Louis Auchincloss tells the story of a large Manhattan law firm'the kind of latter-day Olympus so rich and influential, so full of good grey heads, that it appears more a seat of government than a place of business.
It is the belief that law is the very essence of America's eminence that sustains Timothy Colt and makes him the tirelessly dedicated young lawyer he is. And it is belief in Timothy that brings his wife, Ann, to tolerate his grinding hours at the office and what in another profession might be regarded as neglect to his family. But as Timothy Colt rises in the firm, the opportunity to see the conflict between ethics and ambition at the very heart of Sheffield, Knox & Dale is thrust upon him, and his disillusionment begins.
An intimate portrait of the first president of the 20th century
The warm and knowing biography traces Roosevelt's involvement in the politics of New York City and New York State, his celebrated, military career, and his ascent to the national political stage. Caricatured through history as the 'bull moose', Roosevelt was in fact a man of extraordinary discipline whose refined and literate tastes actually helped spawn his fascination with the rough-and-ready world of war and wilderness.
Woodrow Wilson sheds new light on Wilson's upbringing and career and shows the grim determination that carried him to the presidency just before WW I. From the dynamic figure whose ringing speeches hypnotized vast crowds, to the gentle voice reading poetry to his children, to the rising academic and president of Princeton who made the giant leap into politics, here are all the triumphs and the final tragic irony of this flawed apostle of world peace.
In this portrait of Woodrow Wilson, Auchincloss examines a president who is perhaps better remembered for the force of his personality than for his accomplishments. He leaves us to ponder the extent to which Wilson's character shaped subsequent history.
