Chapter 21 Notes, part II: Progressive Presidents

A. Theodore Roosevelt

1. From aristocratic Dutch New York family; Harvard educated
2. Developed appreciation for physical activity and the outdoors by spending time in Wyoming as a child. Bought and managed a South Dakota ranch after his first wife’s death (1884-1886)
3. Political career began in 1881, as a NY state assemblyman, appointed in 1889 to President Harrison’s Civil Service Commission, became NYC’s Police Commissioner in 1895.
4. Raised a small army of cowboys and ranch hands known as the Rough Riders and led them in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
5. Elected NY Governor in 1898, selected as McKinley’s VP in 1900
6. Became President at age 42 after McKinley’s assassination in 1901.
7. Promised Americans a Square Deal- 3 C’s (control of corporations, consumer protection, conservation of national resources)
8. Gained popularity among the masses for his charm and personality as well as support for Progressive ideas
9. Supported legislation to limit and regulate the power of business trusts (enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1900, Hepburn act of 1906 gave the Interstate Commerce Commission power to regulate railroad rates, filed 43 antitrust lawsuits, most famous of which led to the breakup of Standard Oil and the reorganization of the American Tobacco Company in 1911)
10. Following publication of The Jungle, TR supported various consumer protection measures such as the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Acts (led to establishment of the Food and Drug Administration)
11. As an avid nature preservationist, TR took a more pragmatic conservationist approach to the environment. Established the US Forest Service, supported the Reclamation Act (to irrigate the west), set aside 200 million acres of public land as a national forest, established 63 wildlife reserves, 16 national monuments and 5 new national parks. Close friend of Gifford Pinchot (head of Forest Service) and John Muir (founder of the Sierra Club)
12. Won the Novel Peace Prize in 1906 for Latin American policies ???!!!??!?!
13. Did not run for third term, despite major public support
14. Ran for president in 1912 after four-year hiatus from politics, as nominee for the Progressive (Bull Moose) Party
15. Wrote 26 books, over a thousand magazine articles
16. Died in his sleep in 1919, at age 60


B. William Howard Taft as President (1908-1912)

1. Hand-picked successor to TR
2. Taft’s administration was active in ‘trust-busting”. Prosecuting more antitrust cases than TR’s administration. Supported the Mann-Elkins Act which gave the ICC more powers to regulate not only railroad rates but also telephone and telegraph rates
3. However, his support of tariffs and opening public land to commercial development broke with Progressive Policies and angered TR
4. Eventually became a somewhat pro-business Chief Justice of Supreme Court
5. Election of 1912: TR runs, splits Republicans and lets Wilson win


C. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1920)

1. Raised in a strict Virginia Presbyterian household, first Southern President since Andrew Johnson
2. Graduate of Princeton, U Va school of Law and Johns Hopkins
3. Princeton professor of political economy, president of Princeton from 1902 – 1910
4. Won New Jersey Governorship in 1910, selected as a reform-minded candidate by the democrats to run for President in 1912
5. Defeated Republican Taft, Progressive TR and Socialist Debs to become President
6. “New Freedom” platform included Progressive ideas such as tariff reduction, women’s suffrage, business regulation, abolition of child labor, 8-hour workday, and workmen’s compensation as well as the popular election of Senators.
7. Progressive legislation during his presidency included:

a. Underwood-Simmons Tariff- reduced Tariffs
b. Federal Reserve Act- established central bank with 12 branches, modern federal reserve system
c. Federal Trade Commission Act- created FTC
d. Clayton Antitrust Act- gave workers greater protest rights (right to strike so gov’t can’t stop it with force)
e. Narcotics Act-outlawed cocaine and opium based “medication”
f. Federal Farm Loan Act- provided low interest rate loans to farmers
g. Keating-Owen Act- Banned products made by children from interstate commerce, declared unconstitutional by supreme court
h. Adamson Act-established 8-hour workday for railway workers
i. Workmen’s Compensation Act- compensation for people injured on the job.

8. Amendments during his tenure:

a. 16th Amendment (graduated income tax)
b. 17th Amendment (direct election of Senators)
c. 18th amendment (Prohibition)
d. 19th Amendment (women’s suffrage)

9. Authored the Fourteen Points for the Treaty of Versailles ending WWI, established the League of Nations (predecessor to the UN)
10. Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919
11. Overworked and stressed, Wilson suffered a massive stroke in 1919 and was incapacitated for the last 17 months of his presidency
12. Lived the last 3 years of his life in retirement and died in 1924