Ch. 18 – Progressivism on National Stage/EQ: How well did Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson promote
progressive goals in national policies?
2 Three Progressive Presidents
3 Addressing the Effects of Industrialization
4 Reforming the National Government
• Personality: impulsive and physically active
• Background: served in New York’s state assembly; was
McKinley’s vice president
• Reform programs: a Square Deal for all Americans
• Roosevelt used the Sherman Antitrust Act to regulate
and break up monopolies.
• He protected consumers by passing the Meat
Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. He
helped coal miners by pressuring strikers and owners
to use arbitration to end the 1902 strike.
• He backed the creation of the U.S. Forest Service and
set aside nearly 150 million acres of national forests.
• Roosevelt supported women’s suffrage when he ran
for president in 1912.
• Personality: quiet and cautious
• Background: member of Roosevelt’s cabinet and a
former judge
• Reform programs: continued some of Roosevelt’s
progressive reforms
• Taft brought more than 90 lawsuits against trusts.
He prosecuted trusts that limited trade.
• He established the Children’s Bureau in the
Department of Labor and implemented an eight-hour
workday for government employees.
• He added 2.7 million acres to the National Wildlife
Refuge System.
• Taft called for reform of the banking system, though
Americans were divided on the proper solution.
• Congress proposed the 16th Amendment, establishing
a federal income tax, during Taft’s presidency.
• Congress passed the 17th Amendment, which called
for the direct election of senators, in 1912.
• Personality: idealist and scholar
• Background: governor of New Jersey
• Reform programs: New Freedom, which gave more
economic freedom to small businesses and average
citizens
• Wilson helped pass the Clayton Antitrust Act, which
made it harder for trusts to form and exempted unions
from antitrust laws.
• He signed the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act and
secured an eight-hour workday for railroad workers.
• He supported the creation of the National Park
Service to manage national parks for preservation and
public use.
• With Wilson’s support, the Federal Reserve System
was created in 1913 to stabilize the banking system.
• During Wilson’s presidency, the 16th Amendment
was ratified and the Underwood Tariff Act, which
lowered tariffs, was passed.
• The 17th Amendment, the direct election of senators,
was ratified while Wilson was in office.
• The 18th Amendment, prohibition of alcohol, was
ratified during Wilson’s presidency.
• Wilson supported women’s suffrage, and the 19th
Amendment was ratified while he was in office.