CHAPTER 20

Theodore Roosevelt and Progressive Reform

1901 - 1909

“It is not the critic that counts; not the one who points out how the strong person stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself or herself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he or she fails, at least while daring greatly, so that his or her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

“Of course our whole national history has been one of expansion. . . that the barbarians recede or are conquered . . . is due solely to the power of the mighty civilized races which have not lost the fighting instinct.” Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life

“There was never the least attention paid to what was cut up for sausages; there would come all the way back from Europe old sausage that had been rejected, and that was moldy and white – it would be dosed with borax and glycerine, and dumped into the hoppers, and made over again for home consumption.  There would be meat that had tumbled out on the floor, in the dirt and sawdust, where the workers had tramped and spit uncounted billions of consumption germs.  There would be meat stored in great piles in rooms; and the water from leaky roofs would drip over it, and thousands of rats would race about on it. . . . These rats were nuisances, and the packers would put poisoned bread out for them, and they would die, and then the rats, bread and meat would go into the hoppers together.”  Upton Sinclair, The Jungle -- 1906

Text Concepts

National Women’s Trade Union League J. P. Morgan Trustbusters Square Deal – treat capital and labor equally Booker T. Washington to White House, 8 days later Bill Morris burned

at stake W.E.B. Du Bois National Association for the Advancement of Colored People – NAACP Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine Progressivism Interstate Commerce Commission Muckrakers – Ida TJoharbell, Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, Jacob

Riis Robert M. La Follette Muller v. Oregon – Justice Brandeis Gifford Pinchot, John Muir, Sierra Club

Chapter Review

Evaluate the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt [using 4 thesis concepts instead of 3]

Outline the changing status of women and children at the turn of the century.

Give at least three reasons why Theodore Roosevelt is called the “first modern president.”

Explain the major provisions of Roosevelt’s Square Deal. Briefly describe some of the reform accomplishments of the

progressives at the local, state and national levels. Briefly describe Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy in his second

term.

I. The Age of Theodore Roosevelt

McKinley’s assassination brings Theodore Roosevelt to White House, which he uses as “bully pulpit”

Arrival of more immigrants, rising divorce rate, and women in school and workplace all contribute to new look in America

America becomes a nation of consumers caught up in the new advertising

Race relations remain tense during Roosevelt’s administration Booker T. Washington accepted by many whites, but nothing

changes South’s white primary is most effective means of excluding blacks

from political process W.E.B. DuBois and followers articulate their desire for changes

European Immigration

II. Roosevelt and the Modern Presidency: The First Term

U.S. Steel is formed and threatens public Roosevelt’s reputation as “trust buster” exaggerated President pushes arbitration during coal strike Roosevelt clear about foreign policy goals (Roosevelt

Corollary, Central America canal) Roosevelt takes election results as mandate to move

forward

III. Progressive Campaigns to Reform the Nation

Federal government tries to police business Progressivism interpreted in different ways Muckrakers enter media coverage of events Reform efforts broadened to politics Regulation of business increases Reformers succeed in obtaining direct election of senators

IV. Roosevelt and the Modern Presidency: The Second Term

Hepburn Act brings railroad regulation Food and drug industries also regulated Roosevelt is active in foreign affairs Some challenge Roosevelt’s commitment to reform Supreme Court overturns some reform efforts Conservation is great success for Roosevelt

Gifford Pinchot, John Muir

Roosevelt keeps vow and does not run in 1908

Comparison

Compare President Roosevelt to our current president, George W. Bush.

Compare President Theodore Roosevelt to former president Bill Clinton.

Compare President Theodore Roosevelt to previous presidents you have studied previously – Lyndon Baines Johnson, his relative Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Dwight David Eisenhower, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc.