CH 28 Text Part 2
SHOULD THE GOVERNMENTS –LOCAL/STATE/FEDERAL – REGULATE ALL ASPECTS OF SOCIETY IN
THE INTERESTS OF THE MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE…[Thomas Jefferson stated another
part to this idea in his inaugural address, “and protect minorities rights.” – it is interesting he also said
often “the best government is the government that governs least.” So both ends of our political spectrum
today see TJeff as the founder of their political perspectives…the conservatives and the liberals…I guess
we could have known this due to TJeff’s “consistent inconsistencies.” ]*****
The 20th Century brought many questions for the United States…Empire? – Giant Corporations? –
Conditions of Labor? – Huge Immigration? The answers to these questions depended on the perspective
of the person or group who asked the question… FEAR…of crime, poverty, and disease…due to the
massive changes began during the Gilded Age persisted among many other questions and fears…How
would these be resolved, by whom, how????
What role should the government play in answering these questions, if any??? Should government
remain narrowly limited, like Pres. Cleveland’s quote suggested (“the people should support the
government, but the government should not support the people) …OR DID THE MASSIVE CHANGES
THAT HAVE ARISEN AT THIS TIME REQUIRE A MORE “POTENT”-ACTIVE GOVERNMENT THAT WOULD
ACTIVELY SHAPE SOCIETY?
The Progressive Movement represented the 1st attempt to answer those questions… Reform
minded Men and Women from all walks of life and from both major parties shared in the
Progressive Crusade for GREATER GOVERNMENT ACTIVISM. Presidents TR, Taft, and Woodrow
Wilson enlarged the capacity of the government to fight corruption-graft, “bust” business trusts,
REGULATE Corporations, promote fair labor practices, support child welfare, conservation, and
protect consumers.
What groups did not benefit from the reforms that were accomplished???
How is the “aberration” of Imperialism tied to the Progressives, it seems counter-intuitive????
TR’s “Square Deal” for Labor
TR was a jingoe when it came to Foreign Policy….or practiced “Realpolitik,” depending on your
perspective….HOWEVER… He was on FIRE for Progressivism…HE WAS A REFORMER…that is why the NY
political bosses wanted him out of the Governors job and into the VP job….to get him away… to stop his
reforms…BUT as we know…McKinley put him one heartbeat away from the Presidency…and McKinley’s
heart stopped…and TR becomes the leader of the Progressive Movement which CHANGED AMERICA
DRAMATICALLY- TR’s “Imperial” Presidency…is littered with Progressive actions… THE BIG STICK
SWUNG AT HOME AS WELL…..AND CONNECTED WITH THE ROBBER BARON’S HEAD’S 
TR’S “Square Deal” was based on implementing his THREE (3) C’S:
**********************
1 CONTROL OF CORPORATIONS
2 CONSUMER PROTECTIONS
3 CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Note: You need to be familiar and aware of Presidential slogans for their programs…Square DealTR, New Deal –FDR, and Fair Deal – Truman…some examples….
*****TR’s “Square Deal “for Labor began in 1902 when a strike in the Coal Industry of Penn.
began…140,000 workers DEMANDED 20% increase in pay and a reduction of hours worked from 10 to 9
hours per day…
Mine owners that had exploited many of the immigrant workers up to this point…REFUSED TO
ARBITRATE OR NEGOTIATE…enter TR 
Remember in the past the US Government unquestionably supported the OWNERS, often by using US
Troops to attack strikers…
As the situation worsened; factories and schools were forced to shut down and hospitals were threatened
by the COLD WINTER… TR summons the representatives of BOTH the workers and mine owners to
DC…The Owners attitudes upset TR…”if not for the dignity of the Presidency…he would have taken them
out of the White House by his pants “and chucked them out of the window.” 
The “BIG STICK” came out and TR threatened that if the owners did not negotiate in good faith he would
SEIZE THE MINES AND OPERATE THEM WITH FEDERAL TROOPS---WHAT NO TROOPS TO FIRE ON
WORKERS---WHAT THE HECK??? SUPPORT THE WORKERS??? WHAT THE HECK????
******************THE 1ST TIME EVER IN AMERICAN HISTORY THAT A PRESIDENT OR
THE US GOVERNMENT USED A THREAT OF VIOLENT ACTION IN SUPPORT OF THE
WORKERS…
A compromise is reached… the mine workers agree to a 10% raise in pay and a working day of 9
hours…BUT THEIR UNION WAS NOT RECOGNIZED TO BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY FOR THE
WORKERS….certainly not a complete victory for the mine workers BUT WOW… AMAZING A STRONG
PROGRESSIVE BEGINNING FOR TR….FOR SURE.
