The Progressive Presidents

Ch. 13, Sec 2, 3, & 4

Teddy Roosevelt• Youngest president – 42• 1/2 Social Darwinist

• Believed US in competition w/ other nations

• 1/2 Progressive• Government needs to make sure everyone is treated fairly

• Believed Progressivereforms would make the US more competitive

Roosevelt the Trustbuster• E.H. Harriman of the Union Pacific

Railroad and James J Hill and JPMorgan of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroad were fighting to control the Burlington Railroad through stock ownership• Almost triggered a financial panic on

Wall Street• Harriman, Hill and Morgan created

Northern Securities – a holding company that controlled all four railroads• 1902 - TR orders a lawsuit, says

Northern Securities violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act

Coal Miners Strike - 1902United Mine Workers – demanded pay raise, work reduction•first chance for Roosevelt to show his power• arbitration offered, mine owners refused• TR threatened to send in troops

Roosevelt - Election of 1904• Campaign Slogan: “Square Deal”

• Fair and equal treatment for all

Roosevelt as a Progressive• Bureau of Corporations – 1903• authority to investigate corporations and issue reports on their activities

• US Steel

• Offered “gentlemen’s agreement” to avoid anti-trust lawsuit

Roosevelt As A Progressive

•Hepburn Act – 1906• gave ICC more power (can set railroad rates)

• Actually benefits railroads by limiting competition

Roosevelt as a Progressive•Pure Food & Drug Act and Meat

Inspection Act – 1906• demanded federal regulation of the food processing and drug

manufacturing industries• Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” helped push for regulating meat inspections

Roosevelt the Conservationist• Newlands Reclamation Act –

1902• Use of federal $ to pay for

irrigation and land development projects

• Regulations to control lumbering on federal lands• Added over 100 million acres

to national forests, 5 new national parks, and 50 federal wildlife sanctuaries

• Teddy Bears named for TR• On a hunting trip he refused to kill

a bear cub

Election of 1908• William Howard Taft – Republican

• Hand picked by Roosevelt to be successor

• William Jennings Bryan - Democrat

Taft as a Progressive• Mann-Elkins Act – 1910• Increased the regulatory powers of the ICC

• Children's Bureau• Investigated problems with child labor

• More anti-trust lawsuits than Roosevelt

• A dedicated conservationist• Protected land from private development• Expanded the national forests

Progressives desert Taft• Payne-Aldrich Tariff –1910• Intent was to lower tariffs• most barely lowered• some were actually raised.

• Ballinger-Pinchot Controversy• Ballinger tried to make more than a

million acres of public land available for private development – Pinchot accused Ballinger of corruption• Taft fires Pinchot for insubordination

• Anti-trust Lawsuit against US Steel• TR criticizes Taft publicly

Taft Trivia

• Over 300 pounds• Once got stuck in a

White House bathtub• 1st President to throw

out the first pitch at a MLB game

Election of 1912• William H. Taft – Republican• T. Roosevelt – Progressive (Bull Moose)• Woodrow Wilson – Democrat• Wins because Rep. Party split between Taft & TR

Wilson’s Administration• Underwood Tariff – 1913• Wilson lobbied Congress personally• Tariff rates cut by half

• 16th Amendment – 1913• OK to put tax on income of individuals and businesses-made up for the federal revenue lost from the tariff cut

Reforming the Banks

• • Federal Reserve Act – 1913• put a system of 12 banks under control of the Federal Reserve Board

• Set interest rates and control money supply

Anti-Trust Action• Federal Trade Commission• Created to investigate companies with unfair trade practices

• Clayton Antitrust Act• more fed. power against trusts• Banned tying agreements• Gave unions right to exist

Improving Working Conditions• Keating-Owen act – 1916• No one under 14 could work in factories that produced goods for

interstate commerce

• Adamson Act• set an 8 hr work day for railroad workers

Legacy of Progressivism

• People expect gov’t to regulate the economy and solve social problems

• Ignored African-Americans• NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

founded in 1909