Progressive Presidents

Two president emerged as being the most influential in the progressive era, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Sandwiched between these two presidents was William Taft

who is also considered to be a progressive president, but progression slowed under his leadership.

Theodore RooseveltRoosevelt was the forefather for all progressive Presidents

Square Deal (Reform with Socialism and Progress)

Trust-busting(Northern Securities)(Coal Strike of 1902-Arbitration)(Bureau of Corporations)

Social Welfare (Meat Inspection Pure Food and Drug Act)

Conservation(National Forests and Reservations)

Square Deal*

• The Square Deal was President Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program formed upon three basic ideas: – control of corporations– consumer protection. – conservation of natural resources

*It was aimed at protecting the middle class

Trust Busting• Roosevelt many times showed he wanted to keep

big business under control from becoming to powerful. This process become known as trust-busting (the preventing of business from becoming to big by forming trusts).

• Examples of Roosevelt’s trusting-busting was:

Trust-Busting Examples• Northern Securities-The US government files a lawsuit

against Northern Securities Railroad Trust stating that it is in Violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, US government won.

• Coal Strike of 1902-Roosevelt forced arbitration (settlement imposed by an outside force) between the mine owners and mine workers and a agreement was reached.

• Bureau of Corporations was formed which was a department formed to investigate corporations. (US Steel was one of the first corporations investigated).

Social Welfare

• Roosevelt’s social welfare was based on the idea that government is responsible to keep society safe.

• Through the muckraking process several government programs were created to protect the public.– Meat Inspection Act (effect)– “The Jungle” by Upton

Sinclair (cause)– Pure, Food and Drug Act (effect)-prohibits the sale of

falsely labeled food (cause)

ConservationRoosevelt is most famous for putting his stamp

on the protection of wildlife and resources within this country for his passion for it.

• Newlands Reclamation Act – federal funds used to irrigation and land development in the West.

• National Forests and Wildlife Preservations - were set aside for the preservation of the natural resources and wildlife of or nation.

• Gifford Pinchot appointed as head of the United States Forest Service

William TaftTaft ran for the vacancy that Teddy Roosevelt was leaving and Taft and Roosevelt were very good friends. Taft was a lieutenant under Teddy, he also was a judge and governor of the Philippines under TR and

most importantly Taft was Roosevelt’s Secretary of War. To say that Roosevelt endorsed Taft

for presidency would be an understatement. TR often referred

to Taft as “Smiling Bill” and Taft easily won the 1908 election. He defeated William Jennings Bryan

who lost the presidential nomination for the 3rd time.

ControversyReforms

Reforms• Taft had twice as many trust-busting suits as

Roosevelt• Children’s Bureau – investigated and reported

on child labor problems• Mann-Elkins Act – increased the regulatory

powers of the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) to improve trade between states.

Controversy• Taft was a complete opposite of Roosevelt, instead of being dynamic and

liking the spotlight like Roosevelt he was quite soft-spoken and had a slow logistic method.

• The first problem that Taft encounter was the Payne Aldrich Tariff Act. The current speaker of the house Joeseph Cannon often time pushed legislation through which upset progressives. That wanted to remove him and finally did which upset Taft. Finally the tariff act went through doing just the opposite of what Taft had intended, raising tariffs instead of lowering them. Progressives became angry.

• Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy- Taft replaced Roosevelt’s Secretary of Interior Garfield (conversationalist) with Ballinger (conservative corporate lawyer). Ballinger made millions of public forests and mineral reserves available for syndicated (business groups) sale.

• Progressives felt Taft had “Sold the square deal down the river!”

Woodrow Wilson

• Underwood Tariff• 16th Amendment• Federal Reserve Bank• FTC• Clayton Antitrust Act• Child Labor Act• NAACP

Wilson first Democrat since 1892

Wilson became the beneficiary of the split in the Republican Party

Arguably the most progressive of all Presidents

1912 Election

• New Jersey governor ,Harvard graduate, Wilson ran as the Democrat against

• Roosevelt (Progressive Party-Bull Moose) • Taft (Republican incumbent)• Despite only receiving 42% of the popular vote he won

435 electoral votes• Wilson was endorsed by William Jennings Bryan who lost the 3

previous election to this one• Roosevelt 27% (88), Taft 23% (8), Debs-socialist 6% (0) * Roosevelt won S.D., Min., Calif., WA, MI. and PA.

Underwood Tariff

• Immediately Wilson called Congress to reduce tariffs. Wilson had one main reason to do this.

• Reducing tariffs on imports would bring in more foreign trade• Wilson also felt that this would help American business

to work harder to improve their products and lower prices on them• It passed and it worked

16th AmendmentIncome Tax

• One of the provisions involved with the Underwood Tariff was the federal income tax a progressive tax on the income a US citizen makes.

Federal Reserve• Wilson felt the nations banks needed one bank to

oversee the rest to regulate and control interest rates.

• Lower interest rates if needed during an inflation (prices inflate) and raise it during a recession (prices deflate)

• This system is still in effect today

Federal Trade Commission

• Developed to monitor American business from performing “unfair trade practices.”

Clayton Antitrust Act

• Progressives went further than the Federal trade commission and passed the Clayton Antitrust Act which stopped “price discrimination”

• Businesses could not charge different customers different prices based on their ability to pay nor give discounts on large volume contracts.

Keating-Owen Child Labor Act• Signed the child labor act prohibiting employment of children

under 14 in factories producing goods for interstate commerce.• Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional stating that is

the responsibility of the states and not the national government.

• Despite the Court decision Wilson became very popular with progressives

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

• Under Wilson the NAACP was founded by W.E.B. Du Bois

• It promoted Blacks on equal ground and although no Act or Amendment was added during Wilson’s term people started to think about black discrimination