Jessie Potter

Mr. Widenhofer
AP United States History
May 28, 2018

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Project

During his time as president, Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt accomplished a multitude of

things. He helped to establish national parks throughout the nation, bring awareness to the

environment, break up large trusts, and defend the rights of labor unions. His economic policies

and environmental and food safety work would solidify him as an above average president,

however his foreign policy, failure to recognize African American’s plight, and imperialistic

attitude towards other nations, particularly in Latin America, lower his rating to overall, an

average president.

Teddy Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York. He was born into an extremely

wealthy family and was very physically active growing up, doing both gymnastics and

weightlifting. He graduated from Harvard College in 1880 and soon after married his first wife,

Alice Hathaway Lee. After attending Columbia Law School for a year, Roosevelt dropped out

and was soon elected to the New York State Assembly, initiating his political career. After the

death of his wife and his remarriage to Edith Kermit Carow, Roosevelt further expanded his

reach into politics, serving on the Republican party Civil Service Commission, as the New York

City Board of Police Commissioners, and as the assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy. During the

Spanish American War, Roosevelt became colonel of the U.S.’s first volunteer cavalry and led

his men, nicknamed the “Rough Riders” to victory in the Battle of San Juan, establishing his

status as a veteran and war hero which would later assist him in his career. After returning home,

he was named as William McKinley’s running mate for the election of 1900, becoming the Vice
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President of the U.S. after McKinley won. However, a year into his presidency, McKinley was

assassinated and Teddy Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th president of the United States and the

nation’s youngest president so far, eventually going on to serve two terms 1.

Roosevelt’s presidency was mainly centered around three things: his economic policy,

environmental and food safety work, and his foreign policy. Roosevelt’s domestic economic

policy was dubbed the “Square Deal”, which “…worked to balance competing interests to create

a fair deal for all sides” 8. Through this, Roosevelt became known as a “trust-buster” and broke

up large corporations. Roosevelt was not a fan of the “…power held by the men who had gained

[their] fortunes…”2 from these corporations and wanted to diminish their influence on the

marketplace. He accomplished this by using the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, a measure passed in

1890 under President Benjamin Harrison in an attempt to limit the power of trusts 3. The act

stated that “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or other-wise, or conspiracy, in

restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is hereby

declared to be illegal” 4. Roosevelt often utilized this act and had much success with it compared

to past presidents, using it to dissolve J.P. Morgan’s railroad company, Northern Securities,

which controlled the majority of railroad shipping 5. He continued to complete other initiatives to

limit trust’s power, such as “…successfully [negotiating] the passage of the Hepburn Act in

1906, which empowered the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), a previously weak agency,

to set maximum railroad rates and inspect railroad companies’ financial records” 6. Roosevelt’s

popularity among the common people grew due to this “trust-busting” and was also increased by

his work to defend the rights of labor unions. In 1902, Roosevelt threatened to send federal

troops to seize a mine in Pennsylvania if the owner continued to refuse to negotiate with the

strikers, who wanted shorter hours and better pay 5. This was the first time that the White House
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had come down on the side of labor unions and was a significant moment for the labor

movement. Both his “trust-busting” and his aid in the labor fight help to elevate his ranking and

display him in a positive light as president.

During his presidency Roosevelt also placed a huge focus on environmental and food safety

work. Roosevelt was a strong conservation advocate and wanted to protect and preserve the

natural resources and beauty of the United States, stating that “If we of this generation destroy

the resource of which our children would otherwise derive their livelihood, we reduce the

capacity of our land to support a population, and so either degrade the standard of living or

deprive the coming generations of their right to life on this continent” 7. Roosevelt believed so

strongly in preserving the land of the United States that he made it a focal point of his presidency

and “…designated 200 million acres as national forests, mineral reserves, and potential

waterpower sites, and added five national parks and eighteen national monuments to the list of

protected lands” 6. In addition, he also created the National Conservation Commission (NCC) in

1908 6, and called the first report of the NCC “…one of the most fundamentally important

documents ever laid before the American people” 7. In addition to his work in conservation,

Roosevelt also seriously responded to the exposes written by the muckrakers of the time, or

journalists who discovered and wrote about the more unsavory or unjust parts of society. One

specific claim Roosevelt responded to was Upton St. Clair’s book, The Jungle. In his book, St.

Clair exposed and photographed the unsanitary and repulsive conditions of meat-packing plants

in the U.S. and the dangerous ingredients in the food itself 6. Roosevelt helped combat these

problems by “…pushing for the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906” 8.

