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Roosevelt’s View of the Presidency. Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to the governorship of New York in 1898 spelled big trouble for the Republican political machine in New York To rid themselves of the Progressive reformer, party bosses came up with a clever plan
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Roosevelt’s View of the Presidency • Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to the governorship of New York in 1898 spelled big trouble for the Republican political machinein New York • To rid themselves of the Progressive reformer, party bosses came up with a clever plan • They got Roosevelt nominated as vice president, a job with little power at the time
Taking Office • However, the party bosses, and the nation, were shocked when anarchist Leon Czolgosz fatally shot President William McKinley in 1901 • Theodore Roosevelt, the energetic reformer, now held the highest office in the land
Taking Office • Roosevelt was just 42 years old when he took office, the youngest person ever to become president • During the late 1800s, most presidents had taken a hands-off approach to governing • Not Teddy Roosevelt • He saw the White House as a bully pulpit, a powerful platform to publicize important issues and seek support for his policies • With great enthusiasm and energy, Roosevelt brought new momentum to the Progressive movement
The Coal Strike of 1902 • Soon after the new president took office, some 150,000 Pennsylvania coal miners struck for higher wages, shorter hours, and recognition of their union • The strike gave Roosevelt an opportunity to define his view of the presidency • As winter neared, Roosevelt feared what might happen if the strike were not resolved • Northern cities depended on Pennsylvania coal for heating • The president felt compelled to use his influence “to bring to an end a situation which has become literally intolerable”
The Coal Strike of 1902 • Roosevelt urged the mine owners and the striking workers to accept arbitration • In the arbitration process, two opposing sides agree to allow a third party to settle a dispute • The workers agreed to accept arbitration, but the mine ownersrefused • As winter drew nearer, Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines • The threat finally convinced the mine owners to agree to his arbitration plan
The Coal Strike of 1902 • After a three-month investigation, the arbitrators announced their decision • They gave the workers a shorter workday and higher pay but did not require the mining companies to recognize the union • For the first time, the federal government had intervened in a strike to protect the interests of the workers and the public • Satisfied, Roosevelt pronounced the compromise a “square deal”
The Square Deal • The Square Dealbecame Roosevelt’s 1904 campaign slogan and the framework for his entire presidency • He promised to “see that each (person) is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less”. • Roosevelt’s promise revealed his belief that the needs of workers, business, and consumers should be balanced • Roosevelt’s Square Deal called for limiting the power of trusts, promoting public health and safety, and improving working conditions
The Square Deal • The popular president faced no opposition for the nomination with his party • In the general election Roosevelt cruised to victory, easily defeating his Democratic opponent, Judge Alton Parker of New York
Regulating Big Business • Roosevelt believed that big business was essential to the nation’s growth, but he also believed companies should behave responsibly • Roosevelt focused a great deal of attention on regulating large corporations • Addressing Congress in 1902 Roosevelt stated, • “We are ……determined that they (corporations) shall be so handled as to subserve (serve) the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth”
Trust-busting • In 1901 tycoons J.P. Morgan, James J. Hill, and E.H. Harriman joined their railroads together to eliminate competition • Their company, the Northern Securities Company, dominated railroad shipping from Chicago to the Northwest • The following year, President Roosevelt directed the U.S. attorney general to sue the Northern Securities Company for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act • In 1904 the Supreme Court ruled that the monopoly did violate the Sherman Antitrust Act • It ordered the corporation dissolved
Trust-busting • The ruling proved to be a watershed • An encouraged Roosevelt administration launched a vigorous trust-busting campaign • It filed dozens of lawsuits against monopolies and trusts that it believed were not in the public interest • The size of the trust was not the issue • What mattered was whether a particular trust was good or bad for the American public • The Roosevelt administration went after the bad trusts • The ones that sold inferior products, competed unfairly, or corrupted public officials
Regulating the Railroads • Another way to ensure that businesses competed more fairly was through regulation • Railroads commonly granted rebates to their best customers • This meant that huge corporations paid significantly less to ship their products than small farmers or small businesses • In 1903 Congress passed the Elkins Act, which prohibited railroads from accepting rebates • The Elkins Act ensured that all customers paid the same rates for shipping their products
