Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to the governorship of New York in 1898 spelled big trouble for the Republican political machine in New YorkTo 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

Roosevelt’s View of the Presidency

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 governingNot 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

Taking Office

Soon after the new president took office, some 150,000 Pennsylvania coal miners struck for higher wages, shorter hours, and recognition of their unionThe 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 owners refused

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 publicSatisfied, Roosevelt pronounced

the compromise a “square deal”

The Coal Strike of 1902

The Square Deal became 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 partyIn the general election

Roosevelt cruised to victory, easily defeating his Democratic opponent, Judge Alton Parker of New York

The Square Deal

Roosevelt believed that big business was essential to the nation’s growth, but he also believed companies should behave responsiblyRoosevelt 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”

Regulating Big Business

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 watershedAn 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 interestThe 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 trustsThe ones that sold inferior

products, competed unfairly, or corrupted public officials

Trust-busting

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 Act of 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

Regulating the Railroads

Roosevelt also responded to growing public dismay about practices of the food and 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 foodsSome 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 Sinclair exposed 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 Act forbade 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

Protecting the Consumers

In the late 1800s people acted as if the United States had an unending supply of natural resourcesLumber companies cleared

large tracts of forest landsFarmers plowed up the Great

PlainsRanchers’ cattle and sheep

overgrazed the prairiesMining companies clogged rivers

and cluttered land with their refuseCities 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 generationsBefore 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 Act of 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 chiefDuring 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

Environmental Conservation