THE PRESIDENTS OF THE PROGRESSIVE ERA  From New York  Cowboy  Rough Rider during Spanish American War  NY State Assemblyman  Police Commissioner of NYC  Governor of NY  VP for McKinley

William Howard Taft (1909 – 1913)  Never held elected office until he was President  Served as a Judge  Was Governor of the Philippines during US occupation (appointed)  Later served as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court

Woodrow Wilson (1913 – 1921)  From Virginia  History Professor  President of Princeton University  Governor of New Jersey

Eugene V. Debs ( )  Born in Terre Haute, Indiana  Immigrant parents  Age 14 painted RR cars – 50 cents/day  Formed American Railway Union (1893)  Jailed for “Debs’ Revolution”; sympathy protest of Pullman RR Strike (ignore court order)  1918(-1920) convicted under Espionage Act for criticizing the war  Ran for President of the USA 5 times for Socialist Party 1920 Election won 3.5% of vote while in GA prison!

Campaign Ideas Conservative “Old Guard” - Status quo “New Freedom” ↓ tariff Break up monopolies Restore competition Banking reform “New Nationalism ”  tariff Regulate trusts Gov’t action to help people women’s vote; workers comp; child labor laws End capitalism System too corrupt; Need new system based controlled by working class.

Popular /Electoral College Votes  REPUBLICAN 3,486,333 = 8 electors  DEMOCRATIC 6,293,152 = 435 electors  BULL MOOSE 4,119,207 = 88 electors  SOCIALIST 900,369 = 0 electors

Results

Importance of the Election of 1912  Presence of “third party” effected outcome of race  TR ran the role of “spoiler” (If TR couldn’t win, neither would Taft)  Split in Republican party enabled Democratic candidate to win  Ends 16 year control of White House for Republicans

Actions on : CONSERVATION  Set up the National Parks Service  Removed 1 million acres of forest land from reserved list to allow for development  Accused of letting commercial interests exploit natural resources  His Sec. of the Interior Ballinger opened public lands in Alaska for private development  Antiquities Act of June 8, 1906 – allows President to proclaim historic landmark status to preserve areas, monuments, etc.  Made conservation a primary concern for federal government

Controversy concerning environmental programs  Conservation – to use and manage the nation’s resources WISELY  Gifford Pinchot  Preservation – to leave the resources in the natural state; let nature take its course  John Muir (founder of the Sierra Club )

Actions on: Labor  In response to The Jungle, set up commission to investigate meatpacking industry  Pushed for the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act  Keating Owen Act – child labor laws  Safety Standards for maritime workers  8 hour day for Interstate railroad workers  Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act; ultimately raised the tariff

Actions on: Discrimination  Women gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19 th amendment  Retreated on Civil Rights Opposed federal anti-lynching laws Segregated federal offices and Capitol  Did little to advance Civil Rights and equality  Established idea that Federal Government is responsible for “well- being” of the nation  Failed to support Civil Rights reforms  Did appoint African Americans to federal offices  Invited Booker T. Washington to the White House for dinner

Actions on: Trusts  More conservative approach to reform, BUT… Actually broke up more trusts than TR did  Promised a “New Freedom” which would limit big business and big government, bring reform by ending corruption and revive competition by supporting small business  Promised a “New Nationalism” and “Square Deal” for Americans with more government regulation of business & unions