TR urged Congress in the aftermath of the continuing conflict between capital and labor… to create the
NEW DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR IN 1903…AND THE BUREAU OF CORPORATIONS
WITHIN THIS NEW EXECUTIVE BRANCH REGULATORY AGENCY…this new Bureau was authorized to
probe businesses engaged in interstate commerce AND TO BREAK THE STRANGLEHOLD OF MONOPOLY
AND BEGIN TO “BUST” TRUSTS [The US government acting in the interests of the majority of the
American People]****************
TR Corrals the Corporations- 1st of the three (3) C’s….his actions above qualify to be mentioned here
as well ****
TR next goes after the RR Trusts – 2 acts of Congress are significant…******
The Interstate Commerce Commission, created in 1887 by the Interstate Commerce Act, was not
effective and up to this point …The commission was controlled by people in the pay of the RR’s and the
Federal Courts were no help….
The ELKINS ACT, 1903 – was intended to end REBATES used by RR’s as preferential FINES COULD NOW
BE IMPOSED ON RR’S WHO USED REBATES TO BENEFIT SOME BUT NOT OTHERS…
More Effective was The Hepburn Act, 1906 – Free Passes were severely restricted… the Interstate
Commerce Commission was expanded…to include regulating express companies, sleeping car
companies, and pipelines… THE GOVERNMENT COULD NULLIFY EXISTING SHIPPING RATES AND
STIPULATE MAXIMUM RATES.
TR’S PERSPECTIVE ON TRUSTS*********GOOD TRUSTS AND BAD TRUSTS********
******TR believed that Bigness was not necessarily badness… and that these big companies were here to
stay…he concluded that there were “good” trusts and ‘bad” trusts …. The Good had a public conscience
and the Bad lusted greedily for power.
TR “busts” his 1st trust – Northern Securities Corp.
A railroad holding company organized by JP Morgan and James J. Hill….they attempted together to create
complete control of all RR’s in the Northwest… TR went after some powerful opponents..
The Supreme Court agreed with TR…and they ordered the TRUST BUSTED.
This decision jolted Big Businesses and Wall St… BUT GREATLY ENHANCED TR’S REPUTATION AS A
TRUE PROGRESSIVE REFORMER…
TR INITIATED OVER 40 ATTEMPTS TO “BUST” TRUSTS… AND IN 1905 THE SUPREME COURT AGREED
WITH TR AND RULED THAT TRUSTS WERE ILLEGAL…AND THE SUGAR, HARVESTER, FERTILIZER , AND
OTHER TRUSTS FELL TO TR’S BIG “TRUST BUSTING” STICK….********************************
*************TR’S GOAL WAS NOT TO BUST ALL TRUSTS…BUT to prove conclusively that the US
government NOT PRIVATE BUSINESS, ruled the Country.********************
The “threat” of busting made Big Business more friendly-amenable to FEDERAL REGULATION OF
BUSINESS IN THE INTERESTS OF A MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE – WHICH IT DID 
*****WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT –THE NEXT PRESIDENT- ACTUALLY BUSTS MORE TRUSTS THAN TR- US
STEEL FOR EXAMPLE IN 1911…BUT TR WAS THE 1ST PRESIDENT IN US HISTORY TO DO SO…THUS
COMES HIS REPUTATION AS “TRUST BUSTER EXTRAORDINAIRRE.”
TR CARES FOR THE CONSUMER – TR’S 2ND “C” *****
****Upton Sinclair’s book, “The Jungle,” published in 1906 stirred a hornet’s nest in TR’s Brain….
We remember the difficulties the soldiers had with “embalmed beef” making them sick during the
Spanish-American war….
At this time there was no regulation**** by anyone….OF THE MEATPACKING INDUSTRY OR FOOD
INDUSTRY.
