to not only enhance the power of the Republican Party but set the United States on a course to become one of the world’s great powers.
Despite being written in 1961, Harbaugh’s work remains the best one-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt.
I found the book extremely thorough and even handed. I also believe it is a great work to introduce those who have not read a book about Theodore Roosevelt before. Harbaugh, who taught at the University of Virginia for many years, explains the complex issues Roosevelt confronted with great clarity making this survey about the Rough Rider a great choice for anyone who is interested in learning about one of the most fascinating figures the United States has ever produced.
Letters and the memoirs of Roosevelt and his contemporaries provide an in-depth portrait of the man, his political career, and his presidency. Bibliogs
Garraty’s classic work written in 1953, remains the best biography of the New England politician and was a vital source for my own research. The first historian to have access to the senator’s papers, the author who taught history at Columbia University, has written a scrupulously researched book detailing the Bostonian political life.
While I believe Professor Garraty portrayed the relationship between Lodge and Roosevelt as less contentious than it was, Garraty had to contend with the senator’s protective grandson, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Lodge Jr had control over his grandfather’s papers and Garraty may have been forced to tread delicately in his portrayal of the Boston politician.
One of the most prolific correspondents in American history, Adams keen eye and biting wit is the perfect companion for anyone who wants to gain a picture of the themes, events, and personalities that dominated the Gilded Age.
The grandson, and great-grandson of two American presidents, Adams was a symbol of the WASP elite whose dominance in American society was beginning to wane. A former journalist, professor at Harvard, mentor to Henry Cabot Lodge and friend of Theodore Roosevelt, Adams was closely associated with the who’s who of politics, art, and society.
While Adams may have realized he was writing for posterity, the letters are detailed and leave little to the imagination in terms of what Adams thought of those he encountered among the politicians and government men who occupied the nation’s capital.
Henry Adams's letters are one of the vital chronicles of the life of the mind in America. A perceptive analyst of people, events, and ideas, Adams recorded, with brilliance and wit, sixty years of enormous change at home and abroad.
Volume I shows him growing from a high-spirited but self-conscious 20-year-old to a self-assured man of the world. In Washington in the chaotic months before Lincoln's inauguration, then in London during the war years and beyond, he serves as secretary to his statesman father and is privy to the inner workings of politics and diplomacy. English social life proves as…
A winner of the National Book Award, Morris’ majestic work is the first in a trilogy on Theodore Roosevelt.
A wonderful stylist and prodigious researcher, the author focuses on the formative years of (1858-1901) the man who became the nation’s 26th president. Morris develops a gripping narrative that demonstrates the incredible intellectual and physical vitality that made T.R. such a legendary figure.
While I enjoyed Morris’ prose it was his incredible research that helped me the most. Investigating every archive relating to Roosevelt, Morris’ book allowed me to discover a source that was critical in articulating my argument about the enormous influence Lodge had on Roosevelt’s career.
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE AND THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time
“A towering biography . . . a brilliant chronicle.”—Time
This classic biography is the story of seven men—a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a ranchman, a soldier, and a politician—who merged at age forty-two to become the youngest President in history.
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt begins at the apex of his international prestige. That was on New Year’s Day, 1907, when TR, who had just won the Nobel Peace Prize,…
A wonderful biography of the journalist, poet, and diplomat.
Taliaferro’s narrative gives the reader a broad understanding of the political and diplomatic events which shaped the United States and the Republican Party from 1838-1905. Hay, like his close friend Henry Adams was a prolific letter writer and a man of strong opinions.
Within the text one gets a detailed description of not only what Hay’s relationship was like with Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, but also his complex relationship with Henry Cabot Lodge and others within the political and diplomatic circles of Washington, D.C.
From secretary to Abraham Lincoln to secretary of state for Theodore Roosevelt, John Hay remained a major figure in American history for more than half a century. His private life was as glamorous and romantic as it was privileged. This first full-scale biography since 1934 is a reflection of American history from the Civil War to the emergence of the nation as a world power as Woodrow Wilson is about to take office.
If Henry James or Edith Wharton had written a novel describing the accomplished and glamorous life and times of John Hay, it would have been thought implausible—a…
Me and The Times offers a fresh perspective on those pre-internet days when the Sunday sections of The New York Times shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation. Starting in 1967, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections over 30 years, innovating and troublemaking all the way.
His memoir is rich in anecdotes and admissions. At The Times, Jan Morris threw a manuscript at him, he shared an embarrassing moment with Jacqueline Kennedy, and he got the paper sued for $1 million. Along the way, Rod Laver challenged Stock to a tennis match, he played a clarinet duet with superstar Richard Stoltzman, and he shared a Mafia-spiced brunch with Jerry Orbach.
Me and The Times: My wild ride from elevator operator to New York Times editor, columnist, and change agent (1967-97)
An intimate, unvarnished look at the making of the Sunday sections of The New York Times in their pre-internet heyday, back when they shaped the country’s political and cultural conversation.
Over 30 years, Robert Stock edited seven of those sections, innovating, and troublemaking all the way – getting the paper sued for $1 million, locking horns with legendary editors Abe Rosenthal and Max Frankel, and publishing articles that sent the publisher Punch Sulzberger up the wall.
On one level, his memoir tracks Stock’s amazing career from his elevator job at Bonwit Teller to his accidental entry into journalism to his…
