portrait of Roosevelt by
John Singer Sargent in 1903 On September 6, 1901, President McKinley was attending the
Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York, when he
was shot by anarchist
Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt, vacationing in
Isle La Motte, Vermont, traveled to Buffalo to visit McKinley in the hospital. When McKinley seemed to recover, Roosevelt resumed his vacation. When McKinley's condition worsened, Roosevelt rushed back to Buffalo. He was in
North Creek when he learned of McKinley's death on September 14. Roosevelt then continued to Buffalo and was
sworn in as the 26th president at the
Ansley Wilcox House. McKinley's supporters were uneasy about Roosevelt, with Ohio Senator
Mark Hanna particularly bitter, given his strong opposition at the convention. Although Roosevelt assured party leaders that he would adhere to McKinley's policies and retained his cabinet, he sought to establish himself as the party's leader and position himself for the 1904 election. Roosevelt's ascension to the presidency was met with concern by conservative Republicans, with historian
Doris Kearns Goodwin noting that: Adding to this point, Kearns has noted that Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt invited
Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House, sparking a bitter reaction across the heavily segregated South. While Roosevelt initially planned more dinners with Washington, he later avoided further invitations in favor of business appointments to retain political support in the white South.
Domestic policies: The Square Deal When he assumed the presidency, Roosevelt reassured many
fiscal conservatives, stating that "the mechanism of modern business is so delicate that extreme care must be taken not to interfere with it in a spirit of rashness or ignorance." The following year, Roosevelt asserted the president's independence from business interests by opposing the merger which created the
Northern Securities Company, and many were surprised that any president, much less an unelected one, would challenge powerful banker
J.P. Morgan. In his last two years as president, Roosevelt became increasingly distrustful of
big business, despite its close ties to the Republican Party. Roosevelt sought to replace the 19th-century
laissez-faire economic environment with a new economic model which included a larger regulatory role for the federal government, which was central to his political ideology of
progressive conservatism. He believed that 19th-century entrepreneurs had risked their fortunes on innovations and new businesses, and that these capitalists had been rightly rewarded. By contrast, he believed that 20th-century capitalists risked little but nonetheless reaped huge and, given the lack of risk, unjust, economic rewards. Without a redistribution of wealth away from the upper class, Roosevelt feared that the country would turn to radicals or fall to revolution. His
Square Deal domestic program had three main goals: conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. The Square Deal evolved into his program of "
New Nationalism", which emphasized the priority of labor over capital interests and a need to more effectively control corporate creation and combination, and proposed a ban on corporate political contributions.
Trust busting and regulation Roosevelt was hailed as the "trust-buster" for his aggressive use of the 1890
Sherman Antitrust Act, compared to his predecessors. He viewed big business as essential to the American economy, prosecuting only "bad trusts" that restrained trade and charged unfair prices. Roosevelt brought 44 antitrust suits, breaking up the
Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly, and regulating
Standard Oil, the largest oil company. His predecessors, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and William McKinley, had together prosecuted only 18 antitrust violations. After winning large majorities in the
1902 elections, Roosevelt proposed creating the
United States Department of Commerce and Labor, which included the
Bureau of Corporations. Congress was receptive to the department but skeptical of the antitrust powers Roosevelt wanted within the Bureau. Roosevelt appealed to the public, pressuring Congress, which overwhelmingly passed his version of the bill. House Speaker
Joseph Gurney Cannon commented on Roosevelt's desire for executive branch control: "That fellow at the other end of the avenue wants everything from the birth of Christ to the death of the devil." Biographer Brands notes, "Even his friends occasionally wondered whether there wasn't any custom or practice too minor for him to try to regulate, update or otherwise improve." Roosevelt's willingness to exercise power extended to attempted rule changes in
American football, forcing retention of martial arts classes at the
U.S. Naval Academy, revising disciplinary rules, altering the design of a disliked coin, and ordering simplified spellings for 300 words, though he rescinded the latter after ridicule from the press and a House protest.
Coal strike In May 1902,
anthracite coal miners went on strike, threatening a national energy shortage. After threatening the coal operators with federal troops, Roosevelt won their agreement to dispute arbitration by a commission, stopping the strike. The accord with
J. P. Morgan resulted in miners getting more pay for fewer hours but no union recognition. Roosevelt said, "My action on labor should always be considered in connection with my action as regards capital, and both are reducible to my favorite formula—a square deal for every man." He was the first president to help settle a labor dispute.
