1. Earlier Efforts at Reform

2. Garfield ● President after Rutherford B. Hayes ● Brought an end to the “spoils system” in national government ● Tried to limit dishonesty in national government ● - Pushed for civil service reform ● - Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act 1883(eventually signed by his successor)

3. Sherman Anti-Trust Act ● Passed in 1890 to limit business practices that seemed “anti-competitive” ● Required government to investigate trusts ● - Does not necessarily make monopolies and trusts illegal ● Weaknesses: ● - Does not specify what particular practices are illegal ● - Does not specify penalties or who is actually supposed to enforce the act

4. Teddy Roosevelt: Trust-Busting and Reform

7. Rise to Power ● Became president when McKinley was assassinated in 1901 ● - He was vice president ● Before that he was NYC police commissioner and secretary of the navy, among other positions ● He won the 1904 presidential election by a landslide ● - Believed that made him more legitimate ● Significantly expanded the powers of the president

8. Trust-Busting ● Believed that it was his duty to use his power to make life better for everyone in the nation- not just the rich ● - Not exactly in line with Republican policy at the time ● Dedicated to enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act ● - Broke up the massive trust of Northern Railroads ● - Established the Department of Commerce and Labor ●

9. Trust-Busting - Bureau of Corporations was created to find violations of current anti-trust law - Attorney General filed 44 anti-trust lawsuits during his presidency - Ultimate aim was to control most trusts rather than destroy them

12. Food Safety ● Pushed for the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 ● Responsibility to enforce them was given to the USDA ● - Eventually the Bureau of Chemistry in the USDA becomes the FDA

13. Conservation ● Advocated the strategic use and management of natural resources ● - Not the same as Preservation (protecting nature for its own sake) ● Established many National Parks ● - Including Muir Woods (redwoods), Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde ● - Added land to Yosemite and made it federal land ● Created the first 51 bird reserves, 4 game preserves, and 150 national forests

14. Conservation ● Created the U.S. Forest Service ● Newlands Reclamation Act (1902): building dams to help irrigate farms ● Gifford Pinchot was chief of the Division of Forestry ● - Allowed use of national forests for a fee