PROGRESSIVISM UNDER TAFT
 When Roosevelt won election in 1904 he pledge
not to run for reelection in 1908
 He hand picked his secretary of war William
Howard Taft to carry out his policies
 Three times democrats nominated William
Jennings Bryan who called for federal income
tax, a lower tariff, new antitrust laws but the
people voted for Taft
 Taft received low credit for accomplishments as
he pursued a cautiously progressive agenda
 Taft busted 90 trusts in a four year term beating
Roosevelt’s 44 in seven and a half years in office
 Campaigned on a platform lowering tariffs,
the house duly passed the Payne Bill which
would lower rates in many manufactured
goods but conservative republicans
eliminated most of the cuts
 Taft signed the Payne -Aldrich Tariff
 Caused problems by clumsily defending it in
front of hostile farmers in Winona, Minnesota
 Said best bill republican party passed, tried to
repair damages only making it worse when he
read a speech quickly between two railroad
stations without bothering to reread it
 Next angered conservationists by appointing
as secretary of the interior Richard A.
Ballinger who was a wealthy Seattle lawyer
who didn’t like the conservationists
controlling western lands
 Removed 1million acres of forests and mining
lands from reserved lists and approved sale to
Seattle businesses of several coal rich lands in
Alaska
 In January 1910 Pinchot added his voice and
accused Ballinger of letting commercial
interest exploit natural resources that
belonged to the public
 Taft fired Pinchot from the US forest service
 Republican conservatives and progressives
split over Taft’s support of political boss,
Joseph Cannon speaker of the house
 Joseph Cannon not only disregarded seniority
in filling the committee slots but also
anointed himself as head of the committee
on rules, which decided the bills congress
would consider which caused the house to
often ignore or weaken progressive bills
 Republicans lost election, democrats gained
control of the house for the first time in 18
years
 In 1912 Roosevelt decided to run for a third
term as president
 At republican convention in June 1912 Taft
supporters refused to see Roosevelt’s
delegates and renominated Taft
 Roosevelt supporters called a convention in
august where they formed a new third party
the progressive party
 Became known as the “Bull Moose Party”
After Roosevelt boasted that he was as
strong as a bull moose
 They called for a direct election of senators
and the adoption in all states of the initiative,
referendum and recall
 Also advocated women’s suffrage, national
workmen’s compensation an eight hour work
day, minimum wage for women, a federal law
against child labor, and a federal trade
commission to regulate business
 Split in republican ranks handed democrats their
first real chance at the white house since election
of Grover Cleveland in 1892
 In the 1912 president election democrats put
forward their candidate a reform governor of
New Jersey named Woodrow Wilson
 Wilson endorsed a progressive platform called
New Freedom that demanded even stronger
antitrust legislature, banking reform, and
reduced tariffs
 During election of 1912 it offered voters several
choices Wilson’s New Freedom, Taft’s
Conservatism, Roosevelt’s Progressivism or
Socialist Party policies of Eugene V. Debs
 Roosevelt supported government action to
supervise big business but didn’t appose all big
business monopolies
 Wilson supported small business and free market
competition and characterized all big business
monopolies as evil
 Debs pulled over 900,000 popular votes(6%)
went farther then Wilson and Roosevelt and
called for and end to capitalism and wanted to
use the government to regulate business and
bust trusts but also to distribute national wealth
more equally among the people
 Wilson captured only 42% of popular vote he
won electoral victory and democratic
majority in congress
 Roosevelt defeated Taft in popular and
electoral but reform claimed real victory with
75% of the vote going to reform candidates
Wilson, Roosevelt, and Debs
 In victory Wilson claimed a mandate to break
up trusts and expand government role in
social reform