Progressivism Under
Taft
Hard not being TR
Taft can’t fill TR’s Shoes
• Taft is quiet and
reflective
• experienced
– TR’s right hand man
– hand-picked
• TR was boisterous
and forceful
– Not seen as Progressive
enough
• fair?
• perception is reality
Taft’s Downfall
• Payne-Aldrich Tariff
– raised tariffs when
Progressives were against
tariffs
• Conservation
– removed land from public
reserved status
• supported Speaker of
the House Joe Cannon
– Taft presided over the
splintering of his party
Election of 1912
• Republican Party
splits
– conservative
Republicans (Taft)
• support tariffs
• break up trusts
• less conservation of public
lands
• less Fed. intervention in the
economy
Election of 1912
• Bull Moose Party
– progressive Republicans (TR)
• regulate trusts
• strengthen Fed. authority over the
economy
• protect women and children in the
work-place
• supported women’s right to vote
• all states to adopt
–
–
–
–
direct election of senators
initiative
recall
referendum
Election of 1912
• Democrats
– progressives (Wilson)
• break up trusts
• reform the banks
• reduce tariffs
Election of 1912
• Socialists
– radical Progressives
(Debs)
• major govt.
intervention into the
economy
• With group-members
assess the Socialist
platform and its
progressivism.
What the Election of 1912 tells us about the
people of that time.
• concerned about power of big
businesses and monopolies
• concerned about their quality of life
• concerned about their finances
• country shifts to the left