Progressivism in the 1900s was an up and coming political party that was taking

America by storm. Progressivism is the term applied to a variety of responses to the

economic and social problems rapid industrialization introduced to America (The
Eleanor Roosevelts Paper Project). Although it was only popular for a short amount of
time, it was once a very popular party that many people believed would be around for a
while. President Roosevelt was the first progressive political leader in the White House,
although he was not originally a President, but a Vice President. After serving a term, he
ran against fellow Progressive Party leader, William Taft. Although Taft and Roosevelt
were formally good friends before the campaign of 1912, they quickly became enemies
and began using mudslinging as a tactic to get ahead of one another on the polls.
William Roosevelt was originally supposed to be the Vice President to his running
mate, President William McKinley. Although Roosevelt was a war hero and the governor
of New York, the people thought he was too reckless and dangerous to have the power the
president has, therefore they believed having him as the Vice President would keep him
as less of a threat. However, McKinley was shot and killed by an assassin in 1901.
Straight after, Roosevelt took action in office. He quickly helped out the progressive
party by hearing out their issues and fixing their problems; such as The Meat Inspection
Act. This act was brought to Americas attention by a book wrote by Upton Sinclair,
expose[ing] the appalling working conditions in the meat-packing industry. His
description of diseased, rotten, and contaminated meat shocked the public and led to new
federal food safety laws (Upton Sinclair's The Jungle: Muckraking the Meat-Packing
Industry). Sinclair was a progressor; therefore it was clear to the American people that
Roosevelt was in the Progressive Party. After being in office for two terms, Roosevelt

promised publicly not to seek the presidency again in 1908. While he later regretted that
decision, he felt bound by it and vigorously promoted William Howard Taft as his
successor (William Taft: Campaigns and Elections).
William Taft was elected president in 1909. Close friend Roosevelt even had to
convince Taft to run for presidency. Taft agreed to keep up with Roosevelts progressive
policies while in office. Taft only agreed to run for a second term in office again to stand
up to his used-to-be friend, Roosevelt, who claimed Taft was a traitor. As soon as
Roosevelt came back to America, he began to slander everything Taft had done in office.
He claimed the New Nationalism act was a waste of time and often criticized it along
with openly giving speeches as to how he would change the act to make it better, clearly
calling out Tafts lack of correct direction for the future of America. Roosevelt was
clearly losing to Taft, therefore he lost followers in his Progressive Party, so he renamed
it the Bull Moose Party, in comparison to his bull-like personality.
After Roosevelt publically attacked Taft calling him a traitor and stating how he
would take Tafts blemished plans and create more advanced and more suitable plans for
the people of America, the two began to mudsling each other in the media and during
their speeches. Mudslinging is the act of discrediting or releasing vengeful attacks on an
opponent in order to make them look bad, therefore making themselves look better. Taft
and Roosevelt often did this openly, not hiding their hate for each other. They often
slandered one another by calling the other offensive or childish nicknames. Roosevelt
often took a shot at Tafts weight. And In a moment of extreme exasperation, Taft
managed to call TR an extremist, an emotionalist and a neurotic in a single
sentence. In return, in a sentence that proves that wit is a more effective weapon than

name-calling, Roosevelt said, Mr. Taft only discovered that I was dangerous to the
people after I discovered that he was useless to the people. (Clay Jekinsons, The
Bismarck Tribune).
AlthoughWilliamTaftsandTheodoreRooseveltsmudslingingtoeachother
caughtthemediasattentionandwasoneveryheadline,neitherofthetwoformer
presidentswerereelected.Instead,WoodrowWilsonwonthePresidentialElectionof
1912.InspiteofTaftsandRooseveltsrelentlessandendlessbanterandmudslingingto
oneanother,bothoftheireffortsfailedtogetthemreelected,leavingWilsontobecome
thenextPresidentoftheUnitedStates.

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RightsFoundation.2008.Web.<http://www.crfusa.org/billofrightsinaction/bria24
1buptonsinclairsthejunglemuckrakingthemeatpackingindustry.html>.