The president should have prestige but not excessive power. Several people were concerned about what may occur if the chief executive becomes too strong. Citizens started to shift their opinions about the president’s strength and what the national government should do as the presidency changed during the Progressive Era. Between 1901 and 1921, Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson served as the three presidents of the Progressive Era (Cummings, 2018). Although having many differences, they were all committed to reform. They tried to eradicate government corruption and contested the industrial giants’ economic and political dominance. All three of these presidents increased presidential power in the process. They voiced progressive principles and had quite different political ideologies, which revealed how advanced the election was. Even though all candidates were progressives, their perspectives on the propagation and application of these ideals in the US differed, at least in theoretical approaches.
Theodore Roosevelt succeeded William McKinley as president in 1901 after serving as the latter’s vice president. He was the youngest president in American history at 42 (Romero, 2020). He was a flamboyant figure who also went by Teddy or TR. He had a reputation for being impetuous while serving in the state assembly of New York in the 1890s, but he was a cunning politician who knew how to get things done (Levin, 2020). Roosevelt felt everyone should be treated fairly and honestly, including businesses, employees, and customers. His reform plan, which came to be known as the Square Deal, was centered on controlling big business and safeguarding consumers and workers. Roosevelt was a firm believer that the nation needed a strong leader. Nevertheless, he believed that the presidency should serve the interests of all Americans. He claimed that a president should take any acts necessary for the common good as long as the Constitution did not ban them. He described himself as the steward custodian of public welfare.
Roosevelt supported William Howard Taft, a member of his cabinet and a former Ohio judge, to succeed him in 1908 after serving two terms. Roosevelt believed Taft to carry out his reform agenda (Buenker, 2018). The differences between the two men were glaring. Taft was quiet and reserved, whereas Roosevelt was boisterous and adored the spotlight. Taft was cautious, in contrast to Roosevelt’s audacious moves. In a nutshell, Taft was a reticent, ineffective politician; however, Roosevelt’s backing enabled him to win. Taft maintained reform initiatives while in office. He tried to reduce the influence of large enterprises and added more territory to the network of national forests. Taft, however, broke with progressive reformers on other topics. Progressives favored lowering import duties. Foreign goods would cost US consumers less if there were fewer tariffs. They would also boost competition, forcing American producers to cut their pricing. Big businesses preferred high taxes. Taft ran for president on a platform of low tariffs, but in 1909 he consented to enact the Payne-Aldrich Bill, which increased taxes (Ellis, 2018). This action ruined Taft’s reputation as a progressive.
Wilson had backed progressive reforms to control big business and tame the political machine while serving as governor of New Jersey. As president, this scholar and idealist set out to carry out a reform initiative he named New Freedom. Wilson wished to abolish all trusts because he thought they restricted the economic independence of individuals and small enterprises. He could not nullify the convictions but significantly curtail their authority. Wilson pushed through additional progressive changes to increase the ordinary person’s voice, limit corporate influence, and combat corruption in the federal government. Laws on banking and tariff reform, as well as the founding of the Federal Trade Commission, are among his most noteworthy accomplishments (Cummings, 2018). Since George Washington, Wilson was the first president to address Congress in person while introducing and promoting legislation. Like Roosevelt, he tried to shape and use public opinion to further his reform agenda.
Therefore, it is necessary to conclude that all presidents in the Progressive era were successful because of their progressive political ideologies. There are many traits that these progressive presidents share. Once in government, all created policies that differed from what they had said before running for office. While in government, the political leaders employed various strategies to handle the issues brought on by rising urbanization, industrialization, and the expansion of large corporations.
References
Buenker, J. D. (2018). The Income Tax and the Progressive Era. Routledge.
Cummings, S. L. (2018). Law and social movements: Reimagining the progressive canon. Wis. L. Rev., p. 441. Web.
Ellis, R. J. (2018). The development of the American Presidency. Routledge.
Levin, B. (2020). Imagining the progressive prosecutor. Minn. L. Rev., 105, 1415. Web.
Romero, M. (2020). Rural spaces, communities of color, and the progressive prosecutor. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), 110(4), 803–822. Web.