Lecture: “Who’s in Charge”
LEARNING TARGETS:
I CAN DESCRIBE WHY W.H. TAFT IS
CONSIDERED A FAILURE AS PRESIDENT.
I CAN DESCRIBE WHY THE ELECTION OF
1912 IS CONSIDERED A VICTORY FOR
PROGRESSIVES
I CAN DESCRIBE THE CHANGES IN THE
CONSTITUTION BETWEEN 1916-1920
I-William Howard Taft
A-Election of 1908
1-Roosevelt decides not to run for 3rd term
A) would have easily won
B) well-liked by Americans
I-William Howard Taft
2-T.R. Suggests William Howard Taft succeed
him
A) Taft did not want to be president
1) His wife wanted him to be
president
2) he wanted to be chief Justice of
the Supreme Court
A)-He later was appointed to
be Chief Justice
B) Taft easily beats William Jennings Bryan
I-William Howard Taft
B-Taft’s Successes
1-Broke up more trusts than Roosevelt (90)
2-set aside more land for conservation
3-signed laws forcing mines to be safer for
workers
4-established 8-hour work day for Government
Employees
I-William Howard Taft
C-Taft’s downfall
1-Stress of the presidency caused Taft to gain
weight
A) Heaviest president ever at 335 pounds
I-William Howard Taft
2-Let Congress and big business do what they
wanted
A) made him unpopular with progressives
B) T.R. thought Taft was rejecting reform
I-William Howard Taft
3-Great Migration
A) Movement of African American from
agricultural South to industrial North
1) done over 30 years from 1910-1940
B) Caused population in cities such as New
York and Chicago growing during this time
C) Why?
1) decreased cotton prices
2) re-emergence of KKK
3) need for war industry workers
I-William Howard Taft
3-Great Migration
D) Led to improved standard of living for
African Americans
1) higher wages
2) better educational opportunities
3) better jobs
I-William Howard Taft
4-Conservation problem
A) Secretary of Interior fires head of the
Forest Service
1) Forest head was a friend of T.R.
B) Secretary of Interior orders new forest
head to sell some of the forest land set
aside by Roosevelt to loggers
II-Election of 1912
A-T. Roosevelt decides to run against Taft for
Republican Nomination
1-T.R. won all primaries but political bosses see
that Taft gets Republican Nomination
2-Roosevelt and his supporters storm out of the
convention and form their own political party
A) Called “Progressive party”
B) Also called “Bull Moose Party”
II-Election of 1912
B-Democrats nominate Woodrow Wilson
1-Wilson was also a progressive
II-Election of 1912
C-Wilson wins because of the split in Republican Party
Chafin, Eugene
Debs, Eugene
Reimer, Arthur
Roosevelt, Theodore
Taft, William
Wilson, Woodrow
Write In Votes
Prohibition
Socialist
Socialist Labor
Progressive
Republican
Democrat
0
0
0
88
8
435
0
207,928
962,573
29,259
4,119,507
3,484,956
6,283,019
4,556
Combined Wilson & TR get 10.4 million votes (69%) and 523 of 531 electoral votes
(98%)
D-Considered a victory for progressives since both Wilson & Roosevelt were
progressives (combined 69% of popular vote and 98% of electoral vote)
III-Woodrow Wilson
A-Knew the nation needed a strong president
B-Program: New Freedom
C-Reforms
1-Tariffs
A) Underwood Tariff of 1913
1) Lowered tariffs 8%
2) Allowed many goods to be imported
duty free (especially iron & steel)
3) Lowered tariffs caused approval of
the federal income tax and 16th
Amendment
III-Woodrow Wilson
C-Reforms
2-Banking
A) Federal Reserve Act established a National
banking system
B) Federal Reserve Board established
3-Trusts
A) Continued trust-busting
B) Clayton Anti-trust Act
1) Outlaws many acts not covered by
Sherman Anti-trust Act
C) Forms Federal Trade Commission
1) Regulated business
2) Prevents unfair trade practices
IV-Amending the Constitution
A-1913: 16 Amendment: Graduated Income Tax
1-Income Tax can be levied based on how much
you make. The more you make, the more you
pay
2-done because Supreme Court declared a law
passed by Congress establishing an income tax
was unconstitutional
IV-Amending the Constitution
B-1913: 17th Amendment: Direct Election of U.S.
Senators
1-Prior: senators selected by state legislatures
2-Gave election power to the people
IV-Amending the Constitution
C-1919: 18th Amendment: Prohibition
1-outlawed making, sale, purchase and
consumption of alcoholic beverages
2-there was a belief alcohol was corrupting
society
3-spearheaded by Women’s Christian
Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League
4-done while men were fighting in WWI
IV-Amending the Constitution
D-1920: 19th Amendment: Women’s Suffrage
1-gave vote to all Americans 21 years of age or
older regardless of sex
2-Many of the early fighters for this right (S.B.
Anthony) were dead when this became law
V-Other Important items during Wilson Admin
A-Federal Reserve Act of 1913
1-Creates the Federal Reserve System
2-monitors monetary policy of the USA
3-Divided USA into 12 Fed Districts
B-”Watchful Waiting”
1-Wilson’s policy of not aligning with countries
whose leaders took control by force
2-Aimed at Mexico, whose leader Victoriano
Huerta, too control in a violent revolution
3-Policy ended when US sent in troops to
retaliate against Mexico arresting US Sailors
V-Other Important items during Wilson Admin
C-Clayton Anti-Trust Act
1-an update of Sherman Anti-Trust Act
2-New regulations for monopolies
3-Price discrimination illegal
4-Trusts Illegal (boards controlling multiple
businesses in same industry)
5-Established Fed. Trade Commission
6-Exempted labor unions involved in LEGAL
activities
V-Other Important items during Wilson Admin
D-Labor Acts of 1915-1916
1-LaFollette Seaman’s Act (1915)
A) Requires safety & sanitation measures for
commercial vessels and regulated wages,
food and hours of sailors
2-Adamson Act (1916)
A) Railroad employees engaged in interstate
commerce work 8 hour days and time and a
half overtime
V-Other Important items during Wilson Admin
D-Labor Acts of 1915-1916
3-Keating-Owens Child Labor Act (1916)
A) made it illegal to ship products that
involved child labor in the manufacturing
B) Declared unconstitutional in Hammer v.
Dagenhart (1918) because Congress
interfered in the power of States
1) probably would have been
constitutional if limited it to
INTERSTATE shipping
V-Other Important items during Wilson Admin
E-Supreme Court Nomination of Louis Brandeis
1-Concern over nomination because he was
Jewish
2- second concern: advocate for social justice
3-Confirmation process took six months
4-those against included Former President Taft
A) Taft was angry because Brandeis
worked against his initiatives
B) Many Republicans also against him
5-Confirmed June 1, 1916 (served until 1939)