TR Notes
During Spanish American War gained a national reputation as he had been the Undersecretary of the Navy who resigned and led the rough riders, who famously captured San Juan Hill in Cuba towards the end of the war.
With that National Reputation TR became Governor of New York. And immediately targeted Tammany Hall and the corruption of the city.
To the chagrin of Republicans TR also targeted the Robber Barons demanding better working conditions and living conditions for the immigrants of New York City. He became enormously popular among the masses but less so among the Republican party bosses.
In 1900 McKinley was running for his second term as President and he asked TR to become VP. Despite serious concerns about the position, his sense of service won out and TR accepted and hated the “job”.
1901 Leon Czolgosz murdered McKinley at the World's Fair elevating TR to the Presidency. Czolgosz had been an anarchist, the whole world now changed.
Domestically TR began his square deal which included:
__settling strikes
regulating transportation_
breaking trust
climate importance
TR was the first President in American history to care at all about the Environment and created the National Park system____. This law took millions of acres of land and put it out of corporate reach.
In 1905 TR using the Sherman Antitrust Act sued J.P Morgan__ attempting to break up one of his monopolies. The ___Robber Barons_____ were hereby put on notice that they were not above the law.
TR was the first President in history to have an African-American guest at a White House dinner. Booker T Washington was TR’s guest signaling a new era in American history. TR was vilified throughout the South for this gesture. ____ believed in:
Education starting historically black colleges and
Economic opportunity to lift African-Americans from their present condition
These positions became known as his “Atlanta Compromise”
TR’s other famous dinner guest was Upton Sinclair who wrote The Jungle___. After their dinner, TR got ___Pure Food and Drug Act passed making manufacturers list their ingredients on all packages of food and medicine. This law would later set the stage for the FDA.
TR was even more active in Foreign Policy than domestic. In foreign policy he believed in the African Proverb: “Speak Softly and carry a Big Stick”. Thus Big Stick diplomacy was born which combined America speaking with neighbors while having a powerful military to back up their words.
TR agreed with the famous Admiral Mahan and immediately rebuilt the American Navy_. TR called it “__Great White Fleet__” because of its bright white paint on all the ships. This was done so as the sun shined upon them they would glisten on the sea and our adversaries would know we were coming.
To show off his new fleet TR asked Congress to pay for a trip around the World to show American strength and modern Navy. Congress, considering it a waste of money, refused, TR took the remaining budget for the year and sent the Navy out halfway across the world and went to Congress to “Bring them home”.
TR approached Columbia__ to buy the waterway to further drudge it and create Panama Canal___ that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
___Panama__ refused, TR told no_ to revolt and sent the Navy to support the “revolution”. Comlumbia now signed a deal with the US that gave us control of the Panama Canal until 1999.
With the finalization of the Canal the time it took to get between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was cut in half dramatically increasing the flow of commerce and increasing the security of the United States.
TR also extended the monroe doctrine__ which said the Western Hemisphere was closed to European Expansion by announcing the roosevelt corollary____, which said not only is the Hemisphere closed but the US has the right to intervene in any nation in the Western Hemisphere when it chooses.
TR also became the first President to win the ___nobel peace prize______ for successfully negotiating an end to the ____Russo- Japanese____ war, with the Treaty of ___portsmouth____.
TR’s honored Washington’s tradition and did not seek a 3rd___ term as President and regretted it the rest of his life. In 1912 he ran for a third term as a ___bull- mouse___ Progressive and split the Republican vote allowing Woodrow Wilson to win the election.
TR was an early advocate for American Entry into World War I and died in 1919 while planning a fourth run at the Presidency.
TR’s lasting legacy is that he vastly expanded the power and size of the American Presidency making Congress less important than in the previous generations. Additionally he made America a world power and supported us being “__worlds police_____” as we have been for much of the 20th-21st centuries.