Prosecuted misconduct During Roosevelt's second year in office, corruption was uncovered in the
Indian Service, the
United States General Land Office, and the
Post Office Department. He prosecuted corrupt Indian agents who had cheated
Native American tribes out of land parcels. Land fraud and speculation involving Oregon timberlands led to him and
Ethan A. Hitchcock forcing General Land Office Commissioner
Binger Hermann from office in November 1902. Special prosecutor
Francis J. Heney obtained 146 indictments in the Oregon Land Office bribery ring. Roosevelt also prosecuted 44 postal employees on charges of bribery and fraud. Historians agree he moved "quickly and decisively" to address misconduct in his administration.
Railroads Merchants complained that some railroad rates were too high. In the 1906
Hepburn Act, Roosevelt sought to give the
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to regulate rates, but the Senate, led by conservative
Nelson Aldrich, resisted. Roosevelt worked with Democratic Senator
Benjamin Tillman to pass the bill. They ultimately reached a compromise that gave the ICC the power to replace existing rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, allowing railroads to appeal to federal courts on what was "reasonable". The Hepburn Act also granted the ICC regulatory power over pipeline fees, storage contracts, and other aspects of railroad operations.
Pure food and drugs Roosevelt responded to public outrage over abuses in the food packing industry by pushing Congress to pass the
Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the
Pure Food and Drug Act. Conservatives initially opposed the bill, but
Upton Sinclair's
The Jungle, published in 1906, galvanized support for reform. The Meat Inspection Act banned misleading labels and
preservatives with harmful chemicals. The Pure Food and Drug Act banned impure or falsely labeled food and drugs from being made, sold, and shipped. Roosevelt served as honorary president of the
American School Hygiene Association from 1907 to 1908 and convened the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children in 1909.
Conservation tree tunnel Roosevelt was proudest of his work in conserving natural resources and extending federal protection to land and wildlife. He worked closely with Interior Secretary
James Rudolph Garfield and Chief of the United States Forest Service
Gifford Pinchot to enact a series of conservation programs that met resistance from Western Congress members, such as
Charles William Fulton. Nonetheless, Roosevelt established the
United States Forest Service, signed the creation of five
National Parks, and signed the 1906
Antiquities Act, under which he proclaimed 18 new
U.S. National Monuments. He also established the first 51
bird reserves, four
game preserves, and 150
National Forests. The area of the United States he placed under public protection totals approximately . Roosevelt was the first honorary member of the
Camp-Fire Club of America. Roosevelt extensively used
executive orders to protect forest and wildlife lands during his presidency. By the end of his second term, Roosevelt used executive orders to reserve of forestry land. Roosevelt was unapologetic about his use of executive orders to protect the environment, despite Congress's perception that he was encroaching on too many lands. In total, Roosevelt established 121 forest reserves in 31 states through executive orders.
Business panic of 1907 In 1907, Roosevelt faced the greatest domestic economic crisis since the
Panic of 1893. Wall Street's stock market entered a slump in early 1907, and many investors blamed Roosevelt's regulatory policies for the decline in stock prices. Roosevelt ultimately helped calm the crisis by meeting with the leaders of
U.S. Steel on November 4, 1907, and approving their plan to purchase a Tennessee steel company near bankruptcy—its failure would ruin a major New York bank. However, in August, Roosevelt had exploded in anger at the super-rich for their economic malfeasance, calling them "malefactors of great wealth" in a major speech, "The Puritan Spirit and the Regulation of Corporations". Trying to restore confidence, he blamed the crisis primarily on Europe, but then, after saluting the unbending rectitude of the Puritans, he went on: Regarding the very wealthy, Roosevelt privately scorned, "their entire unfitness to govern the country, and ... the lasting damage they do by much of what they think are the legitimate big business operations of the day".
Foreign policy In the analysis by
Henry Kissinger, Roosevelt was the first president to develop the guideline that it was the duty of the United States to make its enormous power and potential influence felt globally. The idea of being a passive "city on the hill" model that others could look up to, he rejected. Roosevelt, trained in biology, was a
social Darwinist who believed in survival of the fittest. The international world in his view was a realm of violence and conflict. The United States had all the economic and geographical potential to be the fittest nation on the globe. The United States had a duty to act decisively. For example, in terms of the
Monroe Doctrine, the United States had to prevent European incursions in the Western Hemisphere. But there was more, as he expressed in his
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the U.S. had to be the policeman of the region because unruly, corrupt smaller nations had to be controlled, and if United States did not do it, European powers would in fact intervene and develop their own base of power in the hemisphere in contravention to the Monroe Doctrine. Roosevelt was a conservative
realist in his foreign policy approach. He deplored many of the increasingly popular idealistic liberal themes, such as were promoted by
William Jennings Bryan, the anti-imperialists, and
Woodrow Wilson. Kissinger says he rejected the efficacy of international law. Roosevelt argued that if a country could not protect its own interests, the international community could not help very much. He ridiculed disarmament proposals that were increasingly common. He saw no likelihood of an international power capable of checking wrongdoing on a major scale. As for world government: On his international outlook, Roosevelt favored
spheres of influence, whereby one great power would generally prevail, such as the United States in the Western Hemisphere or Great Britain in the Indian subcontinent. Japan fit that role and he approved. However, he had deep distrust of both Germany and Russia.
