Chapter
19 Section 2
Objectives
• Describe how Theodore Roosevelt tried to limit
the power of business.
• Summarize the main points of Roosevelt’s
Square Deal.
• Identify the reforms promoted by Presidents
Taft and Wilson.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Terms and People
• Theodore Roosevelt – first Progressive
President; formed the Progressive Party
• trustbuster – person who works to destroy
monopolies and trusts
• conservation – the protection of natural
resources
• national park – natural area protected and
managed by the federal government
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Terms and People (continued)
• William Howard Taft – President who
supported many reforms but lost Progressive
support
• Woodrow Wilson – Progressive President who
promoted the New Freedom program
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
How did reformers try to end
government corruption and limit the
influence of big business?
Progressives had made important gains in
state and local governments. By the early
1900s, they began to succeed at the national
level.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Theodore Roosevelt was the nation’s first
Progressive President.
• State legislator
• Police chief
• Assistant secretary of
the navy
• Governor of New York
• Vice President
• Became President
when McKinley was
assassinated
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Though he was not against all big businesses,
Roosevelt was against what he called the “bad
trusts.”
“Good Trusts”
“Bad Trusts”
• Took advantage of
workers
• Efficient
• Fair
• Cheated the public
• Should be left
alone
The Progressive Presidents
• Must be controlled
or broken up
Chapter
19 Section 2
Roosevelt soon earned a reputation as a
trustbuster, winning court rulings that eventually
broke up the bad trusts.
The courts
broke up
Northern
Securities
because it
had violated
the Sherman
Antitrust Act.
Because of
Roosevelt,
Standard Oil
and the
American
Tobacco
Company
were also
broken up.
The Progressive Presidents
Finally, the
Antitrust Act
was used to
limit trusts,
instead of
unions.
Chapter
19 Section 2
Roosevelt also supported Progressive goals in
other areas.
When miners
went on strike
to demand
higher pay
and shorter
hours, he
supported
them.
He
encouraged
Congress to
require
stricter
inspections in
meatpacking
houses.
The Progressive Presidents
He supported
the Pure Food
and Drug Act
to protect
consumers
from false
drug claims
and harmful
additives.
Chapter
19 Section 2
In 1904, Roosevelt ran for President
promising to give Americans a Square Deal.
Square Deal
Everyone should have
the same opportunity
to succeed.
TR, as he was called, won a huge victory.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Roosevelt loved the outdoors and promoted
conservation.
During Roosevelt’s
presidency, resources were
being used at a frantic pace
to fuel industrial growth.
In 1905, he formed the U.S.
Forest Service to help protect
the nation’s woodlands.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
He also set aside thousands of acres for national
parks.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Roosevelt decided not to run for re-election in
1908.
Many Progressives, including Roosevelt, supported
William Howard Taft, who won easily.
Taft
Progressive
Support
•
•
•
•
•
Trustbuster
Favored graduated income tax
Supported workplace safety rules
Supported eight-hour workday
Controlled child labor
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Despite his record of reform, however, Taft soon
lost Progressive support.
Taft
Progressive
Support
• Raised tariffs
• Blocked conservation efforts
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Roosevelt decided to challenge Taft for the
Republican party nomination in 1912.
When Roosevelt lost, he formed his own party.
Progressive Party
• Called the Bull Moose Party
• Nominated Roosevelt for
President
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
The Democratic candidate in the 1912 election
was Woodrow Wilson.
• President of Princeton University
• Governor of New Jersey
Wilson promised to support Progressive goals.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
On election
day, Taft and
Roosevelt
split the
Republican
vote, and
Wilson won.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Like other Progressives, Wilson disliked the
ruthless business practices of the trusts.
He created a plan to restore free and fair
competition among businesses.
He called his program the New Freedom.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Wilson’s New Freedom put further limits on
big business.
Federal Trade
Commission (FTC)
Clayton
Antitrust Act
• Stops businesses from using
unfair practices to eliminate
competition
• Banned business practices
that limit competition
• Stopped antitrust laws from
being used against unions
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Wilson and Congress also took steps to regulate
banking.
• Set up a system of federal
banks
Federal Reserve
Act
• Gave the government the power
to raise or lower interest rates
and to control the money
supply
By 1914, the Progressives had gradually
achieved many of their goals under Wilson,
Taft, and Roosevelt.
The Progressive Presidents
Chapter
19 Section 2
Section Review
QuickTake Quiz
The Progressive Presidents
Know It, Show It Quiz