Name: Unreasonable Men
ISBN: 9780230342231

Michael Wolraich

Describes how Republican senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin stood up against Speaker of the House Joe Cannon and the rest of his party who were aligned with big business and against child labor laws and antitrust legislation during Roosevelt's presidency. 30,000 first printing.

Theodore Roosevelt and the Republican Rebels Who Created Progressive Politics

Unreasonable Men

Bryan Alexander

A very useful book for my research into the Progressive Era. Unreasonable Men focuses on the rise of the progressive movement as it emerged from state and federal elected officials, most notably the fracturing of the Republican party.

Wolraich does a good job of following key players. Teddy Roosevelt looms large, but Robert La Follette is equally compelling as an effective insurgent. "Uncle" Joe Cannon is their foil, the book's leading conservative, or "stand patter". Presidents Taft and Wilson complete the narrative arc.

I appreciated the legislative details, which, though dry, are crucial for this period. 

It's a decent book, formally. As a narrative historian, Wolraich is sensitive to chronology. He nails down every section by date, and follows a linear path, with a few useful flashbacks. He tries hard to offer personality details - no great effort when it comes to TR, but also colorful for the conservatives and La Follette, not to mention the sad figure of Taft.

However, this is entirely political history. There's very little about the society or culture of the times, making it hard to understand how the rest of America beyond the political class responded to these developments. Progressivism as a popular movement doesn't really play a role. 

Weirdly, Prohibition doesn't show up. I'm not an American historian, but I'm coming to realize this is a huge blind spot in historiography.

Also absent is foreign policy.

So: a nicely focused book. Very useful for what it sets out to do.

Unreasonable Men Theodore Roosevelt and the Republican Rebels Who Created Progressive Politics

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