American Consumers wanted safe food and Sinclair’s book began a national debate…Sinclair,
“aimed for the nation’s heart but hit its stomach.” The Jungle described the unsanitary conditions {filth,
disease, and putrefaction} found in Chicago’s slaughterhouses…many readers were so sickened they
gave up eating meat…The President appointed a special commission to investigate…. And whose
report was worse than Sinclair’s novel…. [poisoned rats, splinters, and trash was scooped up and
put in cans of beef and made into hot dogs-sausage, etc…
“Mary had a little lamb,
and when she saw it sicken,
She shipped it off to Packingtown,
And now its labeled chicken”
In response Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act in 1906***** From now on the Federal
Government would inspect the process from Corral to the can or sausage or dog…
In response to Harvey W. Wiley’s poison squad’s testing of “Patent Medicines,” and The Jungle…
Congress also passes the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906..************ This bill was designed to
prevent the adulteration and mislabeling of foods and pharmaceuticals.
Conservation –TR’s 3rd “C” ---Conservation: Earth Control****
****NOTE: THIS WAS TR’S MOST ENDURING TANGIBLE LEGACY TO AMERICA.
TR was an “outdoorsman,” he was a hunter, naturalist, rancher and lover of the great outdoors…
TR understood that our natural resources were not inexhaustible and that greed was accelerating the
destructive processes so much that the environmental consequences of their actions were not
considered, $$$ was all that mattered….
Americans were wasteful…ranchers, miners, timberman, industrialists all wanted profits $$$
TR is one of a few CONSERVATIONISTS…that understood that this destruction would have to be
minimalized or even stopped or there would be nothing left but a wasteland…
TR was not the 1st President to act to preserve our resources; The Desert Land Act in 1877
sold land that was arid cheaply as long as it was irrigated within 3 years, The Forest Reserve Act, 1891,
was more effective, authorizing the President to set aside public forests as NATIONAL PARKS and
other reserves. The Carey Act of 1894 distributed some Federal lands to States on the condition that
they be irrigated and settled.
Under the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 46 million acres were rescued from being cut and preserved
forever…
HOWEVER, TR was, up to this time, along with his friend, Gifford Pinchot, head of the Division of
Forestry, THE 1ST PRESIDENT TO LEAD AND USE ALL OF HIS POWERFUL INFLUENCE, AND ENERGIES
TO COMMIT THIS COUNTRY TO THE IDEA OF CONSERVATION.
“We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so…wastefulness in
dealing [with our natural wealth] means that our descendants will feel the exhaustion.”
TR to Congress, 1907
Under TR, Congress passes the NEWLANDS ACT, 1902 – it authorized the federal government to take
profits from the sale of public land to create irrigation projects in the arid West – The Giant Roosevelt
dam on the Salt River in Arizona is an example….DOZENS OF DAMS WERE CONSTRUCTED IN THE
ENSUING DECADES USING THIS LEGISLATION…providing electrical power and thousands of acres of
irrigated farm land to the WEST.
Under TR, he set aside in federal reserves over 125 million acres of forest lands…3x the acreage of all
previous presidents…he set aside millions of acres of coal deposits and water resources…and he banned
Christmas Trees in the White House in 1902 to set an example.
Conservation, may have been, TR’s most enduring tangible achievement.*********
The Boy Scouts of America, the nations largest youth organization, grew incredibly during this
period…The Sierra Club, founded in 1902 to preserve the nations wilderness grew as well…
A major battle of philosophies emerged during this time – Conservation v. Preservation.
Conservationists were supported by TR and Gifford Pinchot- and the theory of Rational Use or
multiple use resource Management…”The test of utility…implies that no lands will be permanently
reserves which can serve the people better in another way.” -- their goal was to MANAGE THE
RESOURCES FOR THE PEOPLES BENEFIT
Preservationists were supported by the Sierra Club and famed naturalist John Muir. They believed
that the wilderness should be PRESERVED for the wild creatures….and devoid of human
interference….”unspoiled.”
******One spectacular example of this conflict occurs in California’s HETCHY-HETCY VALLEY in Yosemite
National Park…in 1913 (Wilson is President now) The Preservationists and Sierra Club LOST a tough
fight to preserve the valley in Yosemite National Park….the city of San Francisco won the right to build a
dam for its city water resource and flooded the spectacular high walled valley…this “temple,” according
to preservationists perspective was destroyed…to Rational Use theorists it was a resource to benefit
people…people won.
*** You need to copy and paste this whole piece and save it for review**Makers of America: The
Environmentalists******** a small but often tested part of American History
Humans have longed to be the masters of nature…
Native Americans burned forests and grasslands to improve hunting grounds and did what they could to
shape the environment to serve their purposes…
The Earliest European colonists used AX and Plow in their attempt to shape the wilderness, as well as
bringing many seeds accidentally and crops intentionally that were not native to the soil…
As technology improved in the 19th century it was put to use to shape the environment to meet the needs
of a vastly changing industrial society—RR’s, Water Powered mills, Steam Powered drills and dredges to
Mine and shape rivers, …as this occurred a noise of protest emerged THE VOICE OF
ENVRIONMENTALISM.
