Roosevelt’s View of the Presidency

1. Roosevelt’s View of the Presidency • Theodore Roosevelt’s rise to the governorship of New York in 1898 spelled big trouble for the Republican political machinein New York • To 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

2. Taking Office • 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

3. 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 governing • Not 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

4. The Coal Strike of 1902 • Soon after the new president took office, some 150,000 Pennsylvania coal miners struck for higher wages, shorter hours, and recognition of their union • The 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”

5. 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 ownersrefused • As winter drew nearer, Roosevelt threatened to take over the mines • The threat finally convinced the mine owners to agree to his arbitration plan

6. 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 public • Satisfied, Roosevelt pronounced the compromise a “square deal”

7. The Square Deal • The Square Dealbecame 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

8. The Square Deal • The popular president faced no opposition for the nomination with his party • In the general election Roosevelt cruised to victory, easily defeating his Democratic opponent, Judge Alton Parker of New York

9. Regulating Big Business • Roosevelt believed that big business was essential to the nation’s growth, but he also believed companies should behave responsibly • Roosevelt 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”

10. Trust-busting • 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

11. Trust-busting • The ruling proved to be a watershed • An 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 interest • The 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 trusts • The ones that sold inferior products, competed unfairly, or corrupted public officials

12. Regulating the Railroads • 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

13. Regulating the Railroads • The Hepburn Actof 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

14. Protecting the Consumers • Roosevelt also responded to growing public dismay about practices of the foodand drug industries • Some food producers, drug companies, and meat packers were selling dangerous products to an unknowing public

15. Protecting the Consumers • Food producers, for example, resorted to clever tricks to pass off tainted foods • Some 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

16. 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

17. Protecting the Consumers • Few industries fell into greater public disrepute than the meatpacking business • The novelist Upton Sinclairexposed 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

18. 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 Actforbade 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

19. Environmental Conservation • In the late 1800s people acted as if the United States had an unending supply of natural resources • Lumber companies cleared large tracts of forest lands • Farmers plowed up the Great Plains • Ranchers’ cattle and sheep overgrazed the prairies • Mining companies clogged rivers and cluttered land with their refuse • Cities dumped sewage into rivers and garbage onto the land

20. Environmental Conservation • Roosevelt, however, believed that each generation had a duty to protect and conserve natural resources for future generations • Before 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

21. 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.”

22. 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

23. Environmental Conservation • The Newlands Reclamation Actof 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

24. 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

25. Environmental Conservation • In 1905 the Roosevelt administration established the U.S. Forest Service with Pinchot as its chief • During 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