MAIN IDEAS Theodore Roosevelt Review NOTES Theodore Roosevelt Became president at age 42 Took over after the assassination of William McKinley Believed in Social Darwinism The fittest country in the world will survive Square Deal (p. 300) 1.) Roosevelt Government should actively balance the needs of competing groups I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more. (1904) Trustbuster (p. 300-301) Roosevelt believed that most trusts were efficient and helped with the prosperity of the USA He disliked trusts that abused their power Northern Securities was a RR company owned by J.P. Morgan Exchanged stock to merge RRs in the Northwest and created a monopoly a.) 1902 = Northern Securities RR was b.) 1904 = Supreme Court Analyzing Supreme Court Cases Can Government Regulate Business Activity? see p. 303 Roosevelt became known as a trustbuster See Political Cartoon on p. 301 The Coal Strike of 1902 (p. 301) Roosevelt viewed himself as the nation s head manager and a mediator between groups who conflicted 150,000 anthracite or hard coal miners walked out Increased pay, reduced hours, and union recognition Roosevelt was worried that there would be a coal shortage in the nation 3.) Roosevelt asked Arbitration = a settlement negotiated by an outside party 4.) Roosevelt Roosevelt established the federal government as an honest broker between powerful groups in society Page #1 2010-2011
Regulating Big Business (p. 302) Roosevelt did NOT want to break up trusts who did not abuse their power 1.) 1903 = a.) to 2.) Government began to investigate US Steel in 1901 a.) company b.) government would c.) allowed Roosevelt made gentleman s agreements with other companies 3.) ICC = Interstate Commerce Commission At first, railroads were suspicious of the ICC Eventually the railroads and ICC worked together to limit competition and prevent new competitors a.) By 1920 = Consumer Protection (p. 302) a.) wrote articles about Didn t cure ills and caused worse health problems Medicine was alcohol, colored water, and sugar Had caffeine, opium, cocaine and dangerous chemicals chief chemist at the US Department of Agriculture a.) Reported on embalmed meat 3.) a.) Described See Primary Source quote on p. 302 Many readers became vegetarians 4.) Inspection of meat sold through interstate commerce b.) set standards were set by the Agriculture Department 5.) a.) prohibited the Page #2 2010-2011
Conservation (p. 304) Roosevelt was an outdoorsman Roosevelt wanted to conserve natural resources in the US The government must distinguish between the man who skins the land and the man who develops the country. I am going to work with, and only with, the man who develops the country. In the West, farmers and cities competed for scarce water resources a.) paid for Use federal funds from public land sales to pay for irrigation and land development projects 2.) 1905 = Wanted to save the nation s forests Wanted to apply scientific standards to landscaping and managing forestry / natural resources Rejected laissez-faire which supported selling public land to lumber companies who would preserve it Appointed Gifford Pinchot as head of the US Forest Service a.) Set up See p. 305 Should Resources Be Preserved? b.) expanded Added over 100 million acres to national forests Created 5 new national parks Set up 51 federal wildlife reservations Roosevelt s Legacy (p. 304-305) 1.) Increased the used his power in the White House to present his views 2.) Americans began to Hepburn Act allowed the ICC to set RR rates Meat Inspection Act allowed the Ag. Dept. to inspect food Dept. of Commerce and Labor could monitor business Bureau of Corporations could investigate and report on corporations The Expedition Act allowed the Attorney General to bring antitrust lawsuits Page #3 2010-2011
William Howard Taft Review (p. 305) Taft Loses Support of Progressivists (p. 306-307) William Howard Taft Judge Governor of the Philippines Secretary of War for Roosevelt Election of 1908 = Taft (R) v. William Jennings Bryan (D) Taft won William Jennings Bryan lost for the third time Taft felt that tariffs limited competition, hurt consumers, and protected trusts Roosevelt warned Taft to avoid tariff reform because it would divide the Republican Party Taft called a special session of Congress to lower tariffs Progressive and conservative republicans were divided on the issue of tariffs b.) Progressives were unhappy They felt that Taft had caved on his personal beliefs about tariffs Taft made Richard A. Ballinger the Secretary of the Interior Ballinger replaced James R. Garfield Garfield had been an aggressive conservationist appointed by Roosevelt Ballinger was a more conservative corporate lawyer Ballinger tried to open a million acres of public forests and mineral reserves to private development Ballinger was accused of plotting to sell public lands in Alaska to a private business for personal profit Gifford Pinchot the head of the US Forest Service accused Ballinger Taft s Attorney General dismissed the accusations Pinchot leaked the story to the newspapers Taft fired Pinchot for insubordination Congress investigated Ballinger and cleared him Taft lost popularity with reformers Americans felt that he had sold the Square Deal down the river 1910 Congressional Elections Democrats won control of the House Democrats and progressive Republicans won control of the Senate Page #4 2010-2011
Taft s Achievements (p. 307) Today it deals with child abuse prevention, adoption and foster care Taft was a conservationist (aside from the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy) a.) monitor b.) c.) from private development d.) encourage the development of 3.) Taft _ Brought twice as many antitrust cases in 4 years than Roosevelt (the trustbuster ) did in 7 years a.) Oct. 1911 = US Steel had bought the TN Coal and Iron Company in 1907 When Roosevelt was president, he had approved the plan Nov. 1911 = Roosevelt criticized Taft s decision to break up trusts Roosevelt had just returned from an African safari and European tour (1909-1910) Thought Taft was destroying the system of cooperation and regulation that he had set up with big business Roosevelt didn t want to break up trusts; instead he wanted to control them with regulation Feb. 1912 = Roosevelt announced that he would run in the Election of 1912 Roosevelt was s to replace Taft as the Republican nominee for president Page #5 2010-2011