![]() ![]() Merry is extremely fair, and worthy of praise even, in his presentation of the religion of McKinley. McKinley is easily one of the more upstanding men to hold the office. I found Roosevelt larger than life myself, and in reading his biographies found McKinley pushed exactly where Roosevelt wanted: in the shadows. Probably the only reason that McKinley has suffered such obscurity is the unfortunate circumstance of being followed by the flamboyant Teddy Roosevelt. The subtitle “Architect of the American Century” is in no way an overstatement. ![]() In fact, Merry is so successful here that I’m still scratching my head how that I, as one who enjoys presidential biographies, thought so little of McKinley before. It’s a joy to read and it moved me firmly into the category of counting McKinley as one of our better presidents. McKinley, all these factors aligned beautifully to create an outstanding biography. Granted, the life of the president that headlines the biography is what it is, and the author will be greatly aided if that individual happens to be compelling, even if the accumulating years pushes him into obscurity. The two main characteristics of such a presidential biography must revolve around: a) skilled writing that draws you into the life of one you never realized was interesting, and b) enough depth to make you feel that you really know this person. In the world of presidential biography, how would you grade the biography of one of our lesser – known presidents? Without doubt, it requires more of the author. ![]()
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