Both of these further increased his popularity as a president and again assist in elevating his

ranking as these were undeniably positive programs and reforms for the United States.
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Roosevelt’s main downfall came in his foreign policy, which is what eventually lowers his

rating to an average president. Roosevelt was fond of a West African proverb that said to “Speak

softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” Roosevelt lived by this and implemented it in his

foreign policy, initiating what was called “Big Stick Diplomacy”. When he first came into office,

he inherited “…an empire-in-the-making…” 9, with the U.S. controlling the newly acquired

nations of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam after Spain ceded them in the Spanish-

American War. With these territories already under his belt, Roosevelt developed a very

imperialistic attitude, that had mainly positive outcomes for the U.S., but negative outcomes for

the countries he affected. One example of this was the building of the Panama Canal, a waterway

that was influential in American success for decades. At the time, Columbia owned Panama and

was ruling over them. However, the Columbian government rejected the terms of agreement to

build a canal through Panama, so the U.S. decided to aid Panamanian rebels to overthrow the

Columbians in exchange for permission to build the canal. Although the rebels were successful

and the canal was eventually built, the methods used by Roosevelt and the U.S. were sneaky and

manipulative, and also damaged U.S.-Panamanian relations in the future as they felt the

imperialistic presence of the U.S. for years to come as they used and controlled the canal 9. In

addition, Roosevelt also interfered in many other Latin American countries, justifying his actions

with the Roosevelt Corollary that he added to the Monroe Doctrine, which states, “If a nation

shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency … it need fear no interference from

the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, … may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require

intervention by some civilized nation, and … exercise of an international police power” 10. Using

this, Roosevelt involved the United States in countless Latin American affairs and intervened in

any country in the Western Hemisphere that suffered economic issues. This solidified the United
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States’ reputation as the “world’s policemen” and also created much resentment in Latin

American countries that would last for years to come, damaging American relations with some

even today.

In addition to his foreign policy, Roosevelt’s failure to recognize or fix the race issues present

at the time also bring down his rating. Roosevelt was not necessarily racist but rather was a

bystander to a time when prejudice was high against African Americans and did little to assist

them, especially in the South. One incident in particular that displays Roosevelt’s attitude

towards race took place in 1906 when a small group of black soldiers were accused of killing one

white man and wounding another in Brownsville, Texas. However, the lack of evidence and

conflicting witness statements added to the black men’s innocence and so the president was

called upon to make the decision. Roosevelt, not wanting to get involved in race issues,

“…ordered the dishonorable discharge of three companies of black soldiers … [and] assumed the

soldiers were guilty without affording them the opportunity for a trial to confront their accusers

or prove their innocence” 8.

However, although his foreign policy and race relations were mainly negative, he did manage

to accomplish some positive things in both areas. On the foreign policy front, he successfully

helped to negotiate a peace treaty between the Russians and the Japanese during the Russo-

Japanese War and earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, the first president to do so 9. On the

race front, he also made the decision to invite a black man, Booker T. Washington, to dine with

him at the White House, causing controversy throughout the U.S. However, although these were

both positive, they do not outweigh the negatives inflicted by Roosevelt in these areas.

Overall, Roosevelt accomplished many both positive and negative things during his two terms

as president of the United States. His economic policy, in which he was a “trust-buster” and
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fought for labor rights, and his conservation and food safety work were extremely positive and

helpful achievements for the United States. However, his imperialistic foreign policy and failure

to recognize race issues or improve conditions for African Americans in the country were

eventually his downfall and solidify his ranking as an average president.

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Works Cited

1. History.com Staff. “Theodore Roosevelt.” History.com, 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-

presidents/theodore-roosevelt. Accessed 28 May 2018.

2. “The Big Stick and The Square Deal.” Theodore Roosevelt, an Autobiography, by Theodore

Roosevelt, Hamilton Press, Elm Grove, WI.

3. “Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890).” Our Documents,

www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=51. Accessed 28 May 2018.

4. “Transcript of Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890).” Our Documents,

www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=51&page=transcript. Accessed 28 May

2018.

5. “The Trust Buster.” Ushistory.org, www.ushistory.org/us/43b.asp. Accessed 28 May 2018.

6. “Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal.” SparkNotes,

www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/sat2/history/chapter14section2.rhtml. Accessed 28 May

2018.

7. “Conservation Commission Report - Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress,

loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/progress/

conserve/letter.html. Accessed 28 May 2018.

8. Milkis, Sidney. “Theodore Roosevelt: Domestic Affairs.” Miller Center, 24 July 2017,

millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/domestic-affairs. Accessed 28 May 2018.

9. Milkis, Sidney. “Theodore Roosevelt: Foreign Affairs.” Miller Center, 24 July 2017,

millercenter.org/president/roosevelt/foreign-affairs. Accessed 28 May 2018.

10. “Theodore Roosevelt: Fourth Annual Message - December 6, 1904.” The American Presidency

Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29545. Accessed 28 May 2018.

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