When Oklahoma became a state, Roosevelt took actions that were denounced as usurping power that did not belong to the President. There was an enormous amount of fraud in the procurement of Indian lands by white men, and Roosevelt found it necessary to protect Indian rights and property by executive order. Of course, he declared that what he had done was perfectly legal and moral, and the Supreme Court agreed with him. Just another step in expanding the president’s role in domestic affairs.
The problem of big business was a central issue in Roosevelt’s presidency. Roosevelt feared the great corporations as well as the organized workers and farmers, and he worked to obtain governmental control over both. Throughout his Presidency, Roosevelt worked to build up the power or the federal government to confine corporations. He fought to control the corporations to save them from themselves. Roosevelt saw the capitalists as too power hungry and greedy, and realized that their actions could push organized labor to a socialist revolt. He realized that the people needed to be calmed, and that the corporations needed to at least seem to be controlled by the government.
Roosevelt quickly won approval for the executive branch by offering himself as a representative of a public frightened and angry over a new threat of business. He made speeches that made his relatively moderate actions against trusts seem progressive. There was always more noise than real action. His administration brought suits against trusts, and Congress responded in 1903 by creating the Bureau of Corporations, housed in the Department of Commerce, to investigate and publicize the behavior of giant corporations. These actions gave not only the appearance of governmental control of corporations, but also worked to reassure the public that the government would take care of them and that they had nothing to fear from corporations.
On the other hand, Roosevelt did all he could to lessen the influence of organized labor movements. When they complained about trusts, he brought a suit against Northern Securities. When they demanded government ownership of railroads to offset high rates, he responded with the Hepburn bill, which led the way to railroad rate-control by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Similarly, he pushed for workmen’s compensation, child-labor-laws, income
tax . . . Roosevelt made strong speeches about all his progressive ideas, and the public listened to him and believed that he was truly a reformer who would protect them from big business. This took some of the wind out of the socialist movement and out of organized labor, just as Roosevelt had hoped. Roosevelt greatly strengthened his office by finding a perfect balance between the upper and middle classes. The fact that he took an active part in legislation served to expand the president’s powers and responsibilities.
This was not the only time that Roosevelt exploited public fears to expand the federal government’s power. When the abhorrent conditions in the meat packing industry were revealed, Roosevelt pushed for the Meat Inspection Act, which expanded the federal government’s regulatory power. In much the same way, he used public fear to get the Pure Food and Drug Act passed. Again, Roosevelt expanded the legislative role of the president, as well as achieving greater power for the federal government.
The coal strike of 1902 was the first in the nation’s history to paralyze a vital industry. It was also the first time that a President attempted to mediate personally. Roosevelt and his administration struggled to get the railroad bosses and the United Mine Workers to reach an agreement. Once again, Roosevelt used the public’s anger to expand his power. This action seemed revolutionary then, but later, the Railway Labor Act and the Taft-Hartley Act made such presidential interventions mandatory.
Although Roosevelt did depend greatly on the public’s approval, this is not to say that he did not try to get along with Congress. He sent messages to Congress, letters to party friends, invited chairman of committees to the White House, and sent Cabinet members to Congress to gather support and to exert his influence. Department heads attended caucus meetings and information was poured into Congress. And, although bills were not yet sent openly from the White House to the Capitol, party friends were provided with drafts of bills that Cabinet members had put together - these included the Hepburn bill and the Pure Food and Drug bill. Obviously, this strengthened the president’s role in legislation, thereby infringing on Congress’s constitutional power.
Roosevelt rarely consulted or confided in members of his Cabinet. Instead, he had a “Kitchen Cabinet” that consisted of unofficial advisers who met during mealtimes and discussed political issues. Roosevelt consulted these outsiders on everything from speeches, to such important issues as the taking of Panama. This expanded Roosevelt’s power, because these advisors were not subject to Congressional oversight, thereby lessening Congress’s control over the president.
When Roosevelt became President in 1901, the role of the United States in international affairs was confused. Roosevelt struggled with a Congress and voters who weren’t concerned about foreign issues and wanted to remain isolationist. But as the US became more industrialized, as the economy and national power grew, Roosevelt, (although it was McKinley who started along this path), recognized the need for a change in attitude and policy. After all, by the time Roosevelt became president, the US had already grabbed colonies around the world - Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, where the US army was engaged in a brutal war to subdue Filipino revolutionaries. Americans couldn’t imagine their country as an active force in world affairs, and Roosevelt used the publicity available to a president to change that.
Roosevelt was a great believer in imperial expansion. In 1904 he stated that US interests had been “served in more than one way by the possession of the Philippines.” While he was the assistant secretary of the navy, he was a very vocal supporter for American involvement in the Cuban-Spanish War. He gave orders to attack the Spanish fleet in the Philippines without the authorization from his superior. When a desk job no longer satisfied him, he joined the Rough Riders and became famous for his exploits in the Spanish-American war.
Roosevelt’s approach to foreign matters was “speak softly and carry a big stick.” When it came to Europe, Roosevelt spoke softly and didn’t get very involved. But he was determined to assert American power in the Western Hemisphere. After his election in 1904, he revealed the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
In 1823, President Monroe had warned European nations not to intervene in the Western Hemisphere. In announcing this policy, Monroe made no claim that he could use military power on his own authority to enforce it. It was clear that enforcement actions would be Congress’s responsibility.
