An asthma sufferer, Teddy drove himself to accomplish demanding physical feats. As a teenager, he mastered

marksmanship and horseback riding. Unlike

previous Presidents, Roosevelt enjoyed boxing,

although one of his opponents blinded him in the left eye. On another day, he

galloped 100 miles on horseback, merely to prove

that it was possible to do so.

Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed a very active lifestyle, which often crept into his political

beliefs (especially about conserving the land). When the President spared a bear cub on a hunting expedition,

a toymaker marketed a popular new product, the

teddy bear.

1.Life Before President-rose steadily through gov’t ranks-Spanish American War• Led Rough Riders at San

Juan Hill-Governor of NY

reform governor• Political machines want him out

of NY because he is cleaning gov’t

-Vice President of William McKinley

-Became President with McKinley’s assassination

• Youngest President (42)• Federal responsibility to help

the citizens when the states cannot

Teddy Roosevelt was born into a wealthy New York family in 1858. At an early age,

the ambitious Roosevelt became a leader in New York politics. After serving 3 terms in

the NY State Assembly, he became New York’s police commissioner and then

assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy. The aspiring politician grabbed national

attention, advocating war against Spain in 1898, as his cavalry brigade won public

acclaim for its role in San Juan Hill. Roosevelt returned a hero and was soon

elected governor of NY, then later won the Vice Presidency.

“In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard.”

~Theodore Roosevelt

2.Square Deal-”hit the line hard”-Presidency as the “bully pulpit”• Use media to shape legislation

he serves as the protector of the people

-Square Deal was his program to fix the evils of society

• Modern America requires a strong federal government

-”politics is the art of the possible”

-”speak softly and carry a big stick”

• Foreign and domestic policy

“It is the duty of the President to act upon the theory that he is the

steward of the people, and…to assume that he has the legal right to do whatever the needs of the

people demand, unless the Constitution or the laws explicitly

forbid him to do it.”~Teddy Roosevelt

3.Gov’t Involvement

-1902 coal strikemine owners refused to bargain

-strike threatens fuel needs of the nation

• Roosevelt threatens to take over mines unless issue is resolved

-Roosevelt had both groups to meet and go to arbitration

• Showed disputes could be settled orderly with experts

-this set an example of Presidents mediating conflicts!

• Federal government expected to intervene in large strikes

The Coal Strike of 1902 was a strike by the United Mine Workers of

America in Pennsylvania. The strike threatened to shut down the winter

fuel supply to all major cities. President Roosevelt became involved

and set up a commission that suspended the strike. The strike

never resumed, as the miners received more pay for fewer hours; the owners got a higher price for

coal. It was the first labor episode in which the federal government

intervened as a neutral arbitrator.

4.Trustbusting

-trusts controlled 4/5 of industry

• This limits competition and hurts the consumer

-Roosevelt believed in good and bad trusts

• He wanted to stop those that harmed public interest

-several trusts were broken and real gov’t regulation began

• 44 suits filed, most won-RR regulation

Northern Securities v. US• Had a monopoly over

northwestern railroads; Supreme Court dissolved company

President Roosevelt took a stand against the large trusts of the nation.

As part of his Square Deal, President

Roosevelt aggressively used the Sherman

Antitrust Act of 1890 to attack big

businesses engaging in unfair practices. His

victory over his first target, the Northern Securities Company,

earned him a reputation as a hard-

hitting trustbuster committed to

protecting the public interest. The

cartoonist shows Roosevelt trying to tame the wild lions that symbolize the great and powerful companies of 1904.

President Roosevelt took a stand against

the large trusts of the nation, filing 44 suits against large trusts, and winning most of

his claims.

5.The Jungle

-written by Upton Sinclair-muckraking novel• Journalists who exposed

society’s problems-meant to expose the conditions

of immigrants

-novel effectively described the unsanitary conditions present in the manufacturing plants of the meatpacking industry

• Disgusted President Roosevelt

“There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and

sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit uncounted billions of tuberculosis germs. There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms…

and thousands of rats would race about on it…A man could run his hand over

these piles of meat and sweep off handfuls of the dried dung of rats. These rats were nuisances, and the

packers would put poisoned bread out for them; they would die, and then rats, bread, and meat would go in the hopper

together.”~Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

6.Gov’t Response

-investigated Sinclair’s claims-passed Meat Inspection Act

(1906)• Strict requirements for meat

packers and meat inspection• Used until the 1990s-later passage of Pure Food and

Drug Act• Halted sale of contaminated

foods and medicines• Must be truthful in labeling of

foods/medicines-FDA

• Food and Drug AdministrationBefore any federal regulations were established for advertising food and

drugs, manufacturers had claimed that their products accomplished

everything from curing cancer to growing hair. In addition, popular

children’s medicines often contained opium, cocaine, or alcohol.

7.Conservation-industry was consuming large

portions of natural resources-pollution was destroying

waterways• Coal mining and lumbering

ruining the nation’s natural resources

• Roosevelt wants to protect the land and resources

-Roosevelt establishes several national parks

• National Reclamation Act, 1902-set aside large portions of

forestlands (reserves) – kept land from private sale-Gifford Pinchot

-development of land for the common good

• Some land set aside for the common good

These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the Mountains, lift them

to the Almighty Dollar. ~John Muir (1912)

“Thousands of…over civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home.”

~John Muir

8.Civil Rights

-Progressive era as a whole ignored the needs of minorities

• Roosevelt did not advocate for civil rights, only gave power to some

-Booker T. Washington• Respected by rich, powerful

whites• Invited to the White House by

Roosevelt-W.E.B. DuBois• Pushed for full equality now

NAACP• Used the court system to push

for full equalityTeddy Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington at a parade together in

Washington, D.C.