The election of 1912 signified a turning point in American history. Friends, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, competed against each other for the presidency. Though both progressive, they disagreed on how the country needed to run. Roosevelts ever increasing progressivism caused their stances on many important issues to be much different. Although, they did have some points on which they agreed. In what ways were Roosevelt 's and Taft 's stances on progressivism similar, and different? Their stance on the trusts, for example, started out similar but soon deviated from each other. At first Roosevelt believed that the trusts needed to topple. Through out his presidency, though, he came to the conclusion that trust were inevitable. With this realization Roosevelt sought to make the trusts beneficial for the country. He sought to control the trusts to "allow for the 'highest economic efficiency. '" (pg. 102) Roosevelt began to show interest in the Charles Van Hise 's ideas. Roosevelt uses an "extensive quotation" (pg. 102) in his speech "A Confession of Faith" (pg. 86) Taft had a different stance on the trusts though. Taft believed in enforcing the …show more content…
Taft believed that "Popular government" was "one of the most difficult kinds of government to carry on..." He believed that the opinions of so many individuals were not as good on singular short issues because it took time and consideration. He believed that "to found popular government we must first establish rules... for the structure..." (pg. 142). He believed that these rules needed to be in place to prevent from being subject to "momentary passion" which could "destroy our present government." He believed that the government needed the power to do what was best for everybody, and that popular democracy would make that too difficult. Taft believed that direct democracy would be too difficult to maintain, and so he was against the idea of
But if there is one thing to say about both men, that they equally accomplished even though both did it different ways and by different means, is that they worked with Congress flawlessly. Both had the undivided support of their Congress in their actions. Whether it be leading Conservatives supporting Reagan and his foreign policy or Roosevelt when it came down to making changes in policies to better the public, they had the full support of those behind them. Both men seemed to be extremely charismatic when it came to this. It was almost as if that instead of choosing their Cabinets, they had managed to pick their Congress.
Oaths and promises were made by Franklin Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover in their inaugural addresses. Hoover and Roosevelt helped the country face the depression and transition into World War II. Both presidents’ inaugural addresses voiced concern and hope for the country. In their inaugural addresses, Hoover and Roosevelt expressed views about the future, the current situation, the challenges that were faced by our leaders, and how the Great Depression impacted the nation
While both of these men considered themselves to be part of the progressives and shared some similar opinions, they also differed from each other greatly and were apparent in their views during this time. These two candidates believed strongly that rising power should come with the presidency, economic improvement, opposition of monopolistic businesses, and they both advocated steering away from the isolationism that the country once upheld. The campaigns of the two men spoke of New Nationalism and New Freedom, and the two campaigns had some commonality between the two of them. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson both expressed their concerns about the wrongs of corruption and what roles could be served by increased government control and regulation over businesses.
Presidents create the leadership position that has a say in all of the decisions for a country. In this era, many judgments of situations needed to be decided, and it made it blatantly obvious as to who made the wrong or right decisions. In the political cartoon published by Washington Post in 1907, Roosevelt wanted to convey that it was necessary to determine what trusts were good or bad. Trusts were made to shut down businesses and he felt he had the power to run these options and opinions. After some violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Teddy really took a step forward in proving his trust-busting techniques. In a speech that Roosevelt made in February of 1912, he expressed his belief on the importance of the people participating in direct election of Senators through his speech. This importance that he felt was necessary eventually led on to the 17th Amendment, which was passed the year after. In Herbert Croly’s New Republic, Wilson received quite a bit of loathing from Croly as he expressed his opinions. The supporters of Wilson definitely disagreed with an article like this, and it was unacceptable to some. Whether liked or disliked, the presidents during this period made an impact on our nation, and the people wanted to be heard for the rights they wanted.
Along with reforms by citizens the presidents of the Progressive era also fought to make things right. President Roosevelt was a war hero, and a great leader of the United States. During his role as...
