It is rare that I blog about a book with 400 pages still to read but if you or a member of your family loves history then place The Bully Pulpit, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism at the top of your  holiday list.

Doris Kearns Goodwin has outdone herself by telling the story of these two presidents at the turn of the 20th century  in an economic enviornment which is very relevant today.  Early on, this  prodigious work of history will place the reader both then and in 2013!  Goodwin lays the groundwork of the lives of TR and Taft , one most famous and the other mostly forgotten. Her research leads to a greater understanding of how the power of the presidency combined with investigative journalism can dictate  national policy.  There is no bully pulpit without the press. This of course is a lesson  learned long before the internet and cable news! Learn of the tremendous influence of McClure’s magazine during TR’s rise.   Of course , during this period of reflection on Abraham Lincoln, do not overlook  Goodwin’s Team of Rivals.