Roosevelt and Taft

Roosevelt as a Trust Buster Although Roosevelt felt trusts were efficient and helped with America’s prosperity, he was concerned that some trusts hurt the public interest. He wanted to ensure that trusts did not abuse their power. He was known as a trustbuster that went after big corporations if they violated their power.

Upton Sinclair In 1906, Upton Sinclair published the book called “The Jungle”. The book featured appalling descriptions of the meat-packing industry. Excerpt from Sinclair’s book: “There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about [upon] it.” – The Jungle Led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act that required meat to be inspected and set standards of cleanliness in meatpacking plants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxe9nosWawM

Roosevelt & Conservation Roosevelt believed in environmental conservation and urged Americans to CONSERVE natural resources. Legislation was passed that gave the federal government the power to conserve natural resources. Roosevelt added over 100 million acres to the protected national forests and established five new national parks and 51 federal wildlife reservations.

Taft's Achievements Taft was a strong opponent of monopolies and actually brought twice as many antitrust cases as Roosevelt. He was a trustbuster as well. Established the Children’s Bureau in 1912. This was an agency that investigated and publicized the problems of child labor. The agency exists today, and deals with issues such as child abuse prevention, adoption, and foster care.

Roosevelt vs. Taft In 1911, Taft introduced an antitrust lawsuit against U.S. Steel. Claimed they violated the Sherman Antitrust Act. Lawsuit was the final straw for Roosevelt who had approved U.S. Steel’s to buy the company. Roosevelt believed that Taft’s focus on breaking up trusts was destroying the cooperation and regulation that Roosevelt had established with Big Business. Roosevelt criticized Taft’s decision and argued that the best way to deal with the trusts was to allow them to exist while continuing to regulate them. After Roosevelt broke with Taft, progressives convinced him to reenter politics which he did in the Election of 1912.