1. Theodore Roosevelt (President: 1901-1909) New Yorker in background. Influenced by A.T. Mahan about the United States being a major international power. Becomes president after the assassination of William McKinley. First president to harness the power of media. Took issues to the general public, bypassing resistance in Congress and the courts.

2. The Square Deal…the Problem “Under modern industrial conditions absence of governmental regulation and control means such swollen development of a few personalities that all other personalities are dwarfed, are stunted and fettered, and their power of initiative, their power of self-help, largely atrophied.”

3. The Square Deal…the Solution Collective action and individual action, public law and private character, are both necessary. It is only by a slow and patient inward transformation such as these laws ad in brining about that men are really helped upward in their struggle for a higher and fuller life.”

4. TR: Domestic Policy Mediated coal strike: 1902 Antiquities Act: 1906 Food and Drug Act: 1906 Hepburn Act: 1906. Empowered ICC to set maximum rates for railroads. Statehood for Oklahoma: 1907 Created several national monuments and parks

5. TR: Foreign Policy Encouraged Panamanian independence from Colombia to facilitate construction of Panama Canal. Formulated “Roosevelt Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine: U.S. had a right to intervene in affairs of other countries in the Americas to prevent European powers from getting involved. Brokered peace between Russia and Japan in 1905 Sent “Great White Fleet” on a grand tour to show U.S. naval strength.

6. Progressivism vs. the Establishment in the U.S.: William Howard Taft (President: 1909-1913) Lawyer in background Moderate trying to balance Progressive and conservative wings of the Republican Party. T Roosevelt did not think was Progressive enough. TR decided to try to run for a third term, resulting in…..

7. The U.S. Election of 1912 Taft as Republican candidate Woodrow Wilson as Democratic candidate Theodore Roosevelt as Progressive Party candidate once Republicans reject him as candidate for third term. Eugene Debs as Socialist Party Candidate

8. Woodrow Wilson (President: 1913-1921) Virginian in background. Academic in profession (was President of Princeton) Known for his ideological/academic approach to things. Was a Progressive with a sympathetic Congress.

9. Woodrow Wilson: Domestic Policy Federal Reserve Act: 1913. Created a system of 12 reserve banks to provide some oversight over the activities the member banks (required for national banks, optional for state banks). Income tax (16 th Amendment): 1913. Direct election of senators (17 th Amendment): 1913. Keating Owen: 1914. Restricting child labor. Supreme Court later struck down. Established Federal Trade Commission: 1914. To regulate business. Have power to prosecute “unfair trade practices.” Had power to investigate corporate behavior. National Park System created 1916. National Prohibition (18 th Amendment): 1918 Women’s suffrage (19 th Amendment): 1919

10. Meanwhile, in Mexico….. Growing numbers of strikes such as the copper miners of Sonora. Meanwhile, a popular movement under Emiliano Zapata emerged against the haciendas in the central part of the country. A new Liberal party emerged but was crushed in the early 1900s. Leaders, especially Flores Magon, fled to U.S. and argued for the overthrow of Diaz. Included a modest idealist named Francisco Madero.

11. End of the Porfiriato In 1910, Porfirio Diaz was elected to his eighth consecutive term as President. Growing outrage at the indifference and corruption of the Porfiriato grew into a support for Madero, who many felt was the legitimate winner of the 1910 election. Diaz resigns in 1911 and went into exile in France.

12. Huerta and Wilson Wilson was outraged by Huerta’s power politics. Huerta tried to get support from Germany. In 1914, when a group of American Marines tried to stop a German ship with arms from docking in Tampico, Huerta’s govt. had them arrested. U.S. demanded a response. When Huerta refused to go along, U.S. forces invade and occupy Vera Cruz. Huerta’s government collapses soon afterward.

13. Power struggle A power struggle breaks out between Obregon, Carranza, and Villa, among others. Carranza ends up holding Mexico City and U.S. gives nominal support. In response, in March 1916, Pancho Villa attacks Columbus, N.M. U.S. sends in troops under General Pershing but fail to capture Villa. In 1917, word emerges of a telegram from German officials to get the Carranza govt. to support Germany in the ongoing Great War. Helps spark U.S. entry into what became known as World War I.