Woodrow Wilson takes the helm

Election of 1912

The Candidates

• Republicans: William Howard Taft.

• Democrats: Woodrow Wilson.

• Progressive Party (Bull Moose): Roosevelt.

A Conflict of Economic and Political Philosophies.

Progressive Platform• Consolidation of trusts

and labor unions.• Stronger regulatory

agencies,• Women’s suffrage.• Social welfare laws.

(minimum wage, etc)

Democrat Platform• Small enterprise with

unmonopolized and unregulated markets.

• Fragment big business by enactment of antitrust laws.

• Competition.

Outcome of the Election

• Roosevelt splits the Republican vote by pulling in 27% of the popular vote.

• Wilson wins but has only 41% of the vote.

• Eugene V. Debs pulls in over 900,000 votes for the Socialist Party.

• Taft leaves politics (sort a) and will become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1921.

The Triple Wall of Privilege

The Tariff

• Underwood Tariff Bill - reduced import fees and also enacted a graduated income tax.

• Why were they in the same bill?

The Triple Wall of Privilege

The Banks

• Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Created the Federal Reserve Board, twelve regional districts, and Federal Reserve Notes.

• Made to be free of political influence.

The Triple Wall of PrivilegeThe Trusts

• Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. Used to battle unfair competition, false advertising, mislabeling, adulteration and bribery.

• Clayton-Anti-Trust Act of 1914. Strengthened Sherman. Price discrimination and interlocking directorates. Legalized strikes and peaceful picketing.

Additional Progressive Reforms

• Seaman’s Act of 1915.

• Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916.

• Warehouse Act of 1916.

• Workingmen’s Compensation Act of 1916.

• Adamson Act of 1916.

Problems South of the Border

Viva Zapata !!!!!• 1913. General Huerta takes control of

Mexico, spurring a northern migration.

• Venustiano Carranza and Pancho Villa are supported by the US.

• Trouble in Tampico & retaliation at Vera Cruz.

• Carranza seizes power in 1914.

• “Black-Jack” Pershing sent after Villa after border murders. (1917)

The World Explodes in War

German Submarine Warfare Hits Home