Nora Gallant Green
Theodore Roosevelt and the Modern Presidency (pg. 594)
● Teddy Roosevelt​ v loved & an idol→ more than any other president
○ Loved by reformers but was v conservative
○ Turned presidency to center of national politics & power
The Accidental President (pg. 594)
● 1901 ​President William McKinley​ assassinated & vp ​Roosevelt​ became pres
○ Only 42, youngest pres ever
● Roosevelt​’s Background
○ Helped capture outlaws in Dakota
○ Worked in NY police
■ Fought against crime
○ V pro expansion
○ Like slow moderate change not reform
Government, Capital, and Labor (pgs. 594-595)
● Roosevelt’s ​Vision of Federal Power
○ Visioned fed gov as mediator of public→ pres being center
○ Wanted regulation of trust
■ Regulate companies power
○ Most important: give gov power to investigate corporations & publish results
■ Eliminate corporate abuse of power
■ Department of Commerce and Labor​ (est. 1903) would investigate
● Northern Securities Company
○ Continuously tried to stop monopolies
■ Invoked ​Sherman Antitrust Act​ to stop rr monopoly ​Northern Securities Co.
● 1904 ​NSC​ dissolved but ​Roosevelt​ didn’t seriously try to end all
economic concentration
○ Committed to making gov able to regulate cos & labor
■ Tried to listen to case of laborers & employers in cases/strikes
“The Square Deal”​ (pgs. 595-596)
● Reform ≄​Roosevelt’s​ priority
● Mainly wanted to be reelected so didn’t want to piss off Republicans
○ Easily won in 1904
○ Then started to focus on reform
● 1904 campaign said provided everyone with a “square deal” post huge strike
○ Second term started to extend square deal & targeted rr industry
○ Interstate Commerce Act of 1887​ est. ​Interstate Commerce Commission
■ = effort to regulate rr industry but didn’t do a lot
● Hepburn Act
○ Roosevelt​ wanted laws to increase govs power to regulate rr rates
■ Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act of 1906​ gave gov some power but not
enough for progressives/reformers
● Pissed that ​Roosevelt​ didn’t give gov more power
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Pure Food and Drug Act
○ Restricted sale of dangerous/ineffective medicines
○ 1906 passed ​Meat Inspection Act​ eliminated disease from spoiled meat
○ 1907 proposed more restrictions:
■ 8 hr days for workers
■ More $$ for injured workers
■ Income taxes
■ Regulation of stock markets
○ Openly criticized conservatives that blocked above programs
■ Result: stalemate in reform agenda & divide between president & conservatives
in his party
Roosevelt and Conservation (pg. 596)
● Conservative of natural resources & wilderness = v important to ​Roosevelt
○ Restricted private development in West
○ 1st pres to actively support conservation movement
■ Established gov as regulation for wilderness development
● Federal Aid to the West
○ 1902 ​Roosevelt​ backed​ Newlands Act​, gov took over irrigation projects
■ Gave federal funds to build dams, reservoirs, canals in West
● Beginning of fed $$$ for irrigation/power development in West
Roosevelt and Preservation (pg. 596)
● Roosevelt​ supported naturalists committed to preserving natural beauty & health of wildlife
○ Supported ​National Forest System​ to protect land for lumbering
○ Also supported ​National Park System​ to protect public land from any development
○ Under ​Roosevelt​ several national parks created & expanded
The ​Hetch Hetchy Controversy ​(pg. 598)
● 1906 huge controversy over ​Hetch Hetchy Valley​ in ​Yosemite
○ Hetch Hetchy​ = huge valley beloved by naturalists like ​John Muir​ & the ​Sierra Club
■ San Franciscans worried about water wanted to turn ​HH​ into large reservoir
● Muir+ ​furious that they would ruin the valley for water
■ 1906 SF had huge earthquake & fire & public support for ​HH​ reservoir increased
● Competing Conservationist Visions
○ Over decade naturalists & reservoir supports argued
■ Construction started post ​WWI
○ Setback for naturalists but not total defeat
■ Helped motivate preservation movement
● Casual exploitation of natural no longer unopposed
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Panic of 1907​ (pg. 598)
● Gov still had v little control over industrial economy
○ Like 1893 industrial production exceeded consumption & banks/stock market couldn’t
deal w/ recession
● Tennessee Coal and Iron Co.
