Progressive Presidents

1. Progressive Presidents Chapter 21 Section 3

2. Theodore Roosevelt • Received the Republican vice-presidential nomination in 1900 • Became president after President McKinley was assassinated The “Trustbuster” • Roosevelt was known to support business regulation and other progressive reforms • Northern Securities Company – railroad monopoly formed by JP Morgan and James Hill • The Supreme Court decided that Northern Securities had illegally limited trade and ordered the trust to be taken apart • Known as the TRUSTBUSTER, Roosevelt felt that trusts should be regulated, not destroyed

3. Labor Crisis • United Mine Workers went on strike in 1902 and the strike went on for months and coal supplies dwindled • Roosevelt sent federal troops to work in the mines • arbitration – settling a dispute by agreeing to the decision of an impartial outsider Square Deal • square deal – fair and equal treatment for all • laissez-faire – French term meaning “let people do as they choose” Conserving the Wilderness • conservation – the protection and preservation of natural resources • In 1905, Roosevelt proposed the U.S. Forest Service

4. William Howard Taft • In 1908, Roosevelt chose William Howard Taft to run for president • Sixteenth Amendment – gave Congress the power to tax people’s income to generate money for the federal government (Income Tax) Roosevelt Challenges Taft • Roosevelt decided to run for president again against Taft • Roosevelt and his followers formed the Progressive Party • The Progressive Party was also known as the Bull Moose Party

5. The Election of 1912 • The Democrats nominated Woodrow Wilson, who won the election because of the split in the Republican party Wilson in the White House • Wilson also criticized big government and called his program “New Freedom” • Federal Reserve Act – passed by Congress to regulate banking • Federal Trade Commission – formed to investigate corporations for unfair trade practices • Clayton Antitrust Act –passed to regulate trusts