(1) antitrust legislation that helped break up abusive monopolies and business combinations; (2) the establishment of the national park system; (3) the development of the US Navy into a modern force and the building of the Panama Canal that led to America's rise as a global power; and (4), anti-corruption legislation that helped remedy abuses that had put Congress and state legislatures at the service of the highest bidder.
Condemning such measures and Teddy Roosevelt as the fruits of Progressivism lets a now pejorative label control our understanding of history. We do much better if we understand the issues of the day and history on their own terms before fastening on good and bad labels based on today's politics.
Notably, the core conservative constitutional thinking of the latter 19th century that Teddy Roosevelt objected to has not fared well over the years. The theory of freedom of contract based on substantive due process and the severely restrictive view of the federal commerce clause lack clear grounding in the text of the Constitution and the thinking of the founding era. That makes them contrary to conservative legal scholarship today.
Yes, Roosevelt in office was different from Roosevelt in his post-presidential years.
“I believe that, on balance, few conservatives today would oppose Teddy Roosevelt’s four signature accomplishments”
The McCain/McConnell wing and the Establishment appear to be on the decline to me. It’ll be a long time before they are gone, but I think we’re going in the correct direction. Not everybody who claims to be a conservative is one.
“(1) antitrust legislation”
I didn’t used to oppose those things myself - until I realized the real reasons TR did all of that, the “progressive” reasons. It was nothing more than anti-capitalism with new clothes.
But we all know better, the emperor has no clothes.
“(2) the establishment of the national park system”
Seeing the abusive nature of the government lands divisions, this isn’t nearly as popular as you might be apt to believe.
At the end of the day, even with conservatives who “find this popular”, if you ask the point blank question “is it constitutionally permitted” then it doesn’t matter the popularity.
It is still flatly unconstitutional. No park is popular enough to put our Constitutional parchment in the paper shredder. We are on an open forum, we could ask open wide if you like in a new discussion. “Do you support the national parks anyways in spite of their clear unconstutionality”
You’ll get more no’s than yes’s.
The parks would be just fine if they were returned to the states just as Roe/abortion has been returned to the states. There is. No. Need. for tyrannical government on the parks.
“(3) the development of the US Navy into a modern force”
Foreign affairs is TR’s only saving grace. Domestically, it was disaster after disaster.
“(4), anti-corruption legislation that helped remedy abuses that had put Congress and state legislatures at the service of the highest bidder.”
Come full circle, no, I don’t think many would say that. What did all of the progressive hoopla amount to? They used taxpayer money to bribe each other.
I won’t forget the Cornhusker Kickback, and I bet you don’t either. All of that was in the age of so called “progressive” reform - we now live with all of this junk. It didn’t work. It’s been a failure. Just like the 17th amendment. That didn’t make a thing better. It made everything worse. That’s what progressivism does.
Progressivism makes everything worse.
The only time progressivism can be said to be a good thing is when it’s undoing earlier progressive failures, perhaps the most notable being prohibition. All that did was give us the mob. No thanks to the progressive “social gospel” sect having their way.
“the fruits of Progressivism lets a now pejorative label control our understanding of history”
It’s not.
When a guy comes around and says “I am a progressive” I take him at his word. He is a progressive. Especially since the record matches.
Graduated tax, price controls, support of global government, executive orders coming out of every which way, and on and on.
There’s no labeling. He was all social justice, all the time, and said so.