○ Conservatives blamed ​Roosevelt’s​ economic policies
■ JP Morgan ​told him key = buying ​TCIC
● Bought it & the panic soon stopped
The Troubled Succession (pgs. 598-599)
● William Howard Taft
○ 1909 became pres & had been ​Roosevelt’s​ trusted lieutenant
■ Entered office on wave of public support & good feeling
■ Left office most defeated pres, his party v divided, & Democratic gov (first time
in 20 yrs)
Taft​ and the ​Progressives​ (pg. 599)
● Payne-Aldrich Tariff
○ Taft’s ​1st problem: wanted to satisfy progressives by lowering protective tariff
■ Made ​Payne-Aldrich Tariff​, barely reduced rates & progressives angry that ​Taft
didn’t make it larger & was so passive to conservatives
○ 1912 supported ​Children’s Bureau​ to investigates welfare of kids in all classes
■ Julia Lathrop​ = head & filled ​CB​ w/ women reformers
● Ballinger-Pinchot Dispute
○ 1909 controversy destroyed ​Taft’s​ popularity w/ reformers for good
■ Replaced secretary of interior ​James Garfield​ (conservationist) w/ conservative
corporate lawyer ​Richard Ballinger
■ Ballinger​ tried to repeal ​Roosevelt’s​ work to protect public land
■ Also accusations rose that he tried to sell public coal mines in Alaska for
personal profit
■ Taft​ said accusations = groundless & reformers/progressives v angry
The Return of Roosevelt (pg. 600)
● Roosevelt​ out of country but returned to NY in 1910
○ Became convinced that he = 1 to reunite Republican Party
● “New Nationalism”
○ 1910 ​Roosevelt​ gave speech in Kansas & said that social justice only possible w/ action
from a strong fed gov
Spreading Insurgency (pgs. 600-601)
● 1910 congressional elections proved progressive revolt = v big
○ Progressives won more seats than conservatives but Democrats won control of Congress
○ 1911 gov said buying of ​TCIC​ had been illegal
■ Roosevelt ​furious by implication that he had acted illegally
○ Roosevelt​ announced his presidential candidacy on February 22
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Gallant Green
Roosevelt vs. Taft ​(pg. 601)
● Roosevelt​ = champion of progressives & ​Taft​ = champion of conservatives
● The Progressive Party
○ Taft​ nominated by Republicans so ​Roosevelt​ started own party
○ The “​Bull Moose Party”​ committed to progressive causes
■ Wanted more regulation on of industry & trusts, reforms to gov, $$ for injured
workers, pensions for elderly/widows, woman suffrage
● Reformers v excited but ​Roosevelt​ knew he wouldn’t win bc democratic
nominee
Woodrow Wilson​ (pgs. 601-602)
● Reform sentiment spreading in Democratic party too
○ Woodrow Wilson​, gov of NJ, became partys nominee
● Wilson’s ​“New Freedom”
○ Had been political science professor at Princeton & became pres of university in 1902
■ Committed to reform & reputation for passing progressive legislation
○ Proposed progress program called “​New Freedom”
■ Supported destruction of monopoly instead of regulation like ​Roosevelt
The Scholar as President (pgs. 602-603)
● Wilson​ = bold, forceful president, concentrated executive power
○ Firmly control cabinet & delegated authority to only those loyal to him
● Lowering the Tariff
○ 1st victory; substantially lowering the protective tariff
■ The Underwood-Simmons Tariff​ reduced it enough to bring real competition to
markets & help end power of trusts
● Also introduced graduation income tax
● Federal Reserve Act
○ 1913, created 12 regional banks
■ Supported loans to private banks at set interest rate
■ Issue new paper currency, ​Federal Reserve notes​,
■ Able to shift funds to meet demands for credit or help banks in trouble
○ Almost ½ banking resources in system within a year
● 1914 ​Wilson​ proposed 2 measures to deal w/ monopoly
