Chapter 17
Section 4
Roosevelt’s Square Deal
Who is Teddy Roosevelt?






Energetic, opinionated, and smart
Graduated with honors from Harvard in 1880, went on
to study law at Columbia University but left after a few
months when he was elected to the New York Assembly
Served as President of New York City’s Board of Police
Commissioners fighting corruption
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War; became a
war hero
Governor of New York (1898)
From Progressive Governor to Running Mate…
Roosevelt’s Progressive reforms upset many
Republican leaders
 To get him out of New York, President
McKinley agreed to make Roosevelt his
running mate in 1900

They won, defeating
W.J. Bryan
President T. Roosevelt



In September1901, McKinley
was assassinated by Leon
Czolgosz, who claimed it was
done on behalf of the poor.
Roosevelt then became
President.
As President, Roosevelt
dominated Washington. He
was so popular even a toy,
the teddy bear, was named
for him.
Roosevelt thought of the
presidency as “bully pulpit”,
one goal was to fight class
distinction
T.R.’s Square Deal:
Program that promised fairness and
honesty from government
 Roosevelt used the power of the federal
government on behalf of workers and the
people

The United Mine Workers’ Strike:
150, 000 coal miners strike for higher wages and
recognition of UMW
 Roosevelt threatened a federal takeover of coal
mines when owners refused to compromise with
workers and encouraged arbitration (third party
settles dispute)
 IMPORTANT because for the first time the federal
government had intervened in a strike, Roosevelt
called the result a “square deal”

The United Mine Workers’ Strike (Continued):

Within in a year, Roosevelt convinced Congress to
establish the Department of Commerce and Labor to
monitor businesses engaged in interstate commerce
Teddy Takes on the Railroads
By 1900 the Interstate Commerce Commission
(ICC) loses most of its power
 Roosevelt pushes Congress to pass:
 Elkins Act (1903): allowed the government to
fine railroads that gave special rates to favored
shippers
 Hepburn Act (1906): Empowered the ICC to
enforce limits on the prices charged by railroad
companies for shipping, tolls, ferries, and
pipelines

Regulating Business & Trustbusting:




Roosevelt was known as a
trustbuster
He broke up railroad monopoly
controlled by J.P. Morgan, then
went after all bad trusts
T.R. used the Sherman Antitrust Act
to file suits against what he saw as
“bad” trusts, those that bullied
small businesses or cheated
consumers
“We draw the line against
misconduct, not wealth.” – T.
Roosevelt
Regulating Business: Food Safety

Roosevelt backed Progressive goals of protecting
consumers by making the federal government
responsible for food safety.
 The Meat Inspection Act (1906): provided for
federal inspections and monitoring of meat plants
 The Pure Food and Drug Act: banned the interstate
shipments of impure or mislabeled food or
medicine
 Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
tests and monitors the safety of food and medicine.
Conservation
T. Roosevelt
worked with John
Muir and Gifford
Pinchot to set
aside more than
100 million acres
of land as forest
reserve
1908 Election:


William Howard Taft
(handpicked by TR)
vs. W.J. Bryan
Roosevelt thought Taft
had the same reform
tendencies as him
Taft’s Progressive
Reforms:
Trustbuster: brought
twice as many antitrust
cases to court then
Roosevelt
Established Children’s
Bureau to fight child
labor
Conservationist who
monitored business
pollution
Taft partly
responsible for the
17th Amendment
Roosevelt
vs. Taft:
Roosevelt
disagreed
with Taft on
several issues
and stopped
backing him
 Taft:
 fired
Gifford
Pinchot

Election of 1912:
• Roosevelt was so angry he decided to oppose Taft and ran for
President again.
• Roosevelt’s candidacy split the Republican Party, which nominated
Taft.
– Roosevelt accepted the nomination of the Progressive Party (aka
Bull Moose Party) setting up a three-way race for the presidency
in 1912
• Split allows
Democrat from NJ,
Woodrow Wilson, to
win election of 1912