Theodore Roosevelt
and the Progressive Era
Chapter 9: Section 3
Ms. Garratt
Wealthy
 Harvard educated
 Active in state politics
 Asst sec of navy
 Rough Riders in Cuba
 Party bosses
 McKinley
assassination
 Youngest president at
the time (42)

Colorful background

Saw presidency as
a bully pulpit from
which he could
influence the media
and shape
legislation
Modern President

“It is the duty of the president to act upon
the theory that he is the steward of the
people and …to assume that he has the
legal right to do whatever the needs of
the people demand, unless the
Constitution or the laws explicitly forbid
him to do so.”
Perceived different role of the
presidency

Was Teddy after
all trusts?

NO. He used the
1890 Sherman
Anti-trust Act to
go after those
trusts that hurt
the public interest
the most.
Those that
eliminated
competition

Trustbuster
1902 Coal Strike

Used power of the
president to
mediate disputes.

Established new
principle –right of
fed’l gov to
intervene when
strike threatened
the public welfare

Role of experts






Interstate Commerce
Act
Commission was
weak
Elkins Act
Hepburn Act
ICC set maximum
rates
Boosted fed’l control
Railroad Regulation
Upton Sinclair, the Jungle & the
Meat Inspection Act

http://www.ratedesi.com/video/v/m1U0k
XX0RAM/Upton-Sinclair%27s-The-Jungle
Video Segment on the Jungle

Contaminated
foods &
medicines
could no longer
be sold.

Called for truth
in labeling laws
Pure Food & Drug Act
Regulating Food & Drugs

“Pure food and drug
act will limit human
thumb levels in
meats”

Oh yummy. Please
pass the mustard.
Conservation of Natural Resources

Allowed large
tracts of land
to be irrigated
in the SW

Let to lots of
Mexican
migration
Newlands Act - Reclamation

Like other progressives very little
attention paid to civil rights
Civil Rights
Mediator between Japan & Russia
Panama Canal
Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt & the World



Did not use presidency as bully pulpit
Payne-Aldrich bill
Richard Ballinger – Dept of Interior
◦ Muckraking article
◦ Fired Gifford Pinchot

Speaker Joseph Cannon – refused to
agendize progressive bills
◦ House Rules Committee - reform


Rising cost of living
Democrats won both Houses in 1910
Criticisms of President Taft


TR’s disappointment with Taft convinces him
to run again.
Returns from Africa with “New Nationalism”
platform
◦ Fed gov role to protect public welfare

Bull Moose Party platform (p. 330)
◦ Init, ref, recall, primary, w.suffrage, 17th, workers’
compensation, min hours for w, ban on child labor,
8 hour workday, FTC

Incumbant has advantage
TR & the Progressive Party
Election of 1912



Progressive Democrat
Bully Pulpit
Trustbuster
◦ Clayton Antitrust Act
 Unions exempt from antitrust
 Magna Carta - Gompers
◦ Federal Trade Commission (FTC)



Underwood Act
16th Amendment
Federal Reserve Act
Wilson Administration - Domestic
Carrie Chapman Catt
 5 pt strategy
 Setbacks led to new party headed by Alice
Paul and Lucy Burns (Congressional
Union)

Women’s Suffrage