23 From Roosevelt to Wilson in the Age of...
Transcript of 23 From Roosevelt to Wilson in the Age of...
HIST 1302 Part Two
23 From Roosevelt to Wilson in the
Age of Progressivism
Theodore Roosevelt
The Man and the President
Roosevelt ran for Vice-President in the 1900 election.
Roosevelt became President when McKinley was mortally wounded by
anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New
York, Sept. 6, 1901. McKinley died Sept. 14.
At age 42, Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest ever U.S. president.
Roosevelt enjoyed “the strenuous life.”
TR also had a brainy side. He
wrote 46 books and countless
magazine articles.
1906: The “Teddy Bear” is named for Theodore Roosevelt.
A 1903 family portrait; from left to right: Quentin, TR, Theodore Jr., Archie, Alice,
Kermit, Edith (TR’s second wife), and Ethel.
“TR” remodeled the Executive Mansion and
then officially renamed it the “White House.”
TR’s Presidency
1901-1909
Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency
• Invited Booker T. Washington to Dinner
• Filed 43 Anti-trust suits against big business combinations, starting
with J. P. Morgan’s Northern Securities
• Successfully ended the 1902 Coal Strike
• Indirectly aided Panamanian rebels in order to make a treaty with
Republic of Panama to build the Panama Canal
• Mediated an end to the Russo-Japanese War and won the Nobel Peace
Prize
• Advocated the “Roosevelt Corollary” as means by which to make the
Monroe Doctrine effective (and used it in the Dominican Republic)\
• Protected millions of acres of public land through executive action,
including the Grand Canyon
• Advocated government regulation of business, Workmen’s
Compensation and an Inheritance Tax
• Promoted the “Square Deal”
Oct. 16, 1901: TR invites Booker T.
Washington to dinner.
5 min. 42 sec.
Many Progressives wanted to “bust” the Trusts, large business combinations
that controlled various areas of the economy and drove up prices.
TR quickly got a reputation
as a “trust-buster.”
1902: TR files anti-trust suit
against J.P. Morgan’s
Northern Securities.
A federal court ordered
Northern Securities
broken up.
TR filed lawsuits against 43 other “trusts.”
3 min. 36 sec.
In May 1902, coal miners went on strike, demanding
recognition of their union, an eight-hour day, and a 15%
pay increase. The mine owners refused to negotiate.
As winter approached, the nation worried
about the dwindling coal reserves.
“A coal famine
in the winter is
an ugly thing and
I fear we shall
see terrible
suffering and
grave disaster” --President Theodore Roosevelt
TR invited the coal mine operators and a union representative to the
White House, to discuss a solution. The mine owners wouldn’t budge.
"These men don't suffer. Why, hell, half of
them don't even speak English.” --A mine owner
After TR threatened to nationalize the
mines, the striking miners, got a 10
percent wage increase and a 9-hour day
(down from 12). 6 min. 00 sec.
1903: TR encourages a Panamanian revolt.
After gaining independence from
Colombia, Panama accepts $10 million
from the U.S. for the right to build a canal.
Work commenced in 1905
and in 1907 TR visited the
Canal Zone. The canal was
completed in 1914. It cost
$375 million.
5 min. 57 sec.
Promising Americans a “Square Deal,” TR
runs for president against Democrat Alton
Parker and Socialist Eugene Debs in 1904.
March 4, 1905: TR is inaugurated.
1905: Alice Roosevelt’s goodwill tour of Japan
(accompanied by Secretary of War William H. Taft).
While Alice distracted the press, Taft
made a secret deal, agreeing to let the
Japanese take over Korea in return for
a pledge to leave the Philippines alone.
In 1905 TR mediated the Russo-Japanese treaty at Portsmouth, NH.
1906: TR wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
2 min. 41 sec.
The “Roosevelt Corollary” (1904)
“…in the Western
Hemisphere, adherence of the
United States to the Monroe
Doctrine may force the
United States, however
reluctantly, in flagrant cases
of…wrongdoing or
impotence, to the exercise of
an international police
power.” --Theodore Roosevelt, Dec. 1904
TR exercised the “Corollary” in 1905, in
the case of Santo Domingo (the
Dominican Republic), which had defaulted
on loans to European countries.
