History Through Literature
Unit 2
Chapter 6: Theodore Roosevelt and the Beginning of
the American Century
Theodore Roosevelt
Rich family
 Daily exercise – asthmatic
 Harvard with Phi Beta Kappa honors
 Published at 24 on muscular prose
 Rancher, cowboy, Politian
 Loved to talk – went blind in one eye
 Believed President should lead, boldly.
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TR’s Friends
Elihu Root – Sec of State for Teddy –
turned State dept into a civilian
organization
 John Hay – Secretary to Lincoln,
Secretary of State under Teddy Roosevelt.
 Henry Cabot Lodge – Senator, pushed for
strong navy
 Alfred Thayer Mahan – Fought in Civil
War – The Influence of Sea Power on
History – large Navies

US Imperialism
Panama canal
 Wanted to prevent Europe from getting a
foothold on Latin America – “preventive
intervention” – Roosevelt Corollary to
the Monroe Doctrine

Teddy Roosevelt Jr.

Assistant Sec of Navy, Governor or Puerto Rico, American Express,
Brigadier General

Political career ended - FDR

Did not like FDR, “fifth cousin about to be removed”

Attended officer training for 20 years – instrumental for officers in
WWI and WWII

WWI hero – Pershing

WWII – Brigadier General – fired by Patton and Bradley(wrong
friends)

Later fought under Bradley at Utah beach (D-Day)

Only General to go ashore with first wave – with cane, surveyed beach,
changed plans – Utah most successful (though he would die)

“we will start the war right here then”

Him and his father, only father son combination to win the Medal of
Honor.

Died 1 month after D-Day of heart attack – buried with his brother
Henry Luce
Went to Yale – Skull and Bones
 Left school to start Time magazine
 Later started Fortune, Life, and Sports
Illustrated.
 Wanted to make the US worthy of
dominating the world – called it the
American Century

George C Marshall
Military General during WWII
 Chief of Staff – Roosevelt
 “chief organizer of victory” – Churchill
 coordinated the large-scale expansion and
modernization of the U. S. Army – (X40)
 Sec of State and Defense
 Marshal Plan – Nobel Peace Prize

TR and Conservatism
Big outdoorsmen
 Dams
 Forests – ¼ of forests were left.
 Desert
 Grand Canyon
 Passed legislation to protect all of these.

TR and Progressivism

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Progressivism – people who wage war on “evils”:
monopolies, corruption, inefficiency, and social
injustice.
Use government as an agency of human welfare.
Three C’s – control of the corporations,
consumer protection, conservation of natural
resources “square deal”
Backed workers instead of owners in coal mines
Attacked “trusts” – Northern Security Company
and J.P. Morgon
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair