Posted on 03/13/2010 6:52:19 PM PST by molybdenum
Progressive Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and W. H. Taft brought:
Governmental control of corporations and “Trust-busting”
Siding with strikers in the 1902 coal strike
Minimum wage
Mandatory 40 hour work week
Pure, Food and Drug Act
Federal Reserve Act
Government involvement in conservation of Natural Resources, requiring corporate interests to be balanced with nature
16th Amendment - Income Tax - Feb 1913
17th Amendment - Direct Election of Senators - May 1913 [begun before Taft’s term ended]
Recognition of Labor Unions to go on strike and collective bargain
FDR didn’t start American Socialism. He simply put his own spin to something his cousin started.
He wasn’t perfect, but...
“In addition to holding elective office as a New York State Assemblyman, Governor of New York, Vice President, and President, he was also a deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory, Police Commissioner of New York City, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Colonel of the Rough Riders, all by the age of 42, at which time he became the youngest man ever to hold the office of President.”
Pooh on those who deride this great man.
“TR signed into law the ability of the federal government to OWN LAND in the States”
A noble idea gone bad. Even Reagan had a few bloopers.
Theodore Roosevelt is mostly remembered as the twenty-sixth President of the United States, but this astonishingly multifaceted man was a great many other things as well.
In addition to holding elective office as a New York State Assemblyman, Governor of New York, Vice President, and President, he was also a deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory, Police Commissioner of New York City, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Colonel of the Rough Riders *, all by the age of 42, at which time he became the youngest man ever to hold the office of President. (1) (2)
He was one of the original members of the American Institute of Arts and Letters, and he was one of the first fifteen elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was a founder of the Boone and Crocket Club, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the Long Island Bird Club.
He also established himself as a historian (he was President of the American Historical Association) and as a naturalist (he was considered the world’s authority on large American mammals and he led two major scientific expeditions for prominent American Museums, one in South America and one in Africa, each lasting many months). Had he not become President, he would be remembered for his contributions in both of these fields.
In between these busy enterprises, he found time to ranch in the West, hunt on several continents, raise a family of six rambunctious children, read a remarkable number of books (often one a day), write more than thirty-five himself, and develop an extraordinary network of friends and contacts, which he maintained mostly by mail, writing well over 150,000 letters.
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential achievements are impressive. In foreign affairs he led us into the arena of international power politics, thrusting aside the American tradition of isolationism, while on the domestic scene, he reversed the traditional federal policy of laissez-faire, and sought to bring order, social justice, and fair dealings to American industry and commerce. In all his policies as Chief Executive, he expanded the powers and responsibilities of the Presidential office, establishing the model of the modern Presidency which has been followed by most of his successors in the White House.
His specific achievements are numerous. Perhaps his greatest contribution was his work for conservation. During his tenure in the White House from 1901 to 1909, he designated 150 National Forests, the first 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 5 National Parks, the first 18 National Monuments, the first 4 National Game Preserves, and the first 21 Reclamation Projects. Altogether, in the seven-and-one-half years he was in office, he provided federal protection for almost 230 million acres, a land area equivalent to that of all the East coast states from Maine to Florida.
Aside from his conservation efforts, he “busted” trusts bringing the large corporations under the control of the people; he began the Panama Canal ( Panama Canal and - more canal photos); he established the Department of Commerce and Labor; he negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War and thereby won the Nobel Peace Prize; he preached a “Square Deal” for all Americans, enabling millions to earn a living wage; he built up the Navy as the “Big Stick,” thus establishing America as a major world power; he reduced the National debt by over $90,000,000; and he secured the passage of the Elkins Act and the Hepburn Act for regulation of the railroads, the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act for consumer protection, and the Federal Employers’ Liability Act for Labor.
In addition, he successfully mediated international disputes over Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Morocco. He was the first world leader to submit a dispute to the Court of Arbitration at The Hague, and he was the first head of state to call for convening of what became the Second Hague Peace Conference at which he obtained for Latin American nations equal status with the rest of the world, and won the adoption of the Drago Doctrine, which outlawed the use of force in the collection of foreign debts.
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/biotr.htm
I wish to God Almighty we had another just like now.
I was referring to Muir, not Roosevelt. I reread my post and my wording was ambiguous -- sorry. I agree that Roosevelt was a patriot with America's best interests at heart. He did, however, sow some of the initial seeds that set the stage for the growth of gov't. For instance, Theodore's Square Deal was used as a stepping stone for Frankin's New Deal.
Don’t make the mistake of using the extreme left’s definition of progressive. Conservatives are the true Progressives according to the real definition of the word.
Progress: gradual betterment; especially : the progressive development of humankind
The extreme left version is actually regressive. T. Roosevelt was not a regressive, nor would he be considered one today, by any reasonable stretch of the imagination.
He wasn’t a perfect man. However, even those who many of us Conservatives greatly admire, such as Goldwater, Reagan, Palin, etc., aren’t perfect either.
I say he was a great man, with many great accomplishments to his credit.
“I’ve never met a human with as nearly decent a character as the lowliest hound.”
Hounds don’t have character. They’re nothing but dumb brutes.
Dogs act according to instinct, with absolutely no ability to choose between right and wrong.
They can’t even understand the difference.
You're wrong of course, but then you're probably some cat loving fag.
...
TR’s 1st term was tempered by the need to follow McKinley's legacy, but once launched as his own president, he vigorously pursued an activist, statist government, checked only by a conservative Republican Congress. As his 2nd term progressed, he became more and more populist, especially with his attacks on the courts and the national system of checks and balances that stood in the way of his radicalization.
As ex-President he became downright pernicious, leading a near socialist/fascist agenda to the strongest 3rd party showing ever. Read the Progressive Party's platform and you will see; more revealing are his speeches which were ungrounded in any political philosophy but his own ego.
The word “great” is accurate for this man - he was larger than any other of his day, yet he did not always put his greatness to great pursuits, and in some cases he downright abused his power of personality for mischievous ends.
Pooh on those that think this moron was not a federal parasite.. due to all the damage he did.. AND his work is STILL doing..
I need to take a look at those 2 books again.
All thru school, we were told TR, Woodrow Wilson, & FDR were great presidents. We know better now.
As for labor laws, something had to be done about child labor, starvation wages, etc.--yet even though laws were enacted, the union seized control by the '30s. The worst move of all was to allow civil "servants" to form labor unions, and now SEIU covers so many workers and has accumulated so much power, that these 2 threaten the country as much as 0 and his thugs--they go hand in hand.
You can credit TR with opposing unionization of federal workers. Then again, his rhetoric encouraged that type of agitation.
So the final integrity of your argument depends on the premise that I am a cat lover?
The point is that compared to people, dogs don’t have character. It’s not a comment against dogs. You should understand that, unless you have the mind quality of a peta member.
President Obama just returned to a Northern Virginia university that helped launch him on his path to the White House. He stressed that his package would mean changes "starting this year."The president cited Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Edward Kennedy as forebears who paved the way for the historic moment that could be just around the corner: passage of the biggest health care measure since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
President Obama just returned to a Northern Virginia university that helped launch him on his path to the White House. He stressed that his package would mean changes "starting this year."The president cited Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Edward Kennedy as forebears who paved the way for the historic moment that could be just around the corner: passage of the biggest health care measure since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
I think this indicates conclusively that TR was no Conservative.
Obama meant FDR, he was without his teleprompter.
Please take your hate for one of our greatest presidents elsewhere.
I’m not a Republican, I’m a member of the Bull Moose Party.
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