Theodore Roosevelt and the Presidency

How did Theodore Roosevelt transform and exemplify the modern

presidency?

Quotes“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”

“Believe you can and you're halfway there.”

“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”

“Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.”

Overview● Throughout the latter half of the 1800s, Congress had been the most powerful branch of

government.

○ As the president began to gain more power in the 1880s, Roosevelt completed the transition,

making the president, rather than Congress or political parties, the center of American politics.

■ Achieved this through his personality and aggressive executive action

● As president he believed he had a unique relationship with and a responsibility to the

people, believing that government should be an agent of reform for the people

○ His presidency gave credibility to the Progressive movement; the desire to make society more fair

and equitable, with economic possibilities for all Americans, was a result of Roosevelt’s program

● Roosevelt had the government become more involved with and regulating big business,

which previous administrations failed to address

● Worked with Congress to strengthen the US Navy to repel potential enemies from the US

● Introduced “charisma” to presidential style and into politics in general

● Roosevelt’s progressive reform became the basis of future reform movements: FDR’s New

Deal, Truman’s Fair Deal, Kennedy’s New Frontier, and Johnson’s Great Society (Theodore

Roosevelt: Impact and Change)

Accomplishments● Hepburn Railroad Regulation Act of 1906- allowed the government some

regulatory powers over railroads

● Pure Food and Drug Act- restricted the sale of dangerous or ineffective medicines

● Meat Inspection Act- helped eliminate many diseases transmitted in bad meat

● National Reclamation Act (Newlands Act)- federally funded construction of

dams, reservoirs, and canals in the West, which opened up new lands for

cultivation and, in the future, would provide cheap electric power (Brinkley

591-592)

● Ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1906, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize

● Platt Amendment- After the US granted political independence to Cuba in 1902,

this amendment allowed the US to prevent any foreign power from intruding into

the new nation

● Roosevelt’s most celebrated accomplishment- the construction of the Panama

Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and eliminating the need for

traveling around the tip of South America (Brinkley 604-605)

PreservationRoosevelt shared some concerns with

naturalists- those committed to

protecting the land’s natural beauty and

its wildlife from human intrusion. Early

in his presidency, he spent four days in

the wilderness camping with John Muir,

America’s leading preservationist and

founder of the Sierra Club. Roosevelt also

added significantly to the young National

Parks System, whose goal was similar to

that of the naturalists. He added to

several existing parks (ex. Yosemite and

Sequoia in California, and Mount Rainier

in Washington) and created several new

ones: Crater Lake in Oregon, Mesa Verde

in Utah, Platt in Oklahoma, and Wind

Cave in South Dakota (Brinkley 592).

Works CitedBrinkley, Alan. American History: Connecting with the past. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education,

2012. Print. "Theodore Roosevelt: Impact and Legacy." Miller Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.