Progressivism goes to Washington!

1. Progressivism goes to Washington! National politics and the Presidents of the Progressive Era

2. Theodore Roosevelt: An American Lion!

3. TR’s path to The White House • Fun facts about TR’s life • McKinley’s 2nd Vice President; added to the ticket in 1900 • “I would a great deal rather be anything, say a history professor, than Vice President!” -TR • September 6, 1901: Republican President McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, NY • September 14: Vice President Theodore Roosevelt sworn in as President at age 42 • “My God, that damned cowboy in the White House!” -Mark Hanna • Elected on his own in 1904 with 57% of the vote, 336-140 over Alton Parker

4. TR’s change in philosophy • “The Bully Pulpit:”

5. TR on labor and capitalism • Presidents had always sided with business! • United Mine Workers strike (May 1902) • 5 months into the strike, TR called both sides to The White House and convinced them to submit to arbitration • 10% raise, reduced workday to 9 hours • TR generally supported the right of workers to organize • Had little respect for big businessmen • Believed in regulated capitalism; believed that companies must behave virtuously • “Square Deal” for labor and business

6. TR: The “Trust-Buster” • We don’t wish to destroy corporations, but we do wish to make them subserve the public good.” -TR • TR opposed “irresponsible corporate behavior” • Roosevelt’s Justice Dept. sued 44 companies for anti-trust violations using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act:

7. TR: The champion of corporate regulation • TR creates the Dept of Commerce and Labor to regulate business • Bureau of Corporations: regulate interstate businesses • Elkins Act (1903): • Hepburn Act (1906):

8. TR: Consumer Protection • The Jungle opened TR’s (and the nation’s) eyes to the safety of their food (“I aimed at the nation’s heart, but hit it in the stomach.”) • Milk distributors frequently added chalk or plaster to improve the color of the milk • Patent medicines and other products often contained cocaine, opium, alcohol, etc. (Click here: http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/cocaine.asp) • Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): • The Meat Inspection Act (1906):

9. TR and natural resources • Preservationists vs. conservationists • “When I hear of the destruction of a species, I feel just as if all the works of some great writer had perished.” • TR names Gifford Pinchot to head the US Forest Service in 1905 to use natural resources in a planned way • Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902: • Antiquities Act of 1906: • TR used the 1891 Forest Reserve Act to set aside 200 million acres of public forest; created 53 wildlife reserves, 16 national monuments, 5 new national parks • “We are not building this country of ours for a day. It is to last through the ages.”

10. 1908 Election • TR steps aside • William Howard Taft: TR’s Secretary of War and handpicked successor • With TR out of the picture, pro-business conservative Republicans regain power and influence • Taft defeats William Jennings Bryan 51.6-43.1, 321-162

11. William Howard Taft… and two very, very distant relatives.

12. William Howard Taft (1909-1913) • Mann-Elkins Act (1910): • Prosecuted 90 anti-trust cases (even more than TR); however one of them was against US Steel (which TR had approved of) • Created Bureau of Mines; set aside federal oil reserves, new federally protected forests in the Appalachians • He was perceived by many reformers and conservationists as too timid; he didn’t did not have the flair for the dramatic and the political skills of his predecessor. • After Taft signed a higher tariff (the Payne-Aldrich Tariff) into law in 1909, Progressive “insurgent” Republicans began to challenge Taft and the conservative Speaker of the House, Joe Cannon.

13. The Ballinger-Pinchot Affair and the fall-out in 1910 • Secretary of the Interior Richard Ballinger sold several million acres of coal-rich public land in Alaska • When Pinchot protested, Taft fired him! • When TR returned in 1910, Pinchot met the boat! • In 1910, TR campaigned for “Insurgent” candidates and called for a “New Nationalism;” Democrats and Insurgent Republicans controlled both Houses

14. The 1912 Presidential Election… guess who’s back. • TR sought the 1912 Republican nomination; Taft controlled the party; TR walked out of the convention and formed a third party: the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party • “I’m stripped to the waist and ready for the fight!” • Democrats nominate a reform-minded NJ Governor, Woodrow Wilson • Eugene Debs: Rise of the Socialist Party

15. The 4-way race of 1912

16. Woodrow Wilson • Underwood-Simmons Tariff: Federal Reserve Act of 1913: Federal Trade Commission (1914): • Clayton Antitrust Act (1914):

17. Woodrow Wilson, cont. • Supported labor unions • Keating Owen Act (1916): • Adamson Act: • Workmen’s compensation for federal employees • Federal Farm Loan Act (1916): • Federal Highway Act (1916): • Nominated Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court • Reelected in 1916 (49.4-46.2/277-254; won California by fewer than 4,000 votes)

18. Constitutional amendments passed during the Wilson years • 16th (1913): • 17th (1913): • 18th (1919): • 19th (1920):

19. World War I begins in 1914,the U.S. enters the war in 1917… …and the Progressive Era eventually comes to an end as we refocus our energies abroad.