Regulating the Railroads • The Hepburn Actof 1906 strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), giving it the power to set maximum railroad rates • It also gave the ICC the power to regulate other companies that were engaged in interstate commerce
Protecting the Consumers • Roosevelt also responded to growing public dismay about practices of the foodand drug industries • Some food producers, drug companies, and meat packers were selling dangerous products to an unknowing public
Protecting the Consumers • Food producers, for example, resorted to clever tricks to pass off tainted foods • Some poultry sellers added formaldehyde, a chemical used in embalming dead bodies, to old eggs to hide their foul odor • Unwary consumers bought the tainted food and were tricked into thinking it was healthy
Protecting the Consumers • Many drug companies were equally unconcerned for their customer’s welfare • Some sold medicines that simply did not work • Others marketed patent, or nonprescription, medicines containing dangerous narcotic drugs • Products such as Dr. James’ Soothing Syrup, intended to soothe babies’ teething pain, contained the drug heroin • Gowan’s Pneumonia Cure contained the addictive painkiller opium
Protecting the Consumers • Few industries fell into greater public disrepute than the meatpacking business • The novelist Upton Sinclairexposed the wretched and unsanitary conditions at meatpacking plants in his 1906 novel The Jungle • Sinclair’s novel ignited a firestorm of criticism aimed at meatpackers • Reformers and an outraged public called for change • Roosevelt ordered Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson to investigate the conditions in the packing houses • Wilson’s final report made for gruesome reading
Protecting the Consumers • The Wilson report shocked the U.S. Congress into action • In 1906 it enacted two groundbreaking consumer protection laws • The first, the Meat Inspection Act, required federal inspection of meat shipped across state lines • The Pure Food and Drug Actforbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of food and patent medicine containing harmful ingredients • The law also required food and medicine containers to carry accurate ingredient labels
Environmental Conservation • In the late 1800s people acted as if the United States had an unending supply of natural resources • Lumber companies cleared large tracts of forest lands • Farmers plowed up the Great Plains • Ranchers’ cattle and sheep overgrazed the prairies • Mining companies clogged rivers and cluttered land with their refuse • Cities dumped sewage into rivers and garbage onto the land
Environmental Conservation • Roosevelt, however, believed that each generation had a duty to protect and conserve natural resources for future generations • Before Roosevelt’s presidency, the federal government had left the nation’s natural resources largely unregulated • Business needs had always taken priority over the environment • But Roosevelt recognized that natural resources were limited, and he believed their use needed to be controlled
Environmental Conservation • In 1903 Roosevelt joined famed naturalist John Muir for a camping trip in Yosemite National Park in California • Muir had played a pivotal role in convincing the government to protect and preserve Yosemite • “Unfortunately, God cannot save trees from fools,” Muir had observed • “Only the government can do that.”
Environmental Conservation • Despite their friendly camping trip, Muir and Roosevelt held different views about conservation • Muir wanted the entire wilderness to be preserved in its natural state • Roosevelt believed that conservation involved the active management of public lands for a variety of uses • Some lands should be preserved as wilderness • Other lands should be put to more directly economical productive uses
Environmental Conservation • The Newlands Reclamation Actof 1902 reflected Roosevelt’s beliefs • It allowed the federal government to create irrigation projects to make dry lands productive • The projects would be funded from money raised by selling off public lands • The Roosevelt administration launched more than 20 reclamation projects
Environmental Conservation • Another conservationist, Gifford Pinchot, shared Roosevelt’s view • Pinchot first came up with the word conservation to describe the need to protect the country’s natural environment • He wrote: “the conservation of natural resources is the key to the future. It is the key to the safety and prosperity of the American people.” • Pinchot believed scientific management of natural resources was crucial to sustaining them to serve the nation’s needs
Environmental Conservation • In 1905 the Roosevelt administration established the U.S. Forest Service with Pinchot as its chief • During Roosevelt’s presidency, the Forest Service added nearly 150 million acres to the national forests, controlled their use, and regulated their harvest • The Antiquities Act of 1906 led to the creation of 18 national monuments during Roosevelt’s presidency • For many historians, environmental conservation is Roosevelt’s greatest legacy