AUDIOBOOK
About
Between February 24, 1912, when TR came out of political retirement to challenge William Howard Taft for the Republican Party's nomination for president, and June 23 of that year, Roosevelt and his supporters created and benefited from thirteen new presidential primaries, the first in the nation's history. Stressing the importance of primaries, TR's campaign theme became "the right of the people to rule." Though Roosevelt won about 70 percent of the delegates selected by public vote, it was not enough to overcome the power of party bosses and entrenched interests. He walked out of the convention to create the Bull Moose Party but then shocked many of his strongest supporters by excluding all black delegates from the Deep South. Let the People Rule shows how the political and social turmoil of that landmark year changed politics in ways that provide important lessons for America today. A suspenseful narrative, replete with larger-than-life personalities, and a must-read backstory for anyone concerned with the history and fate of a democracy that, at its best, aims to 'Let the People Rule.'
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Reviews
"Geoffrey Cowan's Let the People Rule rips the lid off of the 1912 presidential election. Cowan brilliantly illuminates everything from the birth of the political primary system to the disenfranchisement of African Americans to egos writ large. The narrative has a marvelous flow and the research is superb."
Adam Hochschild, author of To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914–1918
"A fresh and perceptive look at Theodore Roosevelt's fight for the Republican nomination in 1912. Based on extensive research in original sources, Let the People Rule laces striking information on TR's race against President Taft with new insights and a fresh and important analysis. Let the People Rule is the book to read on Roosevelt's pivotal year."
Evan Thomas, author of Being Nixon and Robert Kennedy