War Hero on the Campaign Trail

Presidential campaigns haven’t changed much. Making speeches and shaking hands in various towns and cities is still a part of the game. In 1900, President William McKinley left those details to his vice-presidential nominee, Theodore Roosevelt. As governor of New York and bona-fide Spanish-American War hero, Roosevelt was hugely popular, drawing crowds during his whistle-stop tour. All of this and more, is detailed in John M. Hilbert’s American Cyclone: Theodore Roosevelt and His 1900 Whistle-Stop Campaign (University Press of Mississippi, $40). Hilbert’s well-researched chronicle is a fascinating look at political campaigning, and a worthy addition to any Theodore Roosevelt library.

—Michael F. Blake, author of Code of Honor: The Making of Three Great American Westerns