○ 1. Create fed agency to regulate businesses (like ​Roosevelt’s ​idea in 1912)
○ 2. Strengthen govs ability to end trusts
○ Became ​Federal Trade Commision Act​ and ​Clayton Antitrust Act
Retreat and Advance (pgs. 603-604)
● 1914 ​Wilson​ thought reform would die down & didn’t support women's suffrage
● 1914 congressional elections Dems had major losses
○ So 1915 ​Wilson ​started supporting more reforms
■ 1916 ​Louis Brandeis​ = 1st Jewish & most progressive Supreme Court justice
■ Supported law making easier for farmers to get $$
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●
Child Labor Laws
○ 1916 ​Wilson​ supported ​Keating-Owen Act​, 1st fed law regulating child labor
■ Prohibited interstate transport of goods made by kids
● SC invalidated ​KO​ in 1918
Roosevelt​ and “Civilization” (pgs. 604-605)
● ​Roosevelt​ was activist in foreign policy & thought US should use its power in world
● Racial and Economic Basis of Roosevelt’s Diplomacy
○ Roosevelt​ thought there were “civilized” & “uncivilized” nations
● “Civilized nations” = majority white, or Anglo-Saxon
● “Uncivilized nations” = generally unwhite, Latin, or Slavic
■ Also economic development was distinction so Japan = “civilized”
○ “Cn” = industrial goods producers, “un” = raw materials & markets
■ A “cn” could intervene in an “un” to protect order & stability for both nations
■ This belief = reason for ​Roosevelt’s​ support in naval development
● By 1906 US navy biggest & strongest, 2nd to England
Protecting the “Open Door” in Asia (pgs. 605-606)
● “Great White Fleet”
○ 1904 Japanese surprise attacked a Russian fleet in area in China that both nations wanted
to control
■ Roosevelt​ asked to mediate an end to the conflict
■ 1905 Russians agreed to recognize Japan’s territories & Japan to end fighting &
stop expanding
■ Secretly negotiated deal that US could trade in region w/ Japanese
● 1906 Roosevelt​ won ​Nobel Peace Prize​ 4 ending ​Russo-Japanese War
○ Japan became naval power in Pacific & excluded US trade in its territories
■ Roosevelt​ sent 16 battleships (​the great white fleet)​ to remind Japanese of US
power
The Iron-Fisted Neighbor (pg. 606)
● ​Roosevelt​ v interested in Latin America
○ 1902 Venezuelan gov in debt to European banks
■ British, Italian, German navies bombarded a Venezuelan port
■ US interfered & made them leave
● “Roosevelt Corollary”
○ This made R think European interference in LA caused instability
○ 1904 announced “​Roosevelt Corollary” ​to the ​Monroe Doctrine
■ Said US had right to stop European interference in LA & intervene itself if LA
became unstable
○ “Roosevelt Corollary”​ used in crisis in Dominican Republic
■ Gov in extreme debt to Europe & unable to pay it
■ US controlled DR industry & gave 45% of profit to DR & payed off debt w/ rest
● Lasted 30 yrs +
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●
Platt Amendment
○ 1902 US gave Cuba political independence if new gov agreed to ​Platt Amendment
■ Gave US right to prevent foreign power from interfering w/ Cuba
● 1906 american troops ended fighting in Cuba & stayed for 3 more yrs
The Panama Canal ​(pg. 606)
● Panama Canal ​connected Atlantic & Pacific→ ​Roosevelt’s​ biggest accomplishment
○ John Hay​ negotiated w/ Colombia
■ Tomas Herren​ signed deal that US had rights to “canal zone” in Colombia in
return for $10 mil
■ Colombian gov furious & wouldn’t ratify deal
● Wanted at least $20 mill
● Panamanian Revolt
○ Roosevelt​ pissed @ Colombian gov & tried to find a way to start construction w/o gov’s
consent
■ 1903 French engineer ​Philippe Bunau Varilla ​helped organize/finance
revolution in Panama
■ US troops went in to end revolt & keep nation “stable”
