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Discover the overlooked years that forged Theodore Roosevelt’s reforming spirit, revealing how bureaucratic battles shaped a future president and transformed American government forever

Roosevelt the Reformer is a compelling scholarly biography that uncovers a neglected chapter of Theodore Roosevelt’s life: his six-year tenure as U.S. Civil Service Commissioner from 1889 to 1895. Rather than focusing on his presidency or battlefield exploits, the book reveals how Roosevelt’s administrative work shaped his reformist zeal, political skills, and enduring impact on American governance. Through vivid narrative and careful analysis, it shows how this “quiet” period contributed directly to the modernization of the federal government and the emergence of the merit-based civil service. 

Structured chronologically, the book traces each year of Roosevelt’s commissionership while weaving together political events, personal life, and broader social context. It draws on rich primary sources—letters, speeches, and contemporary accounts—and includes scholarly features such as notes, bibliography, and index. Richard D. White Jr., a historian of American political development, combines narrative storytelling with rigorous research to illuminate Roosevelt’s battles with patronage politics, his reform strategies, and his growing administrative expertise. 

This book will appeal to historians, political scientists, and general readers interested in the Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, and the origins of modern government. It is especially valuable for readers seeking fresh perspectives on Theodore Roosevelt, public administration, or reform movements, offering both an engaging biography and a nuanced study of how institutions and leaders are transformed.

Joko Widodo—popularly called Jokowi—ruled Indonesia for a decade, from 2014 to 2024. The world’s fourth-largest nation and third-largest democracy, Indonesia had embarked on a messy democratic transition in the late 1990s, with the country’s ethnic and religious heterogeneity posing significant challenges to governance. Initially seen as a reformer who might challenge oligarchic structures, Jokowi was slowly but steadily seen as himself being a threat to democracy. By the time Jokowi wrapped up his presidency, he had achieved the highest approval ratings among Indonesia’s post-authoritarian presidents—and became the president with the tightest grip over Indonesia’s political elite.

Based on exclusive interviews with Jokowi and many of Indonesia’s top leaders, Ruling Indonesia shows Jokowi as a president obsessively preoccupied with his economic development agenda, subordinating all other aspects of governance to this goal. His focused approach delivered economic successes and unprecedented popularity, but also seriously undermined the health of Indonesia’s democratic institutions. Offering a holistic appraisal of his decade in office, Marcus Mietzner analyzes Jokowi’s domestic record in the context of his attempts to position Indonesia more favorably in the international competition for power and resources. Crucially, his obsession to push Indonesia closer to industrialized status while neglecting democratic development represented the ambitions and trials of many Global South leaders who are trying to juggle economic development, growing Sino-American tensions around the world, and concerns for democratic rights. As such, this book provides valuable insights into how the great power rivalry of the 21st century and the global recession of democracy are playing out in central arenas of the Global South.