Presidencies of Taft
and Wilson
Taft Diverges from Roosevelt

When his second term ended, Roosevelt left the
presidency to enjoy his private life. He handpicked his
successor to be his Secretary of War, William Howard
Taft.

Roosevelt believed that Taft would continue policies that
he had started, such as lowering tariffs.

Two major pieces of legislation under Taft include:

Payne-Aldrich Act lowered tariffs (though not as much as
Roosevelt had intended)

Mann-Elkins Act gave government ownership of telephone
and telegraph rates.
•
Most unlike Roosevelt though, Taft did not distinguish between
‘good’ trusts and ‘bad’ trusts– to him, all trusts were bad.
Taft Pursues Dollar Diplomacy

When William Taft assumed the role of
president, he focused his foreign policy
on trade.

Thus, he believed the way to interact and
control another country was through the use
of money, known as ‘dollar diplomacy’.


Taft believed that dollars could be substituted
for bullets.
Taft aimed to increase American investment in
businesses and banks in Central America/the
Caribbean.
Wilson Pursues Moral Diplomacy

President Wilson’s foreign policy was even more different from
Roosevelt’s than Taft’s.

Instead of territorial conquest, Wilson believed in promoting human
rights and integrity in these countries, known as ‘moral diplomacy’.

However, both Taft and Wilson used the U.S.’ strong military when
necessary.

One of these instances was in Mexico in 1914 to help pro-American
Venustiano Carranza attain power.

When Mexican rebels, led by Pancho Villa, crossed the border into
New Mexico and killed 18, Wilson sent troops after him, led by John
J. Pershing.

Villa managed to evade Pershing for months, and eventually Wilson was
forced to withdraw troops, with the onset of WWI.
The
Election
of 1912

William Taft won the Republican nomination for
the election of 1912.

In response, Theodore Roosevelt went and
formed his own party– the Bull Moose Party, and
joined the race as a third-party candidate.

Republicans were split over the two men, so a
united Democratic Party was able to capture the
White House with their candidate, Woodrow
Wilson.
Progressivism’s Lasting Legacy

When Wilson took office, he wanted to reignite
the progressive legislation that Roosevelt had
begun, and Taft had since weakened.

His collective goals were known as the New
Freedom because he wanted to provide new
opportunities (freedom) for small businesses.
 He
would accomplish this by putting in place
strict government controls on corporations.
Progressivism’s Lasting Legacy

The Progressive Era witnessed many changes in
almost every facet of American society.
 In regards to politics, changes occurred
regarding election rules and who was eligible to
vote (women);
 Economically, regulation of big business through
the establishment of gov. agencies and
legislation remains to this day;
 Improvement in both work and housing
conditions bettered the standard of living for poor
workers.