TR’s motto was
“Speak softly and
carry a big stick.”
TR’s greatest legacy was in the field of Conservation.
During his presidency, TR put 230 million acres of public land under
federal protection; creating 5 national parks, 18 national monuments,
150 national forests, and 51 national wildlife refuges.
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, …That the
President of the United States is hereby
authorized, in his discretion, to declare by
public proclamation historic landmarks, historic
and prehistoric structures, and other objects of
historic or scientific interest that are situated
upon the lands owned or controlled by the
Government of the United States to be national
monuments, and may reserve as a part thereof
parcels of land…”
The 1906 Antiquities Act
TR also helped save the bison from extinction.
1903: TR visits the Grand Canyon.
1908: TR issues an executive order declaring
the Grand Canyon a national monument.
7 min. 27 sec.
In 1906 TR supported
both the Meat Inspection
Act and the Pure Food
and Drug Act of 1906,
which sought to put an
end to ineffective and
oftentimes harmful
“patent medicines.”
In 1906 TR dishonorably discharged 167 black soldiers
(including 6 medal of honor winners) stationed at Fort Brown,
Texas for an alleged riot. There was no court martial.
1 min. 40 sec.
1907-1908: TR co-opts the Democrats and confounds his own party.
“The last session of Congress…saw a series of contests between the
[Republican] majorities in both houses of Congress and the President—
Myself—quite as bitter as if they and I belonged to opposite parties.” --Theodore Roosevelt, Autobiography
TR advocated regulation of big business and
an inheritance (death) tax on the wealthy.
The conservatives in his party opposed him.
“Our purpose should be…to regulate big
corporations…so as to help legitimate
business as an incident to thoroughly and
completely safeguarding the interest of the
people as a whole...including producers,
consumers, and wage-workers.”
“Against all such increase of Government
regulation the argument is raised [by
Conservatives] that it would amount to a
form of Socialism.”
--Theodore Roosevelt, Autobiography
1907: TR sends “The Great White Fleet” around the world.
1 min. 17 sec.
In 1909 TR greeted the
Great White Fleet when it
came home.
TR vs. Taft
TR’s handpicked successor
was Secretary of War
William Howard Taft, who
took office in 1909.
After Taft took office in
March 1909, TR went big-
game hunting in Africa.
“America expects every lion to
do his duty.”
--J. P. Morgan
TR shot all sorts of animals, including the symbol of the Republican party.
Taft disappointed Roosevelt by
siding with the Conservative wing
of the Republican Party.
Secretary of the Interior, R. R. Ballinger (a
Taft man) fired Chief Forester Gifford
Pinchot (a Roosevelt man).
Pinchot
1909-1910: The Ballinger-
Pinchot Affair
TR arrived back
in the United
States, at New
York, in 1910, to
great acclaim. It
was as if he was
still president.
In 1910, at Osawatomie, Kansas, TR
revealed the components of what he called
the “New Nationalism.”
“In every wise struggle for human
betterment, one of the main objects, and
often the only object, has been to achieve
in large measure equality of opportunity.”
“I stand for the square deal…I mean not
merely that I stand for fair play under the
present rules of the game, but that I stand
for having those rules changed.”
TR decided to challenge
Taft for the Republican
nomination in 1912.
Although TR won all the Republican primaries, the party bosses chose
President Taft as the Republican candidate for 1912.
TR was supported by many leading
Socialists, including Jane Addams,
who gave a speech at the convention.
“I second the nomination of Theodore
Roosevelt because he is one of the few men
in our public life who has been responsive
to the social appeal and who has caught
the significance of the modern movement.” --Jane Addams, Progressive Party Convention, 1912
Aug. 1912: TR becomes the nominee of
the new Progressive Party.
The Progressive Party was also
called the “Bull Moose” Party.
The Democrats nominated NJ Governor Woodrow Wilson.
TR wanted to regulate the trusts. Wilson wanted to “bust” the trusts.
The Choice Between Two Progressives
The “New Nationalism” The “New Freedom”
Oct. 14, 1912: Assassination attempt
on TR in Milwaukee.
The first and only time a third
party has come in second place!
12 min. 02 sec.