Outline
THESIS: Theodore Roosevelt was not just a great leader of the United States but was an
effective leader, instilling regulation to the United States economy.
I. The foundation of Roosevelt’s exceptional leadership was his character.
A. His deprivation of boyhood instilled an everlasting motivation and dynamic energy within him.
B. Roosevelt was the first President since Lincoln to completely take advantage of the powers of office because of his understanding: the President had all powers that were not prohibited by the Constitution.
C. One of his prime strategies was “Speak softly and carry a big stick…”
II. Roosevelt’s beliefs in the existence of rights for workers began his triumphant road to success.
A. He ended the coal strike, which allowed him to show for the first time he wanted to offer a “square deal” to all Americans.
B. The Employer’s Liability Act was established to protect and compensate railroad workers who are injured on the job.
III. His understanding of the economy’s basis being capitalism allowed him to take advantage of his Presidential term by enforcing dissolution of monopolies.
A. The investigations and dissolutions of monopoly corporations occurred under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
B. The Department of Commerce and Labor was established to regulate all matters affecting business corporations.
IV. He strongly supported and enforced societal health.
A. The Meat Inspection Act was established, giving government officials the power to inspect all meat and condemn any meat product found unfit for human consumption.
B. The Pure Food and Drug Act was passed and prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of contaminated food products and poisonous patent medicines.
V. Roosevelt knew that natural resources could not all be replaced, so he enacted “conservation.”
A. The Newlands Reclamation Act was signed, which funded irrigation projects for arid lands.
B. The National Forest Service was founded and administers the nation's national forests and grasslands.
Out of all leaders is the United States history, President Theodore Roosevelt accomplished a hefty number of improvements to the economy, making him one of the nation’s greatest leaders. As a child, he was deprived of his boyhood due to asthma and poor vision; however, his childhood deprivation instilled a radiant energy and motivation in him. He began working out at home and became very athletic, marking his character with the love for a good fight. His pre-political life defined his character, which became the foundation of his career’s success. Well-educated and politically experienced, Roosevelt believed the President had all powers that were not prohibited by the Constitution. Furthermore, his primary strategy description was “Speak softly and carry a big stick…,” but he explained the secret of his power:
It has always seemed to me that in life there are two ways of achieving what is commonly called greatness. One is to do that which can be done by the man of exceptional and extraordinary abilities. Of course this means that only one man can do it, and it is a very rare kind of success or greatness. The other is to do that which many men could do, but which, as a matter of fact, none of them actually does. This is the ordinary kind of greatness… (Russell 217)
As President McKinley’s successor, the new President, Theodore Roosevelt, was the first President since Lincoln to fully take advantage of the powers of office (Boorstin and Kelley 522).
Barely settled into office, Roosevelt took great advantage of his first opportunity to show how a President should lead: the coal strike, which threatened to disable the country. In May of 1902, miners went on strike due to the negligence of the coal mine owners: for example, in 1901 alone, 441 workers were killed in mining accidents in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia (Boorstin and Kelley 522). Besides workers not receiving raises in twenty years, they were paid by the weight of what they dug; however, the owners weighed unfairly: for instance, a worker would have to dig two tons before getting credit for one (Boorstin and Kelley 522). Although on strike, the owners would not deal with the union. On October 15, 1902, as a result of the nation being in fear of freezing with the winter coming, after Roosevelt attempted to mediate between the workers and the owners, the owners still refused deal with the union; then, he threatened to send the military into the mines, which settled the anthracite coal strike (Theodore Roosevelt Association). The workers went back to work, and eventually many of the workers requests were met. The nation was at ease. Having settled this dispute, Roosevelt was able to show that the federal government can help protect Americans from big businesses. Additionally, Roosevelt further continued to fight for the rights of laborers, and in 1906, the Employer’s Liability Act was established, which protects and compensates railroad workers injured on the job. Furthermore, because of his belief in capitalism, additional reform was called upon.