Japan The American
annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was stimulated in part by fear that
Japan would dominate or seize the Hawaiian Republic. Similarly, Germany was the alternative to American takeover of the Philippines in 1900, and Tokyo strongly preferred the U.S. to take over. As the U.S. became a naval world power, it needed to find a way to avoid a military confrontation in the Pacific with Japan. In the 1890s, Roosevelt had been an ardent
imperialist and vigorously defended the permanent acquisition of the Philippines in the 1900 campaign. After the
local insurrection ended in 1902, Roosevelt wished to have a strong U.S. presence in the region as a symbol of democratic values, but he did not envision any new acquisitions. One of Roosevelt's priorities was the maintenance of friendly relations with Japan. From 1904 to 1905
Japan and Russia were at war. Both sides asked Roosevelt to mediate a peace conference, held successfully in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Roosevelt won the
Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Though he proclaimed that the United States would be neutral during the
Russo-Japanese War, Roosevelt secretly favored Imperial Japan to emerge victorious against the Russian Empire. In California,
anti-Japanese hostility was growing, and Tokyo protested. Roosevelt negotiated a
"Gentleman's Agreement" in 1907. It ended explicit discrimination against the Japanese, and Japan agreed not to allow unskilled immigrants into the United States. The
Great White Fleet of American battleships visited Japan in 1908. Roosevelt intended to emphasize the superiority of the American fleet over the smaller Japanese navy, but instead of resentment, the visitors arrived to a joyous welcome. This goodwill facilitated the
Root–Takahira Agreement of November 1908 which reaffirmed the status quo of Japanese control of Korea and American control of the Philippines.
China Following the
Boxer Rebellion, foreign powers, including the United States, required China to pay indemnities as part of the
Boxer protocol. In 1908, Roosevelt appropriated these indemnities for the
Boxer Indemnity Scholarships, which funded tens of thousands of Chinese students to study in the U.S. over the next 40 years.
Europe Success in the war against Spain and the new empire, plus having the largest economy in the world, meant that the United States had emerged as a world power. Roosevelt searched for ways to win recognition for the position abroad. He also played a major role in mediating the
First Moroccan Crisis by calling the
Algeciras Conference, which averted war between France and Germany. Roosevelt's presidency saw the strengthening of ties with Great Britain.
The Great Rapprochement had begun with British support of the United States during the Spanish–American War, and it continued as Britain withdrew its fleet from the Caribbean in favor of directing most of its attention to the rising
German naval threat. In 1901, Britain and the U.S. signed the
Hay–Pauncefote Treaty, abrogating the
Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, which had prevented the U.S. from constructing a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. The long-standing
Alaska boundary dispute was settled on terms favorable to the U.S.; as Roosevelt later put it, this "settled the last serious trouble between the British Empire and ourselves."
Latin America and the Panama Canal As president, Roosevelt primarily directed the nation's overseas ambitions towards the Caribbean, especially locations that had a bearing on the defense of his pet project, the
Panama Canal. Roosevelt also increased the size of the navy, and by the end of his second term, the U.S. had more battleships than any country other than Britain. The Panama Canal, when it opened in 1914, allowed the U.S. Navy to rapidly move back and forth from the Pacific to the Caribbean to European waters. In December 1902, the Germans, British, and Italians blockaded the ports of
Venezuela to force the repayment of delinquent loans. Roosevelt was particularly concerned about the motives of German Emperor
Wilhelm II. He succeeded in getting the three nations to agree to arbitration by tribunal at
The Hague, and successfully defused the
crisis. The latitude granted to the Europeans by the arbiters was in part responsible for the "
Roosevelt Corollary" to the
Monroe Doctrine, which the President issued in 1904: Chronic wrongdoing or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere, the adherence of the United States to the Monroe doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power. . He used military dominance to ensure
Panama successfully revolted and achieved independence in 1903. Two possible routes for an
isthmus canal in Central America were under consideration: through
Nicaragua and through Panama, which was then a rebellious district within
Colombia. Roosevelt persuaded Congress to approve the Panamanian alternative, and a treaty was approved, only to be rejected by the Colombian government. When the Panamanians learned of this, a rebellion followed, was supported by Roosevelt, and succeeded. A
treaty with the new Panama government for construction of the canal was reached in 1903. Roosevelt received criticism for paying the bankrupt Panama Canal Company and the New Panama Canal Company $40 million (equivalent to $ in ) for the rights and equipment to build the canal. Critics charged that an American investor syndicate divided the large payment among themselves. There was also controversy over whether a French company engineer influenced Roosevelt in choosing the Panama route for the canal over the Nicaragua route. Roosevelt denied charges of corruption. In January 1909, Roosevelt, in an unprecedented move, brought criminal libel charges against the
