Progressive Presidents Advanced US History Chapter 19-4

Teddy Roosevelt Strong advocate of Progressive reform Square Deal – “I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more.” Roosevelt believed the immorality of big business threatened industrial society. He hoped large corporations or trusts would benefit the nation by providing more equitable employment and economic expansion. Roosevelt’s Intervention with United Mine Workers (1902) – Bureau of Corporations (1903) – created to examine the conduct of businesses in America; it led Roosevelt to prosecute several companies for breaking the Sherman Antitrust Act

Teddy Roosevelt Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 – the federal government’s first attempt to break up monopolies; Hepburn Act (1906) – developed and used by Roosevelt, the act limited prices that railroads could charge and allowed the federal government to monitor financial books of the large railroad companies Trustbuster – National Forest Service – Environmentalism: Created 5 national parks and 50 wildlife refuges, preserving millions of acres – the greatest amount of land ever protected by a U.S. president

William H. Taft Taft was Roosevelt’s Secretary of War; Roosevelt encouraged Republicans to support Taft for President. Taft continued the Progressive agenda, the only political game in town the 1910s, and busted up more trusts than Roosevelt (including the Standard Oil Company in 1911) Taft and Roosevelt Clash Roosevelt felt government should regulate trusts, not get rid of them Taft overturned ….. Various meanings of the term progressive became problematic Roosevelt formed third party, Progressive Party, to win back presidency from Taft; Taft and Roosevelt divided the Republican vote and Democrat Woodrow Wilson won election His Reforms Children’s Bureau: Bureau of Mines:.

William H. Taft The heaviest president at 332 pounds, Taft struggled all his adult life with a weight problem. He got stuck in the White House bathtub and had to have an oversized version brought in for his use that fit 4 adults!

Woodrow Wilson Wilson did not trust big business as much as Roosevelt “The New Freedom” – Wilson passed a series of laws that increased the size and power of the federal government Federal Reserve Act (1913) – Underwood Tariff – part of the Federal Reserve Act that reduced most tariffs on imported goods (Wilson believed that high protectionist tariffs were unfairly enriching America’s industrialists) Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) – outlawed unfair practices among businesses; banned agreements that required retailers who bought from one company to stop selling a competitor’s goods; banned price discrimination – charging different customers different prices for the same good

Woodrow Wilson Keating-Owen Child Labor Act (1916) – Adamson Act (1916) – Federal Trade Commission (1914)– Wilson supported the creation of this government agency that investigated unfair business practices and issued rulings to prevent businesses from continuing such practices