Roosevelts the Progressive
Essay title: Roosevelts the Progressive
Despite the criticism of their reform efforts, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilsons commitment to and success in achieving national reform made them successful progressive presidents. There hasnt yet been a presidency that didnt receive criticism, with or without justification. Roosevelt in particular, received a lot of praise and criticism for his successes and failures. Overall, however, both Roosevelt and Wilson acknowledged and were committed to bringing about changes during their presidencies. They were both good presidents for the Progressive Era.
President Roosevelt was deeply criticized during his presidency. Robert La Follette, the Republican leader of Progressivism before Roosevelt, was one of Roosevelts biggest critics. In his Autobiography: A personal narrative of political experiences, he talks about Roosevelts reform policies, particularly his position on the Anti-Trust Law and his trust strategy in general, and how he didnt solve the problems, but only increased the growth of monopolies and the power of business (Doc E). There were also many political cartoons published which criticized Roosevelts policies. One in particular pictures Roosevelt singing loudly his Progressive fallacies, with La Follette sulking in the background (Doc G). There was justification to criticize Roosevelt. Although he was infamous for his “square deal,” taking on trusts, he busted only about half as many trusts in twice as much time as President Taft later did. The cases he did take on were high profile, and he was noisy about them. Also, he may have only fought trusts because he thought it would be riskier to ignore them.
Woodrow Wilson also had policies that were controversial, and the extent of his progressivism can be questioned. Wilsons progressive attitude didnt extent to many areas. For example, he didnt reform the way government corruption occurred. He would even encourage this by giving his friends rewards and punishing his enemies. He operated on a minimal spoils system. He was also quite racist. His reform policies didnt extend to African-Americans. He appointed many Southern racists to his cabinet and was strongly opposed to black suffrage. He considered enfranchisement an evil. Wilson also didnt want to reform social injustices. Offering no support for the ratification a suffrage movement, Wilson preferred state action for womens suffrage. Child labor was another issue he considered a state matter. Reform was something Wilson only considered on certain issues.
Despite questions of motive and success, Roosevelt can be considered a successful progressive president and reformer. In his first inaugural address, he addressed the problems that needed reforming and that he was aware of the issues and prepared to fight them (Doc B). In “High Regard for Theodore Roosevelt by Afro-Americans,” from the Cleveland Journal in 1903, its discussed that African Americans favored Roosevelts policies. The article also quotes Roosevelt telling the country that he wont be a corrupt president, offering favors and handing out special privileges