Look at the mustaches on these two presidents. Full, thick and long the mustaches are just like the book Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote in this historical fiction. This book is at least twice the size of a regular book and it will take a long time to read it but I recommend you do read it because you will learn and you will gain perspective. I, for instance, learned that with my beliefs and my values, 110 years ago I could have gladly voted for the Republican party. At that time Republicans wanted to preserve the environment, break up the rail road and oil monopolies, protect the lives of the working class and distribute the wealth more evenly. I read this book because a friend of mine suggested our current POTUS reminds him of Theodore Roosevelt. I can see it too. Psychologically I see similarities. Yet Teddy's face is carved into Mount Rushmore and he is considered to be on of the top ten presidents we have had so far. Theodore had strengths and weaknesses and he went at things full force. I think he was a fairly good president but a terrible former president. He sabotaged Taft and he sabotaged his own party. It is not often that I think how things run currently is better than the good old days but the fact that former presidents pretty much keep their mouths shut about the current president is a good and healthy social norm. I really liked Howard Taft. If I had one complaint about this book it is the author body shames Howard. For crying out loud, who cares if he gained 30 pounds or lost fifty pounds? I saw no reason to pick on Oprah Winfrey about her weight and no reason to pick on Howard Taft either. The history of American journalism was the third topic in this book and Roosevelt knew how to use the power of journalists. Yet he was the one who used the word muck raker. Certain themes from then and now kept creeping into my thoughts. Is muck raker the equivalent of fake news? Is Laissez faire the equivalent of the Republican Party beliefs on bankers and other big businesses? Is Tammany Hall the equivalent of the political lobbyists system we have going on now? I don't know the answers but I would prefer to think about these big ideas instead of anybody's tweets. One thing my buddy Howard Taft said stuck with me. Taft said (and this was after being screwed over by his former friend TR) that it is not the people that are important in politics. What is important in politics are the values.
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