Presidencies of Taft and Wilson

Taft Diverges from Roosevelt When his second term ended, Roosevelt left the

presidency to enjoy his private life. He handpicked his successor to be his Secretary of War, William Howard Taft.

Roosevelt believed that Taft would continue policies that he had started, such as lowering tariffs.

Two major pieces of legislation under Taft include: Payne-Aldrich Act lowered tariffs (though not as much as

Roosevelt had intended) Mann-Elkins Act gave government ownership of telephone

and telegraph rates. • Most unlike Roosevelt though, Taft did not distinguish

between ‘good’ trusts and ‘bad’ trusts– to him, all trusts were bad.

Taft Pursues Dollar Diplomacy When William Taft assumed the role of

president, he focused his foreign policy on trade. Thus, he believed the way to interact and

control another country was through the use of money, known as ‘dollar diplomacy’.

Taft believed that dollars could be substituted for bullets.

Taft aimed to increase American investment in businesses and banks in Central America/the Caribbean.

Wilson Pursues Moral Diplomacy President Wilson’s foreign policy was even more different from

Roosevelt’s than Taft’s. Instead of territorial conquest, Wilson believed in promoting human

rights and integrity in these countries, known as ‘moral diplomacy’. However, both Taft and Wilson used the U.S.’ strong military when

necessary. One of these instances was in Mexico in 1914 to help pro-

American Venustiano Carranza attain power. When Mexican rebels, led by Pancho Villa, crossed the border into

New Mexico and killed 18, Wilson sent troops after him, led by John J. Pershing. Villa managed to evade Pershing for months, and eventually Wilson

was forced to withdraw troops, with the onset of WWI.

The Election of 1912

William Taft won the Republican nomination for the election of 1912.

In response, Theodore Roosevelt went and formed his own party– the Bull Moose Party, and joined the race as a third-party candidate.

Republicans were split over the two men, so a united Democratic Party was able to capture the White House with their candidate, Woodrow Wilson.

Progressivism’s Lasting Legacy

When Wilson took office, he wanted to reignite the progressive legislation that Roosevelt had begun, and Taft had since weakened.

His collective goals were known as the New Freedom because he wanted to provide new opportunities (freedom) for small businesses. He would accomplish this by putting in place

strict government controls on corporations.

Progressivism’s Lasting Legacy The Progressive Era witnessed many changes in

almost every facet of American society. In regards to politics, changes occurred

regarding election rules and who was eligible to vote (women);

Economically, regulation of big business through the establishment of gov. agencies and legislation remains to this day;

Improvement in both work and housing conditions bettered the standard of living for poor workers.