The Progressive Presidents
A Comparison
Theodore Roosevelt
The Man Himself
Becoming the Battlefield
The Square Deal
Roosevelt
He was elected again for another term in 1904. He continued to try and make progressive polices but most of them were banned in Congress. Roosevelt helped one of his best friends (William Howard Taft) become the next president and he went and did a tour of Europe. When he came back form his trip he got mad at Taft from his approach as his successor. At home still angry he led a two year trip in the Amazon and nearly died from disease. During World War I he opposed Taft not letting them fight against Germany. He planned to run for president in 1920 but died in 1919. Roosevelt today is known as one of the best U.S. presidents and his face is on Mount Rushmore with 3 other amazing presidents.
Roosevelt had three ideas which were conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer production. Those three basic ideas turned into the "Three C's" and made the square deal happen. The square deal let middle class men attack bad trust while they were protecting business from demands of the organized labor.
Leadership= A
I gave him this grade because the nations believed enough in him to elect him twice. He had to stand up and show the world his vision and his plans which he made happen which also showed his leadership.
Organisation = A
He was very professional with his job and he accomplished many things, including the ending of the Alaskan territory dispute and the creation of the first federal bird.
Professionalism = A
Roosevelt was always serious in office. He wanted to do the most that he coul and help all the people he can.
Contribution = B-
He is known for the youngest man to become president and the Square Deal domestic policies, which helped the average person against large corporations.
William Howard Taft
The 27th president of the United States
Taft's Check
Masterpiece
William Taft
When Taft won his election in 1908, he helped trust-busting, civil service reform, and strengthened the Interstate Commerce Commission. He also improved postal service and the sixteenth amendment witch created income tax.
When he left the office he went to academia, arbitration to put world peace threw the League to Enforce Peace. In 1921, Warren G. Harding put Taft as the Chief Justice of the Untied States. Today he is listed near the middle of the presidents.
Leadership = C
He got the presidency with the help of Theodore Roosevelt and Roosevelt was always there giving him ideas to help him out. He didn't really follow on Roosevelt's lead like Roosevelt wished and wanted. I don't think the nation believed in him that well because he wasn't that interested in becoming president. His father was a politician putting more pressure on him to become president.
Organization = B
I graded him this because his beliefs on big business and proposals on placing tariffs on goods entering the US were unclear. Taft passed the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act which raised certain tariffs on goods entering the US. Then, the House of Representatives passed another tariff bill calling for reduced tariffs. This greatly angered both opponents and proponents of tariff reduction. Supports started to withdraw from Taft. Taft passed a 1% income tax on businesses thus sparing taxing individuals. Taft actually busted more trusts over his four years in office than Roosevelt did during his 8 years as President. Taft expanded Dollar Diplomacy which Roosevelt had laid the foundation for earlier. Dollar Diplomacy was guaranteeing loans to foreign countries. He used this as a means to open up foreign markets for diplomatic and military power. During Taft's Presidency significant pieces of social and government reforms were passed. Railroads and to set rates and were not allowed to rate hikes. He improved upon Roosevelt's conservation work and initiated a postal service. Taft also created national monuments.
Professionalism - B
I gave him a B because even though he really was interested in being president, he did it and made still made some contributions. The nation wasn't really happy with Taft and some of the Republican Party split forming a new Progressive Party which then paved the way for a Democratic president.
Contributions - B
I gave him a B because he did bust more tariffs than Roosevelt, he opened up global markets for trading and his work on conservation was important.
Woodrow Wilson.
There he is....
Woodrow Wilson's Wife
Woodrow Wilson's Political cartoon
The story of his life....
In the 1910 election, he was a candidate of New Jerseys Democratic party and he was elected the 34th governor of New Jersey between 1911 to 1913.
Woodrow Wilson’s platform for change was called New Freedom. He wanted to help the small farmers and small businessmen by attacking tariffs, banks, and trusts. Since tariffs protected large industries, Wilson signed the Underwood-Simmons Act in 1913 which reduced tariff rates. He also signed the Federal Reserve Act to reduce loan fees for small businesses and farmers. In 1914 the Clayton Antitrust Act was signed to help regulate trusts. It named some business tactics illegal, exempted labor unions from antitrust suits, and declared strikes, boycotts and picketing legal. Wilson approved the Federal Trade Commission to watch over business. Child labor, workers’ compensation and 8 hour work days were established. Wilson lent his support to women’s suffragists and fought on their behalf. He wrote letters and gave speeches to get congress to pass the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote.
Wilson faced one of his greatest challenges in foreign policy in Mexico in 1913. The Mexican government was overthrown by General Huerta who wanted to be the dictator of Mexico. After a small group of American sailors were seized, Wilson responded with force. In 1914 he sent in Marines to occupy Mexico’s main seaport. The conflict was eventually resolved and in 1915, a new form of government was established. During this time, Wilson was also involved in World War I. By 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war. His foreign policy is described as ambitious. Spreading democracy, opening global markets, and creation of an international organization to keep the peace.
In addition to the above, he helped the railroad workers by shortening their days to 8 hours. He was able to convince congress to pass important acts that helped the common person. The public followed his lead and beliefs in banking reforms, tariff reduction and antitrust laws that help both farmers and small business owners. Wilson fought hard for his beliefs and doing the right thing for the public. He made many contributions during his presidency and was instrumental in getting the 19 Amendment passed which gave women the right to vote.
Leadership = A
I gave him this grade because while dealing with the dictator in Mexico and WWI on the horizon, he still was able to make important contributions here at home.
Organization = A
I gave him an A because must have been good at multi-tasking to accomplish pushing the bills and acts through congress and leading the nation in war.
Professionalism = A
I gave him this grade because he was well liked and appointed to two terms of presidency. He accomplished a great deal during his presidency. He always thought of new ideas and partnered up with many other people to make his ideas come true, causing the country to be safer.
Contributions=A
I gave him an A because he made significant contributions while he was in presidency. Fighting for and getting the 19th Amendment passed which gave women the right to vote made a huge impact on the nation and its ability to move forward.