PROGRESSIVE

PRESIDENTS
 THEEncouraging
ORIGINSPoliticalOF Efficiency –
ReformersPROGRESSIVISM
tried to increase the efficiency of American society
ENCOURAGING POLITICAL EFFICIENCY--
MUNICIPAL POLITICAL REFORM

◼ During the progressive movement, efforts were made to

reform politics to make government more efficient and
responsive to its constituents.
◼ Political machines had rewarded their supporters with jobs and
kickbacks and openly bought votes with favors and bribes.
◼ Printed ballots, or “tickets” had made corruption by political
parties and machines possible.
◼ Efforts were led by muckrakers and urban, middle class
progressives to become more involved in government
◼ The first step in reforming political machines was the adoption of
the secret ballot, also called the Australian ballot.
 ENCOURAGING POLITICAL EFFICIENCY—MUNICIPAL POLITICAL REFORM

◼ Local Government (Municipal) Reform-

◼ new forms of government were created by various municipalities to
combat the political machine:
◼ Commission system
◼ began in 1900 in Galveston, Texas
◼ Divided power and responsibilities of governing a city
◼ Council-Manager system
◼ Elected officials hired an outside expert or professional to run
the city government
◼ Examples of reform mayors-Tom Johnson of Cleveland (rose to
power by taking on streetcar interests in the city; pushed for lower fares
and municipal ownership of utilities like water, sewage, public
transportation, gas)
 ENCOURAGING POLITICAL EFFICIENCY-
STATE LEVEL POLITICAL REFORM

◼ State Level Political reform:

◼ progressives wanted to increase the power of the electorate, in order to
bypass the power of the machine-controlled state legislature
1. Citizens could petition to place an initiative—a bill originated by the
people rather than lawmakers—on the ballot.
2. Then voters, instead of the legislature, accepted or rejected the initiative
by referendum, a vote on the initiative.
3. The recall enabled voters to remove public officials from elected
positions by forcing them to face another election before the end of
their term if enough voters asked for it through petition
ENCOURAGING POLITICAL EFFICIENCY-
STATE LEVEL POLITICAL REFORM

◼ To force Senators to be more responsive to

the public, progressives pushed for the
popular election of senators.
◼ Before 1913, state legislatures had chosen
United States senators, a process that put
even more power in the hands of party
bosses and wealthy corporation heads.
◼ direct primary
◼ Seventeenth Amendment
FIGHTING BOB

◼ Spurred by progressive governors,

many states passed
laws to regulate railroads, mines, mills,
telephone companies, and other large
businesses.

Wisconsin Governor, Robert M. La Follette, led the way in

driving big businesses out of politics. Wisconsin became known
as the “laboratory of democracy”
ENCOURAGING POLITICAL EFFICIENCY-STATE LEVEL POLITICAL
REFORM

◼ Other Progressive governors introduced reform initiatives in their

state:
◼ Woodrow Wilson (D) (1911-1913), governor of New Jersey
introduced workmen’s compensation and anti-trust legislation
◼ Theodore Roosevelt (R) (1899-1901), won the passage of
new factory-inspection and tenement-house laws.
◼ Charles Evans Hughes (R)(1907-1910) created a
state-wide commission as governor of New York to regulate
public utilities
◼ California Governor, Hiram Johnson (R) (1911-1917)
limited the power of the railroad industry.
◼ North Carolina Governor Charles B. Aycock (D)
(1901-1905) was noted as the “education governor”
PROGRESSIVE
PRESIDENTS
PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ How did each presidency successfully address the goals of progressivism?

◼ social justice
◼ moral reform
◼ economic reform
◼ political efficiency
PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

1901-1909

⦿ Theodore Roosevelt, Republican

⦿ 1st “Modern” President-Use of the
Bully Pulpit
◼ “Square Deal” (control
corporations, consumer protection,
conservation of natural resources)
◼ Trustbuster (“Good trusts” and
“Bad Trusts”)
PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS-
THEODORE ROOSEVELT

1901-1909

◼ Coal Strike of 1902

◼ a strike by the United Mine Workers of
America in the anthracite coal fields of
Pennsylvania.
◼ Miners were on strike asking for higher
wages, shorter workdays and the
recognition of their union; Roosevelt
sided with the workers
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS-
THEODORE ROOSEVELT (R)

1901-1909

⦿ Northern Securities case, 1902

⦿ Roosevelt urged case to Supreme Court
which ruled against the stockholders of the
Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroad
companies, who had essentially formed a
monopoly
⦿ Dissolved J.P. Morgan’s Northern Securities
Company
 1901-1909

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ 1903 Elkins Act

◼ Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) granted
greater authority to stop railroad companies from
giving rebates to favored customers
◼ 1906 Hepburn Act
◼ Expanded the powers of the Elkins Act; gave ICC
rulings the force of law
◼ ICC could set maximum rates for railroad companies
◼ Railroads were required to submit annual reports to
the ICC
MUCKRAKERS