After being able to establish that he wanted a “square deal” for all Americans, he further proved his point by targeting monopolies under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which was the first Federal law to limit unions and monopolies and required the federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of violating the Act (Sherman Antitrust Act). He strongly believed in capitalism and felt it needed to work not just for businesses but for everyone. The Northern Securities Company, founded to control the four “big” railroads of the northwest, was Roosevelt’s most famous target. Americans of the northwest depended on the railroad combine to bring supplies and take their produce to market, but now the railroads could charge whatever rates that they wanted (Boorstin and Kelley 524). As a result of the fight for monopoly, which disrupted the stock market, Roosevelt had them sued under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the Supreme Court deemed them to be within violation of the Act (Boorstin and Kelley 524). Therefore, in February 1902, the Northern Securities Company was ordered to dissolve, and with justice prevailing, Roosevelt further acted against additional, unpopular trusts, like the beef, oil, and tobacco trusts, totaling in forty-five anti-trust suits (Theodore Roosevelt Association). His economic reform led to the establishment of the Department of Commerce and Labor, which was founded with intentions to regulate all business corporations’ affairs, in February 1902 and the Hepburn Bill, which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) power to regulate railroad rates, in June 1906. However, that was not the end of his economic reform plans, he also was aware of the importance of societal health.
Roosevelt’s crusades for labor and against trusts defined his first term with success and provided him with an easy win in the election of 1904. Pre-Presidency, Roosevelt was governor of New York and personally investigated and appointed a commission to report on the tenement-house slums, and according to Thomas Russell, an author, “Governor Roosevelt’s two years at Albany, in fact, saw more constructive and reconstructive legislation placed on the statute books than the entire decade that preceded him” (170). However, no one would have thought that this was just a hint of what he would do as President. Partially as a response to the publication of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle—an exposure of the Chicago meat packing industry—his next step of reform was the passing of both the Pure Food and Drug Act, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of impure food products and poisonous patent medicines, and the Federal Meat Inspection Act, which was designed to inspect and condemn any meat product found unfit for human consumption (Federal Meat Inspection Act). Furthermore, he knew that the Earth’s natural resources were scarce, so he took even greater measures to save and reproduce as many natural resources as possible.
Unlike many others, Roosevelt deeply took into consideration the nation’s future and the scarcity of natural resources. To begin his journey of conservation, which he created a new definition for, the Newlands Reclamation Act was passed in June of 1902, which funded irrigation projects for the arid lands of multiple Western states, and was to be utilized to conserve water for irrigation by creating dams and canal systems (Boorstin and Kelley 525). Also, previous Presidents set aside 50 million acres of national forests, but as a result of the realization of companies wasting timber, he subsequently founded the National Forest Service in February 1905 and increased the forests reserves from 50 million acres to 190 million acres (Boorstin and Kelley 525). Subsequently, in June 1906, the Forest Homestead Act was passed, which authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to determine what lands in the national forests were agriculturally valuable and could be occupied for agricultural purposes without negatively effecting the national forests. Furthermore, in May of 1908, Roosevelt held a conference of governors of all states with intentions of persuading them to cooperate in the task of conservation of natural resources, which he succeeded. Shortly thereafter, Roosevelt appointed a National Conservation Commission for purposes of natural resource inventory (Theodore Roosevelt Association).
Roosevelt’s Presidency was a period of complete economic reform, motivating many and creating a foundation for the future. His influences on the nation were not just effective in his time period but became a basis for future reforms. Although time for him was not enough, disabling him from completing all of his intended reforms, his primary goal remained saving the United States by making a “square deal” for everyone. As written by Roosevelt, “I did not usurp power but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power” (The White House). He felt that the President, being a “steward of the people,” should take any measure necessary for the public’s benefit unless it was prohibited in the Constitution (The White House). According to Thomas Russell “He served wherever duty called” (3).
Works Cited
Boorstin, Daniel J., Boorstin, Ruth Frankel, and Kelley, Brooks Mather. A History of the United
States. Boston: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2002. Print.
“Federal Meat Inspection Act.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 17 May 2011. Web.
7 August 2011.
Russell, Thomas H. Life and Work of Theodore Roosevelt: Typical American, Patriot, Orator,
Historian, Sportsman, Soldier, Statesman and President. L. H. Walter, 1919. Web.
“Sherman Antitrust Act.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2011. Web.
7 August 2011.
Theodore Roosevelt Association. “Timeline: Life of Theodore Roosevelt.” About Theodore
Roosevelt—26th President and much more. The Theodore Roosevelt Association,
January 2001. N. pag. Web. 6 August 2011.
The White House. “Theodore Roosevelt: 26th US President—1901-09.” ClassBrain.com.
ClassBrain.com, 28 March 2006. N. pag. Web. 6 August 2011.
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