TR and the Modern Presidency

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TR and the Modern Presidency

• Section 6.1

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Do Now

• Smart Board Activity

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How is this quote indicative of T.R. as a
progressive and a president?

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

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• Today we will be able to identify those actions
  that T.R. took that made him a truly modern and
  progressive president by examining his beliefs
  about conservation, his actions during the
  Northern Securities Case, his action during the
  strikes he faced, and his reaction to The Jungle.

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Conservationist vs. Preservationist

• Concerned about wasteful use of resources
• Gifford Pinchot (Chief Forester) proposed planned
  management (conservationist) of resources
• John Muir of Sierra Club proposed preservation
• TR took a pragmatic approach

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Sherman Anti-Trust ActText

• Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890, first measure passed
  by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts it was
  named for Senator John Sherman. Prior to its
  enactment, various states had passed similar
  laws, but they were limited to intrastate
  businesses. Finally opposition to the
  concentration of economic power in large
  corporations and in combinations of business
  concerns led Congress to pass the Sherman Act.
  The act, based on the constitutional power of
  Congress to regulate interstate commerce,
  declared illegal every contract, combination (in
  the form of trust or otherwise), or conspiracy in
  restraint of interstate and foreign trade. A fine
  of 5,000 and imprisonment for one year were set
  as the maximum penalties for violating the act.

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Northern Securities v. United States (1902).

• Holding company owned by JP Morgan
• Controlled RR rates (1902)
• TR ordered Justice Department to use Sherman
  Antitrust Act against RR monopoly in Northwest
• Supreme Court ruled (1904) that it must be
  dissolved
• Gave TR label of a trust buster

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Describe TRs actions during the Anthracite Coal
Strike of 1902

• 1902 140, 000 coal miners went on strike
• Goal of United Mine Workers
• 8 hr. work day
• 20 pay raise
• Union recognition
• Company refused any negotiation
• TR threatens to nationalize the coal mine
• Outcome
• 9 hr. work day
• 10 pay raise
• No Union recognition

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TR Regulate business?

• Department of Commerce and Labor (1903)
• Created to regulate business and enforce
  economic regulations

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How did TR strengthen the Interstate Commerce Act?

• Elkins Act of 1903
• Amended ICA of 1887
• Forbade rebates, defined unfair discrimination
  and reinforced adherence to publish rates by
  interstate shippers

• Hepburn Act of 1906
• Gave ICA authority to determine RR rates and
  prescribe bookkeeping methods
• Prohibited free passes and forbade rr companies
  to carry goods produced by themselves

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Upton Sinclair and The Jungle
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How did TR attempt to protect the consumer?

• Meat Inspection Act of 1906
• Authorized Secretary of Agriculture to inspect
  all meat products for human consumption
• Caused by public outcry from The Jungle by Upton
  Sinclair

• Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
• Forbade manufacture, sale adulterated foods and
  drugs and the mislabeling of products

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Judging Roosevelt
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President William Howard Taft
P27wht.wmf
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• Hand picked by Roosevelt
• Avid "trust buster"
• Had a falling out with TR over conservation
• Sided with Old Guard Republicans

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