Name: _______________________________
Date: _____________
Mr. Armstrong
SS8 | AIM #: _______
Theodore Roosevelt
Historical Overview
U.S. Presidency
Roosevelt's progressive policies in
New York ran him afoul of his
own party, so Republican Party
bosses plotted to quiet him by
naming him on the McKinley
ticket in the thankless post of vice
president. However, after his reelection in 1901, President
McKinley was assassinated. At
age 42, Theodore "Teddy"
Roosevelt became the youngest man to assume the U.S.
presidency.
Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency is distinguished by his
dedication to prosecuting monopolies under the Sherman
Antitrust Act. Out of this commitment grew a benchmark of his
first term, the "Square Deal"—a domestic program that
embraced reform of the American workplace, government
regulation of industry and consumer protection, with the overall
aim of helping all classes of people. Some of his notable
reforms included the Meat Inspection Act, as well as the Pure
Food and Drug Act, both signed into effect in 1906. Roosevelt's
charismatic personality and impassioned combination of
pounding fists and emphatic rhetoric undoubtedly helped in
pushing his agenda.
In 1905, Teddy Roosevelt walked his niece, Eleanor Roosevelt,
down the aisle (Theodore's brother, Elliott, had died in 1894)
during the wedding ceremony for Eleanor and her fifth cousin
once removed, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Around the same time, believing that America needed to take its
rightful place on the world stage, Roosevelt initiated a massive
public relations effort. Engaging his unofficial policy of “Speak
softly and carry a big stick,” Roosevelt bulked up the U.S. Navy
and created the "Great White Fleet," sending it on a world tour
as a testament to U.S. military power. He also helped expedite
completion of the Panama Canal by providing tacit approval of
the Panama revolution with funds and a naval blockade
preventing Columbian troops from landing in Panama.
President Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906
for his role in negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
Roosevelt believed that if Japan had devastated Russia, it would
lead to an imbalance of power in the Pacific, one that the United
States would eventually have to realign , but at a disastrous
cost.
Roosevelt's international stance was the impetus for the
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which claims the
right to intervene in cases of wrongdoing by a Latin American
or any other nation, though some critics assert that the doctrine
Your Notes, Analysis, Questions, Main Ideas, Etc.
designates the United States as the "policeman" of the western
world.
While it is true Theodore Roosevelt supported desegregation
and women's suffrage, his administration took an often passive,
sometimes contradictory approach to improving civil rights. He
defended Minnie Cox, who experienced racial discrimination in
the South while working as a postmaster, and strongly supported
a woman’s right to vote in 1912. Roosevelt was also the first
president to entertain an African-American, Booker T.
Washington, as a guest at the White House. However, the
political backlash from the event was so severe that he never
invited Washington back again.
One of Roosevelt’s less admirable actions regarding civil rights
occurred in 1906. The War Department Inspector General had
investigated an incident in Brownsville, Texas, involving black
troops who had been accused of a shooting rampage that left
one white person dead and another wounded. The Inspector
General’s report recommended the president dismiss the solders
because none would confess. Roosevelt waited until after the
November elections—after hundreds of thousands of blacks cast
their votes for Republican candidates across the North—and
then dismissed all 167 black soldiers from the service. None
would receive their pensions.
Roosevelt has also been deemed the country's first
environmentalist president. In 1906, he signed the National
Monuments Act, protecting sites like the Grand Canyon and
preserving countless wildlife sanctuaries, national forests and
federal game reserves. He also made headway with the nation’s
infrastructure, instigating 21 federal irrigation projects.
The presidential mansion officially became known as the White
House when Roosevelt had the name emblazoned on his
stationery. He hired the most illustrious architects of the time,
McKim Mead and White, to renovate the decrepit
mansion. During his presidential term, the White House served
as a lively playground for the Roosevelts' six children; due in no
small part to the president's passion for sports and books, each
room of the home was enlivened with activity, from crawl space
to library. "Giving the pony a ride in the elevator was but one of
many stunts" of the (Theodore) Roosevelt White House,
according to memoirs published in 1934 by Ike Hoover, the
White House's chief usher.
Essential Questions:
1. Who did Theodore Roosevelt serve under as Vice President of the United States? When and how was he
appointed President of the United States?
2. In your own words, explain your understanding of the “Square Deal.”
3. What were two examples of his reform efforts?
4. Who was T. Roosevelt’s niece and who did she marry?
5. Explain T. Roosevelt’s views on the expansion of American influence throughout the world, also referred to as
“imperialism.” Cite a line from the overview to support you claim.
6. Explain T. Roosevelt’s role in the fight for Civil Rights?
7. What was T. Roosevelt’s role in the preservation of the environment?