On the basis of this policy of non-interference from other nations, Roosevelt now justified the presidential power to intervene in the Western Hemisphere. This corollary basically stated that the US, specifically the president, would act as the police of the Western Hemisphere. This gave the president the power to decide which countries were “acting out,” and which countries needed to be put in their place. Roosevelt established the president’s role as a powerful international leader, as well as an imperial leader. Roosevelt’s Corollary started a still existing tradition of US interference in Latin America, under the leadership of the president.
In other foreign matters, Roosevelt stretched presidential prerogative powers to the limit. When the Senate wouldn’t ratify Roosevelt’s treaty with Santo Domingo, he didn’t give up. He went ahead with the negotiations as an executive agreement, and was vindicated two years later, when the Senate ratified the treaty. Roosevelt proved how a president could use his executive power to come to an agreement with a foreign power, with no consent from the Senate.
In 1905, Roosevelt made another executive agreement, this time with Japan. Discrimination against people of Asian origin was prevalent in California at the time, because white workers were afraid that Asian workers would take away their jobs. As a result of this racism, California had some discriminatory laws against Japanese children, that placed them in separate schools set apart for Asian children. Japanese authorities all the way in Tokyo took these discriminatory laws as a great insult. They made a lot of noise, while Roosevelt fought to reach some sort of compromise with the California governor and the Japanese. Finally, Roosevelt came to a Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan. This agreement stated that no legal American barriers would exist to Japanese immigration, as well as no legal discrimination against Japanese already in the US. At the same time, informal measures by Tokyo would be taken to prevent additional emigration to America by Japanese workers. This agreement calmed things down between the US and Japan, and according to Roosevelt, averted a war with Japan. Roosevelt once again proved what a president could accomplish in foreign affairs, without any Congressional involvement, thereby expanding the presidential office.
Roosevelt utilized his prerogatives as Commander-in-Chief, and started the American fleet off on a tour around the world between 1907 and 1909, to demonstrate America’s naval power to other nations. Congress had not appropriated money for the 2-year tour, but Roosevelt did not let that stop him. He started the “Great White Fleet” on its tour, and left it to Congress to provide the money to bring it back home. With this action, Roosevelt took another step in loosening Congress’s hold on the president’s power.
Roosevelt also played the role of an international mediator quite successfully. He mediated negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War (which won him the Nobel Peace Prize), as well as mediating a dispute between France and Germany over Morocco. By doing so, Roosevelt further enhanced the American president’s role in foreign affairs.
One of Roosevelt’s (self-proclaimed) major accomplishments was making the building of the Panama Canal possible. In 1903, the government of Colombia refused to ratify an agreement to permit the US to begin construction of a canal. Roosevelt wasn’t going to give up on the canal and he even considered simply taking possession of the isthmus with the help of the military. Instead, he took a less drastic, though still outrageous, route - he encouraged Panama to secede from Colombia, and ordered the US navy to prevent Colombian warships from putting down the revolt. Roosevelt then promptly recognized the new nation of Panama, and negotiated an agreement with the new country that granted the US a zone in which to construct a canal. Roosevelt’s actions with Colombia excluded Congress from its constitutionally assigned responsibilities in matters of war and peace. And they also increased the president’s power in foreign matters.
After this incident, many voters, journalists, and Congressmen criticized Roosevelt for his actions, likening the secession of Panama to the secession of the South from the Union. But Roosevelt made speech after speech, stressing the importance of the canal in maintaining and expanding US world power. He convinced the public that his actions were moral, and the people (and consequentially Congress) let him get away with it.
As he had promised after his election in 1904, Roosevelt did not run again in 1908. He felt that he had found a worthy successor in Taft, and after Taft’s election, went on a safari in Africa. But when he returned in 1910, he was dissatisfied with Taft. Roosevelt campaigned for the Republican nomination, but lost it to Taft. Not one to stand around wallowing in defeat, Roosevelt ran as a third party candidate, on the Progressive ticket. At this point, his political positions became more radical than they had ever been, further solidifying his questionable status as a progressive reformer.
Roosevelt expanded his own power as president and the power of the presidential office in general. He utilized his prerogative powers and overcame opposition because he was able to appeal to the people and to convince them that what he was doing was moral and right. He simultaneously gained the people’s trust as someone who would protect them from big business, and the capitalists’ trust as someone who was determined to control organized labor. He spoke the views of the middle class and gained their trust as well. Once he had the people’s trust, he was able to overcome opposition and expand his power.
Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, p. 273.
Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 347.
Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 347.
Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 345.
Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 347.
Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 354.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 296.
Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 352.
Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, p. 285.
Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, p. 289.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 295.
Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, p. 289-290.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 296.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 297.
Corwin, The President: Office and Powers 1787-1957, p. 6.
Corwin, The President: Office and Powers 1787-1957, p. 268.
Corwin, The President: Office and Powers 1787-1957, p. 493.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 300.
Fisher, Presidential War Power, p. 45.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 300.
Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, p. 277.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 301.
Fisher, Presidential War Power, p. 47.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 301.
Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 433.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 300.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 302.
Fisher, Presidential War Power, p. 48.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 302.
Brinkley, Alan and Dyer, Davis, ed, The Reader’s Companion to the American Presidency, p. 302.