The battle began to pit the city dwellers and moneyed folk who longed for the wilderness either from
fantasy or memory v. the people who lived in the wilderness who opposed restrictions because they
made their living in it…farmers, loggers, miners for example
By the 20th century and the “closing of the frontier” many urban Americans romanticized their pioneer
ancestors. They reinvent hunting and fishing as “sport” not to put food on the table to survive… this fuels
the growth of groups like the Sierra Club and made naturalist John Muir famous due to his mythical
telling of an “unspoiled natural wilderness.” TR promoted “Conservation” or “Multiple Use Resource
Management,” a utilitarian concept that would conserve and use wilderness for the benefit of people,
Gifford Pinchot, his Director of Forestry is notable for his contributions to the Conservation Philosophyhis idea mentioned above, the Rational Use Theory, guides the US Government’s environmental policies
through the 20th century…and bloomed during the Great Depression projects such as the Great Dam
building-electrical power producing Tennessee River Valley Authority, the Soil Conservation Service, and
the Shelterbelt Tree Planting Project. The enormity of the New Deal Projects brought many Americans
for the first time into contact with the idea that nature had to be preserved and helped to stimulate the
ENVIRONMENTAL GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT OF THE POST-WWII ERA.
Ecological Science after WWII fundamentally changes the debate about the relation of nature to
civilization… Ecologists charges that “rationality” ignored the intricacies of complex biological
systems…the interrelationships that linked together all organisms…and the perils that could arise if these
complex systems were permanently changed…. RACHEL CARSON IN HER BOOK, SILENT SPRING, 1962,
exposed the far-reaching effects of pesticides (DDT) on birds, plants, and animals-including
humans…
Hordes of Baby Boomers in the 1960’s began to flock to the outdoors and membership in the groups like
the Sierra Club and Audubon Society “boomed.” The resulting Environmental Movement was one of the
many “movements” of this period… and as a result we celebrate the 1st EARTH DAY, in 1970. This modern
Environmental Movement combined Scientific analysis with Preservation… and led to the Federal
Government creating the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY IN 1970…SOON FOLLOWED BY THE
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT AND CLEAN AIR AND WATER ACTS… A DRASTIC CHANGE FOR AMERICA
BEGAN TO TAKE SHAPE…
Today we hear about issues such as Global Warming…and it serves notice that the planet earth does not
recognize natural boundaries…. And we as citizens of a rapidly changing world have to be cognizant of
the dangers in not “RESPECTING MOTHER NATURE.” 
The Roosevelt Panic of 1907
TR easily wins the Election of 1904 and begins his last term in office…his first “elected” term… However,
his 2nd term would not be so smooth….the “teddy bear” was considered dangerous and unpredictable by
the conservative “old guard” republicans and when he calls for even more reform; more “busting,” a
personal income tax, and protecting workers…he also announced that he would not run for a third term
in office (did not want to break the 2-term tradition started by GW….although legally there was no law
against a president serving more than two terms until the 1950’s) this announcement combined with his
proposed reforms was a tactical mistake and led to the “old guard” conservative republicans began to
attack him…especially after in 1907 the economy began to fail…
The 1907 financial panic, conservative claimed, was caused by the rush of Progressive Reforms and TR’s
unpredictability… but this panic led to more reform…this time financial…Congress in 1908 passed the
Aldrich-Vreeland act- which authorized national banks (created during the civil war again) to issue
emergency currency (the problem was the lack of “elasticity” of the currency)….and led to the
MOMENTUS ---FEDERAL RESERVE ACT OF 1913 –WHICH MANGAGES OUR CURRENCY TODAY…
The Rough Rider Thunders Out
In 1908, TR still enormously popular could have easily been elected to a third-term,,, but he kept his
promise to not run again….However he was still heavily involved and chose William Howard Taft to be
the man to replace him…in 1908 Taft defeats William Jennings Bryan (his third loss in a row, ouch) The
Republican Progressives had stolen many of the issues that made Bryan famous… and Taft crushes
Bryan…one noteworthy aspect of the election is the rise of the SOCIALIST PARTY AND ITS CANDIDATE
EUGENE V. DEBS…who polls ½ a million popular votes….signifying the rise of the Socialists…who were
not satisfied with the pace of change that the Progressives had brought to the nation…
THE CONTRIBUTIONS OR LEGACY OF TR---****
TR should be remembered 1st and foremost as the cowboy who started to tame the bucking bronco of
Capitalism for the 1st time…and ensured its long life in a more BALANCED AMERICA.
