| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 173 words from this article are provided below; about 339 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 91.4 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Roosevelt the Reformer: Theodore Roosevelt as Civil Service Commissioner, 1889–1895. By Richard D. White Jr. (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003. 264 pp. $39.95, ISBN 0-8173-1361-3.)
Richard D. White Jr.'s flawed but useful monograph about Theodore Roosevelt's six years as civil service commissioner is the best study of its kind. White argues convincingly that as commissioner TR gained crucial knowledge of the federal government's inner workings, which enabled him later to reform it as president. White also includes at the end of his book an excellent analysis of TR's mixed presidential record on civil service and administrative reform.	1
White has proved himself to be an energetic researcher with a fine ear for colorful quotations. For example, President Benjamin Harrison's advisers viewed TR as "persistent as a mosquito on a summer night" (p. 10); office seekers swooped down on President James A. Garfield for jobs "like vultures for a wounded bison" (p. 19); the Washington Post ridiculed Roosevelt as "the rollicking ranchman of bogus reform" (p. 56).	. . .

There are about 339 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.