■ Roosevelt ​named Panama independent nation & they agreed to deal Colombia
refused
■ Construction continued & ​Panama Canal​ opened in 1914
Taft​ and “​Dollar Diplomacy” ​(pg. 607)
● Taft​ also wanted to advance economic interest overseas
■ But unlike ​Roosevelt,​ wasn’t for “world stability”
○ Worked to increase influence in less developed nations
● Often in Caribbean
■ Critics called this policy ​“dollar diplomacy”
● Intervention in Nicaragua
○ 1909 revolt started in Nicaragua
■ US liked revolters & sent troops to help control gov
■ Troops remained 10yrs +
Diplomacy and Morality (pgs. 607-609)
● Wilson​ had no interest/experience in international affairs
○ But faced biggest international problems than any pres before him
○ Greatest test to his diplomacy not till ​WWI​ but also dealt with Latin America
● 1916 US made military gov in Dominican Republic→ occupation lasted 8yrs
○ 1915 US troops landed in Haiti when mob murdered unpopular president
■ Troops stayed till 1934 & americans drafted Haiti’s constitution
○ Wilson​ bought colony from Denmark bc worried Germany would control it
■ Renamed it Virgin Islands
○ Worried Europe would interfere in Nicaragua, ​Wilson​ made treaty
■ no other nation could build a canal
■ letting US intervene in NIcaragua’s internal affairs to protect US’ interests
○ Wilson’s​ approach was v similar to ​Taft/Roosevelt​ towards Latin America
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●
Wilson’s​ Moral Diplomacy
○ Wilson​ had different view on US role in world, became clear how he dealt w/ Mexico
○ US businessmen had huge economic presence in Mexico
○ 1910 new pres ​Francisco Madero​ promised democratic reform & hostile to US
■ Instead US encouraged general ​Victoriano Huerta​ to take over in 1913
● This was under ​Taft’s​ gov
■ Huerta’s​ gov murdered M
​ adero​ & ​Wilson​ took office in US
■ Wilson​ denounced ​Huerta’s​ assassination & wouldn’t recognize his gov
● W​ hoped ​Venustiano Carranza​ & opposing Constitutionalists get
power
■ 1913 ​Huerta ​est. military dictatorship, supported by US business interests
■ 1914 a small naval incident let ​W​ openly intervene
● W​ seized Veracruz, a Mexican port
● Veracruz
○ Battle in Veracruz & Mexican & US casualties
○ War seemed sure but ​W ​looked for way out
○ Carranza ​supporters grew & captured Mexico City & forced ​Huerta​ out
■ Crisis seemed resolved
○ W​ unhappy bc ​Carranza​ refused US help making new gov
■ W​ almost supported another revolt leader: ​Pancho Villa​ but didn’t
■ 1915 ​W​ recognized ​Carranza​ gov
○ But ​W​ pissed off ​Pancho Villa
■ 1916 ​Villa ​shot 33 Americans
● Intervention in America
○ US general ​John Pershing​ lead troops into Mexico to get ​Villa
■ Didn’t find​ Villa​ but got into 2 bloody fights w/ ​Carranza​’s​ ​troops
■ Again war almost broke out but ​W​ withdrew his troops
■ 1917 formally recognized ​Carranza’s​ gov in Mexico
○ Wilson​ turned his attention to the international crisis starting in Europe
The Collapse of the European Peace (pg. 614)
● Competing Alliances
○ 1914 2 groups of alliances:
■ Triple Entente​→ Russia, France, Britain
■ Triple Alliance​→ Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy
○ Germany & Britain = huge rivals & underlying tension that led to ​WWI
■ War started bc of nationalist movements in Austro-Hungarian Empire
■ 1914 ​Archduke Franz Ferdinand​ was assassinated by Serbian nationalist
■ All the alliances declared war on the other alliances’ nations
■ By 1915 majority of Europe & part of Asia fighting in a major war
● Central Powers​ = ​Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, Ottoman
Empire ​vs. ​Allied Powers​ = ​Serbia, Russia, France, Britain, Italy,
