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Roosevelt’s Square Deal

Roosevelt’s Square Deal. 17.4. Objectives. Discuss Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas on the role of government. Analyze how Roosevelt changed the government’s role in the economy. Explain the impact of Roosevelt’s actions on natural resources. Compare and contrast Taft’s policies with Roosevelt’s.

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Roosevelt’s Square Deal

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  1. Roosevelt’s Square Deal 17.4

  2. Objectives • Discuss Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas on the role of government. • Analyze how Roosevelt changed the government’s role in the economy. • Explain the impact of Roosevelt’s actions on natural resources. • Compare and contrast Taft’s policies with Roosevelt’s

  3. Key Parts • Roosevelt Shapes the Modern Presidency • Trust busting and Regulating Industry • The Government Manages the Environment • Roosevelt and Taft Differ

  4. Introduction • Read section 17.4 • Answer critical thinking questions 4&5.

  5. Roosevelt Shapes the Modern Presidency • In the late 1800s the United States had several weak and ineffective Presidents. • Theodore Roosevelt came into the presidency with energy, enthusiasm, and vision. He was the youngest President to date at the age of 43. • Theodore came from a Rich family that supplied his every need in rising to the upper echelons of the United States.

  6. Cont. • Roosevelt graduated from Harvard University with honors in 1880. • Soon after his mother and wife died, he had been working in the New York Assembly and once the deaths occurred he retired to a ranch in the West. There he developed his desire for the wilderness. • Roosevelt could not stay out of politics for long. In 1889 he became the President of New York City’s Board of Police Commissioners.

  7. Cont.. • He gained respect there fighting off corruption in the city and was named Assistant Secretary of the Navy. • Then the Spanish American War broke out in 1898, and Roosevelt resigned his position and formed the Rough Riders, a volunteer cavalry unit that became famous during the war. • At the end of the war the new war hero became governor of New York, where he pushed progressive reforms.

  8. Cont… • Roosevelt then became McKinley’s running mate for President. • After McKinley was assassinated Roosevelt took the presidency and dominated the public attention. • Roosevelt greatly expanded the power of the President, he used this to push through his reform proposals.

  9. Cont…. • He called his program the Square Deal. Meaning; in a card game some are dealt bad cards and some are dealt good hands, all is fair as long as there was no crooked dealing. • Roosevelt’s goal was to keep the wealthy and powerful form taking advantage of small business owners and the poor. • However, he said the government was not there to help the lazy either. You have to work to get the benefits.

  10. Trust Busting and Regulating Industry • Roosevelt was the first President to step in to help over worked laborers and get their pay increased. • He threatened mine owners that he would run the mines with federal workers and control how much the miners would work and be paid. • The mine owners shortened the work day to nine hours and raised their pay.

  11. Cont. • Railroads had been an issue since the 1870s with charging inflated cargo prices. • The ICC helped with this and the passage of the Elkins Act in 1903 by Roosevelt. • This imposed fines on railroads that gave special rates to favored shippers. • Then Congress passed the Hepburn Act which gave the ICC strong enforcement powers.

  12. Cont.. • Roosevelt worked to improve the conditions of food processing companies. • The passed the Meat inspection act in 1906, which brought in federal inspectors to ensure the quality of the meat leaving the factories. • The Pure Food and Drug Act did the same thing, just on other foods and medicines.

  13. The Government Manages the Environment • Roosevelt had a fascination with nature and the sport of hunting animals. • He set aside 100 million acres to protect the wilderness. • Roosevelt also understood the need to use natural resources. So he would draw on the “rational use” ideas of Gifford Pinchot. • Also a major issue was mining during this time and who would control the water; farmers or miners. Roosevelt passed the National Reclamation Act giving the gov. the power over the distribution of water.

  14. Roosevelt and Taft Differ • Roosevelt left the Presidency after two terms saying he wanted to enjoy a private life. • He helped William Howard Taft take over as President because he felt he would continue on Roosevelt’s policies. • However, this wasn’t the case, Taft began dropping things that Roosevelt had set into motion. Such as there was no longer distinction between good trusts and bad trusts.

  15. Cont. • This infuriated Roosevelt, so he began a program called New Nationalism- a program to restore the government’s trust busting power. • Roosevelt claims to run for president again and this leads to a bitter presidential election between Roosevelt and Taft.

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