New York World and the
Indianapolis News known as the "Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases". Both cases were dismissed by U.S. District Courts, and on January 3, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' rulings. Historians are sharply critical of Roosevelt's criminal prosecutions of the newspapers but are divided on whether actual corruption took place. In 1906, following a disputed election, an insurrection ensued in Cuba; Roosevelt sent Taft, the Secretary of War, to monitor the situation; he was convinced that he had the authority to unilaterally authorize Taft to deploy Marines, if necessary, without congressional approval. Examining the work of numerous scholars, Ricard reports that: The most striking evolution in the twenty-first-century historiography of Theodore Roosevelt is the switch from a partial arraignment of the imperialist to a quasi-unanimous celebration of the master diplomatist.... [Recent works] have underlined cogently Roosevelt's exceptional statesmanship in the construction of the nascent twentieth-century "special relationship". ...The twenty-sixth president's reputation as a brilliant diplomatist and real politician has undeniably reached new heights in the twenty-first century... yet, his Philippine policy still prompts criticism. On November 6, 1906, Roosevelt was the first president to depart the continental United States on an official diplomatic trip. Roosevelt made a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico. He visited the Panama Canal worksite and attended diplomatic receptions in both Panama and Puerto Rico. Aside from the Roosevelt-Panama Libel Cases, Roosevelt normally enjoyed very close relationships with the press. While out of office, he made a living as a writer and magazine editor. He loved talking with intellectuals, authors, and writers. He drew the line, however, at exposé-oriented scandal-mongering journalists who, during his term, sent magazine subscriptions soaring by their attacks on corrupt politicians, mayors, and corporations. Roosevelt himself was not usually a target, but a speech of his from 1906 coined the term "
muckraker" for unscrupulous journalists making wild charges.
Second term As his second term progressed, Roosevelt moved to the left of his Republican Party base and called for a series of reforms, most of which Congress failed to pass. Roosevelt's influence waned as he approached the end of his second term, which he promised to not run again after its conclusion, and his concentration of power provoked a backlash from many Congressmen. He sought a national
incorporation law, called for a federal
income tax (despite the Supreme Court's ruling in ''
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.''), and an
inheritance tax. Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes; injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries (pre-empting state laws) and an
eight-hour work day for federal employees. In other areas, he also sought a
postal savings system (to provide competition for local banks), and he asked for campaign reform laws. The election of 1904 continued to be a source of contention between Republicans and Democrats. A Congressional investigation in 1905 revealed that corporate executives donated tens of thousands of dollars in 1904 to the
Republican National Committee. In 1908, a month before the general presidential election, Governor
Charles N. Haskell of Oklahoma, former Democratic Treasurer, said that Senators beholden to Standard Oil lobbied Roosevelt, in the summer of 1904, to authorize the leasing of Indian oil lands by Standard Oil subsidiaries. He said Roosevelt overruled his
Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock and granted a pipeline franchise to run through the
Osage lands to the Prairie Oil and Gas Company. The New York
Sun made a similar accusation and said that Standard Oil, a refinery that financially benefited from the pipeline, had contributed $150,000 to the Republicans in 1904 (equivalent to $ in ) after Roosevelt's alleged reversal allowing the pipeline franchise. Roosevelt branded Haskell's allegation as "a lie, pure and simple".
Rhetoric of righteousness Roosevelt's rhetoric was characterized by an intense moralism of personal righteousness. The tone was typified by his denunciation of "predatory wealth" in a message he sent Congress in January 1908 calling for passage of new labor laws:
Roosevelt and racial issues In 1890 to 1919 there was a sharp decline --a "nadir"--in the political and social status of African Americans in the South as well as the North. On the positive side Roosevelt included black soldiers in his Rough Rider unit in 1898. He invited the nation's leading Black spokesman.
Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House in October 1901, and routinely took Washington's advice in how to distribute patronage jobs to Black Republicans. More and more, however, he supported the downward trend. During a southern tour in 1905 he admonished the African American voters to accept
white supremacy and boasted to whites that his mother was from Georgia. In the middle of his second term the President dismissed an entire battalion of black soldiers who colluded and refused to obey his explicit orders to report the names of soldiers who attacked white civilians in
Brownsville, Texas. In 1912 when launching the
Bull Moose Party, he mobilized only white men in the South, while President Taft was mobilizing both races there. ==Post-presidency (1909–1919)==