Belgium
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Wilson’s​ Neutrality (pgs. 614-615)
● 1914 ​W​ told US to be neutral, but it was impossible
○ Majority of US sympathized w/ Great Britain & were hostile to Germany
● Economic Ties to Britain
○ British had naval blockade on Germany to prevent supplies reaching them
○ In theory US had right to trade w/ Germany bc they were a neutral nation
■ To be neutral US should have stopped trading w/ Britain but didn’t
○ By 1915 was basically aligned w/ the ​Allies ​& GB instead of being neutral
● Lusitania
○ Germans started using submarine warfare to stop supplies getting to Britain
■ 1915 Germany said enemy ships would be sunk on sight
■ On May 7, 1915 Germany sank the ​Lusitania, a British passenger ship carrying
Americans
● Later found out ship was also carrying weapons
○ Wilson​ furious & demanded Germany respect their neutrality
■ Including US citizens ability to travel on passenger ships
■ Germans eventually agreed but tensions high between 2 nations
Preparedness versus Pacifism (pg. 615)
● 1916 ​W​ v angry @ Germany but unwilling to commit to war
○ Bc wanted to be reelected, ​W​ didn’t want to piss off those against interference
● Pacifists & interventionists debated if US should economically & militarily prepare for war
○ 1915 ​W​ supported quick increase in armed forces
● 1916 Election
○ Peace faction was v strong & made clear at Democratic Convention in 1916
○ Wilson​ reelected by v small amount
A War for Democracy (pgs. 615-616)
● W​ needed justification for war that would appease public opinion
○ W​ decided that US would use war to create new world order based on US progressive
ideals
■ 1917 ​W​ proposed postwar US would make permanent league of nations to ensure
peace
● W​ thought this goal worth fighting for if they were provoked
● Zimmermann Telegram
○ Germany planned series of major attacks on France & submarine attacks on US & Allied
ships to cut of Britain from supplies
● Hoped to collapse ​Allies​ before US interfere but the policy ensured US
involvement
○ Another event ensured US participation:
■ February 25 British intercepted telegram from German minister ​Arthur
Zimmermann​ to Mexican gov
● Asked if Mexico would join war, on German side, if US joined war
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○
Germany promised return Texas & US southwest to Mexico in
return
■ Zimmermann Telegram​ turned public pro-war
● US declared war on April 6
Entering the War (pgs. 616-617)
● Russian Revolution
○ US interference helped ​Allies​ a lot & war turned in their favor
○ Many hoped US naval help would be enough but was clear that US needed to send
→ground forces
○ 1918 Russia had completely withdrawn
■ November 1917 ​Bolshevik Revolution​ created new gov & negotiated treaty w/
Central Powers​ to get out of war
American Expeditionary Force (pgs. 617-618)
● US didn’t have big enough standing army
○ Had few experience since ​Spanish-American War
● Selective Service Act
○ W​ decided national draft to get enough troops
○ Selective Service Act ​passed in May & brought around 5 mill men to army
■ Formed the ​American Expeditionary Force (AEF)
○ 1st time US troops fought overseas for long time
■ Troops in v bad conditions
○ AEF​ most diverse military in US history
■ Women allowed to enlist →mostly in navy
● Not allowed in combat but v important in hospitals & offices
● African-American Soldiers
○ Many black soldiers fought in France
■ In segregated all black units w/ white commanders
■ Lived w/ horrible racism but hoped their military service would improve their
status
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