Progressive Era Presidents

Of the three, who was the MOST Progressive? Why?

Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson 1901 – 1909 1909 – 1913 1913 – 1921

Who was the most progressive?

• Three Presidents have claimed to be a Progressive President.

You are a judge in the court of history and must decide.• Each president will state their case based on their

accomplishments• You will form an opinion based on the four goals for the

progressive movement.1. Protect social welfare2. Promote moral improvement3. Create economic reform4. Foster efficiency

Roosevelt Assumes Presidency After McKinley’s Assassination (1901)

• Believed that the President should exercise vigorous leadership in the public interest– President acted as the

“steward,” or manager of the people’s interest.

• Used Presidency as “Bully Pulpit” – a public office or position of

authority that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issue

Teddy Roosevelt’s & Labor

1902 Coal Strike in Pennsylvania• 150,000 coal workers went on strike for:

– 20% pay raise– 9 hr. day– union recognition

• T.R. called both sides to White House to negotiate settlement

• Owners unwilling to compromise = TR threatened to take over mines

• OUTCOME:– Miners won 10% pay increase, BUT did not have their union

recognized• 1st time that the federal government intervened in a strike

to protect the rights of workers

Teddy the Trust Buster• Teddy revived the use of the Sherman Anti-

trust Act (1890) .• Supported the growth of industry but

believed there were GOOD trusts and BAD trusts– Goal was to prevent abuses of power so

he favored regulation – not destruction of trusts

• 1902 filed lawsuit against the Northern Securities Company (J.P. Morgan) – Northern Securities v. U.S. (1904)

• Supreme Court ordered the trust to be broken up (it was in violation of the Sherman Anti Trust Act)

• Roosevelt later broke up Standard Oil and American Tobacco Company

Roosevelt & the Railroads

• Elkins Act– Outlawed railroads from receiving rebates– Fined companies engaging in illegal rebating

• Hepburn Act—ICC given power to:– Set maximum railroad rates. – Inspect RR company’s books– Investigate RRs, sleeping car cos, oil pipelines, & other

transportation firms

Roosevelt Protects Consumers

• Meat Inspection Act – Passed After TR read the Jungle– forced meatpackers to use strict sanitation

guidelines – created the program of federal meat

inspection that was in use until the 1990s• Pure Food and Drug Act

– Response to false advertising of food and drugs• these products contained dangerous

chemicals and additives such as opium, cocaine, or alcohol

– Stopped the sale of contaminated foods and medicines and called for labels to be truthful

Roosevelt & Conservation

• Roosevelt added 150 million acres to the National Forest System & created 5 new national parks.

• "Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it."

William Howard Taft

• Chosen by TR to run for Republican nomination

• Wins the election of 1908• Taft lacks TR’s political skill• Taft pledged to continue Roosevelt’s

progressive reforms.– Pursued even more antitrust cases– Supported other Progressive measures

like setting aside a great deal of public land for conservation.

• Under Taft, Congress proposed the 16th and 17th Amendments.

Conflict Among Republicans

• Payne-Aldrich Tariff– Taft called Congress into session

in 1909 with plans to discuss the lowering of the tariff

– Bill lowered tariff on some products, but also raised it on others. • Lowered 650 tariffs, raised 220

tariffs, and left 1,150 tariffs untouched

– Effect: angered many Democrats, Progressives, and progressive Republicans

Conflict Among Republicans

• Ballinger-Pinchot Affair– 1910: Secretary of the Interior Richard

Ballinger let business leaders illegally buy millions of acres of protected public land in WY, MT, AK.

– Pinchot (Chief of Forestry) demanded that Taft dismiss Ballinger.

– Taft supported Ballinger& dismissed Pinchot on the basis of insubordination.

– Effect: divided the Republican Party.• Progressives thought this showed Taft was

not committed to conservation• Roosevelt refused to support Taft from

that point on.

Election of 1912

Woodrow Wilson’s Reforms

• Underwood Tariff Act – 1913– Greatly reduces tariffs - tax on imported goods

• 16th Amendment – 1913 – Legalized Income Tax– Made up for lost tariff revenues

• Federal Reserve Act – 1913– Created the federal reserve board to oversee a nationwide

system of 12 regional reserve districts each with its own central bank and had the power to issue paper money

– Central banks loan money to smaller banks within each district • Meant to keep banks from failing• Determines Interest Rates for loans

– Manages money supply, controls inflation

Stronger Antitrust Laws

Clayton Antitrust Act

• Passed in 1914• Clarified and extended the

Sherman Antitrust Act• Prohibited companies from

buying stock in competing companies in order to form a monopoly

• Supported workers by making strikes, boycotts, and peaceful picketing legal for the first time

The FTC

• The Federal Trade Commission, created by Congress in 1914 and supported by Wilson

• Enforced antitrust laws and was tough on companies that used deceptive advertising

• Could undertake special investigations of businesses

• Though Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 to limit the power of monopolies, lax enforcement and loopholes allowed many unfair business practices to go on.

• Wilson had two solutions to these problems.

Conclusion

• How did the “PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS” influence Government?– Used the government as a means to reform & regulate big

business/broke up unfair trusts– Government regulation/protection for consumers (pure food &

drug act)– Regulated the money supply/attempted to add fairness to the

tax system – Protected the environment/created the national parks system