THEODORE ROOSEVELT

26TH PRESIDENT

1901-1908

THE EARLY YEARS

Sickly as a child Works hard in

his father’s home gym

Overcomes illnesses through the strength of his will

Attends Harvard University Athlete – Sculling (rowing), boxing

Mother (typhoid fever) & 1st wife (childbirth complications) died onsame day (Valentines’ Day)

TR retreats to the Badlands, SD

Learned lessons there in simple, hard living “Took the snob out of me”

Developed his love of the open land / wilderness

Experience will shape his future policies

“THE COWBOY”

EARLY CAREER Studied law at Columbia 3 yrs. in NY legislature 6 yrs. On US Civil Service

Commission 2 yrs. As NY City Police

Commissioner Already a “mover and a shaker” and a

friend of the common man Assistant Sec. Of Navy under

McKinley 1 term as NY Governor Also, a well-known historian

ROUGH RIDERS Roosevelt forms and

leads this volunteer regiment

Victory at San Juan Hill Medal of Honor granted

posthumously in 2001 for his service at San Juan Hill

Only P to ever be so honored

ROOSEVELT BECOMES PRESIDENT Succeeded to the Presidency in

1901 on the assassination of McKinley by an anarchist

Youngest President at age 42 on his succession; then elected in 1904

A magnetic personality; powerful speaker appealing to one’s emotions

A “visible” President Energetic & aggressive – “the

strenuous life”

Clifford Berryman,The Washington Post

THE TEDDYBEAR IS NAMED AFTER HIM1902

Presidential Firsts To fly in an airplane To be submerged in a submarine To own a car; have a telephone in

his home To have Secret Service protection To travel outside the US borders

while still in office (Panama) To have an African-American to

dinner in the White House First American and President to

win a Nobel Peace Prize First “trust busting” president “Saved” football

5th Cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Portrayed on Mount Rushmore

“Speak Softly & Carry a Big Stick”

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY: ‘It is better to dare mighty

things and fail than to live in a gray twilight where there is neither victory nor defeat.”

• In this photo, Roosevelt stands next to one of his favorite objects, a huge globe on which he used to put small white markers to show the position of U.S., German and British navies in the Western Hemisphere.

President Roosevelt in the

White House

Reference to the White House as a "bully pulpit," meaning a terrific platform from which to persuasively advocate an agenda (“how things “ought to be”)

Roosevelt often used the word "bully" as an adjective meaning superb/wonderful.

THE BULLY PULPIT

THE SQUARE DEAL Pledged all Americans a

“SQUARE DEAL” Fair shake - fair chance for

all Balance competing

interests to create a fair deal for all sides: labor and management, consumer and business, developer and conservationist. 

TEDDY TEDDY ROOSEVELTROOSEVELT

“The Trustbuster”“The Trustbuster”

THE TRUSTBUSTER Believed trusts were fact of life;

need to get rid of “bad trusts;” other “good trusts” needed strong gov’t regulation, not elimination

Used Sherman Act & carefully chose Northern Securities RR merger as first target case – J.P. Morgan and John J. Hill Supreme Court ordered dissolution

in 1904 Bureau of Corporations –

investigated & worked out deals More trustbusting cases than all 3

previous Pres. combined but really more of a “trust-tamer”

COAL STRIKE OF 1902

One of longest, largest strikes in history by UMW – began in June, 140,000 miners

COAL STRIKE OF 1902 Management & labor unable to agree

Management refuse to negotiate with UMW repsPublic sympathy is with strikers

TR steps in (Oct.) to solve the strike – WHY?Calls union leaders & management to White HouseThreat: If settlement not reached, federal troops will seize

& operate the minesThreat of gov’t intervention caused owners to talk – miners

back to work; Commission appointed by TR to work out terms

Sets a precedent – 1st time a President ever stepped in to settle a labor strike

Other Business & Consumer Regulation

Part of the “Square Deal” Increased power of ICC in RR

regulation Elkins RR Act, 1903 made it

illegal to receive a/w/a grant rebates

Hepburn Act, 1906 energizes ICC – allows it to investigate & fix rates & stop RR abuses

Meat Inspection Act of 1906 Pure Food & Drug Act Pure Food & Drug Administration

HIS GREATEST DOMESTIC HIS GREATEST DOMESTIC ACHIEVEMENT!ACHIEVEMENT!

CONSERVATIONCONSERVATION

Early Conservation Efforts: Desert Lands Act, 1877 (Hayes)

Desert land cheap if willing to irrigate

Forest Reserve Act, 1891 (Harrison) Authorized P to set aside land

Carey Act, 1894 (Cleveland) Federal land to states if states

irrigate

Newlands Act, 1902 Put proceeds from federal

western land sales into irrigation projects such as dams

1911 – Roosevelt Dam, AZ Roosevelt will more than

triple the amount of land set aside as national forests

Added over 100 million acres to protected forests

150 national forests; 51 wildlife refuges; 5 national parks

Boy Scouts become popular!

Conservation v. Preservation Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Service Call for intelligent

use & multiple-resource management1913 federal gov’t

authorizes flooding valley in Yosemite to create a dam for San Francisco

John Muir Sierra Club Wilderness areas

should be left totally untouched

BIG STICK FOREIGN POLICY

International Police Role – Roosevelt Corollary

Panama Canal greatest foreign achievement

Treaty of Portsmouth

Gentlemen’s Agreement

FAILURES/WEAKNESSES: Poor relationship with

Congress - had to go directly to the people for support of many programs; many enacted by executive order

Didn’t address the tariff issue Inspired loyalty to himself

rather than his policies BUT:

did restore faith of the American people in the power of the government to serve their interests

Hunting & Safari Expeditions

Only Roosevelt specimen still on display at Smithsonian

                                                                                                                                     "In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Theodore Roosevelt on Immigrants and being an American - 1907:

October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919