Evaluate The Presidency Of Theodore Roosevelt.

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Evaluate  The  Presidency  Of  Theodore  Roosevelt:

To  evaluate  the  presidency  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  it  is  necessary  to  examine  the  problems  faced  by  America  when  he  came  to  power  in  1901,  and  to  analyse  how  and  whether  he  dealt  with  these  problems  successfully  and  efficiently.  

America  faced  many  economic  and  social  problems  when  Roosevelt  came  to  power  at  the  turn  of  the  twentieth  century.  The  first  problem  was  the  urgent  need  for  conservation  of  the  country’s  national  resources.  Half  the  country’s  timber  had  been  cut  down,  non-renewable  energy  resources  were  being  wasted,  top  quality  soil  was  lost  through  poor  management,  and  many  species  of  animals  were  threatened  with  extinction  due  to  the  destruction  of  their  natural  habitats.

Secondly,  America   had  emerged  from  its  victory  in  the  Spanish-American  War  of  1898  as  a  major  global  power,  and  for  the  first  time  it  was  in  possession  of  an  empire;  it  had  acquired  an  informal  empire  in  Latin  America.  This  new  international  role  meant there  was  huge  potential  for  the  United  States  to  expand  its  influence  over  the  international  scene,  this  needed  to  be  explored  and  developed.

The  industrialisation  of  the  United  States  had  also  created  many  social  and economic  problems.  Corrupt  industrial  monopolies  emerged,  which  created  problems  as  the  control  of  many  industries  lay  in  the  hands  of  only  a  few  individuals,  resulting  in  an  unfair  distribution  of  wealth.  Profits  also  became  the  prime  concern  of  companies  over   the  welfare  of  their  workers.  

“The  Square  Deal”  was  Roosevelt’s  policy  to  deal  with  many  of  the  social  and  economic  problems  in  American  society.  It  aimed  to  ensure  that  all  Americans  received  an  equal  deal  in  life.  It  is  necessary to  look at  this ‘deal’  and  his  other  policies  to  analyse  whether  they  actually  improved  the  problems  or  addressed  the  issues,  and  if  so,  to  what  extent  did  they  resolve  or  deal  with  them.

Throughout  his  two  terms  in  office  Theodore  Roosevelt  attempted  to deal  with  all  of  these  issues,  which  were  apparent  when  he  was  elected.

Roosevelt  recognised  the  problems  created  by  large  corporations  and  became  known  as  the  ‘trust  buster’  for  his  crusade  throughout  his  presidency  to  limit  the  powers  of,  and  to  correct  the  social  and  economic  problems  created  by  large  business  corporations,  commonly  known  as  ‘trusts’.

He  saw  monopolies  as  an  inevitable  part  of  the  emerging  industrial  economy  and  worked  to  correct  their  faults  through  regulation,  as  opposed  to  dissolving  them  completely.  It  could  be  argued  that  this  is  evidence  that  Roosevelt  was  successful  as  a  president  as  he  had  a  realistic  judgement  of  problems,  knowing  that  regulation  would  be  a  much  more  effective  method  to correct  the  corrupt  practises  of  trusts,  rather  than  futile  attempts  to  dissolve  all  monopolies  and  restore  small  businesses,  a  method  which  he  reserved  to  deal  with  only  the  most  threatening  trusts.  Roosevelt’s  policy  of  regulation  was  imposed  through  the  establishment  of  two regulatory  bodies:  a  commerce  and  labour  department,  which  was  authorised  to  investigate  and  warn  again  practises  harmful  to  the  public,  and  a  Bureau  of  Corporations,  whose  role  was  to  work  with  the  owners  of  trusts  to  correct  malpractices  from  within.  This  was  an  effective  policy  as  Roosevelt  knew  that  corporation  owners  would  prefer  to  work  with  these  organisations  to  correct  problems  themselves,  rather  than  face  law  suits  which  could  dissolve  their  businesses.  

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Legislation  was  passed  through  Congress  to  prevent  business  corporations  from  committing  actions  which  went  against  Roosevelt’s  ‘Square  Deal’  policy.  For  example:  ‘The  Hepburn  Act’,  which  forbade  railroads  to  grant  free  passes  to  anyone  but  employees.  Roosevelt   also  used  his  executive  powers  to  enforce  the  ‘Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act’,  which  stated  that  large  trusts  were  against  the  public  interest  and  should  be  dissolved.  Roosevelt  used  this  policy  to  deal  only  with  the  largest  and  most  corrupt  monopolies.  The  legislation  which  was  passed  is  also  evidence  that  Roosevelt’s  presidency  was  successful,  as  he  was  able  to  enforce  his  will  through  congress ...

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