Mullane Literary Associates

An Unlikely Trust by Gerard Helferich

Praise for Gerard Helferich’s An Unlikely Trust:

“An outstanding work of scholarship... Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan circled each other with bemused wariness, but Gerard Helferich has shown that beneath the surface bluster they were essentially cautious allies... An Unlikely Trust brilliantly illuminates how these two giants of American history, both New Yorkers, found ways to work together during key episodes of the Roosevelt presidency, including the Panama Canal affair, and the near-collapse of the American economy in 1907....an indispensable account...so intelligently crafted that there were times when I couldn’t put it down.”

Clay S. Jenkinson, founder of the Theodore Roosevelt Center,
principal scholar-consultant to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library,
and author of A Free and Hardy Life: Theodore Roosevelt’s Sojourn in the American West

“At first glance, financier J. P. Morgan and President Theodore Roosevelt appear as natural foils: the trust-builder and the trust-buster. In his well-researched and highly readable new book...Helferich shows how instead of demonizing each other, these two giants of the era set aside their equally-giant-sized egos to work for the benefit of the nation.”

Edward P. Kohn, editor of A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt

“One of those rare chronicles of American business that brings its subjects to life….brilliantly highlights an often uneasy relationship between two larger-than-life leaders which did so much to shape the twentieth century.”

J. Lee Annis Jr., author of Howard Baker: Conciliator in an Age of Crisis

“This book demands a more complex view of the history as it fills long-held black–and-white images with grays that define a nuanced relationship born of the culture, economic environment, and national interests shared by Roosevelt and Morgan....well-researched and well-written...American history told as a great story.”

John M. Hilpert, author of
American Cyclone: Theodore Roosevelt and His 1900 Whistlestop Campaign

“J.P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt—the great trust builder and the great trustbuster—ought logically to have been enemies. And yet, as Gerard Helferich shows in his captivating new book, Morgan and Roosevelt shared a great many attitudes, including a genuine concern for America. At a time when Americans are again struggling to figure out the right relationship between business and government, An Unlikely Trust is extraordinarily relevant.”

Paul Aron, author of Founding Feuds and We Hold These Truths

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