TR despite his public actions against big business did not attack all big businesses…and through his
limited actions forces most big businesses to at least acknowledge the Federal Governments power to
regulate them…and this action lessens the attraction of Socialism….
His “middle-road” approach to most issues…like conservation (Multiple Use/Rational Use management
theory…for Conservation) was typical and was his most long lasting achievement…
1- TR enlarged the power and prestige of the Presidency (not hard to do after the “forgettable”
Presidents of the Gilded Age..
2- TR mastered the BIG STICK of using his “bully pulpit” as publicity to inform and manipulate the
public to support his ideas….many Presidents after him copy this technique to accomplish their
policy goals…some as successfully – FDR and some not so successfully – Nixon
3- TR helped to shape the Progressive Movement and liberal reform for many decades in Domestic
Polciy…The Square Deal was the father of the New Deal of FDR…and Grandfather of the Great
Society of LBJ.
4- TR – More than any President of the Past….opened the American Public’s eyes to the fact that they
shared the WORLD with other nations…his “realpolitik” approach to foreign policy is in direct
contrast to the “Moral Diplomacy” that emerges later in this era and continues into the present.
TR HEADS FOR AFRICA AND A SAFARI 
Taft: A Round Peg in a Square Hole
Taft at first inspired confidence in the Progressive Movement… former Governor of the Philippines under
McKinley’s Benevolent Assimilation…”little brown brothers.” An accomplished Lawyer who graduated
from Yale…after he leaves the Presidency he will be appointed to the Supreme Court…one of only 2
former Presidents who work in the Federal Government after their Presidency (JQ Adams- congressman)
Taft suffered with the complexities of Politics…he did not have the desire to manipulate the several
special interests that competed to lead the Republican Party…progressives and conservatives
especially…he was passive with Congress….These handicaps often put Taft in difficult situations from
which he never solved…just passively let solve themselves…which frustrated most.
Taft was a mild “progressive” and does not include in his cabinet any of the most progressive in his party
instead over the course of his Presidency Big Bill finds the criticism pushing him closer to the “old guard”
Republicans –the most conservative …that had controlled the nation during the Gilded Age…
The Dollar Goes Abroad as a Diplomat*** most associated with TAFT is DOLLAR DIPLOMACY****
Taft decided to us the lever of American businesses to influence political interests in Foreign
Policy….called Dollar Diplomacy…it is what he is known most for…*****
Taft encouraged overseas investment and frequently used the military to support American Business
interests in foreign countries…especially in the Far East (Asia) and the Caribbean (United Fruit).
Taft’s Dollar $ took the place of TR’s BIG STICK…
China’s province of Manchuria…was the object of Taft’s largest effort to influence foreign affairs with the
Dollar $. Japan and Russia controlled the railroads in this province. Taft saw the Manchurian RR as an
opportunity to keep the “door open” in China…and stop the Russians or Japanese from closing the “door.”
Taft’s Sec. of State, Philander C. Knox (great 1st name ) …suggested to American and Foreign Bankers
that they buy the Manchurian RR and give it to the Chinese…IT FAILS DUE TO RUSSIA AND JAPAN NOT
PARTICIPATING IN THE AGREEMENT….
Taft also attempted to push American $$ into the Central America-Caribbean region. He was
forced to send in troops often to protect American business interests…especially in Nicaragua,
Honduras, Haiti, Cuba, and Dominican Republic…and to restore “order.” (Banana Wars)
Taft the Trustbuster
Taft actually “busts” more trusts than TR… he filed 90 suits against monopolies/trusts in his 4 years in
office compared to 44 in TR’s 7.5 years in office…
His most famous “busting” was of Standard Oil in 1911…in this case, however, the Supreme Court
issued its famous “Rule of Reason,” which hurt the enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of
1890… by stating that “only those trusts/combinations that unreasonably restrained trade were
illegal…Taft himself had created this “test” while a federal judge in 1899…and used during the Standard
Oil case…This Rule of Reason limited from this point forward the governments success in busting trusts…
His most controversial “busting” occurred when in 1911, again, he filed suit against- JP Morgan’s US Steel
Corp… controversial because TR before he had left office had promised not to file suit against US Steel…
this angers TR from far away and he began to criticize Taft publicy…
Taft Splits the Republican Party****
The progressive wing of the Republican Party had another issue to attack---the artificially high
TARIFF…which obviously benefitted the owners of Giant Corporations ---who happened to support the
“old guard conservative” wing of the Republican Party.