◼ Upton Sinclair
◼ The Jungle, 1906
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

1901-1909
▪ Meat Inspection Act, 1906
▪ Beginning of federal regulation of the nation’s meat,
poultry, and egg products supply.
◼ Pure Food and Drug Act, 1906
◼ led to the creation of the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), which would test all
foods and drugs made for human consumption;
made it a requirement for prescriptions from
licensed physicians before a patient could purchase
certain drugs; led to “truth in labeling” laws
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS-
THEODORE ROOSEVELT (R)
1901-1909

⦿ 1902 Newlands Reclamation Act

⦿ authorized the federal government
to commission water diversion,
retention and transmission projects
in arid lands, particularly in the far
west
⦿ Led to the creation of dams, canals,
reservoirs that would irrigate 20
states
Theodore Roosevelt Dam, Salt River, Arizona
 1901-1909

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ American Antiquities Act 1906

◼ first U.S. law to provide general legal protection of
cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific
interest on Federal land
◼ authorizes the President to protect landmarks, structures,
and objects of historic or scientific interest by designating
them as National Monuments
◼ President Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act eighteen
times to establish national monuments. Those first
monuments included what are now known as Grand
Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest National Park and
Olympic National Park.
 1901-1909

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Roosevelt used his authority to protect wildlife

and public lands by creating the U.S. Forest
Service under the Department of Agriculture
◼ Gifford Pinchot was chosen to head the new
department
◼ Agency established 150 National Forests, 5
National Parks; protected approximately
230,000,000 acres of public land.
◼ Expanded existing national parks (i.e. Yellowstone
in Wyoming and Yosemite in California)
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ William Howard Taft, Republican, 1909-1913

◼ the son of a distinguished judge, he graduated from Yale, and
returned to Cincinnati to study and practice law
◼ appointed a Federal circuit judge at 34
◼ His route to the White House was via administrative posts.
President McKinley sent him to the Philippines in 1900 as chief
civil administrator.
◼ President Roosevelt made him Secretary of War, and by 1907
had decided that Taft should be his successor.
◼ lifelong ambition was to serve as Chief Justice of the United
States, to which he was appointed after leaving the presidency.
◼ He remains the only man in American history to have gained
the highest executive and judicial positions
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Trustbuster-Filed ninety lawsuits against

monopolistic trusts in just four years—more than
twice as many as Roosevelt had filed in a little less
than eight years.
◼ In 1911, the Supreme Court finally used
the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to dissolve John D.
Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company for
“unreasonably” stifling its competition.
◼ Later that year, Taft famously filed a lawsuit against
J.P. Morgan’s U.S. Steel Corporation.
1909-1913
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ 1910 Mann-Elkins Act

◼ Extended the power of the ICC to set new
railroad rates
◼ Gave the ICC power to regulate
telecommunications industry: telephone,
telegraph, and cable companies
◼ 16th Amendment
◼ To offset loss of revenue with reduced tariff,
this authorized the U.S. government to
collect an income tax

1909-1913
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Republican Party begins to split

between progressive and
conservative factions
◼ Payne-Aldrich Tariff
◼ Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy

1909-1913
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Taft tried to lower tariff rates as a

progressive tactic
◼ But, Conservatives within the Republican
party passed the Payne-Aldrich
Tariff which kept tariffs high on certain
products.
◼ In 1909, Taft signed the bill anyway
◼ Progressives denounced the tariff and
called Taft a traitor. 1909-1913
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Ballinger-Pinchot Affair
◼ Taft fired Gifford Pinchot, the head of the U.S.
Forest Service for insubordination.
◼ Pinchot, a progressive, a personal friend of
Roosevelt, and a popular conservationist, had
angered Taft when he opposed Secretary of the
Interior Richard Ballinger
◼ Ballinger had agreed to sell public wilderness lands
in Alaska and the Rocky Mountains to corporate
developers.
1909-1913
 ELECTION OF 1912

