1. Roosevelt and Taft
Chapter 6 Lesson 2

2. Theodore Roosevelt Rises to the Presidency
Graduated from Harvard with honors.
Elected to the New York State Assembly while studying law at Columbia University.
President of New York City’s Board of Police Commission.
Served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
Formed the Rough Riders (Cavalry Unit) and fought in the Spanish-American War.
Elected governor of New York and pushed for Progressive reforms.
President McKinley’s vice President for two terms. McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt becomes President. (2 Terms)
Youngest President Ever-42 yrs. Old
He saw his office as a “bully pulpit” which he could use to influence news media & shape legislation

3. Hunting in Africa

4. Rough Riders – San Juan Hill

5. Trust-busting and Regulating Industry
Square Deal: Goals were to keep the wealthy and powerful from taking advantage of small business owners and the poor.
“Good Trusts” and “Bad Trusts”: He supported big businesses as long as they did business fairly.
Fair = didn’t cheat consumers or bully smaller companies
Trustbusting
1900 Trusts controlled about 4/5 of industry in U.S.
1902 he ordered the Justice Dept. to sue the Northern Securities Company – they were dissolved
Roosevelt became known as a “trustbuster”
Department of Commerce and Labor: Monitor businesses engaged in interstate commerce and to keep capitalists from abusing their power.
Pennsylvania Coal Miners Strike
Threatened to send federal troops and run the mines with federal employees.
1st time the Federal Government stepped in to help workers in a labor dispute
Elkins Act: Imposed fines on railroads that gave special rates to favored shippers.
SQUARE DEAL
“Trustbuster”

6. Trustbusting & Regulating Industry
Trustbuster
Hepburn Act: Gave the government the authority to set and limit shipping costs.
Gave the (ICC) Interstate Commerce Commission strong enforcement powers.
Set maximum prices for ferries, bridge tolls, and oil pipelines.
Also Regulated businesses by
Standardized bookkeeping
Set max Shipping rates
Meat Inspection Act: Provided federal agents to inspect any meat sold across state lines and required federal inspection of meat- processing plants.
(Upton Sinclair: The Jungle)
Pure Food and Drug Act: Allowed federal inspection of food and medicine and banned the interstate shipment and sale of impure food and the mislabeling of food and drugs.
Today we have the FDA: Food and Drug Administration

7. The Government Manages the Environment
TR – Conservationist
“Rational Use” policy
Conservation vs. Preservation
John Muir: Naturalist whose efforts had led Congress to create Yosemite National Park in 1890.
Believed that all wild areas should be preserved.
Roosevelt closed off more than 100 million acres of forestland.
Gifford Pinchot: Led the Division of Forestry in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Believed forests should be used for public use.
Protected areas should be logged for use.
His views became American policy toward natural resources.
13 National Parks created by 1916
National Reclamation Act: Government had the power to decide where and how water would be distributed. They would build and manage dams that would create reservoirs, generate power, and direct water flow.

8. TR & Muir

9. Roosevelt’s Legacy 1) Changed the role of the Federal Government
More involved directly in the lives of Americans
2) Changed the nature of the Presidency
Used as a “bully pulpit” – used his power to present his views and put pressure on law makers
Increased power of the executive branch
Regulated Interstate Commerce (ICC)
Monitor Business (Dept of Commerce & Labor)
Attorney General brought Anti-Trust lawsuits
Creation of National Parks/Forests

10. Taft
William Howard Taft was Roosevelt’s Secretary of War; Essentially hand picked by Roosevelt b/c he was seen as someone who would continue Roosevelt’s progressive policies.
Criticized by progressives for violating the “Square Deal” policies of Roosevelt presidency.
Signed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff
Fired Gifford Pinchot for insubordination
Declared U.S. Steel acquisition of TN Coal and Iron company violated the Sherman Anti-Trust law.
Taft’s Achievements:
Prosecuted twice as many anti-trust lawsuits as Roosevelt
Established the Children’s Bureau to investigate and publicize problems of Child Labor
Committed Conservationist – Established the Bureau of Mines

11. Roosevelt and Taft Fed up with Taft, Roosevelt re-entered politics.
Republican party is divided
Fed up with Taft, Roosevelt re-entered politics.
The Republican party was divided between the Progressives and Conservative Republicans.
This will split votes and allow Woodrow Wilson to win the presidential election of 1912.