When Theodore Roosevelt’s successor, William Howard Taft, failed to continue Roosevelt’s ongoing charismatic progressivism, both were bested by the newcomer, Woodrow Wilson. Although not receiving a majority in the vote, he, nonetheless, knew the country still ached for the progressivism it jubilantly basked in for so many years, which he called his "New Freedom." Immediately, Wilson went to work on what ...
From the very beginning of his time in the presidential spotlight, Theodore Roosevelt signified the Progressive goal and ambition. Often times, Roosevelt’s presidency is labeled as accidental or ironic. This irony is present in the fact that he was given the role of vice president to William McKinley simply because Roosevelt’s rising popularity and progressive ideals were seen as a threat by McKinley. The McKinley administration figured that they could silence the growing progressive voice Roosevelt embodied by giving him the menial position of vice president. So, it was seen as a shock when McKinley was suddenly assassinated, six months into his second term, and Roosevelt rose to power bringing with him new excitement and power to the Presidency (Theodore Roosevelt ). It is exactly this surge of excitement and charisma which made Roosevelt one of America’s most unforgettable presidents. His presidential career and attitude can be described by the phrase “steward of the people” which he aimed to embody throughout his term, this meant that Roosevelt made his primary goal to maintain the public good to the fullest extent of his power (Theodore Roosevelt ). Roosevelt’s character and contributions to the Progressive campaign are both equally important parts of American history and will be explored throughout this paper.
He brought hope to the people when he promised prompt, and vigorous action, he asserted in his Inaugural Address that, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" (The White House). The main drive of Roosevelt's administration was toward a balance of the economic interests for the American people. He believed that he should represent all the people equally. That being the farme...
During his first term as President, Roosevelt put one of his most progressive policies into effect. This policy dealt with labor and anti-trusts. During the early part of the twentieth century the large businesses of the day would combine to form powerful monopolies that kept a strangle hold on all the competition. These trusts, Roosevelt believed, “…have on a whole done great good to our people … but combination and concentration should be, not prohibited, but supervised and, within reasonable limits, controlled.” (World Book, Vol. 16, Pg. 468) In 1902 the United States government, under the influence of President Roosev...
The issue both Presidents faced was whether or not to enter any of the world wars. Both president Woodrow Wilson and Roosevelt felt remaining neutral and not involving themselves in European affairs was the best solution. Wilson himself stated that “the United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name …” for entering the war was not something he or the American
Thesis: Because the Great Depression quickly changed America's view of liberalism, Roosevelt can be considered a liberal and Hoover a conservative, despite occasionally supporting similar policies.
In conclusion, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were very different people who held different beliefs on America, but nonetheless, these two men gave their all in making America a better place. Without these two leaders, America could have been a very different place today. Who knows, I might have been writing this paper in German had it not been for them.
Thesis The Progressive Era and the New Deal Era had a significant amount of similarities with policies and programs to reform the American society and improve lives and fight poverty in America. Although the Progressive and New Deal Era had many similarities there were still differences between them.
Even though they were both progressives, the two presidents had different paths in mind for the future of the United States. Their different perspective and priorities were evident in their speeches: New Nationalism by Roosevelt and New Freedom by Wilson. Wilson's New Freedom looked to the destruction of all trusts to promote economic competition and permit small businesses once again to flourish. While the federal government was to use its power on a one-time basis to bust all trusts, the federal government was to have no role in regulating business. Any regulation would have to be done by state governments. This contrasted markedly with Roosevelt's New Nationalism,...
But Roosevelt never intended to overthrow the constitution, nor did he wish for an end to capitalism and individualism. He harboured the American Dream just like the millions of people who sent him to the White House a record four times. That, indeed, was precisely why they loved him so much: because the American Dream had turned sour in the Great Depression, and they trusted that he would be able to find a way back towards it. As Europe gave in to totalitarianism, the New Deal set out to show that democratic reform represented a viable alternative.