Taft in his campaign in 1908 had promised to lower the Tariff… However… in 1909 in a special session of
Congress…THE PAYNE-ALDRICH TARIFF…AFTER CONSERVATIVES TAGGED HUNDREDS OF
AMENDMENTS TO IT ACTUALLY RAISES THE TARIFF…only lowering rates on hides, sea moss, and
canary bird seed…(really)  this action really upset the progressive wing of the Republican Party and put
Taft in odds with them…Taft, “this is the best bill the Republican Party ever passed.” (really, c’mon man)
In Conservation, Taft really upset the progressives and created a permanent public enemy in TR….
The Ballinger-Pinchot affair – Taft’s Sec. of State, Richard Ballinger opened public lands in Wyoming,
Montana, and Alaska to corporate development…and in opposition Gifford Pinchot –TR’s good Friend –
and Chief of the Agricultural Department’s Division of Forestry publicly opposed this action and Taft
FIRED HIM FOR INSUBORDINATION… a storm of protest erupted over Pinchot’s firing and the actions of
Ballinger, which were not conservation nor preservation…
TR Returns to NY in 1910 from his Safari in Africa and began to speak publicly criticizing TAFT….
Taft responds by moving farther away from the Progressive wing of the Republican Party and into the
hands of the conservative “old guard Republican” wing of the party….
TR now decides to deepen the schism that had begun to form in the Republican party between the
progressives and “old guard conservatives” by announcing his new plan for the American Government—
called “New Nationalism.”************ which generally urges the Federal government to increase its
power to remedy economic and social abuses…”the square deal on steroids”…
************** huge**********New Nationalisms ideas for America would…”destroy this invisible
Government, dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics.” TR 1910
New Nationalism included:
1 A National Health Service
2 Social Insurance to provide for the elderly, the unemployed, and disabled
3 Limit injunctions (court orders to stop) strikes
4 A Minimum-Wage for Women
5 The 8 hour-Work day
6 Federal Securities Commission to regulate Wall St. (stock markets)
7 Farm Relief
8 Workman’s Compensation Insurance (Triangle fire still a year away)
9 an Estate-Inheritance Tax
10 A Constitutional Amendment allowing a personal income tax (still a couple years away 16th)
11 Women’s Suffrage (vote)
12 Direct Election of US Senators –still 3 years away (17th amendment)
13 Primary elections for state and federal nominations by parties..(we have today)
New Nationalism is considered to be the most forward thinking political agenda produced in the
20th century---most if not all of these ideas are EVENTUALLY implemented and many today are
considered sacred….certainly interesting that it becomes THE AGENDA FOR LIBERAL REFORM IN
AMERICA…BY A REPUBLICAN JINGOE 
The Taft-Roosevelt Rupture
A Fight…for the Republican Party Nomination for the Presidential Election of 1912
erupts…pitting the conservative “old guard” and Taft v. the Progressives and TR…..initially not running
…TR gets in the fight…”my hat is in the ring,” and attempts to win the Republican Party’s nomination by
winning at the convention (not really seen today due to the extensive primary and caucus system,
another progressive reform---voters choose delegates now in each state that are attached to the winner
of the state vote or attached by % to the voters in each state---so that when the convention comes it is
known how many delegates each person has---however, there are some “super delegates” that are
unattached and that could today cause a surprise) in TRs time---they did not attach delegates or have as
many primaries or caucuses so the candidates went to the convention competing for their votes---and
most often the political machine leaders often would choose the candidate and tell their minions whom to
vote for…
In June of 1912 at the Republican Convention in Chicago…TAFT WINS in the smoke-filled backrooms of
the good old boys (political machine leaders)…and captures the Republican Party nomination….TR upset
at the “old guard conservatives” TRICKERATION…. CRIED FOUL…AND DECIDES TO RUN AS A 3RD PARTY
CANDIDATE…FOR THE NEW “BULL MOOSE-PROGRESSIVE PARTY” …
THIS ELECTION IS FRIKIN CRAZY…as you can imagine. 