Historian Laurence Jurdem, author of The Rough Rider and the Professor, will speak to the New Canaan Men’s Club Friday, May 3, about his recent book chronicling the 35-year friendship between President Theodore Roosevelt and Massachusetts Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge.
The meeting will be at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 111 Oenoke Ridge, beginning at 10 a.m. Jurdem’s will begin his remarks around 10:40 a.m.
Published by Pegasus Books and distributed by Simon and Schuster, Jurdem details Roosevelt’s many strengths as a political figure that enabled him to move from being a New York state legislator to become the youngest person to assume the presidency in 1901. But, as Jurdem’s book describes it, the friendship and guidance Lodge provided were important factors in propelling Roosevelt’s rise.
As described in the publisher’s description of the book, Lodge served as the future president’s confidant and mentor, “advising him on political strategy while helping him obtain positions in government that would eventually lead to the White House.”
Jurdem is an adjunct professor at both Fairfield University and Fordham College’s Lincoln Center campus. He is also the author of Paving the Way for Reagan: The Influence of Conservative Media on U.S. Foreign Policy.
To learn about joining the Men’s Club, men 55-years old and above may email ncmens@ncmens.info.