◼ Woodrow Wilson, Democratic Party

◼ 435 Electoral Votes, 6,296,284 Popular Votes
◼ Theodore Roosevelt, Progressive “Bull Moose” Party
◼ 88 Electoral Votes, 4,122,721 Popular Votes
◼ William H. Taft, Republican Party
◼ 8 Electoral Votes, 3,486,242 Popular Votes
◼ Eugene V. Debs, Socialist Party
◼ 0 Electoral Votes, 901,551 Popular Votes
❖ last election in which a candidate who was not a Republican or Democrat came in second in
either the popular vote or the Electoral College
❖ the first election in which all 48 states of the contiguous United States participated .
 Republican Party
• High import Platform
tariffs.
• Put limitations on female and child labor.
• Workman’s Compensation Laws.
• Against initiative, referendum, and recall.
• Against “bad” trusts.
• Creation of a Federal Trade Commission.
• Stay on the gold standard.
• Conservation of natural resources because they
are finite.
 Progressive Party Platform
• Women’s suffrage. N
e
• Graduated income tax.
w
• Inheritance tax for the rich.
• Lower tariffs. N
a
• Limits on campaign spending. t
• Currency reform. i
o
• Minimum wage laws. n
• Social insurance. a
l
• Abolition of child labor. i
• Workmen’s compensation. s
m
 Socialist Party Platform
• Government ownership of railroads and
utilities.
• Guaranteed income tax.
• No tariffs.
• 8-hour work day.
• Better housing.
• Government inspection of factories.
• Women’s suffrage.
Democratic Party Platform
• Government control of the monopolies
N 🡪 trusts in general were bad
e 🡪 eliminate them!!
w
• Tariff reduction.
F • One-term President.
r
• Direct election of Senators.
e
e • Create a Department of Labor.
d
• Strengthen the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
o
m • Did NOT support women’s suffrage.
• Opposed to a central bank.
 1913-1921

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Woodrow Wilson, Democrat (1913-1921)

◼ Grew up in Virginia during the Civil War. Only second Democrat to occupy
White House since Civil War
◼ First southerner since Zachary Taylor (1849)
◼ Idealistic, intellectual, righteous, inflexible
◼ graduated from Princeton (then the College of New Jersey) and the
University of Virginia Law School,
◼ earned his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University and entered upon an
academic career.
◼ professor of political science who became president of Princeton in 1902
◼ Ran for Governor of New Jersey in 1910.
◼ Won passage of anti-trust legislation, workmen’s compensation, restriction of child
labor, direct primaries
 1913-1921

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ 1912 platform for change was called the “New Freedom”.

◼ New Freedom program attacked what Wilson called
the TRIPLE WALL OF PRIVILEGE — the tariff, the
banks, and the trusts.
◼ Goal was to bring back conditions of free and fair
competition in the economy
 1913-1921

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Underwood Tariff Act-1913

◼ Wilson felt that tariffs protected the large industrialists at
the expense of small farmers.
◼ On his first day of the presidency he called for a special
session in congress to lower the tariff.
◼ By speaking directly to congress he broke long standing
tradition of Presidents making written requests to congress
◼ Wilson’s argument was to bring consumer prices down by
lowering the tariff.
◼ Lowered tariffs for the first time in 51 years
◼ To compensate for the loss in revenue, a graduated income
tax with rates from 1-6% was passed
 1913-1921

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Federal Reserve Act-1914

◼ Wilson felt that the gold standard was inflexible and that banks
were too influenced by stock speculation on Wall Street
◼ President spoke directly to congress again, to propose a plan
for a national banking system that would serve the public
interests
◼ Act created a decentralized national bank composed of twelve
regional branches.
◼ Collectively, all the private banks in each region received their
money from their respective region’s branch.
◼ Private banks would issue Federal Reserve Notes (dollar bills)
to regional banks for consumer purchases
◼ A new Federal Reserve Board had the final say in decisions
affecting all branches, including setting interest rates and
issuing currency.
 1913-1921

PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914

◼ addressed specific practices that the Sherman
Act does not clearly prohibit, such as mergers
and interlocking directorates (that is, the same
person making business decisions for competing
companies).
◼ legalized labor unions and their right to strike
peacefully. Unions could no longer be
prosecuted as trusts
◼ act would be enforced by the newly created
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
 1913-1921
PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

◼ Federal Trade Commission Act-1914

◼ bans "unfair methods of competition" and "unfair or
deceptive acts or practices.
◼ Empowers the Federal Trade Commission to
investigate and take action against any “unfair trade
practice” in every industry except banking and
transportation
◼ “watchdog agency”-works to protect the interests of
consumers and businesses on behalf of competition
◼ Workmen’s Compensation Act 1916
◼ helped support temporarily disabled federal employees
◼ Child Labor Act-1916
◼ Prohibited the shipment in interstate commerce of
products manufactured by children under 14 years of age
 PROGRESSIVE PRESIDENTS

1913-1921

◼ Appointed Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court

◼ First Jew to have ever been nominated
◼ As a lawyer, his early cases were actions fighting railroad monopolies,
defending workplace and labor laws, helping create the Federal Reserve
System, and presenting ideas for the new Federal Trade Commission.
◼ He achieved recognition by submitting a case brief, later called the
"Brandeis Brief", which relied on expert testimony from people in
other professions to support his case, thereby setting a new precedent
in evidence presentation
◼ As an associate justice from 1916-1939, he was a long-time advocate for
protection of civil liberties
◼ Believed in public's right to privacy, and upheld laws that supported
freedom of expression