Theodore Roosevelt: A Bully
Reformer
by Roberta McCutcheon
INTRODUCTION
Theodore Roosevelt was the twenty-sixth president of the United States. His presidency
would become the symbol of strong leadership, reform and a square deal for Americans in
the new century.
When Roosevelt was inaugurated in 1901, the nation was adjusting to the rapid changes that
began in the last decades of the nineteenth century. The process of industrialization was
continuing, the economy was expanding, and cities were growing as people both immigrated
and migrated to find opportunity and work. The magnitude of all the changes led people to
believe that the nation had broken with the past and that its future would be defined by the
intolerable problems that accompanied the change, especially industrialization and
urbanization.
The desire to restore order and justice gave rise to a veritable army of reformers activists
ready to experiment with solutions to the varied dilemmas of a modernizing nation on an
international stage. These progressives, in the first two decades of the twentieth century,
took on problems that ranged from city sanitation and conservation to visiting nurses and
settlement houses. Progressives studied and exerted influence in most every aspect of
society, government and the economy in order to end injustice and curb perceived excesses
of privilege.
Although Roosevelt was born into privilege and influence in the United States and was a
member of the Republican Party, his presidency exposed a more complex individual. His
life, the times and progressivism informed the actions and policies of his presidency. This
lesson will ask students to analyze the twenty-sixth president of the United States.
OBJECTIVES
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Students will be able to create a model to be used to evaluate the validity of historical
evidence.
Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to analyze the history of
the Progressive era and the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.
Students will be able to examine the effects of industrialization and urbanization on the
United States in the first two decades of the twentieth century.
Students will be able to identify the major social, economic and political factors that led to the
rise of the progressives.
Students will be engaged in historical research and the critical analysis of the significant
social, economic and political events of this era.
PROCEDURE
STUDENT EXERCISE ONE: DEFINE THE PROGRESSIVE ERA
Students research the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the
twentieth century. Read secondary accounts of the era in order to develop a context for the
Roosevelt presidency.
STUDENT EXERCISE TWO: RESEARCH THE PRESIDENCY OF
THEODORE ROOSEVELT WITH A FOCUS ON HIS DOMESTIC
REFORMS AND HIS FOREIGN POLICY.
Brainstorm the kinds of information students should gather in order to understand Theodore
Roosevelt, the progressive reformer and Theodore Roosevelt, the imperialist.
Identify the style and substance of Roosevelt's domestic and foreign policies.
Identify significant domestic and foreign policy issues during T.R.'s terms of office.
The following sites are useful for this exercise:
HTTP://WWW.THEODOREROOSEVELT.ORG/SITE/C.ELKSIDOWIIJ8H/B.8090799/K.C003/HO
ME.HTM
HTTPS://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/1600/PRESIDENTS/THEODOREROOSEVELT
HTTP://MILLERCENTER.ORG/PRESIDENT/ROOSEVELT
HTTP://WWW.PBS.ORG/WETA/THEWEST/PEOPLE/I_R/ROOSEVELT.HTM
STUDENT EXERCISE THREE: DISCOVER THE PUBLIC IMAGE OF
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
In small groups each will be assigned two issues: one domestic (such as trusts) and one
foreign policy (such as the canal) from the list generated in the previous exercise. Each
group look at the cartoons and select four (two about T.R.'s domestic policy and two about
T.R.'s foreign policy) that exemplify assigned issues.
Prepare to present cartoon choices with explanations to the class.
There is a wealth of political cartoons about Theodore Roosevelt, both as a public servant in
New York and as President of the United States on the cartoon page of TheodoreRoosevelt.com.
http://theodore-roosevelt.com/trcartoonsprompt.html