Bull Moose, Progressive, Environmentalist, Cowboy, Bully Pulpit? Teddy Roosevelt Bull Moose, Progressive, Environmentalist, Cowboy, Bully Pulpit?

Background Born to a wealthy family Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Led Rough Riders Former Governor of New York state

Governor to VP Roosevelt was a Progressive reformer Governor who went after political party bosses. The party bosses could not get rid of the popular Governor…so they encouraged him to become Vice President

Vice President to President President McKinley was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz Roosevelt becomes the youngest President to take office at 42 years old Used Bully Pulpit-powerful platform to publicize issues and seek support for policies

Square Deal Roosevelt promised every American a Square Deal…”see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.” Needs of workers, business and consumers should be balanced.

Election of 1904 Roosevelt promoted his policies of limiting power of trusts/monopolies, promoting public health and improving working conditions. Won easily over Judge Alton Parker of NY

More Progressive policies Regulated Railroads Championed National Parks Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act passed under Roosevelt Promoted land conservation Supported US intervention in Panama (bought rights to canal property and equipment from France) and build the Panama Canal linking Atlantic and Pacific

Roosevelt Political Future After elected to two terms he decided not to run in 1908…supporting William Howard Taft of Ohio Taft would win in 1908 to become President

Election of 1912 Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson

Taft, Wilson and Roosevelt  1908 – Roosevelt supported William Howard Taft for the presidency. Taft won easily. * Taft, however, turned out to be very unpopular with Progressives.

This Harper’s Weekly cartoon lampoons Roosevelt’s desire for the spotlight. His eldest daughter, Alice, is usually attributed with the observation, “My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening.”

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt declared his intent to negotiate a “square deal” (i.e., a fair settlement) for labor, management, and the American public. In this Harper’s Weekly cartoon, Roosevelt is depicted as a mugger preparing to steal the Republican nomination from President William Howard Taft by hitting his rival, who appears in elegant evening dress, with the “square deal” of a brick.

Anti-Third Term Principle, is a straightforward criticism of Roosevelt's reversal of his promise to adhere to the two-term principle established by George Washington. (Roosevelt later countered that he only promised to refuse three consecutive terms.)

Candidates - 1912 Presidential Election Republican Party Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party) Democratic Party ÷ = William Howard Taft Theodore Roosevelt Woodrow Wilson Roosevelt Forms Bull Moose Party (2:29)

Presidential Election of 1912

* Woodrow Wilson won the election.

Wilson uses tariff, currency and anti-trust laws to prime the pump and get the economy working in a 1913 political cartoon.

President Woodrow Wilson Policy / Act Purpose New Freedom Wilson’s idea to break up trusts into smaller companies Decreased tariffs Increased competition with foreign goods

President Woodrow Wilson Policy / Act Purpose Imposed a graduated income tax Raised money for the government lost by the lower tariffs Federal Reserve Act (1913) Regulated banking

President Woodrow Wilson Policy / Act Purpose Federal Trade Commission (1914) Stopped businesses from using unfair business practices Clayton Antitrust Act (1914) Barred antitrust laws from being used against unions A Brief History of the Birth of the Federal Trade Commission (3:02)

Roosevelt survives assassin “TR” survived a brush with death in 1912. He was shot in the chest by a would be assassin, he proceeded to give a 90-minute speech. He told the stunned crowd: “It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.”